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The pyramids are encircled
by several small pyramids of the royal family, and hundreds of
mastaba tombs of civil and religious functionaries of the Fifth
and Sixth Dynasties, followed by important dignitaries of the
Saite Era (XXVI Dynasty) and of the Persian Period (XXVII
Dynasty) who wanted to be buried with splendor alongside the
majestic pyramids.
Height: 481'.
Base: 775 3/4' each side.
Incline: 51 degrees 50'.
Average stone weights: core two-and-a-half tons,
facings four tons. Required 112 men to lift.
Construction material: limestone, basalt and
granite.
Excavation/restoration: surveyed in early 1800s by
Richard Howard-Vyse, John Perring and Giovanni Caviglia.
Notes: built from 2,300,000 blocks
covering 13 acres and requiring the equivalent of 200 million
man-loads (80 lbs), or 6,500,000 tons of material. The casing
stones (when intact) covered a surface of 22 acres. It is
estimated that 84,000 people were employed 80 days annually for
20 years to build the pyramid.
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Height: 471' (original).
Base: 707 3/4' each side.
Incline: 53 degrees 8'.
Average stone weights: core two to three tons,
facings six tons.
Construction material: limestone and red granite.
Excavation/restoration: extensively explored in 1818
by the Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni. Surveyed shortly after
by Richard Howard-Vyse, John Perring and Giovanni Caviglia.
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Height: 218'.
Base: 356 1/2'.
Incline: 51 degrees.
Average stone weights: N/A.
Construction material: limestone and red granite.
Excavation/restoration: surveyed in early 1800s by
Richard Howard-Vyse, John Perring and Giovanni Caviglia.
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Height: 66'.
Length: 240'.
Other: chin to head 30', face 20' wide.
Construction material: soft limestone.
Excavation/restoration: built from inferior rock,
the Sphinx has been undergoing restoration since Ptolemaic times.
Today it is under constant threat of disintegration and efforts
to save the Sphinx are ongoing. Also, sand needs to be
continually cleared, otherwise it will become buried within 20
years. Napoleon's expedition was the first to attempt clearing
the statue, but this was not actually accomplished until 1925.
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