Khufu (or Cheops) is the third pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, who ruled in 2551–2528 or, according to other sources, in 2589–2566 BC. e., which probably everyone knows thanks to the Great Pyramid. His full name was Khnum-Khufu, which means “Khufu, protected by Khnum,” the wrong reading of the name as Cheops came to us from Herodotus.
Memories of the reign of Pharaoh Cheops remained in Egypt not very good: from the legends the image of a typical eastern tyrant is born, for whom human life meant nothing, and his own whims were law.
The main goal of the state during the reign of Cheops was the construction of the pyramid. Even the temples lost their traditional privileges, not to mention the population, which did not have time to feed themselves, since they were almost constantly busy building the pyramid. According to many historians, it was this construction that not only led to the weakening of the Egyptian state, but also caused the fall of the Fourth Dynasty. Whether it was so in reality, or is it just speculation, or maybe a malicious slander of the founders of the Fifth Dynasty - it's hard to say.
Nevertheless, the first of the wonders of the world - the Great Pyramid - is associated precisely with the name Cheops. And she is the only one of the ancient miracles that has survived to our time. The pyramid with a height of 146.6 m (this was the case in the time of Khufu; today, due to the loss of the upper granite stone, the pyramidion, as a result of an earthquake, the height is 137.5 m) has amazed the imagination for 3500 years. And it never ceases to amaze.
It is believed that they were able to surpass the building of Cheops in height only at the end of the 19th century, when the Eiffel Tower (300 m) was erected. But it is not so. Lincoln Cathedral (160 m), erected in 1092-1311 and collapsed in 1549, St. Olaf's Church in Tallinn (159 m), which stood in its original form from 1519 to 1625, before a lightning strike and subsequent rebuilding, were superior, as we we see the height of the Great Pyramid. However, not much. In the 19th century, a number of buildings also surpassed the Great Pyramid: the Church of St. Nicholas in Hamburg, Notre Dame Cathedral, Cologne Cathedral and Washington Memorial. All of them were built before the Parisian miracle. But the record of the Great Pyramid held out for quite some time.
It is believed that for the construction of his tomb Khufu chose the plateau in Giza and thus initiated the construction of the pyramids intended for the rulers of his dynasty. The complex of three pyramids of Giza - Cheops, Khephren and Mikerin, as well as the Great Sphinx, became the best example of ancient Egyptian architecture.
The Pyramid of Cheops
The head of construction work and the architect of the Cheops pyramid is considered Hemiun, also known as Hemenui - a cousin or, rather, nephew of Pharaoh Cheops.
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The pyramid is composed of 2.3 million blocks of limestone, fitted together with such precision that there is still controversy over construction methods to this day. In addition to the filigree fit, the strength of the structure was also achieved due to a special lime mortar - it was poured into the space between the stones, and it filled all the potholes and cracks. Each block weighs about two tons. Most of the limestone for the construction was mined right at the foot of the pyramid, but the white limestone for facing was delivered from the other side of the river. So at first the pyramid was whiter than snow, but during the construction of the medieval Fustat (later - Cairo) the facing was removed.
Also dismantled and the funeral temple of limestone, which stood on the eastern side of the pyramid, which today is reminded only of the remains of the black basalt floor. The temple in the valley was built up by an Arab village, and only in 1991, during the sewerage, some of its parts were revealed during excavations.
The pyramid of Cheops has three burial chambers located one above the other. Another was carved into the rocky base, and a 120-meter narrow inclined corridor leads to it, but it remained unfinished. It is connected with the first chamber by a horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high. The other two chambers are traditionally called the tomb of the queen and the tomb of the king.
Near the Great Pyramid, usually on the western side, for the burials of courtiers who were supposed to serve their master after death. On the eastern side, there are three small pyramids of the Pharaoh's queens.
According to Herodotus, the central pyramid with a base side of 46 m was built by the daughter of Pharaoh Cheops, whom he even sent to a brothel to earn money for the construction of the Great Pyramid. But this, of course, is fiction - Khufu had quite enough income even without the sale of daughters. Two more pyramids, most likely, belong to the sister and part-time wife of the pharaoh, as well as to his half-sister, Queen Henutsen.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, at the eastern side of the pyramid, the grave of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Cheops, was found. But, despite the presence of various values in the burial, the main thing - the remains of the queen - was not there. Most likely, the original burial of the queen was plundered, and then the courtiers, fearing to anger the pharaoh, moved the "grave" without giving it into "unnecessary" details.
Pharaoh Cheops' solar boat
1954 - the Arab Egyptologist Kamal al-Malach discovered a wooden boat of Cheops, built of cedar without a single nail and, as evidenced by the traces of silt preserved on it, which had sailed along the Nile shortly before the death of the pharaoh. The boat, which is 43.5 meters long, was divided into 650 parts, but by 1982 it was completely restored. The last discovery was made already in 2004, when two French amateur archaeologists discovered a previously unknown corridor inside the pyramid.
The father of history Herodotus, who visited Egypt around 440-450 BC. e., in addition to the story of the daughter of Khufu, transfers from the words of the priests a few more facts, which can already be trusted much more. In particular, he wrote that it took Khufu 10 years to build a kilometer-long paved road from the temple in the valley to the funeral temple, and it took 20 years to build the pyramid itself.
He also reports that, according to the inscription on the outside of the pyramid, only the cost of food for the workers (and the food was quite simple: radish, onion and garlic) for the entire time of work was 1600 talents of silver. Translations into modern currency always suffer from inaccuracy, but to represent the scale of the numbers, let's say that in silver equivalent it is more than 7.5 million dollars. The Athenian Parthenon, by the way, cost only 700 talents. Diodorus Siculus, another of the ancient historians, claimed that 360,000 Egyptians were employed in the construction of the pyramid.
However, any greatness, as you know, sooner or later is ridiculed. 831 - The Great Pyramid interested Baghdad Caliph al-Mamun - the son of the legendary Harun al-Rashid. However, he stayed here on completely different matters: he strengthened the rebellious empire. But, having drowned the riot in blood, he decided that it would be a sin not to take the opportunity and not to look at what treasures are hidden in the pyramid. Al-Mamun could not find the buried entrance and therefore decided to simply break through the wall.
And among his entourage, and among the local residents, there were plenty of opponents of this idea. Some said that the gods would punish him for this, but al-Mamun was not afraid of this, while others believed that such a nut could not be cracked at all, but al-Mamun had a rich experience of taking fortresses. He ordered to pour boiling vinegar on the northern edge of the pyramid to weaken the masonry, and to beat it with a ram. Soon the Great Pyramid succumbed, and after the extraction of two hundred blocks, a passage opened into the Great Gallery, leading to the burial chamber.
But the caliph did not find any valuables there. In a rage, he ordered the destruction of the pyramids, but the Arabs were too weak against the ancient greatness of Egypt - the pyramids remained standing.
A. Popov