Khefren's pyramid (more precisely - Khafra ) is the second largest ancient Egyptian pyramid . It is located next to the Great Sphinx , as well as the pyramids of Cheops ( Khufu ) and Mykerin ( Menkaur ) on the Giza Plateau . Built presumably in the middle of the XXVI century BC. e. the structure, 143.9 m high, was called Urt-Khafra ("Khafra the Great", or "Revered Khafra").
| Chefren's Pyramid | ||||||||||||||||
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 Chefren's Pyramid | ||||||||||||||||
| Egyptian name | ||||||||||||||||
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| Urt hafra | ||||||||||||||||
| "Hafra is Great" or "Revered Hafra" | ||||||||||||||||
| Characteristics | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Giza Plateau | |||||||||||||||
| Customer | Chefren | |||||||||||||||
| Base size | 210.5 | |||||||||||||||
| Height (original) | 143.9 | |||||||||||||||
| Height (today) | 136.4 | |||||||||||||||
| Volume | 2 211 096 | |||||||||||||||
| Incline | 53 ° 10 ′ | |||||||||||||||
| The pyramids of the queens | one | |||||||||||||||
Although the Khafra pyramid is inferior in size to the pyramid of his father Khufu, its position on a higher hill and its steeper slope make it a worthy rival to the Great Pyramid. Two rather large chambers and two crossing passages that lead into a horizontal corridor represent a rather modest space in relation to the Khufu pyramid. The burial chamber, located under the pyramid, is no longer lined with granite , although this protective material was abundantly used inside the pyramid (the highest passage itself, fences and sarcophagus ), as well as outside (facing the foundation of the pyramid and temples). The roof of the chamber was provided by the arch on the rafters , regarded as more durable than the horizontal crossbars of the Khufu pyramid. A rectangular, classical-shaped Hafra sarcophagus made of perfectly polished granite was placed in the lining of the burial chamber. A canopy niche located near the Hafra sarcophagus was an innovation that would become common at a later time. Now this pyramid is in good condition, although its size has slightly decreased, and today it is 210.5 m × 210.5 m at the base and 136.4 m in height.
During the time of the Pharaohs, the Hafra pyramid was just an element of the memorial complex, which included a small companion pyramid , probably built for the wife of Hafra, a fence wall, a memorial church, a road, a temple in the valley and a port that also needed to be built. The current state of the complex allows us to say that all its elements have been completed. The temples of Hafra, which became the models for the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom , were built from multi-ton blocks of granite and limestone . Stone blocks at the entrance to his memorial temple reach a length of 5.45 m and weigh up to 42 tons. These were extensive buildings: 113 m by 49 m - a memorial temple, and 45 m by 50 m - a temple in the valley, the preserved height of which is currently 13 m. Considering the fragments found, the total number of sculptural works of the lower Khafr temple is more than 200 statues . Among them is the famous remarkably preserved statue of the king, made of dark green diorite . The ruler proudly sits on the throne with an elegant headscarf on his head and an uray on his forehead, and behind him the falcon-like god Horus roars.
Content
- 1 Statistics
- 2 Description of the pyramid
- 3 Stages of construction
- 4 Location of premises
- 5 Literature
- 6 References
Statistics Data
Height: 143.9 m (275 royal elbows)
Side Length: 215.3 m (410 royal elbows)
Tilt Angle: 53 ° 10 '
The volume of the pyramid: 2 211 096 m³
Pyramid Description
The base of the pyramid is a square with sides of 210.5 meters (originally 215.3 meters or 410 royal elbows). The error from the ideal square is not more than 8 cm. The parallel approach is practically ideal and is equal to 1'15 ". The side faces are oriented on four cardinal points with an error of no more than 5'26". The curvature of the sides from deformation leads to an error from the correct one at the top of the pyramid at 3'46 ". The angle of inclination of the faces is 53 ° 10 'and 52 ° 02', which is very close to the theoretical value corresponding to a slope of 4/3. This bias of the Egyptian triangle (a right-angled triangle with sides of 3.4.5, with a theoretical angle of inclination of 53 ° 07'48 "), was mentioned in four sections of Papyrus Ahmes (see Mathematics in Ancient Egypt ). The pyramid was originally 143.9 meters high (275 royal elbows). It was covered with limestone, which is visible today at 45 meters at the very top.
The pyramid was decorated with pink granite pyramidion , which is now lost. We have no information about whether the granite was decorated with limestone, gypsum or gold.
Despite the fact that not one of the ancient Egyptian pyramids has preserved the pyramidion at its top, Chefren’s pyramid has preserved almost all the stones of its fastening, forming a small square platform with a square recess in plan: this feature makes this pyramid unique and allows us to know the way pyramidion mounts on the tops of the pyramids.
The granite sarcophagus along with the lid was also perfectly preserved, in design it is identical to the worse-preserved Cheops sarcophagus, just as the Cheops sarcophagus has several drilled holes along the shoulder and in the lid, locking the sarcophagus apparently with copper cylinders.
The “cap” of the cladding that has been preserved at the top of the pyramid is in an extremely dilapidated state, and forms “cornices”, which makes climbing to its top an extremely difficult task even for experienced climbers. If, from time to time, climbing permits are given for scientists to the top of the Cheops pyramid, issuing permits to the same for the Chefren pyramid is not practiced by anyone.
Construction Stages
Apparently, Chefren was not distinguished by good health, 2 stages of its construction are clearly traced in the design of the Chefren pyramid. First, a prefabricated pyramid was made much smaller, with a burial chamber, which is lower in case the pharaoh suddenly dies. This is indicated by a niche in the corridor opposite the entrance to it - this is the so-called "room for operating the sarcophagus", often found in the construction of tombs. Since this precaution turned out to be superfluous, later the pyramid was built up to the observed size, with the transfer of the tomb above and to the south, and the original tomb was turned into a repository of funeral inventory.
Location of premises
Schematic view of the location of the cameras inside the pyramid | Volumetric image of the location of the pyramid cameras |
Literature
- Zamarovsky V. Their Majesties the Pyramids / Per. from the Slovak O. I. Malevich. After N. S. Petrovsky. - M .: The main edition of the eastern literature of the publishing house "Science", 1981. - 447 p. - ( In the wake of the disappeared cultures of the East ).