View source for Great Pyramid of Giza

{{Short description|Largest pyramid in the Giza Necropolis, Egypt}}
{{Redirect|Great Pyramid|the pyramid in Mexico|Great Pyramid of Cholula}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox pyramid
|name=Great Pyramid of Giza|image=
Great Pyramid of Giza - Pyramid of Khufu.jpg|image_size=300px|caption=The Great Pyramid in 2023
|owner=[[Khufu]] ([[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Dynasty IV]])
|date={{circa|2600 BC}} ([[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]])<br>{{circa|4600}} years ago
|type=[[Pyramid|True pyramid]]
|material=Limestone, mortar, granite
|height=Original: {{convert|146.6|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} or 280 [[cubit]]s<br />Current: {{convert|138.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
|base={{convert|230.33|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} or 440 cubits
|volume={{convert|2.6|e6m3|e6ft3|0|abbr=unit}}|slope=51°50'40" or ''[[seked]]'' of {{Sfrac|5|1|2}} [[Palm (unit)#Ancient Egypt|palms]]{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=108}}
|architect=[[Hemiunu]] (presumed)
|map_type=Egypt#Africa|relief=yes|map dot label=Great Pyramid|map_size=250px
|embedded={{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site|child = yes
| Part_of     = [[Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur]]
| Criteria    = Cultural: i, iii, vi
| ID          = 86-002
| Year        = 1979
| Area      = [[List of World Heritage Sites in the Arab States|Arab states]]
}}{{Infobox building | embed = yes
| highest_region = the world
| highest_start   = {{circa|2600 BC}}
| highest_end     = 1311 AD
| highest_prev    = [[Red Pyramid]] (Egypt)
| highest_next    = [[Lincoln Cathedral]] (England){{Dubious|When was the record height surpassed?|date=May 2022}}
| image_map=File:Giza pyramid complex (map).svg
}}
|map_caption=Location within [[Egypt]]##Location within [[Africa]]
|ancient={{center|[[File:Akhet-Khufu.svg]]<br />'''Akhet Khufu'''<br />''Khufu's  Horizon''{{sfnp|Verner|2001|p=189}}}}
|coordinates={{Coord|29|58|45|N|31|08|03|E|region:EG_type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline,title}}}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

The '''Great Pyramid of Giza'''{{Efn|Also known as the '''Pyramid of Khufu''' or the '''Pyramid of Cheops''' ({{langx|ar|هرم خوفو|Haram Khufu}})}} is the largest [[Egyptian pyramid]]. It served as the tomb of [[pharaoh]] [[Khufu]] ("Cheops"), who ruled during the [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]] of the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]]. Built {{Circa|2600 BC}}<ref name="Ramsey2010" /> over a period of about 26 years,{{sfn|Tallet|2017||p=160}} the pyramid is the oldest of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], and the only wonder that has remained largely intact. It is the most famous monument of the [[Giza pyramid complex]], which is part of the [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] "[[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] and its [[Memphite Necropolis|Necropolis]]".<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web |title=Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/86 |access-date=7 September 2021 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization}}</ref> It is situated at the northeastern end of the line of the three main pyramids at [[Giza]].

Initially standing at {{convert|146.6|m|ft|abbr=off}}, the Great Pyramid was the world's [[List of tallest buildings and structures#History|tallest human-made structure]] for more than 3,800 years. Over time, most of the smooth white [[limestone]] casing was removed, which lowered the pyramid's height to the current {{Convert|138.5|m|ft|1}}; what is seen today is the underlying core structure. The base was measured to be about {{Convert|230.3|m|ft|1}} square, giving a volume of roughly {{convert|2.6|e6m3|abbr=off|e6ft3}}, which includes an internal hillock.{{sfn|Lehner|Hawass|2017|pp=143, 530–531}} The dimensions of the pyramid were {{convert|280|royal cubit|m+ft|1|lk=in}} high, a base length of {{convert|440|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}}, with a ''[[seked]]'' of {{sfrac|5|1|2}} palms (a slope of 51°50'40").

The Great Pyramid was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks, weighing 6 million tonnes in total. The majority of the stones are not uniform in size or shape, and are only roughly dressed.<ref name="Fabric">{{Cite journal |last=Lehner |first=Mark |date=2002 |title=The Fabric of a Pyramid: Ground Truth |url=https://aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/aeragram5_2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402214937/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram5_2.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-02 |url-status=live |journal=Aeragram |volume=5_2 |pages=4–5}}</ref> The outside layers were bound together by [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]]. Primarily local limestone from the [[Giza Plateau]] was used for its construction. Other blocks were imported by boat on the [[Nile]]: white limestone from [[Tura, Egypt|Tura]] for the casing, and blocks of [[granite]] from [[Aswan]], weighing up to 80 tonnes, for the "King's Chamber" structure.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=207}}

There are three known chambers inside of the Great Pyramid. The lowest was cut into the [[bedrock]], upon which the pyramid was built, but remained unfinished. The so-called{{sfn|Romer|2007|p=8|ps="By themselves, of course, none of these modern labels define the ancient purposes of the architecture they describe."}} Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber, which contain a granite sarcophagus, are above ground, within the pyramid structure. [[Hemiunu]], Khufu's [[Vizier (Ancient Egypt)|vizier]], is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid.{{sfn|Shaw|2003|p=89}} Many varying scientific and alternative hypotheses attempt to explain the exact [[Egyptian pyramid construction techniques|construction techniques]], but, as is the case for other such structures, there is no definite consensus.

The [[Ancient Egyptian funerary practices|funerary complex]] around the pyramid consisted of two [[mortuary temple]]s connected by a causeway (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile); tombs for the immediate family and court of Khufu, including three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives; an even smaller "satellite pyramid"; and five buried [[solar barque]]s.

== Purpose ==
[[File:Statue of Khufu in the Cairo Egyptian Museum.jpg|thumb|Statue of pharaoh [[Khufu]]/Cheops, [[Cairo Museum]].]]
The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tomb of pharaoh Khufu,{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=10}} and still contains his granite sarcophagus.{{Sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=24}} It had, like other tombs of Egyptian elites, four main purposes:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roeten |first=Leo |title=The Decoration on the Cult Chapel Walls of the Old Kingdom Tombs at Giza |publisher=BRILL |year=2014 |isbn=9789004265462 |pages=1}}</ref>

* It housed the body of the deceased and kept it safe.{{Sfn|Kanawati|2005|p=56}}
* It demonstrated the status of the deceased and his family.
* It retained the deceased's place in society.
* It was a place where offerings could be brought to the deceased.

{{Blockquote|text=Make your grave well furnished and prepare thy place in the west.{{br}}Look, death counts little for us. Look, life is valued highly by us.{{br}}The house of the dead (the tomb) is for life.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Archaeology of Pharaonic Egypt: Society and Culture, 2700–1700 BC |first1=Richard |last1=Bussmann |year=2023 |page=202}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Teaching of Hordjedef|website=Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst|url=https://smaek.de/en/news/lehre-des-hordjedef/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Tod und Jenseits im Alten Ägypten|year=2003|last=Assmann|first=Jan|page=15|lang=de}}</ref>|author=Excerpt from the [[Instruction of Hardjedef]] (son of Khufu)}}

In ancient Egypt, high social status was considered absolutely positive, and the monumental social inequalities were symbolized by gigantic pyramids versus smaller [[mastaba]]s. The sizes of tombs were regulated officially, with their allowed dimensions written down in royal [[decree]]s. In the Old Kingdom only kings and queens could have a pyramid tomb. Architectural layout and funeral equipment were also sanctioned, and were, like access to material and workers, at the discretion of the king.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alexanian |first=Nicole |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/264/full/ |title=The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference held in Prague |year=2006 |pages=1–8 |chapter=Tomb and Social Status. The Textual Evidence}}</ref>

The Great Pyramid's internal chambers lack inscriptions and decorations, the norm for Egyptian tombs of the fourth to late fifth dynasty, apart from work-gang graffiti that include Khufu's names.{{sfn|Kanawati|2005|p=55}} Constructed around 2600 BC, it predates the custom of inscribing [[Pyramid Texts|pyramids with text]] by over 200 years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Allen |first=James P. |title=The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts |year=2015 |pages=1, 15–16}}</ref><ref name="Ramsey2010" />

The pyramid complex of Khufu included two temples that were lavishly decorated and inscribed. The pyramid temple was dedicated to the [[Sed festival]], celebrating Khufu's 30th jubilee.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lehner |first=Mark |date=2020 |title=Khufu's 30-Year Jubilee - Newly Discovered Pieces of a Puzzle |url=https://aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/aeragram21_1-2.pdf |journal=AERAgram |volume=21 |issue=1&2 |pages=16–17}}</ref> Surviving scenes portray Khufu, officials, priests and other characters performing rituals. The valley temple remains largely unexcavated, but blocks reused by [[Amenemhat I]] depict, for instance, nautical scenes and personifications of the estates of Khufu (e.g. the estate "Khufu is beautiful").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goedicke |first=Hans |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Re_Used_Blocks_from_the_Pyramid_of_Amenemhet_I_at_Lisht |title=Re-Used Blocks from the Pyramid of Amenemhet I at Lisht |year=1971 |author-link=}}</ref> The mortuary cult of Khufu which operated in these temples for hundreds of years indicates that Khufu was successfully interred in the Great Pyramid.{{sfn|Hassan|1960|p=12}} That the funeral was carried out by Khufu's son and successor [[Djedefre]] is evidenced by the presence of his [[cartouche]]s on the blocks that sealed the boat pits next to the pyramid.{{Sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=72}}

The Great Pyramid was likely looted as early as the [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt|First Intermediate Period]] and may have been reused afterwards.{{Sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=8}} Arab accounts tell stories of [[mummies]] and treasures being found inside the pyramid. For instance, [[Al-Maqrizi]] (1364–1442) reports the discovery of three shrouded bodies, a sarcophagus filled with gold, and a corpse in golden armour with a sword of inestimable value and a ruby as large as an egg.{{Sfn|Vyse|1840b|p=352-357}}

== Attribution to Khufu ==
[[File:Khufu seal.jpg|thumb|Clay seal bearing the name of the Great Pyramid which includes Khufu's cartouche, c. 664 BC {{En dash}} c. 332 BC,  [[Louvre]] museum]]
[[File:Goyon-inscriptions-divers23.jpg|thumb|Khufu's cartouche found inscribed on a backing stone of the pyramid]]
Historically the Great Pyramid had been attributed to Khufu based on the words of authors of [[classical antiquity]], first and foremost [[Herodotus]] and [[Diodorus Siculus]]. During the [[Middle Ages]] other people were credited with the construction of the pyramid as well, for example [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph from the Book of Genesis]], [[Nimrod]], or the legendary king [[Surid Ibn Salhouk|Saurid ibn Salhouk]].{{sfn|Greaves|1752|p=612}}

In 1837 four additional [[#Relieving chambers|relieving chambers]] were found above the King's Chamber after tunnelling to them. The chambers, previously inaccessible, were covered in hieroglyphs of red paint. The workers who were building the pyramid had marked the blocks with the names of their gangs, which included the pharaoh's name (e.g.: "The gang, The [[Hedjet|white crown]] of Khnum-Khufu is powerful"). The names of Khufu were spelled out on the walls over a dozen times. Another of these graffiti was found by [[Georges Goyon|Goyon]] on an exterior block of the 4th layer of the pyramid.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Georges|first=Goyon|title=Les inscriptions et graffiti des voyageurs sur la grande pyramide|year=1944}}</ref> The inscriptions are comparable to those found at other sites of Khufu, such as the alabaster quarry at Hatnub<ref>{{Cite web|title=This 4,500-Year-Old Ramp Contraption May Have Been Used to Build Egypt's Great Pyramid|website=[[Live Science]]|date=31 October 2018|url=https://www.livescience.com/63978-great-pyramid-ramp-discovered.html}}</ref> or the harbour at [[Wadi al-Jarf]], and are present in pyramids of other pharaohs as well.<ref name="Reisner1931">{{Cite book|last=Reisner|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/130/full/|title=Mycerinus: The Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza|year=1931|pages=275, Plan XI, XII}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Quack|first=Joachim|date=2004|title=Von [xwfw] zu Cheops. Transformationen eines Königsnamens.|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/545/full/|journal=SOKAR|volume=9|pages=3–5}}</ref>

Throughout the 20th century the cemeteries next to the pyramid were excavated. Family members and high officials of Khufu were buried in the [[Giza East Field|East Field]] south of the causeway, and the [[Giza West Field|West Field]], including the wives, children and grandchildren of Khufu, [[Hemiunu]], [[Ankhhaf|Ankhaf]] and (the funerary cache of) [[Hetepheres I]], mother of Khufu. As Hassan puts it: "From the early dynastic times, it was always the custom for the relatives, friends and courtiers to be buried in the vicinity of the king they had served during life. This was quite in accordance with the Egyptian idea of the Hereafter."

The cemeteries were actively expanded until the 6th dynasty and used less frequently afterwards. The earliest pharaonic name of seal impressions is that of Khufu, the latest of [[Pepi II]]. Worker [[Graffito (archaeology)|graffiti]] were written on some of the stones of the tombs as well; for instance, "Mddw" ([[Horus name]] of Khufu) on the [[mastaba]] of Chufunacht, probably a grandson of Khufu.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jánosi|first=Peter|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/434/full/|title=Giza in der 4 Dynastie. Die Baugeschichte und Belegung einer Nekropole des Alten Reiches. Band I: Die Mastabas der Kernfriedhöfe und die Felsgräber.|year=2005}}</ref>

Some inscriptions in the chapels of the mastabas (like the pyramid, their burial chambers were usually bare of inscriptions) mention Khufu or his pyramid. For instance, an inscription of Mersyankh III states that "Her mother [is the] daughter of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Khufu." Most often these references are part of a title, for example, Snnw-ka, "Chief of the Settlement and Overseer of the Pyramid City of Akhet-Khufu"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Der Manuelian |first=Peter |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/566/full/ |title=Mastabas of Nucleus Cemetery G 2100 |series=Giza Mastabas |volume=8}}</ref> or Nykahap, "priest of Khufu who presides over the pyramid Akhet-Khufu".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simpson |first=William Kelly |url=http://www.gizapyramids.org/static/html/gizamastabas4.jsp |title=Mastabas of the Western Cemetery |year=1980 |series=Giza Mastabas |volume=4 |pages=34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Image of the titles of Nykahap on a false door jamb in the chapel of his tomb G 2352 |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/ancientpeople/2486/full/}}</ref> Several tomb owners have a king's name as part of their own name (e.g. Chufudjedef, Chufuseneb, Merichufu). The earliest pharaoh alluded to in that manner at Giza is Snefru (Khufu's father).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jánosi|first=Peter|date=2002|title=Bemerkungen zur Entstehung, Lage und Datierung der Nekropolenfelder von Giza unter Cheops.|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/534/full/|journal=SOKAR|volume=4|pages=4–9}}</ref>{{sfn|Hassan|1960}}

In 1936 Hassan uncovered a [[Stele|stela]] of [[Amenhotep II]] near the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]], which implies the two larger pyramids were still attributed to Khufu and [[Khafre]] in the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]. It reads: "He yoked the horses in Memphis, when he was still young, and stopped at the Sanctuary of Hor-em-akhet (the Sphinx). He spent a time there in going round it, looking at the beauty of the Sanctuary of Khufu and Khafra the revered."{{sfn|Hassan|1960|p=3}}

In 1954 two boat pits, one containing the [[Khufu ship]], were discovered buried at the south foot of the pyramid. The cartouche of Djedefre was found on many of the blocks that covered the boat pits. As the successor and eldest son he would have presumably been responsible for the burial of Khufu.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Nancy|url=http://www.gizapyramids.org/static/pdf%20library/jenkins_boat.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403023629/http://gizapyramids.org/static/pdf%20library/jenkins_boat.pdf |archive-date=2014-04-03 |url-status=live|title=The Boat Beneath the Pyramid|year=1980|isbn=978-0030570612|pages=50|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston }}</ref>{{Sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=72}} The second boat pit was examined in 1987; excavation work started in 2010. Graffiti on the stones included 4 instances of the name "Khufu", 11 instances of "Djedefre", a year (in reign, season, month and day), measurements of the stone, various signs and marks, and a reference line used in construction, all done in red or black ink.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yoshimura|first1=Sakuji|last2=Kurokochi|first2=Hiromasa|date=2013|title=Research Report: Brief Report of the Project of the Second Boat of King Khufu|url=https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jaei/article/view/16498|journal=Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections|volume=5-1|pages=85–89}}</ref>

