Built about 2,600 years before Christ, the Great Egyptian Pyramids are the oldest and only remaining of the Seven Wonders of the World. In all, there are 110 pyramids in Egypt, most unrecognizable, but only one being the "Great Pyramid." However, all of these structures were huge for their time, and we are still attempting to figure out how exactly these people created them and why. In writing about these pyramids, I will discuss what makes them so unique, how they were built, and why they were built.
The pyramids trigger our curiosity because of the location they are in, the time in which they were built, and because of the people who built them. The pyramids were built in and around the Giza Plateau in Egypt. The pyramid era of the Pharaohs lasted from about 2600B.C. to 2250B.C. .
Around 2611 B.C., the first pyramid design took shape near Giza in a place called Saqqara. Built by Pharaoh Djoser, this pyramid was a "step pyramid." It didn't have the typical shape that we see as a "pyramid" today, but instead it was built in steps, hence the name. When it was finally finished, the pyramid had six steps, measuring 204 feet tall, the biggest monument of it's time. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the pharaoh Khufu, the son of Snefru. He is responsible for moving the royal necropolis to Giza. This pyramid was the second of the smooth-sided pyramids, and it was built to incorporate the pharaoh's body when he died. The pyramid was finished somewhere around 2550B.C. .
These society's that built the pyramids were more cultured than we could ever imagine. People from villages around would help to build these giant landscapes to show their respect and honor towards the pharaohs. The villages "boasted bakers, butchers, brewers, granaries, houses, cemeteries, and probably even some sorts of health-care facilities- Other workers were servants of the pharaohs. Not necessarily slaves, but citizens of the communities under the pharaoh's reign.
