Читать книгу Art History For Dummies - Jesse Bryant Wilder - Страница 109

Khufu (aka Cheops), who ruled Egypt between about 2589 BC and 2566 BC, erected the oldest and biggest of the Great Pyramids, completed in about 2560 BC. Khufu’s pyramid took roughly 20 years to build, stands 450 feet high, and is built on a 13-acre square base! Originally the pyramid stood at 481 feet, but its polished limestone veneer, which added about 30 feet to its height, has deteriorated.

Interesting points about the Khufu pyramid’s structure include these features:

 Alignment: The sides of the pyramid are equilateral triangles that face due north, south, east, and west. They are aligned perfectly to one-tenth of a degree to the cardinal points on a compass.

 Purpose: The pyramid is part of a vast funerary complex that includes two mortuary temples, three smaller pyramids for Khufu’s wives, another small pyramid for Khufu’s mother, a causeway, and mastabas for nobles linked to the pharaoh.

 Shape: The pyramid shape duplicates the sun’s rays streaming through an opening in a cloud. Because Egyptians believed that a deceased pharaoh rode to heaven on the sun god’s rays, the perfect pyramid may have been designed to facilitate his skyward ascent with a more direct route than the Step Pyramid offered.

The second largest pyramid is Khafre’s at 446 feet. The base covers 11 acres. It is accompanied by the Great Sphinx and a temple complex similar to Khufu’s. Menkaura’s pyramid, the third of the three Great Pyramids, is a dwarf compared to the other two, standing at just 203 feet.

Although pharaohs continued building pyramids until the New Kingdom, the great age of pyramid building ended with the Old Kingdom. Middle Kingdom pyramids are much less grand.