Building a Pyramid
The surveyor sat
quietly in the desert night, watching the dark sky carefully.
A star rose on the horizon. The
man noted its position and made a mark on a small circular wall.
All through the night, he watched the star as it twinkled and winked. When it finally set, just before dawn, he made another mark.
A spot for the pharaoh’s great pyramid would soon be found!
Constructing Pyramids
The Rooms Inside
How Do We Know That?
Pyramids were built as the burial sites for ancient Egyptian pharaohs. The ancient Egyptians always built them on the West side of the Nile River. This is the direction of the setting sun, which they associated with death.
Constructing Pyramids
Egyptians made sure that the pyramids faced the north and south by charting
the stars. A small rounded wall of
stones was built in the spot that had been chosen for the pyramid.
When a star rose in the sky, a mark was made on the wall.
Another mark was made when the star set.
Egyptian astronomers could use these marks to find true north.
Pyramids took many years to build. Thousands of craftsmen and workers were needed for the construction. During times of Nile flooding, the pharaoh would even force farmers to help build the pyramid.
The pyramids were built in several stages.
First, the ground was leveled and then the base of granite and limestone
was laid. Sloping ramps were built
of rubble around the base. Massive,
heavy granite blocks were dragged up the ramps and the walls of the pyramid were
built. The chambers inside were made of limestone.
They were decorated with paintings and hieroglyphics.
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The Rooms Inside
The burial chamber was hidden deep inside the pyramid.
It was usually at the end of a long, narrow shaft with many false doors.
These doors were designed to confuse tomb robbers.
Inside the burial chamber, the walls were covered with hieroglyphs that
told stories about ancient Egyptian life. A
stone sarcophagus containing a mummified body was placed inside the burial
chamber. Canopic jars holding the
preserved internal organs were placed there too.
A pyramid also had many storerooms.
They were filled with pharaoh’s possessions, food and other things he
would need in the Afterlife.
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How Do We Know That?
Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut in 1922.
The burial chamber held many treasures, including life-size statues and
the King’s solid gold coffin. The
pyramid’s other chambers held even more possessions, including chariots and
hundreds of shabtis. King Tut was
as wealthy in the Afterlife as he was as Pharaoh of Egypt!
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