During excavations in 2013 the [[Diary of Merer]] was found at [[Wadi al-Jarf]]. It documents the transportation of white [[limestone block]]s from Tura to the Great Pyramid, which is mentioned by its original name Akhet Khufu (with a pyramid [[determinative]]) dozens of times. It details that the stones were accepted at She Akhet-Khufu ("the pool of the pyramid Horizon of Khufu") and Ro-She Khufu ("the entrance to the pool of Khufu"), which were under supervision of [[Ankhhaf]], the half brother and vizier of Khufu, and the owner of the largest mastaba of the [[Giza East Field]].{{sfn|Tallet|2017}}
{{Clear}}

== Age ==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
|+Modern estimates of dating the Great Pyramid and Khufu's first regnal year
!Author (year)
!Estimated date
|-
|Greaves (1646){{sfn|Greaves|1752|pp=615–623}}
|align="right"|1266 BC
|-
|Gardiner (1835)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=John|url=https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/wilkinson1835/|title=Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice|year=1835|pages=508}}</ref>
|align="right"|2123 BC
|-
|Lepsius (1849)<ref name="Lepsius1849">{{Cite book|last=Lepsius|first=Richard|url=https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10348030?page=23|title=Die Chronologie der Ägypter|year=1849|location=Berlin|pages=220, 301}}</ref>
|align="right"|3124 BC
|-
|Bunsen (1860)<ref name="Bunsen1860">{{Cite book|last=Bunsen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2oFJAAAAMAAJ|title=Egypt's Place in Universal History|year=1860|volume=4|pages=502}}</ref>
|align="right"|3209 BC
|-
|Mariette (1867)<ref name="Mariette1867">{{Cite book|last=Mariette|first=August|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QlFAAAAIAAJ|title=Outlines of Ancient Egyptian History|year=1892|pages=78}}</ref>
|align="right"|4235 BC
|-
|Breasted (1906)<ref name="Breasted1906">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924082479233|title=Ancient records of Egypt; historical documents from the earliest times to the Persian conquest|year=1906|pages=40|publisher=Chicago, The University of Chicago Press; [etc., etc.]}}</ref>
|align="right"|2900 BC
|-
|Hassan (1960){{sfn|Hassan|1960|p=49}}
|align="right"|2700 BC
|-
|O'Mara (1997)<ref name="O'Mara1997">{{Cite journal|last=O'Mara|first=Patrick|date=1997|title=Can the Giza Pyramids be Dated Astronomically? IV. Some Lunar Dates from the 4th and 5th Dynasties.|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/715/full/|journal=Discussions in Egyptology|volume=38|pages=63–82}}</ref>
|align="right"|2700 BC
|-
|Beckarath (1997)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jürgen|first=Beckarath|title=Chronologie des pharaonischen Ägypten: Die Zeitbestimmung der ägyptischen Geschichte von der Vorzeit bis 332 v. Chr.|year=1997}}</ref>
|align="right"|2554 BC
|-
|Arnold (1999)<ref name="Arnold1999">{{Cite book|last=Arnold|first=Dorothea|author-link=Dorothea Arnold|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/when_the_pyramids_were_built_egyptian_art_of_the_old_kingdom|title=When the Pyramids Were Built: Egyptian Art of the Old Kingdom|pages=10}}</ref>
|align="right"|2551 BC
|-
|Spence (2000)<ref name="Spence2000">{{Cite journal|last=Spence|first=Kate|date=2000|title=Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/35042510|journal=Nature|volume=408|issue=6810|pages=320–324|doi=10.1038/35042510|pmid=11099032|bibcode=2000Natur.408..320S|s2cid=4327498 | issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
|align="right"|2480 BC
|-
|Shaw (2000)<ref name="Shaw2000">{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Ian|title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0192804587|pages=479–483}}</ref>
|align="right"|2589 BC
|-
|Hornung (2006)<ref name="Hornung2006">{{Cite journal|last=Hornung|first=Erik|title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology|url=https://www.academia.edu/4161244|journal=Handbook of Oriental Studies|date=January 2006|volume=83}}</ref>
|align="right"|2509 BC
|-
|Ramsey et al. (2010)<ref name="Ramsey2010">{{Cite journal|date=2010|title=Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44683433|journal=Science|volume=328|bibcode=2010Sci...328.1554R|last1=Ramsey|first1=Christopher Bronk|last2=Dee|first2=Michael W.|last3=Rowland|first3=Joanne M.|last4=Higham|first4=Thomas F. G.|last5=Harris|first5=Stephen A.|last6=Brock|first6=Fiona|last7=Quiles|first7=Anita|last8=Wild|first8=Eva M.|last9=Marcus|first9=Ezra S.|last10=Shortland|first10=Andrew J.|issue=5985|pages=1554–1557|doi=10.1126/science.1189395|pmid=20558717|s2cid=206526496}}</ref>
|align="right"|2613–2577 BC
|}
The Great Pyramid has been determined to be about 4,600 years old by two principal approaches: indirectly, through its attribution to Khufu and his chronological age, based on archaeological and textual evidence; and directly, via radiocarbon dating of organic material found in the pyramid and included in its mortar.

=== Historical chronology ===
{{Main|Egyptian chronology}}
In the past the Great Pyramid was dated by its attribution to Khufu alone, putting the construction of the Great Pyramid within his reign, hence dating the pyramid was a matter of dating Khufu and the 4th dynasty. The relative sequence and synchronicity of events is the focal point of this method.

Absolute calendar dates are derived from an interlocked network of evidence, the backbone of which are the lines of succession known from ancient king lists and other texts. The reign lengths from Khufu to known points in the earlier past are summated, bolstered with genealogical data, astronomical observations, and other sources. As such, the historical chronology of Egypt is primarily a political chronology, thus independent from other types of archaeological evidence like [[stratigraphy|stratigraphies]], material culture, or radiocarbon dating.

The majority of recent chronological estimates date Khufu and his pyramid between 2700 and 2500 BC.<ref name="Höflmayer2016">{{Cite book|last=Höflmayer|first=Felix|date=2016|title=Radiocarbon Dating and Egyptian Chronology – From the "Curve of Knowns" to Bayesian Modeling|chapter=Radiocarbon Dating and Egyptian Chronology—From the "Curve of Knowns" to Bayesian Modeling |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.013.64|isbn=978-0-19-993541-3 |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-64#oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-64-div1-5}}</ref>

=== Radiocarbon dating ===
[[File:Specimen of mortar from the Great Pyramid MET 23.187 EGDP017918.jpg|thumb|Specimen of mortar from between core blocks of the Great Pyramid]]
Mortar was used generously in the Great Pyramid's construction. In the mixing process ashes from fires were added to the mortar, organic material that could be extracted and [[radiocarbon dated]]. A total of 46 samples of the mortar were taken in 1984 and 1995, making sure they were clearly inherent to the original structure and could not have been incorporated at a later date. The results were calibrated to 2871–2604 BC. The [[old wood problem]] is thought to be mainly responsible for the 100–300 year offset, since the age of the organic material was determined, not when it was last used. A reanalysis of the data gave a completion date for the pyramid between 2620 and 2484 BC, based on the younger samples.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1995|title=Radiocarbon Dates of Old and Middle Kingdom Monuments in Egypt|journal=Radiocarbon|doi=10.1017/S0033822200038558|publication-date=2016|last1=Bonani|first1=Georges|last2=Haas|first2=Herbert|last3=Hawass|first3=Zahi|last4=Lehner|first4=Mark|last5=Nakhla|first5=Shawki|last6=Nolan|first6=John|last7=Wenke|first7=Robert|last8=Wölfli|first8=Willy|volume=43|issue=3|pages=1297–1320|s2cid=58893491|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2009|title=Reanalysis of the Chronological Discrepancies Obtained by the Old and Middle Kingdom Monuments Project|journal=Radiocarbon|volume=51|bibcode=2009Radcb..51.1061D |last1=Dee |first1=M. W. |last2=Bronk Ramsey |first2=C. |last3=Shortland |first3=A. J. |last4=Higham |first4=T. F. G. |last5=Rowland |first5=J. M. |issue=3 |page=1061 |doi=10.1017/S0033822200034111 |s2cid=59521452 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=How old are the pyramids?|date=10 September 2009|url=https://www.aeraweb.org/projects/how-old-are-the-pyramids/}}</ref>

In 1872 [[Waynman Dixon]] opened the lower pair of "Air-Shafts", previously closed at both ends, by chiseling holes into the walls of the Queen's Chamber. One of the objects found within was a cedar plank, which came into possession of James Grant, a friend of Dixon. After inheritance it was donated to the Museum of Aberdeen in 1946; however, it had broken into pieces and was filed incorrectly. Lost in the vast museum collection, it was only rediscovered in 2020, when it was radiocarbon dated to 3341–3094 BC, over 500 years older than Khufu's chronological age. [[Abeer Eladany]] suggests that the wood originated from the centre of a long-lived tree or had been recycled for many years prior to being deposited in the pyramid.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/14573/|title=Missing 5,000-year-old piece of Great Pyramid puzzle discovered in cigar box in Aberdeen &#124; News &#124; The University of Aberdeen|website=www.abdn.ac.uk |date=16 December 2020 }}</ref>

=== History of dating Khufu and the Great Pyramid ===
Circa 450 BC Herodotus attributed the Great Pyramid to Cheops (Hellenization of Khufu), yet erroneously placed his reign following the [[Ramesside period]]. [[Manetho]], around 200 years later, composed an extensive list of Egyptian kings, which he divided into dynasties, assigning Khufu to the 4th. However, after phonetic changes in the Egyptian language and consequently the Greek translation, "Cheops" had transformed into "Souphis" (and similar versions).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Quack |first=Joachim |date=2004 |title=Von [xwfw] zu Cheops. Transformationen eines Königsnamens |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/545/full/ |journal=SOKAR |language=de |volume=9 |pages=3–5 |ref=Quack2004 |via=From [xwfw] to Cheops. Transformations of a king's name}}</ref>

[[John Greaves|Greaves]], in 1646, reported the great difficulty of ascertaining a date for the pyramid's construction based on the lacking and conflicting historic sources. Because of the differences in spelling, he did not recognize Khufu on Manetho's king list (as transcribed by [[Sextus Julius Africanus|Africanus]] and [[Eusebius]]),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pharaoh.se/comparing-manetho|title=Comparing the king lists of Manetho|first=Peter|last=Lundström|website=Pharaoh.se}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2023}} hence he relied on Herodotus' incorrect account. Summating the duration of lines of succession, Greaves concluded 1266 BC to be the beginning of Khufu's reign.{{sfn|Greaves|1752|pp=615–623}}

Two centuries later, some of the gaps and uncertainties in Manetho's chronology had been cleared by discoveries such as the King Lists of [[Turin King List|Turin]], [[Abydos King List|Abydos]], and [[Karnak King List|Karnak]]. The names of Khufu found within the Great Pyramid's relieving chambers in 1837 helped to make clear that Cheops and Souphis are one and the same. Thus the Great Pyramid was recognized to have been built in the 4th dynasty.<ref name="Lepsius1849" /> The dating among Egyptologists still varied by multiple centuries (around 4000–2000 BC), depending on methodology, preconceived religious notions (such as the [[Genesis flood narrative|biblical deluge]]) and which source they thought was more credible.

Estimates significantly narrowed in the 20th century, most being within 250 years of each other, around the middle of the third millennium BC. The newly developed radiocarbon dating method confirmed that the historic chronology was approximately correct. It is still not a perfectly accurate method due to larger margins of error, calibration uncertainties and the problem of inbuilt age (time between growth and final usage) in plant material, including wood.<ref name="Höflmayer2016" /> Astronomical alignments have also been suggested to coincide with the time of construction.<ref name="O'Mara1997" /><ref name="Spence2000" />

Egyptian chronology continues to be refined and data from multiple disciplines have started to be factored in, such as luminescence dating, radiocarbon dating, and dendrochronology. For instance, Ramsey et al. included over 200 radiocarbon samples in their model.<ref name="Ramsey2010" />

==Historiographical record==
===Classical antiquity===
====Herodotus====
[[File:Herodotus Massimo Inv124478.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] was one of the first major authors to discuss the Great Pyramid.]]

The [[Classical Greece|ancient Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]], writing in the 5th century BC, is one of the first major authors to mention the pyramid. In the second book of his work ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'', he discusses the history of Egypt and the Great Pyramid. This report was created more than 2000 years after the structure was built, meaning that Herodotus obtained his knowledge mainly from a variety of indirect sources, including officials and priests of low rank, local Egyptians, Greek immigrants, and Herodotus's own interpreters. Accordingly, his explanations present themselves as a mixture of comprehensible descriptions, personal descriptions, erroneous reports, and fantastical legends; as a result, many of the speculative errors and confusions about the monument can be traced back to Herodotus and his work.{{sfn|Haase|2004a|p=125}}{{sfn|Edwards|1986|pp=990–991}}

Herodotus writes that the Great Pyramid was built by Khufu (Hellenized as Cheops) who, he erroneously relays, ruled after the [[Ramesside Period]] (the [[19th dynasty]] and the [[20th dynasty]]).{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|1933|p=216}} Khufu was a tyrannical king, Herodotus claims, which may explain the Greek's view that such buildings can only come about through cruel exploitation of the people.{{sfn|Haase|2004a|p=125}} Herodotus states that gangs of 100,000 labourers worked on the building in three-month shifts, taking 20 years to build. In the first ten years a wide causeway was erected, which, according to Herodotus, was almost as impressive as the construction of the pyramids themselves. It measured nearly {{Convert|1|km|mi}} long and {{Convert|20|yards|m|1|abbr=}} wide, and elevated to a height of {{Convert|16|yards|m|1|abbr=}}, consisting of stone polished and carved with figures.<ref name="Herodotus 124">[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' 2.124</ref>

Underground chambers were made on the hill where the pyramids stand. These were intended to be burial places for Khufu himself and were supplied with water by a channel brought in from the Nile.<ref name="Herodotus 124" /> Herodotus later states that at the [[Pyramid of Khafre]] (beside the Great Pyramid) the Nile flows through a built passage to an island in which Khufu is buried.<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' 2.127</ref> [[Zahi Hawass|Hawass]] interprets this to be a reference to the "[[Giza pyramid complex#Shafts|Osiris Shaft]]", which is located at the causeway of Khafre, south of the Great Pyramid.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hawass|first=Zahi|date=2007|title=The Discovery of the Osiris Shaft at Giza|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/476/full/|journal=The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt|volume=1|pages=390}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=kmtsesh|date=2012-02-18|title=The Osiris Shaft: a Giza cenotaph|url=https://ancientneareast.org/2012/02/18/the-osiris-shaft-a-giza-cenotaph/|access-date=2019-10-24|website=Ancient Near East: Just the Facts|language=en|archive-date=24 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824191103/https://ancientneareast.org/2012/02/18/the-osiris-shaft-a-giza-cenotaph/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Herodotus described an inscription on the outside of the pyramid, which, according to his translators, indicated the amount of radishes, garlic and onions that the workers would have eaten while working on the pyramid.<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' 2.125</ref> This could be a note of restoration work that [[Khaemweset]], son of [[Ramesses II|Rameses II]], had carried out. Apparently, Herodotus' companions and interpreters could not read the hieroglyphs or deliberately gave him false information.{{sfn|Haase|2004a|p=127}}

====Diodorus Siculus====
Between 60 and 56 BC, the ancient Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] visited Egypt and later dedicated the first book of his ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' to the land, its history, and its monuments, including the Great Pyramid. Diodorus's work was inspired by historians of the past, but he also distanced himself from Herodotus, who Diodorus claims tells marvellous tales and myths.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 1.69.</ref> Diodorus presumably drew his knowledge from the lost work of [[Hecataeus of Abdera]],{{sfn|Shaw|Bloxam|2021|p=1157}} and like Herodotus, he also places the builder of the pyramid, "Chemmis",<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 63">[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 1.63.</ref> after Ramses III.{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|1933|p=216}} According to his report, neither Chemmis ([[Khufu]]) nor Cephren ([[Khafre]]) were buried in their pyramids, but rather in secret places, for fear that the people ostensibly forced to build the structures would seek out the bodies for revenge.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 64">[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 1.64.</ref> With this assertion, Diodorus strengthened the connection between pyramid building and slavery.{{sfn|Burton|1972|p=189}}

According to Diodorus, the cladding of the pyramid was still in excellent condition at the time, whereas the uppermost part of the pyramid was formed by a platform {{convert|6|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|lk=in|disp=x}} high. About the construction of the pyramid he notes that it was built with the help of ramps since no lifting tools had yet been invented. Nothing was left of the ramps, as they were removed after the pyramids were completed. He estimated the number of workers necessary to erect the Great Pyramid at 360,000 and the construction time at 20 years.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 63" /> Similar to Herodotus, Diodorus also claims that the side of the pyramid is inscribed with writing that "[set] forth [the price of] vegetables and purgatives for the workmen there were paid out over sixteen hundred talents."<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 64" />

====Strabo====
The Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian [[Strabo]] visited Egypt around 25 BC, shortly after [[War of Actium|Egypt was annexed by the Romans]]. In his work ''[[Geographica]]'', he argues that the pyramids were the burial place of kings, but he does not mention which king was buried in the structure. Strabo also mentions: "At a moderate height in one of the sides is a stone, which may be taken out; when that is removed, there is an oblique passage to the tomb."<ref name="Strabo 1734">''[[Strabo]]'', ''[[Geographica]]'' 17.1.34.</ref> This statement has generated much speculation, as it suggests that the pyramid could be entered at this time.{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=217}}

====Pliny the Elder====
[[File:Grande Illustrazione del Lombardo Veneto Vol 3 Plinio Secondo 300dpi.jpg|thumb|upright|During the [[Roman Empire]], [[Pliny the Elder]] argues that "bridges" were used to transport stones to the top of the Great Pyramid.]]

