Almost seven thousand years ago a great civilization emerged in the vast plains of Egypt. They started
buildings one of the wonders of the world, The Pyramids, from nearly 2630 BC till about 1530 BC. The
Step Pyramid at Saqqara, is the first one built in Egypt. It was built for King Khufu in Giza. This is also
called the Great Pyramid. This is included in the Seven Wonders of the World and is the only one that
has not disappeared from the face of the earth.
Now a question naturally arises in the mind that what was the raison d'etre behind building such huge
mega structures in the days when human labor was the only option at hand. In fact this question is
related to the religious view point of this great civilization. It was commonly believed that this pyramid
was a transitional place and from here the king will pass into the afterlife. There were always temples
near these pyramids where priest performed some sacred rituals so that the soul of the dead monarch
may be nourished. On the walls of these tombs hieroglyphs writings were carved which consisted in
hymns, magical spells and a list of directions about how to behave when presented before the gods.
These are also called Pyramid Texts.
So far so well; but now the main question that still astonishes modern mind about how these pyramids
were constructed. No one knows with surety about it because in the days when human society was in a
primitive stage and lacked even the basic machinery, how it became possible to build these mega
structures. Many people today believe that this task was beyond the capacity of human labor and
probably were built by the colossal hands of the giant. But a considerable majority is of the view that
huge ramps were developed to drag blocks of stones on sledges to top. Many archaeologists have found
some signs of such ramps near pyramids. The stones were rolled over these ramps to be brought from
other places to the venue where these structures were to be built. It looks that the slaves were
mercilessly used for this task. Now one can imagine how tough this task would have been in the days
when even there was no concept of a wheel, the most primitive of human inventions.
So this is almost unanimously believed that no giants or aliens were involved in the process. This
miracles was brought into being through the deft hands of human beings.
Most of the pyramids had some satellite pyramids and queens' pyramids around the main building. The
satellite buildings are too narrow to be used as burial places and their presence is a mystery that
remains yet to be solved. However the queen's pyramids were used for the burial of king's principal
wives.
Most famous pyramids discovered so far include the Great Pyramid of Khufu, Djoser step pyramid in
Saqqara and King Snefru pyramid in Meydum
King Khufu’s is often called the Great Pyramid. It is the largest and greatest of all pyramids. It is in a
desert near Giza. Near it are two small ones of Khafre and Menkaure. One is Khufu’s son while the other
is his grandson. This pyramid was built during King Khufu’s period which is 2551 BC to 2528 BC. It took
almost twenty to thirty years and hard work of millions of people to complete this grand pyramid.