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ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED TO MAHBUBA AFROJ JINIA LECTURER DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE STAMFORD UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH

Submitted By Shahin sultana Eity ID : ARC 042 05255 Department of Architecture Stamford University Bangladesh

INSIDE THE PYRAMID

T he pyramids are the stone tombs of Egypt's kings - the Pharaohs and one of the world's greatest historical mysteries. They have stood for thousands of years, filled with many hidden secrets: clues about what life (and death) was like in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians believed that if the pharaoh's body could be mummified after death the pharaoh would live forever. The tombs were designed to protect the buried Pharaoh's body and his belongings. The Egyptians believed that when they died, they would make a journey to another world where they would lead a new life. They would need all the things they had used when they were alive, so their families would put those things in their graves. Egyptians paid vast amounts of money to have their bodies properly preserved. Egyptians who were poor were buried in the sand whilst the rich ones were buried in a tomb.

History and description


THE EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS ARE ANCIENT PYRAMID SHAPED MASONRY STRUCTURES LOCATED IN EGYPT. THERE ARE 138 PYRAMIDS DISCOVERED IN EGYPT AS OF 2008.MOST WERE BUILT AS TOMBS FOR THE COUNTRY'S PHARAOHS AND THEIR CONSORTS DURING THE OLD AND MIDDLE KINGDOM PERIODS. THE EARLIEST KNOWN EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS ARE FOUND AT SAQQARA, NORTHWEST OF MEMPHIS. THE EARLIEST AMONG THESE IS THE PYRAMID OF DJOSER (CONSTRUCTED 2630 BC2611 BC) WHICH WAS BUILT DURING THE THIRD DYNASTY. THIS PYRAMID AND ITS SURROUNDING COMPLEX WERE DESIGNED BY THE ARCHITECT IMHOTEP, AND ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE THE WORLD'S OLDEST MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED OF DRESSED MASONRY THE ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF WORKERS IT TOOK TO BUILD THE PYRAMIDS HAVE A WIDE RANGE FROM A FEW THOUSAND, TWENTY THOUSAND, AND UP TO 100,000.

MATERIALS

The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million limestone blocks with most believed to have been transported from nearby quarries. The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the "King's" chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported from Aswan, more than 500 miles away. Traditionally, ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering wooden wedges into the stone which were then soaked with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, causing the rock to crack. Once they were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid.I t is estimated that 5.5 million tons of limestone, 8,000 tons of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tons of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.

CONSTRUCTION THEORIES
Many alternative, often contradictory, theories have been proposed regarding the pyramid's construction techniques. Most disagree on whether the blocks were dragged, lifted, or even rolled into place. The Greeks believed that slave labour was used, but modern discoveries made at nearby worker's camps associated with construction at Giza suggest it was built instead by tens of thousands of skilled workers. Verner posited that the labor was organized into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 100,000 men, divided into five zaa or phyle of 20,000 men each, which may have been further divided according to the skills of the workers. One mystery of the pyramid's construction is its planning. John Romer suggests that they used the same method that had been used for earlier and later constructions, laying out parts of the plan on the ground at a 1 to 1 scale. He writes that "such a working diagram would also serve to generate the architecture of the pyramid with precision unmatched by any other means." He also argues for a 14 year time span for its construction.

INTERIOR

The shape of Egyptian pyramids is thought to represent the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the earth was created. The shape of a pyramid is thought to be representative of the descending rays of the sun, and most pyramids were faced with polished, highly reflective white limestone, in order to give them a brilliant appearance when viewed from a distance. Pyramids were often also named in ways that referred to solar luminescence. For example, the formal name of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur The Southern Shining Pyramid, and that of Senwosret at el-Lahun was Senwosret is Shining. While it is generally agreed that pyramids were burial monuments, there is continued disagreement on the particular theological principles that might have given rise to them. One theory is that they were designed as a type of "resurrection machine." The Egyptians believed the dark area of the night sky around which the stars appear to revolve was the physical gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow shafts that extends from the main burial chamber through the entire body of the Great Pyramid points directly towards the center of this part of the sky. This suggests the pyramid may have been designed to serve as a means to magically launch the deceased pharaoh's soul directly into the abode of the gods. All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile, which as the site of the setting sun was associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.

NUMBER AND LOCATION OF PYRAMIDS


In 1842 Karl Richard Lepsius produced the first modern list of pyramids, in which he counted 67. A great many more have since been discovered. As of November 2008, 118 Egyptian pyramids have been identified. The location of Pyramid 29, which Lepsius called the "Headless Pyramid", was lost for a second time when the structure was buried by desert sands subsequent to Lepsius' survey. It was only found again during an archaeological dig conducted in 2008. Many pyramids are in a poor state of preservation or buried by desert sands. If visible at all they may appear as little more than mounds of rubble. As a consequence archaeologists are continuing to identify and study previously unknown pyramid structures.

The most recent pyramid to be discovered is that of Queen Sesheshet, mother of 6th Dynasty Pharaoh Teti, located at Saqqara. The discovery was announced by Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, on 11 November 2008. All of Egypt's pyramids, except the small Third Dynasty pyramid of Zawyet el-Amwat (or Zawyet elMayitin), are sited on the west bank of the Nile, and most are grouped together in a number of pyramid fields. The most important of these are listed geographically, from north to south, below

Abu Rawash Giza Zawyet el-Aryan Abu Sir Saqqara Dahshur Mazghuna Lisht Meidum Hawara el-Lahun

The shape of Egyptian pyramids is thought to represent the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the earth was created. The shape of a pyramid is thought to be representative of the descending rays of the sun, and most pyramids were faced with polished, highly reflective white limestone, in order to give them a brilliant appearance when viewed from a distance. Pyramids were often also named in ways that referred to solar luminescence. For example, the formal name of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur The Southern Shining Pyramid, and that of Senwosret at el-Lahun was Senwosret is Shining.

While it is generally agreed that pyramids were burial monuments, there is continued disagreement on the particular theological principles that might have given rise to them The Egyptians believed the dark area of the night sky around which the stars appear to revolve was the physical gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow shafts that extends from the main burial chamber through the entire body of the Great Pyramid points directly towards the center of this part of the sky. This suggests the pyramid may have been designed to serve as a means to magically launch the deceased pharaoh's soul directly into the abode of the gods.

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