The Roman writer [[Pliny the Elder]], writing in the first century AD, argued that the Great Pyramid had been raised, either "to prevent the lower classes from remaining unoccupied", or as a measure to prevent the pharaoh's riches from falling into the hands of his rivals or successors.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}} Pliny does not speculate as to the pharaoh in question, explicitly noting that "accident [has] consigned to oblivion the names of those who erected such stupendous memorials of their vanity".{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}}

In pondering how the stones could be transported to such a vast height he gives two explanations: That either vast mounds of [[niter|nitre]] and salt were heaped up against the pyramid, which were then melted away with water redirected from the river. Or, that "bridges" were constructed, their bricks afterwards distributed for erecting houses, arguing that the level of the river is too low for canals to bring water up to the pyramid. Pliny also recounts how "in the interior of the largest Pyramid there is a well, eighty-six [[Cubit#Ancient Egyptian royal cubit|cubits]] [{{convert|86|royal cubit|m+ft|1|abbr=on|disp=out}}] deep, which communicates with the river, it is thought". He also describes a method discovered by [[Thales of Miletus]] for ascertaining the pyramid's height by measuring its shadow.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}}

===Late antiquity and the Middle Ages===
==== Oblivion ====
{{further|Joseph's Granaries}}
During [[late antiquity]], a misinterpretation of the pyramids as "Joseph's granary" began to gain in popularity. The first textual evidence of this connection is found in the travel narratives of the female Christian pilgrim [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]], who records that on her visit between 381 and 384 AD, "in the twelve-mile stretch between Memphis and Babylonia [= Old Cairo] are many pyramids, which Joseph made in order to store corn."<ref>''Itinerarium Egeriae'' Y2 [= Peter the Deacon's citation]; ed. R. Weber, CCSL 175:100; [https://books.google.com/books?id=hvYQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT404 PL 173:1129D]; trans. Wilkinson 1999, p. 94. This passage is not found in the sole surviving manuscript, which is only partially preserved, but appears in a later work by [[Peter the Deacon]] that uses Egeria as a source; see Wilkinson 1999, 4, 86. Wilkinson is confident "this is the first text to mention what became the regular Christian explanation of the pyramids" (94 n. 4); cf. Osborne 1986, p. 115.</ref> Ten years later the usage is confirmed in the anonymous travelogue of seven monks who set out from Jerusalem to visit the famous ascetics in Egypt, wherein they report that they "saw Joseph's granaries, where he stored grain in biblical times".<ref>''[[Historia monachorum in Aegypto]]'' 18.3; ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qjYsAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA79 Preuschen 1897, 79]; ed. Festugière 1971, 115; trans. Russell 1980, p. 102. There is also a Latin version by [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]], which includes "additions and alterations appropriate to a man who had seen the places and people for himself and regarded the experience as the most treasured of his life" (Russell 1981, 6). Rufinus seems less clear: "There is a tradition that these sites, which they call the storehouses ({{lang|grc-Latn|thesauros}}) of Joseph, are where Joseph is said to have stored up the grain. Others say it is the Pyramids themselves in which it is thought that the grain was collected" ([https://books.google.com/books?id=zRARAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA459 PL 21:440]; ed. Schulz-Flügel 1990, p. 350).</ref>

This late 4th-century usage is further confirmed in the geographical treatise ''Cosmographia'', written by [[Julius Honorius]] around 376 AD,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beazley |first=Charles Raymond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPs-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA73 |title=The Dawn of Modern Geography: A History of Exploration and Geographical Science ... |date=1897 |publisher=J. Murray |language=en |postscript=none}} says "writing in 376"; Nicolet 1991, 96, has "perhaps prior to A.D. 376"; and Brill's New Pauly (Leiden, 2005), s.v. Iulius [= 6:1082] has "4th/5th cents".</ref> which explains that the Pyramids were called the "granaries of Joseph" ({{lang|la|horrea Ioseph}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Riese |first=Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlgGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA51 |title=Geographi latini minores: collegit, recensuit, prolegomenis instruxit |date=1878 |publisher=apud Henningeros fratres |language=la}} Cosmographia 45; ed. Riese 1878, 51.2–4 (B); cf. Osborne 1986, p. 115. The quote appears only in version B of Riese's ed., a revision from late antiquity, and therefore may not derive from Julius.</ref> This reference from Julius is important, as it indicates that the identification was starting to spread out from pilgrim's travelogues. In 530 AD, [[Stephanos of Byzantium]] added more to this idea when he wrote in his ''Ethnica'' that the word "pyramid" was connected to the Greek word {{lang|grc|πυρός}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|pyros}}), meaning wheat.{{sfn|Schironi|2009|pp=119–120}}

[[File:Al-Maʾmūn.png|thumb|left|upright|The [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Ma'mun]] (786–833 CE) is said to have tunnelled into the side of the Great Pyramid.]]

In the seventh century AD, the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|conquered Egypt]], ending several centuries of Romano-Byzantine rule. A few centuries later, in 832 AD, the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[caliph]] [[al-Ma'mun]] (786–833) is said to have tunnelled into the side of the structure and discovered the ascending passage and its connecting chambers.{{sfn|Cooperson|2010|p=165}}<ref>{{Die Kalifen von Kairo|pages=41–42}}</ref> Around this time a Coptic legend gained popularity that claimed the [[Genesis flood narrative|antediluvian]] king [[Surid Ibn Salhouk]] had built the Great Pyramid. One legend in particular relates how, three hundred years prior to the Great Flood, Surid had a terrifying dream of the world's end, and so he ordered the construction of the pyramids so that they might house all the knowledge of Egypt and survive into the present.{{sfn|Colavito|2015|pp=51–55}}

The most notable account of this legend was given by [[al-Masudi]] (896–956) in his ''Akbar al-zaman'', alongside imaginative tales about the pyramid, such as the story of a man who fell three hours down the pyramid's well and the tale of an expedition that discovered bizarre finds in the structure's inner chambers. ''Al-zaman'' also contains a report of al-Ma'mun's entering the pyramid and discovering a vessel containing a thousand coins, which just happened to cover the cost of opening the pyramid.{{sfn|Vyse|1840b|pp=321–330}} (Some speculate that this story is true, but that the coins were planted by Al-Ma'mun to appease his workers, who were likely frustrated that they had found no treasure.){{sfn|Tompkins|1978|p=17}}

In 987 AD, the Arab bibliographer [[Ibn al-Nadim]] relates a fantastical tale in his ''[[al-Fihrist]]'' about a man who journeyed into the main chamber of a pyramid, which [[Bayard Dodge]] argues is the Great Pyramid.{{sfn|Ibn al-Nadim|1970|p=846}} According to Ibn al-Nadim, the person in question saw a statue of a man holding a tablet and a woman holding a mirror. Supposedly, between the statues was a "[[Stone vessels in Ancient Egypt|stone vessel]] [with] a gold cover". Inside the vessel was "something like [[Pitch (resin)|pitch]]", and when the explorer reached into the vessel "a gold receptacle happened to be inside". The receptacle, when taken from the vessel, was filled with "fresh blood", which quickly dried up. Ibn al-Nadim's work also claims that the bodies of a man and woman were discovered inside the pyramid in the "best possible state of preservation".{{sfn|Ibn al-Nadim|1970|pp=846–847}}

The author al-Kaisi, in his work the ''Tohfat Alalbab,'' retells the story of al-Ma'mun's entry but with the additional discovery of "an image of a man in green stone", which when opened revealed a body dressed in jewel-encrusted gold armour. Al-Kaisi claims to have seen the case from which the body was taken, and asserts that it was located at the king's palace in Cairo. He also writes that he entered into the pyramid and discovered many preserved bodies.{{sfn|Vyse|1840b|pp=333–334}} Another attempt to enter the pyramid in search of treasure is recorded during the [[vizier (Fatimid Caliphate)|vizierate]] of [[al-Afdal Shahanshah]] (1094–1121), but it was abandoned after a member of the party was lost in the passages.<ref>{{Die Kalifen von Kairo|pages=43–44}}</ref>

The Arab polymath [[Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi]] (1163–1231) studied the pyramid with great care, and in his ''Account of Egypt'', he praises them as works of engineering genius. In addition to measuring the structure, alongside the other pyramids at Giza, al-Baghdadi also writes that the structures were surely tombs, although he thought the Great Pyramid was used for the burial of [[Agathodaimon]] or [[Hermes]]. Al-Baghdadi ponders whether the pyramid pre-dated the [[Flood myth#Mythologies|Great Flood]] as described in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], and even briefly entertained the idea that it was a pre-Adamic construction.{{sfn|Riggs|2017|pp=37–38}}{{sfn|El Daly|2005|pp=48-49}} A few centuries later, the Islamic historian [[Al-Maqrizi]] (1364–1442) compiled lore about the Great Pyramid in his ''Al-Khitat''. In addition to reasserting that Al-Ma'mun breached the structure in 820 AD, Al-Maqrizi's work also discusses the sarcophagus in the coffin chambers, explicitly noting that the pyramid was a grave.<ref>[[Al-Maqrizi]], ''Al-Khitat'', Chapter 40: The Pyramids</ref>

By the [[Late Middle Ages]], the Great Pyramid had gained a reputation as a haunted structure. Others feared entering because it was home to animals like bats.{{sfn|Tompkins|1978|pp=21–27}}

==== Rediscovery ====
[[File:Ciriaco d'Ancona di Benozzo Gozzoli.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of [[Cyriacus of Ancona]], fresco by [[Benozzo Gozzoli]], 1459]]
During the period of [[Humanism]], a new interest in the ancient world arose, which was rediscovered mainly through the study of the texts of classical authors; [[Cyriacus of Ancona]], the founding father of modern classical [[archaeology]]<ref name=bodnar>{{Cite book |author1= Edward W. Bodnar |author2 = Clive Foss |title = Cyriac of Ancona: Later Travels |publisher = Harvard University Press |year = 2003 |location= Cambridge, Massachusetts|ISBN = 0-674-00758-1}} Bodnar calls Cyriac: «''the founding father of modern classical archaeology''»</ref>, distinguished himself from other humanists because he combined the study of ancient texts with the search for material evidence, such as statues, epigraphs and monuments, reporting information about them in his travel diaries (the ''Commentarii'') and in his letters. For this reason, in 1435, he went to Egypt and reached the Giza plateau after sailing on the [[Nile]]; Comparing what he saw with his reading of the [[Histories (Herodotus)#II book (Euterpe)|second book of the "Histories"]] by [[Herodotus]], he rediscovered the true nature of the Great Pyramid and correcting centuries of misunderstandings.

Cyriacus of Ancona thus definitively refuted the false identification of the Great Pyramid with one of the [[Joseph's Granaries]] and left several drawings of the monument and an account, reported in his ''Commentarii''. Thanks to his numerous travels in Greece and [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], he was also able to testify that the pyramids of Giza were the only one of the [[Seven Wonders of the World]] to have survived the centuries. Through the writings of Ciriaco, this news spread first in Italian humanist circles and then among European scholars<ref name=bodnar/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ciriaco-d-ancona_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/|title=Ciriaco d'Ancona|language=it}}</ref>.

==Construction==
=== Preparation of the site ===
A hillock forms the base on which the pyramid stands. It was cut back into steps and only a strip around the perimeter was leveled,{{sfn|Lehner|Hawass|2017|p=214}} which has been measured to be horizontal and flat to within {{convert|21|mm|1|abbr=}}.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=109}} The bedrock reaches a height of almost {{Convert|6|m|ft}} above the pyramid base at the location of the Grotto.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}}

Along the sides of the base platform a series of holes are cut in the bedrock. Lehner hypothesizes that they held wooden posts used for alignment.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lehner|first=Mark|date=2016|title=In Search of the Human Hand that Built the Great Pyramid|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AG17_1-2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801133158/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AG17_1-2.pdf |archive-date=2019-08-01 |url-status=live|journal=Aeragram|volume=17|pages=20–23}}</ref> Edwards, among others, suggested the use of water for evening the base, although it is unclear how practical and workable such a system would be.{{sfn|Lehner|Hawass|2017|p=214}}

=== Materials ===
{{Location map+ | Egypt
| relief = 1
| width = 300
| caption = Origins of the materials used for Khufu's pyramid complex
| places =
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Wadi Maghareh]]<br />(copper)
      | position = right
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 28.8973
      | lon_deg = 33.3726
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Aswan]] (granite)
      | position = right
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 24.077
      | lon_deg = 32.895
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = Lebanon (timber)
      | position = bottom
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 32
      | lon_deg = 35
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Giza]] (limestone)
      | position = top
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 29.974
      | lon_deg = 31.135
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Tura, Egypt|Tura]] (white limestone)
      | position = right
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 29.8528
      | lon_deg = 31.3458
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Widan el Faras Basalt|Widan el-Faras (basalt)]]
      | position = left
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 29.657250
      | lon_deg = 30.625710
      | marksize = 13
  }}
}}
The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3&nbsp;million blocks. Approximately 5.5&nbsp;million tonnes of [[limestone]], 8,000&nbsp;tonnes of [[granite]], and 500,000&nbsp;tonnes of mortar were used in the construction.{{sfn|Romer|2007|p=157}}

Most of the blocks were [[Quarry|quarried]] at Giza just south of the pyramid, an area now known as the [[Central Field, Giza|Central Field]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Great Pyramid Quarry « Ancient Egypt Research Associates|date=14 October 2009|url=https://www.aeraweb.org/gpmp-project/great-pyramid-quarry/|access-date=2021-03-21|language=en-US}}</ref> They are a particular type of [[Nummulite|nummulitic limestone]] formed of the fossils of prehistoric shell creatures, whose small disc form can still be seen in some of the pyramid's blocks upon close inspection.<ref>Kaplan, Sarah, ''[https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?e=d3AucmVhZGVya0BnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&s=5aa036bcfe1ff62bafa91c52 Brilliance without a brain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103700/https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?e=d3AucmVhZGVya0BnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&s=5aa036bcfe1ff62bafa91c52|date=2018-03-08}}'', Speaking of Science, The Washington Post, March 7, 2018</ref> Other fossils have been found in the blocks and other structures on the site, including fossilized shark teeth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital Giza {{!}} Fossilized shark's tooth |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/objects/15290/full/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=giza.fas.harvard.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital Giza {{!}} Western Cemetery: Site: Giza; View: G 2100-I |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/photos/50574/full/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=giza.fas.harvard.edu}}</ref> The white limestone used for the casing was transported by boat across the Nile from the [[Tura, Egypt|Tura]] quarries of the [[Eastern Desert]] plateau, about {{Convert|10|km|abbr=on}} south-east of the Giza plateau. In 2013, rolls of papyrus called the [[Diary of Merer]] were discovered, written by a supervisor of the deliveries of limestone from Tura to Giza in the 27th year of Khufu's reign.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stille|first=Alexander|title=The World's Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928173821/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619/|archive-date=28 September 2015|access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref>

