The Great Pyramids of Giza

The Great Pyramids of Giza are one of the last of the ancient 7 Wonders of the World to still be standing! They are 5000 years old and consist of 3 large pyramids and 6 smaller ones surrounding the bigger 3. They are from the fourth dynasty of the ancient kings of Egypt, the world’s first civilization! The large main pyramids are the tombs of 3 Pharaohs: the grandfather, Khufu, his son, Khafre, and his grandson, Menkaure. The smaller pyramids are the tombs of their wives and family members. 

Size

Khufu is one of the largest structures ever built on earth! It’s made from as many as 2.3 MILLION blocks of stone. These stones were carried over 400 miles down the Nile River. They weigh a whopping 575 million tons!!! 

Difficulty

Getting to the actual tomb is tough! First, you have to climb up the stairs on the exterior of the 5000-year-old pyramid. Next, you come to a small opening that leads you into a very narrow corridor. Then this eventually leads to a room made entirely of granite where the Khufu mummy was.

Tomb Raiders

To be honest, it doesn’t look quite as grand as it may sound, especially when you see the outside of the pyramid. But the ancient Egyptians were afraid of tomb robbers, and would often have very simple tombs for the real kings, but have some elaborate ones for fake mummies to fool any tomb raiders so that their true kings would rest undisturbed.

Labor

Interestingly enough, we were told that the pyramids were not created with slave labor. In fact, they told us that the workers were people who wanted to earn their place in heaven with the king. The laborers were told that as long as they helped to build the structures, they would get to live on with the kings after their deaths. 

Our Guide

We had a really great guide with us named Mona. We rode camels to the backside of the 9 pyramids to see various other tombs strewn throughout the desert. 

Standing the Test of Time

It’s definitely worth the work to climb the pyramids to see the insides. They are magnificent and are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in person. Especially when you consider they are so grand and still intact after 5000 years!!! In comparison, America isn’t even 300 years old and we don’t even have many buildings that even reach 100 years old, let alone 1000 years! And ruins in Europe that are considered ancient are 1000 – 1500 years old and most of them are crumbling to the ground now. But anything built that can last for 5000 years is DEFINITELY a true Wonder of the World!

Locals

So, as you can see in the photos, a bunch of the locals make money by coming up with fun ways to stand nearby for you to take photos of you with the pyramids. They make it look like you’re holding them or putting your finger on them, even though they are huge! They rise 700 feet in the air and block out the sun when you’re standing directly in front of them!

Overall, nothing else on earth feels quite like seeing and standing next to the Pyramids… it’s exhilarating, exciting, and humbling all at once! Stay tuned for more adventures soon.