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The Giza Plateau
Khufu chose a virgin site on the desert plateau at Giza for a new royal cemetery – and more importantly for his own tomb – the Great Pyramid. The election to move to Giza could well have been influenced by a desire to distinguish his eternal resting place from those of his predecessors. Khufu’s pyramid represents the culmination of an architectural tradition of pyramid building that stretches back to the 3rd dynasty Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara. Not only is its scale unsurpassed, but no other pyramid can match it for the accuracy and perfection of its dimensions. The pyramid erected here by Khafre is almost equal in size to that built by his father Khufu. Its location on a bluff of the Giza plateau, some 10 metres above the site of the Great Pyramid, creates the optical illusion that it is in fact taller than Khufu’s monument. In fact, it is just 3 metres shorter in height. Standing as a foreboding sentinel for the pyramid complex of Khafre, and for that matter the entire Giza necropolis, the statue of the Sphinx has continued to beguile visitors from ancient times down to the present day. The Sphinx is the Egyptians’ first known attempt at monumental stone sculpture. It presents the head of Khafre, replete with royal insignia, atop the body of a lion. It was, without doubt, an important solar symbol and a grand statement to promote the divine powers of the king.
- Pyramid of Khufu - 15:36
- Pyramids of Khafre & Menkaure - 13:08