The granite stones in the pyramid were transported from [[Aswan]], more than {{convert|900|km|mi|abbr=on}} south.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=207}} The largest, weighing 25 to 80 tonnes, form the ceilings of the "King's chamber" and the "relieving chambers" above it. Ancient Egyptians cut stone into rough blocks by hammering grooves into natural stone faces, inserting wooden wedges, then soaking these with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, breaking off workable chunks. Once the blocks were cut, they were carried by boat on the [[Nile]] to the pyramid and used a now dry offshoot of the river to transport blocks closer to the site.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=202}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/02/world/nile-river-egypt-pyramid-scn-trnd/index.html#:~:text=This%20explanation%2C%20known%20as%20the,down%20to%20the%20river%27s%20bottom. | title=A now-dry branch of the Nile helped build Egypt's pyramids, study says | date=2 September 2022 }}</ref>

=== Workforce ===
The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] believed that [[Slavery in ancient Egypt|slave labour]] was used, but modern discoveries made at nearby workers' camps associated with construction at Giza suggest that it was built by thousands of [[Civil conscription|conscript labourers]].{{sfn|Lehner|1997|pp=39, 224}}

Worker graffiti found at Giza suggest haulers were divided into ''zau'' (singular ''za''), groups of 40 men, consisting of four sub-units that each had an "Overseer of Ten".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lehner|first=Mark|date=2004|title=Of Gangs and Graffiti: How Ancient Egyptians Organized their Labor Force|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram7_1.pdf|journal=Aeragram|volume=7-1|pages=11–13|access-date=27 March 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422084726/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram7_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Tallet|2017}}

As to the question of how over two million blocks could have been cut within Khufu's lifetime, stonemason Franck Burgos conducted an [[Experimental archaeology|archaeological experiment]] based on an abandoned quarry of Khufu discovered in 2017. Within it, an almost completed block and the tools used for cutting it had been uncovered: hardened [[Arsenical bronze|arsenic copper]] chisels, wooden mallets, ropes and stone tools. In the experiment replicas of these were used to cut a block weighing about 2.5 tonnes (the average block size used for the Great Pyramid). It took four workers 4 days (with each working 6 hours a day) to excavate it. The initially slow progress sped up six times when the stone was wetted with water. Based on the data, Burgos extrapolates that about 3,500 quarry-men could have produced the 250 blocks/day needed to complete the Great Pyramid in 27 years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Burgos|first1=Franck|last2=Laroze|first2=Emmanuel|date=2020|title=L'extraction des blocs en calcaire à l'Ancien Empire. Une expérimentation au ouadi el-Jarf|url=http://www.egyptian-architecture.com/JAEA4/article27/JAEA4_Burgos_Laroze.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627235809/http://www.egyptian-architecture.com/JAEA4/article27/JAEA4_Burgos_Laroze.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-27 |url-status=live|journal=Ancient Egyptian Architecture|volume=4|pages=73–95}}</ref>

A construction management study conducted in 1999, in association with [[Mark Lehner]] and other Egyptologists, had estimated that the total project required an average workforce of about 13,200 people and a peak workforce of roughly 40,000.<ref name="civilengineer2">{{cite magazine|last=Smith|first=Craig B.|date=June 1999|title=Project Management B.C.|url=http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/0699feat.html|url-status=dead|magazine=Civil Engineering Magazine|volume=69|issue=6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608101037/http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/0699feat.html|archive-date=8 June 2007}}</ref>

=== Surveys and design ===
{{Comparison of pyramids.svg|ku|upright=1.4}}
The first precise measurements of the pyramid were made by Egyptologist [[Flinders Petrie]] in 1880–1882, published as ''The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh''.{{sfn|Petrie|1883}} Many of the casing-stones and inner chamber blocks of the Great Pyramid fit together with high precision, with joints, on average, only {{convert|0.5|mm|inch}} wide.<ref>{{cite book|author=I.E.S. Edwards|title=The Pyramids of Egypt|year=1986|page=285|author-link=I.E.S. Edwards|orig-year=1947}}</ref> In contrast, core blocks were only roughly shaped, with rubble inserted between larger gaps. Mortar was used to bind the outer layers together and fill gaps and joints.<ref name="Fabric" />

The block height and weight tends to get progressively smaller towards the top. Petrie measured the lowest layer to be {{Convert|148|cm|ft}} high, whereas the layers towards the summit barely exceed {{Convert|50|cm|ft}}.{{sfn|Petrie|1883}}

The accuracy of the pyramid's perimeter is such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only {{convert|58|mm|in|abbr=off}} in length{{efn|1=Based on side lengths 230.252&nbsp;m, 230.454&nbsp;m, 230.391&nbsp;m, 230.357&nbsp;m.{{sfnp|Cole|1925}}}} and the finished base was squared to a mean corner error of only 12&nbsp;[[Minute and second of arc|seconds of arc]].{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=38}}

The completed design dimensions are measured to have originally been {{convert|280|royal cubit|m+ft|1|lk=in}} high by {{convert|440|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} long at each of the four sides of its base. Ancient Egyptians used [[seked]] – how much run for one cubit of rise – to describe slopes. For the Great Pyramid a seked of {{sfrac|5|1|2}} palms was chosen, a ratio of 14&nbsp;up to 11&nbsp;in.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=218}}

Some Egyptologists suggest this slope was chosen because the ratio of perimeter to height (1760/280 cubits) equals 2[[pi|π]] to an accuracy of better than 0.05&nbsp;percent (corresponding to the well-known approximation of π as 22/7). Verner wrote, "We can conclude that although the ancient Egyptians could not precisely define the value of π, in practice they used it".{{sfn|Verner|2003|p=70}} Petrie concluded: "but these relations of areas and of circular ratio are so systematic that we should grant that they were in the builder's design".{{sfnp|Petrie |1940|p=30}} Others have argued that the ancient Egyptians had no concept of pi and would not have thought to encode it in their monuments and that the observed pyramid slope may be based on the [[seked]] choice alone.{{sfnp|Rossi|2007|p={{page needed|date=August 2020}}}}

==== Alignment to the cardinal directions ====
The sides of the Great Pyramid's base are closely aligned to the four geographic (not magnetic) cardinal directions, deviating on average [[Minute and second of arc|3 minutes and 38 seconds of arc]], or about a tenth of a [[Degree (angle)|degree]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dash|first=Glen|date=2012|title=New Angles on the Great Pyramid|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram13_2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402181457/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram13_2.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-02 |url-status=live|journal=Aeragram|volume=13-2|pages=10–19}}</ref> Several methods have been proposed for how the ancient Egyptians achieved this level of accuracy:

* The solar [[gnomon]] method: The shadow of a vertical rod is tracked throughout a day. The shadow line is intersected by a circle drawn around the base of the rod. Connecting the intersecting points produces an east–west line. An experiment using this method resulted in lines being, on average, 2&nbsp;minutes, 9&nbsp;seconds off due east–west. Employing a pinhole produced much more accurate results (19&nbsp;arc seconds off), whereas using an angled block as a shadow definer was less accurate (3′&nbsp;47″ off).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dash|first=Glen|date=2014|title=Did Egyptians Use the Sun to Align the Pyramids?|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AG15_1_2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402200158/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AG15_1_2.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-02 |url-status=live|journal=Aeragram|volume=15|pages=24–28}}</ref>
* The [[pole star]] method: The polar star is tracked using a movable sight and fixed plumb line. Halfway between the maximum eastern and western elongations is true north. [[Thuban]], the polar star during the Old Kingdom, was about two degrees removed from the celestial pole at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How the Pyramid Builders May Have Found Their True North Part II: Extending the Line|url=http://glendash.com/blog/2014/06/20/how-the-pyramid-builders-may-have-found-their-true-north-part-ii-extending-the-line-2/|access-date=8 April 2021|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208024645/http://glendash.com/blog/2014/06/20/how-the-pyramid-builders-may-have-found-their-true-north-part-ii-extending-the-line-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The simultaneous transit method: The stars [[Mizar]] and [[Kochab]] appear on a vertical line on the horizon, close to true north around 2500&nbsp;BC. They slowly and simultaneously shift east over time, which is used to explain the relative misalignment of the pyramids.<ref name="Spence2000"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dash|first=Glen|date=2015|title=Simultaneous Transit and Pyramid Alignments: Were the Egyptians' Errors in Their Stars or in Themselves?|url=http://dashfoundation.com/downloads/archaeology/working-papers/Simultaneous_Transit.pdf|journal=Glen Dash Foundation for Archaeological Research|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327154119/http://glendash.com/downloads/archaeology/working-papers/Simultaneous_Transit.pdf|archive-date=27 March 2020}}</ref>

===Construction theories===
{{Main|Egyptian pyramid construction techniques}}
Many alternative, often contradictory, theories have been proposed regarding the pyramid's construction techniques.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 February 2006|title=Building the Great Pyramid|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/great_pyramid_01.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205042037/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/great_pyramid_01.shtml|archive-date=5 February 2009|access-date=5 April 2009|publisher=BBC}}</ref> One mystery of the pyramid's construction is its planning. [[John Romer (Egyptologist)|John Romer]] suggests that they used the same method that had been used for earlier and later constructions, laying out parts of the plan on the ground at a 1-to-1 scale. He writes that "such a working diagram would also serve to generate the architecture of the pyramid with precision unmatched by any other means".{{sfn|Romer|2007|pp=327, 329–337}}

The basalt blocks of the pyramid temple show "clear evidence" of having been cut with some kind of saw with an estimated cutting blade of {{convert|15|ft|m}} in length. Romer suggests that this "super saw" may have had copper teeth and weighed up to {{convert|140|kg|lb}}. He theorizes that such a saw could have been attached to a wooden [[trestle support]] and possibly used in conjunction with vegetable oil, cutting sand, [[Emery (rock)|emery]] or pounded quartz to cut the blocks, which would have required the labour of at least a dozen men to operate it.{{sfn|Romer|2007|pp=164, 165}}

== Casing ==
[[File:Cheops pyramid 02.jpg|thumb|Remaining casing stones on the north side of the Great Pyramid]]
[[File:KhufuPyramidCasingStone-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg|thumb|A casing stone in the [[British Museum]]<ref>{{cite web|title=British Museum – Limestone block from the pyramid of Khufu|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/l/limestone_block_from_the_pyram.aspx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727091314/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/l/limestone_block_from_the_pyram.aspx|archive-date=27 July 2014|access-date=30 June 2014|work=britishmuseum.org}}</ref>]]At completion, the Great Pyramid was cased entirely in white limestone. Precisely worked blocks were placed in horizontal layers and carefully fitted together with mortar, their outward faces cut at a slope and smoothed to a high degree. Together they created four uniform surfaces, angled at 51°50'40" (a [[seked]] of {{sfrac|5|1|2}} [[Palm (unit)#Ancient Egypt|palm]]s).<ref>The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course, by Roger L. Cooke; 2nd Edition; John Wiley & Sons, 2011; {{ISBN|9781118030240}}; pp. 235–236</ref><ref>The Pyramid Builder's Handbook; by Derek Hitchins; Lulu; 2010; {{ISBN|9781445751658}}; pp. 83–84</ref> Unfinished casing blocks of the pyramids of [[Pyramid of Menkaure|Menkaure]] and [[Pyramid G1-c|Henutsen]] at Giza suggest that the front faces were smoothed only after the stones were laid, with chiselled seams marking correct positioning and where the superfluous rock would have to be trimmed off.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|pp=212–213}}
[[File:Great Pyramid Casing Stone Size Comparison.png|thumb|The size of a casing stone from the first layer (bottom) compared with one of the upper layers (top)]]
The height of the horizontal layers is not uniform but varies considerably. The highest of the 203 remaining courses are towards the bottom, the first layer being the tallest at {{Convert|1.49|m|ft}}. Towards the top, layers tend to be only slightly over {{convert|1|royal cubit|m+ft|1|lk=in}} in height, with stones weighing around {{Convert|500|kg|lb}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lightbody |first=David Ian |date=2016 |title=Biography of a Great Pyramid Casing Stone |url=https://web.ujaen.es/investiga/egiptologia/journalarchitecture/downloads/JAEA1_Lightbody.pdf |journal=The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture |volume=1 |pages=39–56}}</ref> An irregular pattern is noticeable when looking at the sizes in sequence, where layer height declines steadily only to rise sharply again.{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=vii}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goyon|first=Georges|title=Les Rangs d'Assises de la Grande Pyramide|year=1978}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dash|first=Glen|title=The Curious Case of the Great Pyramid's Alternating Course Heights: An Unsolved Mystery|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AG19_1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124143142/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AG19_1.pdf |archive-date=2019-11-24 |url-status=live|journal=Aeragram|volume=19_1|pages=20}}</ref>

So-called "backing stones" supported the casing, which were (unlike core blocks), precisely dressed as well and bound to the casing with mortar.<ref name="Fabric" /> Now, these stones give the structure its visible appearance, following the partial dismantling of the pyramid in the [[Middle Ages]]. Amidst earthquakes in northern Egypt, workers stripped away many of the outer casing stones,{{sfn|Tompkins|1978|p=17}} which were said to have been carted away by [[Bahri dynasty|Bahri Sultan]] An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan in 1356 for use in nearby [[Cairo]].{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=38}}

Later explorers reported massive piles of rubble at the base of the pyramids left over from the continuing collapse of the casing stones, which were subsequently cleared away during continuing excavations of the site. Today a few of the casing stones from the lowest course can be seen ''[[In situ conservation (archaeology)|in situ]]'' on each side, with the best preserved on the north below the entrances, excavated by Vyse in 1837.

