apah essay

7/30/2019 Apah Essay

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Nishant Grover

APAH Paper #2

9/28/2011

The Great Pyramids of Giza were built in the third millennium B.C. as tombs for

three pharaohs that reigned during the Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypts Old Kingdom.

The largest and oldest pyramid, known as the Great Pyramid of Giza, was built ca. 2551-

2528 for the pharaoh Khufu, the second-largest and oldest pyramid was built ca. 2520-

2494 for the pharaoh Khafre and the smallest and youngest pyramid was built ca. 2490-

2472 for the pharaoh Menkaure. All three pyramids were built to serve as tombs for their

respective pharaohs and along with the Great Sphinx (half-lion, half-man guardian of the

pyramids), a few cemeteries and a village/work area for the laborers, this complex is

known as the Giza Necropolis. The pyramids, however, have a deeper meaning than just

storing the corpses of the pharaohs. They were intended to be a large burial ground so that

various items of wealth and personal possessions could be stored next to the pharaohs

sarcophagus so that he would not have a hard time in the afterlife. Also, dead servants and

animals were kept in the tombs to serve their pharaohs in the afterlife. Another reason the

pyramid structure was used was because ancient Egyptians felt that the pharaohs soul

could be best contained in the pyramid before the soul had to move on to the afterlife. The

ancient Egyptians believed this because they compared the pyramids to the ben-ben, a

pyramidal mound on which Re, the sun god, stood and gave light to the world at the time of

Creation.

While many laypeople of ancient Egypt were in awe of these magnificent structures,

many of them could only appreciate the pyramids by toiling in the hot sun while quarrying

limestone from the eastern Nile cliffs and cutting them into bricks to stack into a pyramidal


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formation since much of the labor used in the construction of the pyramids consisted of

Egyptian peoples, who were paid little to nothing in wages, and slaves from regions

invaded by Egypt. Thus, only the pharaoh, his architects and his inner circle of wealthy

ministers and merchants could truly experience all of the aspects of the pyramids, from

designing to construction to decoration to completion.

Although the outsides of the pyramids are very simple and plain, the insides truly

capture and emphasize the amount of grandeur and wealth that the pharaohs possessed

and wanted to display in their tombs as well as the level of aesthetics and design that

artisans toiled over to make sure that the beauty of each tomb was perfect. To reach the

tomb itself, however, was quite the circuitous route with paths leading to fake chambers

full of death traps and statues that were meant to frighten. While Indiana Jones has over

exaggerated what lies in the Egyptian pyramids, reaching the pharaohs chamber was

indeed an arduous task but the thieves and adventurers that managed to find their way

were completely taken aback. The burial chamber was gorgeous with gleaming white brick

inlaid with stones, gold and marble motifs; genre-style stone tapestry works that

surrounded the walls of the tomb and jewelry, objects and coinage made out of precious

stones and gold that are scattered all around the centerpiece of the tomb: the pharaohs

sarcophagus, which is a decorated gold coffin that contains the corpse of the pharaoh along

with a gold death mask to match the sarcophagus. This accurate and vivid picture has been

derived from the very few tombs that havent been touched or ransacked by thieves and

looters, such as the tomb of King Tutankhamen, or those that have been easier to access.

However, many secrets lie deep within unknown tombs that art historians may never be

able to discover.


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Bibliography

Kl e i ne r , F r ed S . Gar dner ' s Ar t Thr ough t he Ages . 11 t h ed . Or l ando , FL:

Har cour t Co l l ege Pub l i s he r s , 2001 . 50 - 53 . P r i n t .

"Pyr ami d o f Khuf u . " Tal k i ng Pyr ami ds . Ta l k i ng Pyr ami ds , n . d . Web . 27

Sep . 2011 . < h t t p : / / www. t a l k i ngpyr ami ds . com/ g i za / pyr ami d- o f - khuf u /> .
http://www.talkingpyramids.com/giza/pyramid-of-khufu/http://www.talkingpyramids.com/giza/pyramid-of-khufu/

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