10 Interesting Facts about the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids.

 

Pyramids always remained a mystery to man. Even in 2018, we are discovering more about these ancient man-made marvels. Much to surprise, with every discovery we are realizing that there is more to uncover than ever before!

Here’s the list of some of the most interesting pyramid facts that you might not know:

1. The Engineering Wonder!

Source: Jorge Láscar/Flickr

The Pyramid of Giza was built 4500 years ago in Egypt, yet it remained as the tallest man-made building until the 19th century. That means it stood its place as the tallest building for 3800 years!

The baffling thing about these ancient pyramids is the Egyptians ability to build something so gigantic with prehistoric building methods!

2. More in Number Than You Think!

 On the subject of pyramids, which number crosses your mind if we were to ask you: how many pyramids are still standing on the earth? 5 or 10? No, the number is well more than 5000!  

Though the real purpose of these Egyptian pyramids is highly debated, it is astonishing that such mighty structures were constructed 4000 years ago.

3. Stones that Weigh More Than Elephants

 Imagine a time with no advanced machinery, when there were no cranes or forklifts. It was during this time when the Egyptians erected these pyramids with stones that weigh about 5-10 tons per piece!

All of these stones were hoisted and laid one by one on top of each other. We can only imagine how the processes were carried on.

Researchers are still working on figuring out how they achieved such a feat.

4. The Intricate Tunnels

 Another startling pyramid fact is that there exists an intricate web of passages, shafts and chambers under the pyramids. These tunnels behold hundreds of years of history and thousands of artifacts.

Although the Egyptian authorities have excavated and got hold of most of the found commodities, the details are not available to the common public.

5. The Slave Hoax

It was widely believed that slaves were tasked to build enormous pyramids. This was later contradicted and found out that it was paid workers who were the ones tasked with the construction.

Workers from around north and south, respected for their work, worked tirelessly. The worker tombs were discovered much around 2010; the body is preserved in the dry sand along with jars of beer and bread for the afterlife.

6. Ancient Air conditioner 

Another interesting fact about these extraordinary structures is that despite the harsh fluctuating temperatures of day and night, the great pyramids maintain a constant inside temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. Say Hola to the mother of ancient air conditioning.

7. A Pyramid Around the Coffer

Inside the main chamber of Giza is a coffer that is way too large to be brought in through the narrow entrance passage.

This realization led the archaeologists to believe that the great pyramid was built around the coffer and not brought in after construction.

8. How were They this Accurate 4500 Years Ago?

 The Egyptians used two constellations to align their pyramids in a north-south direction. One was big dipper and the other is the small dipper.

The tombs are aligned in north-south with an accuracy of up to 0.05 degrees. This happened in an era where modern-day precision tools were not even imaginable!

9. The Mystery Mortar

There is an old Arabic proverb which translates to “Man fears time, time fears the pyramids”. Pyramids are one of the oldest standing wonders.

The reason is the super adhesive mortar made to fix the stones in place. The mortar used in the construction of these pyramids has been analyzed over and over again.

But the exact combination of the ingredients is still a mystery. Almost 5,00,000 tons of mortar was used, and the strength is more than the stones itself.

10. Alignment with The Orion

The three pyramids of Giza are aligned exactly to be in line with the three stars of Orion belt. While creating a faithful mimicry of the Orion belt, the three pyramids of Giza actually point directly towards Orion’s belt.