The mortar was chemically analyzed<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lucas|first=Alfred|title=Ancient Egyptian Mortars}}</ref> and contains organic inclusions (mostly charcoal), samples of which were radiocarbon dated to 2871–2604 BC.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Radiocarbon Dates of Old and Middle Kingdom Monuments in Egypt|year=1995|doi=10.1017/S0033822200038558|last1=Bonani|first1=Georges|last2=Haas|first2=Herbert|last3=Hawass|first3=Zahi|last4=Lehner|first4=Mark|last5=Nakhla|first5=Shawki|last6=Nolan|first6=John|last7=Wenke|first7=Robert|last8=Wölfli|first8=Willy|journal=Radiocarbon|volume=43|issue=3|pages=1297–1320|s2cid=58893491|doi-access=free}}</ref> It has been theorized that the mortar enabled the masons to set the stones exactly by providing a level bed.{{sfnp|Clarke|Engelbach|1991|pp=78–79}}{{sfnp|Stocks|2003|pp=182–183}}

Although it has been suggested that some or all of the casing stones were made from a type of [[concrete]] that was cast in place, rather than quarried and moved, archaeological evidence and petrographic analysis indicate this was not the case.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dipayan|first=Jana|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288698728|title=Evidence from detailed petrographic examinations of casing stones from the great pyramid of khufu, a natural limestone from tura, and a man-made (Geopolymeric) limestone}}</ref>

Petrie noted in 1880 the four sides of the pyramid to be "very distinctly hollowed" and that "each side has a sort of groove specially down the middle of the face", which he reasoned was a result of increased casing thickness in these areas.{{sfn|Petrie|1883|pp=43–44}} Under certain lighting conditions and with image enhancement the faces can appear to be split, leading to speculation that the pyramid had been intentionally constructed eight-sided.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lepre |first=J. P. |title=The Egyptian Pyramids: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Reference |year=1990 |page=66}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Monnier |first=Franck |date=2022-06-25 |title=The so-called concave faces of the Great Pyramid: Facts and cognitive bias |url=https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/integ/article/view/6413 |journal=Interdisciplinary Egyptology |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=1–19}}</ref> Laser scanning and [[Photogrammetry|photogrammetrical]] surveys concluded the concavities of the four sides to be the result of the removal of the casing stones, which damaged the underlying blocks that form the outer surface today.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228911535 |title=Combined High Resolution Laser Scanning and Photogrammetrical Documentation of the Pyramids at Giza |year=2005}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

== Pyramidion and missing tip ==
The pyramid was once topped by a capstone known as a [[pyramidion]]. The material from which it was made is subject to much speculation; limestone, granite or basalt are commonly proposed, while in popular culture it is often solid gold, gilded or [[electrum]]. All known 4th dynasty ''pyramidia'' (of the [[Red Pyramid]], [[Pyramid G1-d|Satellite Pyramid of Khufu]] (G1-d) and Queen's Pyramid of Menkaure (G3-a)) are of white limestone and were not gilded.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jánosi|first=Peter|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/473/full/|title=Das Pyramidion der Pyramide G III-a. Bemerkungen zu den Pyramidenspitzen des Alten Reiches.|year=1992}}</ref> Only from the 5th dynasty onward is there evidence of gilded capstones; for instance, a scene on the causeway of [[Pyramid of Sahure|Sahure]] speaks of the "white gold pyramidion of the pyramid Sahure's Soul Shines".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lehner|first=Mark|date=2005|title=Labor and the Pyramids: The Heit el-Ghurab "Workers Town" at Giza|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303875906|journal=International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies|volume=5|pages=465}}</ref>

The Great Pyramid's pyramidion was already lost in [[classical antiquity]], as Pliny the Elder and later authors report a platform on its summit.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}} Over time more stones were removed from the peak, and nowadays the pyramid is about {{Convert|8|m|ft}} shorter than it was when intact, with about {{Convert|1000|t|lbs}} of material missing from the top.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Petrie's corrected Great Pyramid course elevations |url=https://www.ronaldbirdsall.com/gizeh/errata/levels.html}}</ref>

In 1874 a mast was installed on the top by the Scottish astronomer [[David Gill (astronomer)|David Gill]] who, while returning from observing a rare [[Transit of Venus|Venus transit]], was invited to survey Egypt and began by surveying the Great Pyramid. His measurements of the pyramid were accurate to within 1&nbsp;mm.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dash|first=Glen|url=http://glendash.com/downloads/archaeology/working-papers/The-Man-and-the-Mast.docx|title=The Man Who Put the Mast Atop the Great Pyramid|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=8 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708204048/http://glendash.com/downloads/archaeology/working-papers/The-Man-and-the-Mast.docx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gill |first=David |date=2018 |title=David Gill FRS (1843–1914): The Making of a Royal Astronomer |url=https://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/npmuseum/article/JHA.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128191701/https://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/npmuseum/article/JHA.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-28 |website=Preprint of article in Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2018}}</ref> The mast was damaged in 2019 by a man who evaded security and climbed the pyramid; however, as the mast was periodically changed due to erosion and so was considered a modern object, the trespasser did not violate Egypt's strict laws regarding antiquities.<ref name="EgyptToday">{{cite web |last=Kandil |first=Amr Mohamed |date=2 May 2019 |title=Police fail to prevent Egyptian man from climbing Great Pyramid |website=[[Egypt Today]] |url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/6/69987/Police-fail-to-prevent-Egyptian-man-from-climbing-Great-Pyramid |access-date=14 December 2024 }}</ref>

==Interior==
[[File:Great Pyramid S-N Diagram.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Elevation diagram of the interior structures of the Great Pyramid viewed from the east. The inner and outer lines indicate the pyramid's present and original profiles.
{{unbulleted list
|'''1.''' [[#Original entrance|Original entrance]], [[Great Pyramid#North Face Corridor|North Face Corridor]]
|'''2.''' [[#Robbers' Tunnel|Robbers' Tunnel]] (tourist entrance)
|'''3, 4.''' [[#Descending Passage|Descending Passage]]
|'''5.''' [[#Subterranean Chamber|Subterranean Chamber]]
|'''6.''' [[#Ascending Passage|Ascending Passage]]
|'''7.''' [[#Queen's Chamber|Queen's Chamber]] and its "air-shafts"
|'''8.''' Horizontal Passage
|'''9.''' [[#Grand Gallery|Grand Gallery]]
|'''10.''' [[#King's Chamber|King's Chamber]] and its [[#Air shafts|"air-shafts"]]
|'''11.''' [[#Well Shaft and Grotto|Grotto and Well Shaft]]
}}
]]
The internal structure consists of three main chambers (the King's, Queen's and Subterranean Chambers), the Grand Gallery and various corridors and shafts. None of the interior walls were decorated or inscribed, as was the norm for tombs of the 4th dynasty, apart from the marks and names of work-gangs left on blocks of the relieving chambers.{{sfn|Kanawati|2005|p=55}}

There are two entrances into the pyramid: the original and a forced passage, which meet at a junction. From there, one passage descends into the Subterranean Chamber, while the other ascends to the Grand Gallery. From the beginning of the gallery three paths can be taken:

* a vertical shaft that leads down, past a grotto, to meet the descending passage
* a horizontal corridor leading to the Queen's Chamber
* and the path up the gallery itself to the King's Chamber that contains the sarcophagus.

Both the King's and Queen's Chamber have a pair of small "air-shafts". Above the King's Chamber are a series of five relieving chambers.

=== Entrances ===
==== Original entrance ====
The original entrance is on the north side, {{convert|15|royal cubit|m+ft|1|lk=in}} east of the centreline of the pyramid. Before the removal of the casing in the Middle Ages, the pyramid was entered through a hole in the 19th layer of masonry, approximately {{convert|17|m|ft}} above the pyramid's base level. The height of that layer – {{convert|96|cm|ft}} – corresponds to the size of the entrance tunnel that is commonly called the Descending Passage.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}}{{sfn|Haase|2004b|p=15}} According to [[Strabo]] (64–24 BC) a movable stone could be raised to enter this sloping corridor; however, it is not known if it was a later addition or original.[[File:Cheops-Pyramid@Eingaenge.JPG|left|thumb|upright|The original entrance (top-left), Robbers' Tunnel (middle-right)]]

A row of double chevrons diverts weight away from the entrance. Several of these chevron blocks are now missing, as indicated by the slanted faces on which they once rested.

Numerous, mostly modern, graffiti is cut into the stones around the entrance. Most notable is a large, square text of hieroglyphs carved in honor of [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Frederick William IV]], by [[Karl Richard Lepsius]]'s Prussian expedition to Egypt in 1842.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Hieroglyphic Inscription Above the Great Pyramid's Entrance|url=http://www.catchpenny.org/gpglyph.html|access-date=}}</ref>

===== North Face Corridor =====
In 2016 the [[Scanpyramids|ScanPyramids]] team detected a cavity behind the entrance chevrons using [[muography]], which was confirmed in 2019 to be a corridor at least {{Convert|5|m|ft}} long, and running horizontal or sloping upwards (thus not parallel to the Descending Passage).<ref>{{Cite news|title=#ScanPyramids – First conclusive findings with muography on Khufu Pyramid|url=http://www.hip.institute/press/HIP_INSTITUTE_CP9_EN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019155509/http://www.hip.institute/press/HIP_INSTITUTE_CP9_EN.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-19|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ScanPyramids 2019 English Video Report|date=16 November 2019|url=https://vimeo.com/373622564}}</ref>

In February 2023 the North Face Corridor was explored with an endoscopic camera, revealing a horizontal tunnel with a length of {{Convert|9|m|ft}} and a transverse section of about {{Convert|2 by 2|m|ft}}. Its ceiling is formed by large chevrons, like those visible above the original entrance and also similar to relieving chambers.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2 March 2023 |title=Precise characterization of a corridor-shaped structure in Khufu's Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=14|bibcode=2023NatCo..14.1144P |last1=Procureur |first1=Sébastien |last2=Morishima |first2=Kunihiro |last3=Kuno |first3=Mitsuaki |last4=Manabe |first4=Yuta |last5=Kitagawa |first5=Nobuko |last6=Nishio |first6=Akira |last7=Gomez |first7=Hector |last8=Attié |first8=David |last9=Sakakibara |first9=Ami |last10=Hikata |first10=Kotaro |last11=Moto |first11=Masaki |last12=Mandjavidze |first12=Irakli |last13=Magnier |first13=Patrick |last14=Lehuraux |first14=Marion |last15=Benoit |first15=Théophile |last16=Calvet |first16=Denis |last17=Coppolani |first17=Xavier |last18=Kebbiri |first18=Mariam |last19=Mas |first19=Philippe |last20=Helal |first20=Hany |last21=Tayoubi |first21=Mehdi |last22=Marini |first22=Benoit |last23=Serikoff |first23=Nicolas |last24=Anwar |first24=Hamada |last25=Steiger |first25=Vincent |last26=Takasaki |first26=Fumihiko |last27=Fujii |first27=Hirofumi |last28=Satoh |first28=Kotaro |last29=Kodama |first29=Hideyo |last30=Hayashi |first30=Kohei |issue=1 |page=1144 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-36351-0 |pmid=36864018 |pmc=9981702 |s2cid=257259769 |display-authors=1 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ScanPyramids North Face Corridor 2023 Report |date=March 2023 |url=https://vimeo.com/803685954}}</ref>

====Robbers' Tunnel====
Today tourists enter the Great Pyramid via the Robbers' Tunnel, which was long ago cut straight through the masonry of the pyramid. The entrance was forced into the 6th and 7th layer of the casing, about {{Convert|7|m|ft}} above the base. After running more or less straight and horizontal for {{Convert|27|m|ft}} it turns sharply left to encounter the blocking stones in the Ascending Passage. It is possible to enter the Descending Passage from this point but access is usually forbidden.{{sfn|Tyldesley|2007|pp=38–40}}

The origin of this Robbers' Tunnel is the subject of much scholarly discussion. According to tradition the opening was made around 820&nbsp;AD by Caliph [[al-Ma'mun]]'s workmen with a battering ram. The digging dislodged the stone in the ceiling of the Descending Passage that hid the entrance to the Ascending Passage, and the noise of that stone falling, then sliding down the Descending Passage alerted them to the need to turn left. Unable to remove these stones, the workmen tunnelled upwards beside them through the softer limestone of the Pyramid until they reached the Ascending Passage.{{sfn|Tyldesley|2007|p=38}}{{sfn|Battutah|2002|p=18}}

Due to historical and archaeological discrepancies, many scholars (with [[Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy|Antoine de Sacy]] perhaps being the first) contend that this story is apocryphal. They argue that it is much more likely that the tunnel had been carved shortly after the pyramid was initially sealed. This tunnel, the scholars continue, was then utilized by tomb robbers before being resealed (likely during the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|Ramesside Restoration]]), and it was this plug that al-Ma'mun's ninth-century expedition cleared away. This theory is furthered by the report of patriarch [[Dionysius I Telmaharoyo]], who claimed that before al-Ma'mun's expedition, there already existed a breach in the pyramid's north face that extended into the structure {{Convert|33|m|ft}} before hitting a dead end. This suggests that some sort of robber's tunnel predated al-Ma'mun, and that the caliph enlarged it and cleared it of debris.{{sfn|Cooperson|2010|pp=170–175}}

=== Descending Passage ===
From the original entrance, a passage descends through the masonry of the pyramid and then into the bedrock beneath it, ultimately leading to the Subterranean Chamber.

It has a slanted height of 4 [[Ancient Egyptian units of measurement|Egyptian feet]] (1.20 m; 3.9&nbsp;ft) and a width of {{convert|2|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}}. Its angle of 26°26'46" corresponds to a ratio of 1 to 2 (rise over run).{{sfn|Dormion|2004|p=284}}

After {{convert|28|m|ft}}, the lower end of the Ascending Passage is reached; a [[c:File:46 edgar.jpg|square hole]] in the ceiling, which is blocked by granite stones and might have originally been concealed. To circumvent these hard stones, a short tunnel was excavated that meets the end of the Robbers' Tunnel. This was expanded over time and fitted with stairs.

The passage continues to descend for another {{convert|72|m|ft}}, now through bedrock instead of the pyramid superstructure. Lazy guides used to block off this part with rubble to avoid having to lead people down and back up the long shaft, until around 1902 when [[Lorenzo Dow Covington|Covington]] installed a padlocked iron grill-door to stop this practice.{{sfn|Edgar|Edgar|1910|p=141}} Near the end of this section, on the west wall, is the connection to the vertical shaft that leads up to the Grand Gallery.

A horizontal shaft connects the end of the Descending Passage to the Subterranean Chamber, It has a length of {{convert|8.84|m|ft|abbr=on}}, width of {{convert|85|cm|ft|abbr=on}} and height of {{convert|91-95|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. A [[c:File:32 edgar.jpg|recess]] is located towards the end of the western wall, slightly larger than the tunnel, the ceiling of which is irregular and undressed.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=30}}

=== Subterranean Chamber ===
The Subterranean Chamber, or "Pit", is the lowest of the three main chambers and the only one dug into the bedrock beneath the pyramid.

Located about {{Convert|27|m|ft|abbr=on}} below base level,{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}} it measures roughly {{convert|16|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} north-south by {{convert|27|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} east-west, with an approximate height of {{Convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on}}.
The western half of the room, apart from the ceiling, is unfinished, with trenches left behind by the quarry-men running east to west. A niche was cut into the northern half of the west wall. The only access, through the Descending Passage, lies on the eastern end of the north wall.

Although seemingly known in antiquity, according to Herodotus and later authors, its existence had been forgotten in the Middle Ages until rediscovery in 1817, when [[Giovanni Battista Caviglia|Giovanni Caviglia]] cleared the rubble blocking the Descending Passage.{{sfn|Perring|1839|p=3, Plate IX}}

Opposing the entrance, a blind corridor runs straight south for {{Convert|11|m|ft|abbr=on}} and continues with a slight bend another {{Convert|5.4|m|ft|abbr=on}}, measuring about {{Convert|0.75|m|ft|abbr=on}} squared. A Greek or Roman character was found on its ceiling with the light of a candle, suggesting that the chamber had indeed been accessible during [[Classical antiquity]].{{sfn|Vyse|1840b|p=290}}

In the middle of the eastern half is a large hole called a Pit Shaft or [[John Shae Perring|Perring]]'s Shaft. The uppermost part may have ancient origins, about {{Convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} squared in width and {{Convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} in depth, diagonally aligned with the chamber. Caviglia and [[Henry Salt (Egyptologist)|Salt]] enlarged it to the depth of about {{Convert|3|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Perring|1839}} In 1837 [[Howard Vyse|Vyse]] directed the shaft to be sunk to a depth of {{Convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}}, in hopes of discovering the chamber encompassed by water that Herodotus alluded to. It is slightly narrower in width at about {{Convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}. No chamber was discovered after Perring and his workers had spent one and a half years penetrating the bedrock to the then water level of the Nile, {{Convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} further down.{{sfn|Vyse|1840a|pp=223–224}}

The rubble produced during this operation was deposited throughout the chamber. Petrie, visiting in 1880, found the shaft to be partially filled with rainwater that had rushed down the Descending Passage.{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=60}} In 1909, when the Edgar brothers' surveying activities were encumbered by the material, they moved the sand and smaller stones back into the shaft, leaving the upper part clear.{{sfn|Edgar|Edgar|1910|p=147}} The deep, modern shaft is sometimes mistaken to be part of the original design.

[[Ludwig Borchardt]] suggested that the Subterranean Chamber was originally planned to be the burial place for pharaoh Khufu, but that it was abandoned during construction in favour of a chamber higher up in the pyramid.{{Sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=148}}

<gallery mode="packed" class="center" heights="160">
File:27_edgar.jpg|Rubble from the Pit Shaft excavation still filling the subterranean chamber in 1909
File:30_edgar.jpg|Pit Shaft in the floor, and blind corridor entrance
File:28_edgar.jpg|Niche in the west wall
File:31_edgar.jpg|Descending Passage exiting in the north wall
</gallery>

=== Ascending Passage ===
[[File:49 edgar.jpg|thumb|The upper two granite plugs in the Ascending Passage, seen from the end of the Robbers' Tunnel]]
The Ascending Passage connects the Descending Passage to the Grand Gallery. It is {{convert|75|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} long and of the same width and height as the shaft from which it originates, although its angle is slightly lower at 26°6'.{{sfn|Dormion|2004|p=286}}

The lower end of the shaft is plugged by three granite stones, which were slid down from the Grand Gallery to seal the tunnel. They are {{convert|1.57|m|ft|abbr=on}}, {{convert|1.67|m|ft|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} long respectively.{{sfn|Dormion|2004|p=286}} The uppermost is heavily damaged, hence it is shorter. The Robbers' Tunnel terminates slightly below the stones, so a short tunnel was dug around them to access the Descending Passage, since the surrounding limestone is considerably softer and easier to work.

Most of the joints between the blocks of the walls run perpendicular to the floor, with two exceptions. Firstly, those in the lower third of the corridor are vertical. Secondly, the three girdle stones that are inserted near the middle (about 10 cubits apart) presumably stabilize the tunnel.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=114-115}}

=== Well Shaft and Grotto ===
[[File:39 edgar.jpg|thumb|Grotto (left) accessed through the broken wall of the Well Shaft (right)]]
The Well Shaft (also known as the Service Shaft or Vertical Shaft) links the lower end of the Grand Gallery to the bottom of the Descending Passage, about {{Convert|50|m|ft}} further down.

It takes a winding and indirect course. The upper half goes through the nucleus masonry of the pyramid. It runs vertical at first for {{Convert|8|m|ft}}, then slightly angles southwards for about the same distance, until it hits bedrock approximately {{Convert|5.7|m|ft}} above the pyramid's base level. Another vertical section descends further; it is partially lined with masonry that has been broken through to a cavity known as the Grotto. The lower half of the Well Shaft goes through the bedrock at an angle of about 45° for {{Convert|26.5|m|ft}} before a steeper section, {{Convert|9.5|m|ft}} long, leads to its lowest point. The final section of {{Convert|2.6|m|ft}} connects it to the Descending Passage, running almost horizontally. The builders evidently had trouble aligning the lower exit.{{sfn|Haase|2004b}}{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}}

The purpose of the shaft is commonly explained as a ventilation shaft for the Subterranean Chamber and as an escape shaft for the workers who slid the blocking stones of the Ascending Passage into place.

The Grotto is a natural limestone cave that was likely filled with sand and gravel before construction, before being hollowed out by looters. A granite block rests in it that likely originated from the portcullis that once sealed the King's Chamber.

===Queen's Chamber===
[[File:Chambre-reine-kheops.jpg|thumb|[[Axonometric]] view of the Queen's Chamber|upright=1.2]]
The Horizontal Passage links the Grand Gallery to the Queen's Chamber. Five pairs of holes at the start suggest the tunnel was once concealed with slabs that lay flush with the gallery floor. The passage is {{convert|2|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} wide and {{convert|1.17|m|ft|abbr=on}} high for most of its length, but near the chamber there is a step in the floor, after which the passage increases to {{convert|1.68|m|ft|abbr=on}} high.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}} Half of the west wall consists of two layers that have atypically continuous vertical joints. Dormion suggests the entrances to magazines laid here and have been filled in.{{sfn|Dormion|2004|pp=119–124}}

The Queen's Chamber is exactly halfway between the north and south faces of the pyramid. It measures {{convert|10|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} north-south, {{convert|11|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} east-west,{{sfn|Dormion|2004|p=259}} and has a pointed roof that apexes at {{convert|12|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} tall.{{sfn|Dormion|2004|p=154}} At the eastern end of the chamber is a [[Niche (architecture)|niche]] {{convert|9|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} high. The original depth of the niche was {{convert|2|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}}, but it has since been deepened by treasure hunters.

Shafts were discovered in the north and south walls of the Queen's Chamber in 1872 by British engineer [[Waynman Dixon]], who believed shafts similar to those in the King's Chamber must also exist. The shafts were not connected to the outer faces of the pyramid or the Queen's Chamber; their purpose is unknown. In one shaft Dixon discovered a ball of [[diorite]], a bronze hook of unknown purpose and a piece of cedar wood. The first two objects are now in the British Museum.<ref name="cheops.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.cheops.org/startpage/thefindings/thelowernorthshaft/lowernorth.htm|publisher=[[The Upuaut Project]]|title=Lower Northern Shaft|access-date=11 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729165649/http://www.cheops.org/startpage/thefindings/thelowernorthshaft/lowernorth.htm|archive-date=29 July 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> The latter was lost until 2020 when it was found at the [[University of Aberdeen]]. It has since been radiocarbon dated to 3341–3094 BC.<ref>{{cite news |title=Great Pyramid: Lost Egyptian artefact found in Aberdeen cigar box |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-55315623 |work=BBC News |date=16 December 2020}}</ref> The northern shaft's angle of ascent fluctuates and at one point turns 45 degrees to avoid the Great Gallery. The southern shaft is perpendicular to the pyramid's slope.<ref name="cheops.org" />

The shafts in the Queen's Chamber were explored in 1993 by the German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink using a crawler robot he designed, ''[[Upuaut 2]]''. After a climb of {{Convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}},<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/12/will-great-pyramids-secret-doors-be-opened/?test=faces |work=Fox News |title=Will the Great Pyramid's Secret Doors Be Opened? |date=12 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212091739/http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/12/will-great-pyramids-secret-doors-be-opened/?test=faces |archive-date=12 February 2012 }}</ref> he discovered that one of the shafts was blocked by a limestone "door" with two eroded copper "handles". The [[National Geographic Society]] created a similar robot, which, in September 2002, drilled a small hole in the southern door only to find another stone slab behind it.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gupton|first=Nancy|date=4 April 2003|title=Ancient Egyptian Chambers Explored|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0910_020913_egypt_1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803042156/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0910_020913_egypt_1.html|archive-date=3 August 2008|access-date=11 August 2008|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]}}</ref> The northern passage, which was difficult to navigate because of its twists and turns, was also found to be blocked by a slab.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0923_020923_egypt.html|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|title=Third "Door" Found in Great Pyramid|date=23 September 2002|access-date=11 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727013900/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0923_020923_egypt.html|archive-date=27 July 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Research continued in 2011 with the [[Djedi Project]], which used a fibre-optic "[[Fiberscope|micro snake camera]]" that could see around corners. With this, they were able to penetrate the first door of the southern shaft through the hole drilled in 2002, and view all the sides of the small chamber behind it. They discovered hieroglyphic characters written in red paint. Egyptian mathematics researcher Luca Miatello stated that the markings read "121" – the length of the shaft in cubits.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43314221 |title=Mystery of pyramid hieroglyphs: It all adds up |work=NBC News |last=Lorenzi |first=Rossella |date=7 June 2011 |access-date=1 July 2021 }}</ref> The Djedi team were also able to scrutinize the inside of the two copper "handles" embedded in the door, which they now believe to be for decorative purposes. They additionally found the reverse side of the "door" to be finished and polished, which suggests that it was not put there just to block the shaft from debris, but rather for a more specific reason.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028144.500-first-images-from-great-pyramids-chamber-of-secrets.html |title=First images from Great Pyramid's chamber of secrets |date=25 May 2011 |publisher=Reed Business Information |work=New Scientist |access-date=25 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106163531/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028144.500-first-images-from-great-pyramids-chamber-of-secrets.html |archive-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Grand Gallery===
[[File:Grande-galerie.jpg|thumb|Grand Gallery (with modern walkway up the middle)]]
The Grand Gallery continues the slope of the Ascending Passage towards the King's Chamber, extending from the 23rd to the 48th [[course (architecture)|course]] (of stones), a rise of {{convert|21|m|ft}}. It has been praised as a "truly spectacular example of stonemasonry".<ref name="Smith 2018">{{cite book|first=Craig B.|last=Smith|title=How the Great Pyramid Was Built|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|year=2018|isbn=9781588346261|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYBKDwAAQBAJ}}</ref> It is {{convert|8.6|m|ft}} high and {{convert|46.68|m|ft}} long. Its walls are made out of polished limestone.{{sfn|Edwards|1986|pp=|p=93}} The base is {{convert|4|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} wide, but after two courses – at a height of {{convert|2.29|m|ft}} – the blocks of stone in the walls are [[corbel]]led inwards by {{convert|6-10|cm|in}} on each side.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}}

There are seven of these steps, so, at the top, the Grand Gallery is only {{convert|2|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} wide. It is roofed by slabs of stone laid at a slightly steeper angle than the floor so that each stone fits into a slot cut into the top of the gallery, like the teeth of a [[Ratchet (device)|ratchet]]. The purpose was to have each block supported by the wall of the Gallery, rather than resting on the block beneath it, in order to prevent cumulative pressure.{{sfnp|Kingsland|1932|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OieJ8015ODEC&pg=PA71 71]}}

At the upper end of the Gallery, on the eastern wall, is a hole near the roof that opens into a short tunnel by which access can be gained to the lowest of the relieving chambers.

The floor of the Grand Gallery has a shelf or step on either side, {{convert|1|royal cubit|cm+in|1|bit (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} wide, leaving a lower ramp {{convert|2|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} wide between them. There are 56 slots on the shelves, with 28 on each side. On each wall, 25 niches have been cut above the slots.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lehner|first=Mark|date=1998|title=Niches, Slots, Grooves and Stains: Internal Frameworks in the Khufu Pyramid?|url=https://www.academia.edu/36645718|journal=STATIONEN: Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte Ägyptens|pages=101–114}}</ref> The purpose of these slots is not known, but the central gutter in the floor of the Gallery, which is the same width as the Ascending Passage, has led to speculation that the blocking stones were stored in the Grand Gallery and the slots held wooden beams to restrain them from sliding down the passage.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepyramids00lehn/page/113 113]}} [[Jean-Pierre Houdin]] theorized that they held a timber frame that was used in combination with a trolley to pull the heavy granite blocks up the pyramid.

At the top of the gallery, there is a step onto a small horizontal platform where a tunnel leads through the Antechamber, once blocked by portcullis stones, into the King's Chamber.

===The Big Void===
[[File:East-West cut view of the Great Pyramid and front view of the North face Chevron area.png|thumb|upright=1.8|East-West cut view of the Great Pyramid and front view of the North Face Chevron Area. a. Subterranean Chamber, b. Queen's Chamber, c. Grand Gallery, d. King's Chamber, e. Descending Corridor, f. Ascending Corridor, g. al-Ma'mun Corridor, h. North Face Chevron Area, i. ScanPyramids Big Void with horizontal hypothesis (red hatching) and inclined hypothesis (green hatching), as published in November 2017.<ref name="Procureur">{{cite journal |last1=Procureur |first1=Sébastien |last2=Morishima |first2=Kunihiro |last3=Kuno |first3=Mitsuaki |last4=Manabe |first4=Yuta |last5=Kitagawa |first5=Nobuko |last6=Nishio |first6=Akira |last7=Gomez |first7=Hector |title=Precise characterization of a corridor-shaped structure in Khufu's Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons |journal=Nature Communications |date=2 March 2023 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=1144 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-36351-0 |pmid=36864018 |pmc=9981702 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.1144P |language=en |issn=2041-1723 |display-authors=3}}</ref>]]

In 2017, scientists from the [[ScanPyramids]] project discovered a large cavity above the Grand Gallery using [[Muon tomography#Egyptian pyramids|muon radiography]], which they called the "ScanPyramids Big Void". A research team, under the supervision of Professor Morishima Kunihiro at [[Nagoya University]], used special [[nuclear emulsion]] detectors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp/research/activities/news/2017/11/Physicists-at-Nagoya-University-discover-a-huge-void-in-Giza's-Great-Pyramid.html |title=Physicists at Nagoya University discover a huge void in Giza's Great Pyramid by cosmic-ray imaging |publisher=Nagoya University |date=22 November 2017 |access-date=5 August 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aip.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/public/nu_research/features/detail/0004136.html|title = Research of Egyptian Pyramids with Cosmic ray Imaging &#124; Features| date=29 July 2022 }}</ref> Its length is at least {{convert|30|m|ft}} and its cross-section is similar to that of the Grand Gallery. Its existence was confirmed by independent detection with three different technologies: [[nuclear emulsion]] films, [[scintillator]] [[hodoscope]]s, and [[gas detector]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/great-pyramid-giza-void-discovered-khufu-archaeology-science/|title=Mysterious Void Discovered in Egypt's Great Pyramid|date=2 November 2017 |access-date=2 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727141201/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/great-pyramid-giza-void-discovered-khufu-archaeology-science/|archive-date=27 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Discovery of a big void in Khufu's Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons |display-authors=4 |first1=Kunihiro|last1=Morishima |first2=Mitsuaki|last2=Kuno |first3=Akira|last3=Nishio |first4=Nobuko|last4=Kitagawa |first5=Yuta|last5=Manabe |first6=Masaki|last6=Moto |first7=Fumihiko|last7=Takasaki |first8=Hirofumi|last8=Fujii |first9=Kotaro|last9=Satoh |first10=Hideyo|last10=Kodama |first11=Kohei|last11=Hayashi |first12=Shigeru|last12=Odaka |first13=Sébastien|last13=Procureur |first14=David|last14=Attié |first15=Simon|last15=Bouteille |first16=Denis|last16=Calvet |first17=Christopher|last17=Filosa |first18=Patrick|last18=Magnier |first19=Irakli|last19=Mandjavidze |first20=Marc|last20=Riallot |first21=Benoit|last21=Marini |first22=Pierre|last22=Gable |first23=Yoshikatsu|last23=Date |first24=Makiko|last24=Sugiura |first25=Yasser|last25=Elshayeb |first26=Tamer|last26=Elnady |first27=Mustapha|last27=Ezzy |first28=Emmanuel|last28=Guerriero |first29=Vincent|last29=Steiger |first30=Nicolas|last30=Serikoff |first31=Jean-Baptiste|last31=Mouret |first32=Bernard|last32=Charlès |first33=Hany|last33=Helal |first34=Mehdi|last34=Tayoubi |author-link34=Mehdi Tayoubi |date=2 November 2017 |journal=Nature |volume=552 |issue=7685 |pages=386–390 |doi=10.1038/nature24647 |pmid=29160306 |bibcode=2017Natur.552..386M |arxiv=1711.01576|s2cid=4459597 }}</ref> The purpose of the cavity is unknown and it is not accessible. [[Zahi Hawass]] speculates it may have been a gap used in the construction of the Grand Gallery,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/scientists-discover-hidden-chamber-egypts-great-pyramid-50881797|title=Scientists discover hidden chamber in Egypt's Great Pyramid |work=ABC News|access-date=2 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102153724/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/scientists-discover-hidden-chamber-egypts-great-pyramid-50881797|archive-date=2 November 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> but the Japanese research team state that the void is completely different from previously identified construction spaces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Critics: Nothing special about big void found in Khufu Pyramid: The Asahi Shimbun |work=The Asahi Shimbun |url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201711070057.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108030856/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201711070057.html |archive-date=8 November 2017 |access-date=8 November 2017}}</ref>

To verify and pinpoint the void, a team from Kyushu University, Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo and the Chiba Institute of Technology planned to rescan the structure with a newly developed muon detector in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theindependent.in/the-hidden-chamber-at-giza-to-be-re-scanned-and-pinpointed/|title=The Hidden Chamber at Giza to be re-scanned and pinpointed|date=15 January 2020 |access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref> Their work was delayed by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1346220/egypt-great-pyramid-giza-discovery-hidden-chamber-scanpyramid-pharaoh-khufu-japan-spt |title=Egypt breakthrough: Great Pyramid tipped for major discovery in new 'hidden chamber' scan |work=The Express |last=Hoare |first=Callum |date=10 October 2020 |access-date=1 July 2021 }}</ref>

=== Antechamber ===
[[File:Piazzi-plate 12.jpg|thumb|A diagram of the Antechamber|upright=1.8]]
The last line of defence against intrusion was a small chamber designed to house portcullis blocking stones, called the Antechamber. It is cased almost entirely in granite and is situated between the upper end of the Grand Gallery and the King's Chamber. Three slots for portcullis stones line the east and west wall of the chamber. Each of them is topped with a semi-circular groove for a log, around which ropes could be spanned.

The granite portcullis stones were approximately {{convert|1|royal cubit|cm+in|1|bit (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} thick and were lowered into position by ropes, which were tied through four holes at the top of the blocks. A corresponding set of four vertical grooves are on the south wall of the chamber, recesses that make space for the ropes.

The Antechamber has a design flaw: the space above them can be accessed, thus all but the last block can be circumvented. This was exploited by looters who punched a hole through the ceiling of the tunnel behind, gaining access to the King's Chamber. Later on, all three portcullis stones were broken and removed. Fragments of these blocks can be found in various locations in the pyramid (the Pit Shaft, the Original Entrance, the Grotto and the recess before the Subterranean Chamber).{{sfn|Haase|2004b}}

===King's Chamber===
[[File:Kheops-chambre-roi.jpg|thumb|Axonometric view of the King's Chamber]]
The King's Chamber is the upmost of the three main chambers of the pyramid. It is faced entirely with [[granite]] and measures {{convert|20|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} east-west by {{convert|10|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|disp=x}} north-south. Its flat ceiling is about 11 cubits and 5 digits ({{convert|5.8|m|ft|1|;||abbr=on|disp=x}}) above the floor, formed by nine slabs of stone weighing in total about 400 tons. All the roof beams show cracks due to the chamber having settled {{Convert|2.5–5|cm|in|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=48}}

The walls consist of five courses of blocks that are uninscribed, as was the norm for burial chambers of the 4th dynasty.{{sfn|Kanawati|2005|p=55}} The stones are precisely fitted together. The facing surfaces are dressed to varying degrees, with some displaying remains of [[lifting boss]]es not entirely cut away.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=48}} The back sides of the blocks were only roughly hewn to shape, as was usual with Egyptian hard-stone facade blocks, presumably to save work.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lehner|url=https://www.academia.edu/36580864|title=Notes and Photographs on the West-Schoch Sphinx Hypothesis|year=1994}}</ref>{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965b}}

==== Sarcophagus ====
[[File:Chambre-roi-grande-pyramide.jpg|thumb|Sarcophagus in the King's Chamber]]
The only surviving object in the King's Chamber is a [[sarcophagus]] made of a single, hollowed-out granite block. When it was rediscovered in the [[Early Middle Ages]], it was found broken open and any contents had already been removed. It is of the form common for early Egyptian sarcophagi, rectangular in shape with grooves to slide the now missing lid into place with three small holes for pegs to fix it.{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=84}}{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=50}} The coffer was not perfectly smoothed, displaying tool marks matching those of copper saws and tubular hand-drills.{{sfn|Stocks|2003}}

The internal dimensions of the sarcophagus are roughly {{Convert|198|cm|ft|abbr=on}} by {{Convert|68|cm|ft|abbr=in}}, the external {{Convert|228|cm|ft|abbr=on}} by {{Convert|98|cm|ft|abbr=on}}, with a height of {{Convert|105|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. The walls have a thickness of about {{Convert|15|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. The sarcophagus is too large to fit around the corner between the Ascending and Descending Passages, which indicates that it must have been placed in the chamber before the roof was put in place.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=52}}

==== Air shafts ====
In the north and south walls of the King's Chamber are two narrow shafts, commonly known as "air shafts". They face each other and are located approximately {{convert|0.91|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the floor, {{Convert|2.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} from the eastern wall, with a width of {{Convert|18 and 21|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a height of {{Convert|14|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Both start out horizontally for the length of the granite blocks they go through before changing to an upwards direction.{{sfn|Dormion|2004|p=296}}

The southern shaft ascends at an angle of 45° with a slight curve westwards. One ceiling stone was found to be distinctly unfinished, which [[The Upuaut Project|Gantenbrink]] called a "Monday morning block". The northern shaft changes angle several times, shifting the path to the west, perhaps to avoid the Big Void. The builders apparently had trouble calculating the right angles, resulting in parts of the shaft being narrower. Now, they both commute to the exterior. Whether they originally penetrated the outer casing is unknown.

The purpose of these shafts is not clear: they were long believed by Egyptologists to be shafts for ventilation, but this idea has now been widely abandoned in favour of the shafts serving a ritualistic purpose associated with the ascension of the king's spirit to the heavens.{{sfn|Jackson|Stamp|2002|pp=79, 104}}

The idea that the shafts point towards stars or areas of the northern and southern skies has been largely dismissed as the northern shaft follows a [[Dog-leg (stairs)|dog-leg course]] through the masonry and the southern shaft has a bend of approximately {{Convert|20|cm|in}}, indicating no intention to have them point to any celestial objects.<ref name="Upuaut">{{Cite web|last=Gantenbrink|title=The Upuaut Project|url=http://cheops.org|url-status=deviated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806133148/http://cheops.org/|archive-date=2020-08-06}}</ref>

In 1992, as part of the Upuaut project, a ventilation system was installed in both air shafts of the King's Chamber.<ref name="Upuaut" />

=== Relieving chambers ===
[[File:Piazzi-plate_13.jpg|thumb|Relieving chambers above the King's Chamber, [[Charles Piazzi Smyth|Smyth]] 1877]]
Above the roof of the King's Chamber are five compartments, named (from lowest upwards) "[[Nathaniel Davison|Davison]]'s Chamber", "[[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]]'s Chamber", "[[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]]'s Chamber", "[[Arbuthnot baronets|Lady Arbuthnot]]'s Chamber", and "[[Patrick Campbell (1779–1857)|Campbell]]'s Chamber".

They were presumably intended to safeguard the King's Chamber from the possibility of the roof collapsing under the weight of stone above, hence they are referred to as "relieving chambers".

The granite blocks that divide the chambers have flat bottom sides but roughly shaped top sides, giving all five chambers an irregular floor, but a flat ceiling, with the exception of the uppermost chamber, which has a pointed limestone roof.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=24}}

Nathaniel Davison is credited with the discovery of the lowest of these chambers in 1763, although a French merchant named Maynard informed him of its existence.{{sfn|Vyse|1840b|p=180}} It can be reached through an ancient passage that originates from the top of the south wall of the Grand Gallery.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=24}} The upper four chambers were discovered in 1837 by [[Howard Vyse]] after discovering a crack in the ceiling of the first chamber. This allowed the insertion of a long reed, which, with the employment of gunpowder and boring rods, opened a tunnel upwards through the masonry.{{sfn|Vyse|1840a|p=155, 203pp}} As no access shafts existed for the upper four chambers – unlike Davison's Chamber – they were completely inaccessible until this point.

Numerous graffiti of red [[ochre]] paint were found covering the limestone walls of all four newly discovered chambers. Apart from levelling lines and indication marks for masons, multiple hieroglyphic inscriptions spell out the names of work-gangs. Those names, which were also found in other Egyptian pyramids like that of [[Pyramid of Menkaure|Menkaure]] and [[Pyramid of Sahure|Sahure]], usually included the name of the pharaoh for whom they were working.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Ancient Egyptians Organized their Labor Force|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram7_1.pdf|pages=11–13|access-date=27 March 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422084726/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram7_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Reisner1931" /> The blocks must have received the inscriptions before the chambers became inaccessible during construction. Their orientation, often sideways or upside down, and their sometimes being partially covered by blocks, seems to indicate that the stones were inscribed before being laid.{{sfn|Perring|1839|loc=Plates V–VII}}

The inscriptions, correctly deciphered only decades after discovery, read as follows:<ref name="Reisner1931" />

* "The gang, The Horus Mededuw-is-the-purifier-of-the-two-lands". Found once in relieving chamber 3. (Mededuw being Khufu's Horus name.)
* "The gang, The Horus Mededuw-is-pure" Found seven times in chamber 4.
* "The gang, Khufu-excites-love" Found once in chamber 5 (top chamber).
* "The gang, The-white-crown-of Khnumkhuwfuw-is-powerful" Found once in chambers 2 and 3, ten times in chamber 4 and twice in chamber 5. (Khnum-Khufu being Khufu's full birth name.)

==Pyramid complex==
{{See also|Giza pyramid complex}}
The Great Pyramid is surrounded by a complex of several buildings, including small pyramids.

=== Temples and causeway ===
[[File:Vestiges-temple-khéops.jpg|thumb|right|Remains of the basalt floor of the temple at the east foot of the pyramid]]The Pyramid Temple, which stood on the east side of the pyramid and measured {{convert|52.2|m|ft}} north to south and {{convert|40|m|ft}} east to west, has almost entirely disappeared. Only some of the black [[basalt]] paving remains. There are only a few remnants of the causeway that linked the pyramid with the valley and the Valley Temple. The Valley Temple is buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; basalt paving and limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated.{{sfn|Arnold|2005|pages=51–52}}{{sfn|Arnold|Strudwick|Strudwick |2002|p=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofa00diet/page/126 126]}}

=== East cemetery ===
The [[tomb of Queen Hetepheres I]], sister-wife of [[Sneferu]] and mother of Khufu, lies {{convert|110|m|ft}} east of the Great Pyramid.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Callender|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/638/full/|title=Queen Hetepheres I|year=1990|pages=26}}</ref> Discovered by accident by the Reisner expedition, the burial was intact, but the carefully sealed coffin proved to be empty.

==== Subsidiary pyramids ====
On the southern end of the east side are four subsidiary pyramids The three that remain standing to almost full height are popularly known as the Queens' Pyramids ([[Pyramid G1-a|G1-a]], [[Pyramid G1-b|G1-b]] and [[Pyramid G1-c|G1-c]]). The fourth, smaller satellite pyramid ([[Pyramid G1-d|G1-d]]), is so ruined that its existence was not suspected until the first course of stones and, later, the remains of the capstone were discovered during excavations in 1991–1993.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Digital Giza {{!}} "The Satellite Pyramid of Khufu"|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/998/full/|access-date=2021-03-24|website=giza.fas.harvard.edu}}</ref>

===Boats===
{{Main|Khufu ship|Solar barque}}
[[File:Giseh_Sonnenbarke_12.jpg|thumb|A restored Khufu ship was once displayed at the [[Giza Solar boat museum]] and is now relocated to the Grand Egyptian Museum.]]

Three boat-shaped pits are located east of the pyramid. They are large enough in size and shape to have held complete boats, though so shallow that any superstructure, if there ever was one, must have been removed or disassembled.

Two additional boat pits, long and rectangular in shape, were found south of the pyramid, still covered with slabs of stone weighing up to 15 tons.

The first of these was discovered in May 1954 by the Egyptian archaeologist [[Kamal el-Mallakh]]. Inside were 1,224 pieces of wood, the longest {{convert|23|m|ft}} in length, the shortest {{convert|10|cm|ft}}. These were entrusted to a boat builder, Haj Ahmed Yusuf, who worked out how the pieces fitted together. The entire process, including conservation and straightening of the warped wood, took fourteen years. The result is a cedar-wood boat {{convert|43.6|m|ft}} long, its timbers held together [[Sewn boat|by ropes]], which was originally housed in the [[Giza Solar boat museum]], a special boat-shaped, air-conditioned museum beside the pyramid. The boat is now in the [[Grand Egyptian Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=A team from the Grand Egyptian Museum succeeded in the first trial run conducted to test the vehicles that will be used in the transferring the first Khufu Solar Boat from its current location|url=https://egymonuments.gov.eg/news/a-team-from-the-grand-egyptian-museum-succeeded-in-the-first-trial-run-conducted-to-test-the-vehicles-that-will-be-used-in-the-transferring-the-first-khufu-solar-boat-from-its-current-location/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=In pictures: Egypt pharaoh's 'solar boat' moved to Giza museum|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-58088867|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2021-08-07|accessdate=2021-08-07}}</ref>

During construction of this museum in the 1980s, the second sealed boat pit was discovered. It was left unopened until 2011 when excavation began on the boat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egyptpro.sci.waseda.ac.jp/e-khufu.html |title=Khufu's Second Boat |work=Institute of Egyptology |publisher=[[Waseda University]] |location=Tokyo |access-date=26 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111130227/http://www.egyptpro.sci.waseda.ac.jp/e-khufu.html |archive-date=11 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Pyramid town ===
Flanking the Giza pyramid complex is a [[Cyclopean masonry|cyclopean]] stone wall, the Wall of the Crow.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wall of the Crow|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/lost-city-project/wall-of-the-crow/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503165327/http://www.aeraweb.org/lost-city-project/wall-of-the-crow/|archive-date=3 May 2019|access-date=13 August 2019|work=The Lost City|date=14 October 2009|publisher=AERA – Ancient Egypt Research Associates}}</ref> [[Mark Lehner]] discovered a worker's town outside the wall, otherwise known as "The Lost City", dated by pottery styles, seal impressions and [[stratigraphy]] to have been constructed and occupied during the reigns of Khafre (2520–2494 BC) and Menkaure (2490–2472 BC).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Lost City of the Pyramids|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/projects/lost-city/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113033008/http://www.aeraweb.org/projects/lost-city/|archive-date=13 November 2010|access-date=21 October 2010|work=The Lost City|publisher=AERA – Ancient Egypt Research Associates}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dating the Lost City|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/lost-city-project/dating-the-lost-city/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114052755/http://www.aeraweb.org/lost-city-project/dating-the-lost-city/|archive-date=14 November 2010|access-date=21 October 2010|work=The Lost City|publisher=AERA – Ancient Egypt Research Associates}}</ref> In the early 21st century, Lehner and his team made several discoveries, including what appears to have been a thriving port, suggesting the town and associated living quarters, which consisted of barracks called "galleries", may not have been for the pyramid workers after all, but rather for the soldiers and sailors who used the port. In light of this new discovery, as to where then the pyramid workers may have lived, Lehner suggested the alternative possibility they may have camped on the ramps he believes were used to construct the pyramids, or possibly at nearby quarries.<ref>{{cite web|date=28 January 2014|title=Ruins of Bustling Port Unearthed at Egypt's Giza Pyramids|url=http://www.livescience.com/42902-giza-pyramids-port-discovered.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003070512/http://www.livescience.com/42902-giza-pyramids-port-discovered.html|archive-date=3 October 2014|access-date=21 August 2014|publisher=Livescience.com}}</ref>

In the early 1970s, the Austrian archaeologist {{Ill|Karl Kromer|de|Karl Kromer}} excavated a mound in the South Field of the plateau. It contained artefacts including mudbrick seals of Khufu, which Kromer identified with an artisans' settlement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hawass|first=Zahi|title=Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt|year=1999|isbn=0-415-18589-0|editor=Kathryn A. Bard|editor-link=Kathryn A. Bard |pages=423–426|chapter=Giza, workmen's community|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Mudbrick buildings just south of Khufu's Valley Temple contained mud sealings of Khufu and have been suggested to be a settlement serving the cult of Khufu after his death.{{sfnp|Hawass |Senussi|2008|pp=127–128}} A worker's cemetery used at least between Khufu's reign and the end of the [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Fifth Dynasty]] was discovered south of the Wall of the Crow by Hawass in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hawass|first=Zahi|title=The Discovery of the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders at Giza|url=http://www.guardians.net/hawass/buildtomb.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101053824/http://guardians.net/hawass/buildtomb.htm|archive-date=1 November 2010|access-date=21 October 2010}}</ref>

==Looting==
Authors [[Bob Brier]] and Hoyt Hobbs claim that "all the pyramids were robbed" by the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], when the construction of royal tombs in the [[Valley of the Kings]] began.{{sfnp|Brier|Hobbs|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeofancie00brie/page/164 164]}}{{sfnp|Cremin|2007|p=96}} [[Joyce Tyldesley]] states that the Great Pyramid itself was likely robbed as early as the [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt|First Intermediate Period]], given that the evidence indicates that the Great Pyramid had been "known to have been opened and emptied by the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]]", before the Arab [[caliph]] [[Al-Ma'mun]] entered the pyramid around 820 AD.{{sfn|Tyldesley|2007|p=38}}

[[I.E.S. Edwards|I. E. S. Edwards]] discusses [[Strabo]]'s mention that the pyramid "a little way up one side has a stone that may be taken out, which being raised up there is a sloping passage to the foundations". Edwards suggested that the pyramid was entered by tomb robbers after the end of the Old Kingdom and sealed and then reopened more than once until Strabo's door was added. He adds: "If this highly speculative surmise be correct, it is also necessary to assume either that the existence of the door was forgotten or that the entrance was again blocked with facing stones", in order to explain why al-Ma'mun could not find the entrance.{{sfn|Edwards|1986|pp=99–100}} Scholars such as [[Gaston Maspero]] and [[Flinders Petrie]] have noted that evidence for a similar door has been found at the [[Bent Pyramid]] of [[Dashur]].{{sfn|Maspero|1903|p=181}}{{sfn|Petrie|1892|pp=24–25, 167}}

[[Herodotus]] visited Egypt in the 5th century BC and recounts a story that he was told concerning vaults under the pyramid built on an island where the body of Khufu lies. Edwards notes that the pyramid had "almost certainly been opened and its contents plundered long before the time of Herodotus" and that it might have been closed again during the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt]] when other monuments were restored. He suggests that the story told to Herodotus could have been the result of almost two centuries of telling and retelling by pyramid guides.{{sfn|Edwards|1986|pp=990–991}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Egypt|Ancient Egypt|History|Architecture}}
* [[Mathematics and architecture#Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egypt in mathematics and architecture]]
* [[Index of Egypt-related articles]]
* [[List of Egyptian pyramids]]
* [[List of largest monoliths]], including a section on calculating the weight of megaliths
* [[List of tallest freestanding structures]]
* [[List of tallest structures built before the 20th century]]
* [[Pyramidology]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|22em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|26em}}
* {{cite book|last= Arnold|first=Dieter|title=Temples of Ancient Egypt|year=2005|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-85043-945-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cv08amI7lkUC}}
* {{cite book|last1= Arnold|first1=Dieter|last2=Strudwick|first2=Nigel|last3=Strudwick|first3=Helen|title=The encyclopaedia of ancient Egyptian architecture|year=2002|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-465-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofa00diet/page/126}}
* {{cite book|last1= Battutah|first1=Ibn|title=The Travels of Ibn Battutah|date=2002 |publisher=Picador |location=London |isbn=978-0-330-41879-9}}
* {{Cite book|last1= Brier|first1=Bob|last2=Hobbs|first2=A. Hoyt|title=Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-313-30313-5|publisher=Greenwood Press |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeofancie00brie |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last =Burton|first=Anne|title=Diodorus Siculus: Book I, A Commentary|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden, Netherlands|date=1972|isbn=9004035141}}
* {{Cite book|last= Cole |first=J.H. |title= Determination of the Exact Size and Orientation of the Great Pyramid of Giza |year=1925 |location=Cairo |publisher=Government Press. Survey of Egypt Paper No. 39}}
*{{cite book|last1=Cooperson|first1=Michael|title=Occasional Papers of the School of 'Abbasid Studies Leuven 28 June – 1 July 2004|date=2010|publisher=[[Peeters (publishing company)|Peeters]]|editor1-last=Nawas|editor1-first=John|series=Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta|volume=177|location=[[Leuven]], [[Belgium]]|pages=165–190|chapter=al-Ma'mun, the Pyramids, and the Hieroglyphs|oclc=788203355|author-link1=Michael Cooperson|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/8494464}}
* {{cite book|last1= Clarke|first1=Somers|last2=Engelbach|first2=Reginal|title=Ancient Egyptian construction and architecture|year=1991|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-26485-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0Uiat5EAaMC}}
* {{Cite book|last= Colavito | first = Jason | publisher = McFarland| isbn = 978-0-7864-9645-7| title = Foundations of Atlantis, Ancient Astronauts and Other Alternative Pasts: 148 Documents Cited by Writers of Fringe History, Translated with Annotations| date = 2015}}
* {{cite book|last= Cremin|first=Aedeen |title=Archaeologica: The World's Most Significant Sites and Cultural Treasures|year=2007|publisher=Frances Lincoln|isbn=978-0-7112-2822-1}}
* {{cite book|author= Diodorus Siculus|year=1933|translator=C. H. Oldfather|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA|title=Library of History: Books 1-2.34|volume=1}}
* {{cite book|author= Dormion|first=Gilles|year=2004|title=La chambre de Chéops: Analyse architecturale|publisher=Fayard |isbn=978-2213622293}}
* {{cite book|last1= Edgar|first1=John|last2=Edgar|first2=Morton|title=The Great Pyramid Passages and Chambers |volume=1 |year=1910 |url=https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition}}
* {{cite book|last= Edwards|first=I.E.S.|author-link=I. E. S. Edwards|title=The Pyramids of Egypt |publisher=Max Parrish |year=1986 |orig-year=1962}}
* {{cite book |last1= El Daly |first1=Okasha |title=Egyptology: The Missing Millennium : Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings |date=2005 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-1-84472-063-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdI96px90kUC |access-date=27 March 2021 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1= Greaves |first1=John |title=Pyramidographia: or, a Description of the pyramids in Egypt |url=https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/greaves1752 |access-date=7 April 2021 |language=en |date=1752 |orig-year=1646}}
* {{cite book|last= Haase |first=Michael |title=Eine Stätte für die Ewigkeit: Der Pyramidenkomplex des Cheops aus baulicher, architektonischer und kulturgeschichtlicher Sicht |year=2004a |publisher=Zabern |isbn=3805331053}}
* {{cite journal|last= Haase |first=Michael |title=Der Serviceschacht der Cheops-Pyramide. Bemerkungen zur Konstruktion des Verbindungsschachtes zwischen Großer Galerie und absteigendem Korridor. |journal=Sokar |volume=9 |year=2004b |pages=12–17 |issn=1438-7956 |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/542/full/}}
* {{Cite book|last= Hassan |first=Selim  |year=1960 |title=The Great Pyramid of Khufu and its Mortuary Chapel With Names and Titles of Vols. I–X of the Excavations at Giza |publisher=Ministry of Culture and National Orientation, Antiquities Department of Egypt |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/246/full/}}
* {{cite book|last1= Hawass|first1=Zahi|last2=Senussi|first2=Ashraf|year=2008|title=Old Kingdom Pottery from Giza|publisher=Supreme Council of Antiquities|isbn=978-977-305-986-6}}
* {{Cite book|last= Ibn al-Nadim | publisher = Columbia University Press|others = Bayard Dodge (trans.)| title = The Fihrist of al-Nadim: a tenth-century survey of muslim culture| location = New York| date = 1970}}
* {{Cite book|last1= Jackson|last2=Stamp|first1=K.|first2=J.|title=Pyramid : Beyond Imagination. Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza|year=2002|isbn=978-0-563-48803-3|publisher=BBC Worldwide Ltd}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kanawati |first=Naguib |year=2005 |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/432/full/ |title=Decoration of Burial Chambers, Sarcophagi and Coffins in the Old Kingdom |pages=55–71}}
* {{cite book|last= Kingsland |first=William |date=1932 |title=The Great pyramid in fact and in theory |location=London |publisher=Rider |isbn=978-0-7873-0497-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OieJ8015ODEC}}
* {{Cite book|last= Lehner|first=Mark|title=The Complete Pyramids|year=1997|isbn=0-500-05084-8|publisher=London: Thames and Hudson|url=https://archive.org/details/completepyramids00lehn}}
* {{Cite book|last1= Lehner|first1=Mark|last2=Hawass|first2=Zahi|title=Giza and the Pyramids: The Definitive History|year=2017|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-42569-6}}
* {{cite book|last1= Maragioglio|first1=Vito|last2=Rinaldi|first2=Celeste|title=L'Architettura delle Piramidi Menfite 4. Le Grande Piramide di Cheope (Text – English/Italian)|year=1965a|publisher=Tipografia Canessa |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/550/full/}}
* {{cite book|last1= Maragioglio|first1=Vito|last2=Rinaldi|first2=Celeste|title=L'Architettura delle Piramidi Menfite 4. Le Grande Piramide di Cheope (Plates)|year=1965b|publisher=Tipografia Canessa |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/577/full/}}
* {{cite book|last= Maspero|first=Gaston|date=1903|editor=Sayce, A. H.|translator=McClure, M. L.|volume=2|publisher=[[Grolier|The Grolier Society]]|title=History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria}}
* {{cite book|last1= Perring|first1=John Shae|title=The pyramids of Gizeh: from actual survey and admeasurement: The great pyramid |volume=1 |year=1839 |doi=10.11588/DIGLIT.3557|url=https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/perring1839bd1}}
* {{Cite book|last= Petrie|first=William Matthew Flinders|url=https://www.ronaldbirdsall.com/gizeh/index.htm|title=The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh|year=1883|isbn=0-7103-0709-8|publisher=Field & Tuer}}
* {{cite book|last= Petrie|first=William Matthew Flinders|title=Ten Years' Digging in Egypt, 1881–1891|date=1892|publisher=[[Religious Tract Society]]|location=London}}
* {{Cite book|last= Petrie|first=William Matthew Flinders|year=1940|title=Wisdom of the Egyptians|publisher=British school of archaeology in Egypt and B. Quaritch Limited |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QfZGwFGASFQC}}
* {{cite book|author=Pliny the Elder|title=The Natural History|translator1=Bostock, John|translator2=Riley, H. T.| location=London|publisher=[[Taylor and Francis]]|date=1855|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D36%3Achapter%3D17|access-date=February 25, 2021}}
* {{Cite book|last= Riggs| first = Christina| publisher = Reaktion Books| isbn = 978-1-78023-774-9| title = Egypt: Lost Civilizations| location = London| date = 2017}}
* {{Cite book|last= Romer|first=John|title=The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-87166-2|publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{Cite book|last= Rossi|first=Corinna|author-link=Corinna Rossi|title=Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 2007 |isbn=978-0-521-69053-9}}
* {{Cite book|last= Schironi| first = Francesca| publisher = Walter de Gruyter| isbn = 978-3-11-021540-3|  title = From Alexandria to Babylon: Near Eastern Languages and Hellenistic Erudition in the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (P.Oxy. 1802 + 4812)| location = Berlin| date = 2009}}
* {{Cite book|last= Shaw|first=Ian|title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt|year=2003|isbn=0-19-815034-2|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Shaw|editor1-first=Ian|editor2-last=Bloxam|editor2-first=Elizabeth|title=The Oxford Handbook of Egyptology|date=2021|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|isbn= 9780199271870}}
* {{cite book|last= Stocks|first=Denys Allen|title=Experiments in Egyptian archaeology: stoneworking technology in ancient Egypt|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-30664-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLDuHvQODoIC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Tallet|first=Pierre|title=Les Papyrus de la Mer Rouge I: Le Journal de Merer|year=2017|publisher=Institut français d'archéologie orientale |isbn=978-2724707069}}
* {{Cite book|last= Tompkins| first = Peter| author-link = Peter Tompkins | publisher = Harper & Row | title = Secrets of the Great Pyramid| url = https://archive.org/details/secretsofgreatpy0000tomp_q9c8/ | location = New York| year = 1978 | isbn = 9780060906313|orig-year = 1971}}
* {{Cite book|last= Tyldesley|first=Joyce|title=Egypt: How a lost civilization was rediscovered|year=2007|isbn=978-0-563-52257-7|publisher=BBC Books}}
* {{Cite book|last= Verner|first=Miroslav|title=The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments|year=2001|isbn=0-8021-1703-1|publisher=Grove Press|url=https://archive.org/details/pyramidscomplete00vern}}
* {{Cite book|last= Verner|first=Miroslav|title=The Pyramids: Their Archaeology and History|year=2003|isbn=1-84354-171-8|publisher=Atlantic Books}}
* {{cite book|last= Vyse |first=H. |date=1840a |title=Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837: With an Account of a Voyage into Upper Egypt, and an Appendix |volume=I |location=London |publisher=J. Fraser |url=https://archive.org/details/operationscarrie01howa |access-date=15 September 2014}}
* {{cite book|last= Vyse |first=H. |date=1840b |title=Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837: With an Account of a Voyage into Upper Egypt, and an Appendix |volume=II |location=London |publisher=J. Fraser |url=https://archive.org/details/operationscarri00vysegoog/page/n14/mode/2up |access-date=February 26, 2021}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|26em}}
* {{Cite book|last= Clayton|first=Peter A.|year=1994|title=Chronicle of the Pharaohs|isbn=0-500-05074-0|publisher=Thames & Hudson|url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofphara00clay}}
* {{cite book|last1= Cooper |first1=Roscoe |first2=Vicki Teague |last2=Cooper |first3=Carolyn |last3=Croll |first4=Diana Craig |last4=Patch |first5=Atha |last5=Tehon |author-link5=Atha Tehon |year=1997 |title=The Great Pyramid: An Interactive Book |location=London |publisher=British Museum Press}}
* {{cite book|last= Der Manuelian |first=Peter |year=2017 |title=Digital Giza: Visualizing the Pyramids |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press}}
* {{cite book|last= Hawass |first=Zahi A. |year=2006 |title=Mountains of the Pharaohs: The Untold Story of the Pyramid Builders |location=Cairo |publisher=American University in Cairo Press}}
* {{cite book|last= Hawass |first=Zahi |title=Magic of the Pyramids: My adventures in Archeology |date=2015 |publisher=Harmakis Edizioni |isbn=978-88-98301-33-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6UbCwAAQBAJ |access-date=27 March 2021}}
* {{cite book |last1=Higgins |first1=Michael Denis|year=2023 |title=The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Science, Engineering and Technology |place=New York, NY |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780197648155}}
* {{Cite book|last= Levy |first=Janey |year=2005 |title=The Great Pyramid of Giza: Measuring Length, Area, Volume, and Angles |isbn=1-4042-6059-5|publisher=Rosen Publishing Group}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lepre |first=J.P. |year=1990 |title=The Egyptian Pyramids: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Reference|isbn=0-89950-461-2|publisher=McFarland & Company}}
* {{Cite book|last= Lightbody |first=David I |year=2008|title=Egyptian Tomb Architecture: The Archaeological Facts of Pharaonic Circular Symbolism|isbn=978-1-4073-0339-0|publisher=British Archaeological Reports International Series S1852}}
* {{cite journal|last1= Nell |first1=Erin |last2=Ruggles |first2=Clive |date=2014 |title=The Orientations of the Giza Pyramids and Associated Structures |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=304–360|doi=10.1177/0021828614533065 |arxiv=1302.5622 |bibcode=2014JHA....45..304N |s2cid=119224474 }}
* {{Cite book|last= Oakes| first=Lorana|author2=Lucia Gahlin |title=Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated Reference to the Myths, Religions, Pyramids and Temples of the Land of the Pharaohs |publisher=Hermes House|year=2002|isbn=1-84309-429-0|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptillu00oake}}
* {{cite book|last1= Rossi |first1=Corinna |author1-link=Corinna Rossi|first2=Laura |last2=Accomazzo |year=2005 |title=The Pyramids and the Sphinx |edition=English |location=Cairo |publisher=American University in Cairo Press}}
* {{Cite book|last= Scarre |first=Chris |year=1999 |title=The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World|isbn=978-0-500-05096-5|publisher=Thames & Hudson, London|url=https://archive.org/details/seventywondersof00scar}}
* {{Cite book|last=Siliotti |first=Alberto |year=1997 |title=Guide to the pyramids of Egypt; preface by Zahi Hawass. |isbn=0-7607-0763-4 |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |url=https://archive.org/details/guidetopyramidso0000sili |url-access=registration}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Great Pyramid of Giza
  |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/pyramid-building.html Building the Khufu Pyramid]
* {{cite web |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/giz |title=The Giza Plateau Mapping Project |publisher=[[Oriental Institute, Chicago|Oriental Institute]] |access-date=12 February 2008 |archive-date=11 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311135020/http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/giz/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{Osmway|4420397}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-ach|rec}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Red Pyramid]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[History of the world's tallest structures|World's tallest structure ever built]]|years={{circa|2600 BC}} − {{circa|516 AD}}<br /><small>146.6 m</small>}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yongning Pagoda]] (disputed)}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Yongning Pagoda]] (disputed)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[History of the world's tallest structures|World's tallest existing structure]]|years=532-1240}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Old St Paul's Cathedral]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Red Pyramid]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of tallest buildings and structures in Egypt|Tallest structure in Egypt]]|years={{circa|2600 BC}} − 1961}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Cairo Tower]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Egyptian pyramids}}
{{Seven Wonders of the Ancient World}}
{{Memphis Necropolis}}
{{Giza}}
{{Mathematics and art}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Pyramid Of Giza}}
[[Category:Great Pyramid of Giza| ]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 26th century BC]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Giza]]
[[Category:Former world's tallest buildings]]
[[Category:Giza pyramid complex]]
[[Category:Khufu]]
[[Category:Pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Egypt]]