(ORDO NEWS) — The Egyptian pyramids were erected to honor the burial places of the pharaohs.
Monumental buildings stood for thousands of years, becoming monuments of engineering art of ancient Egyptian masters and the most recognizable symbol of Egypt.
Time and robbers pretty beat them up during this time. What did they look like when they were first built?
The most famous pyramid complex is the Giza Necropolis.
There is the Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) – the largest surviving pyramid of ancient Egypt. It was built during the lifetime of Pharaoh Cheops, whose reign fell on 2551-2528 BC.
The ancient Egyptian pyramids, erected both in Giza and elsewhere, were covered with a layer of white limestone during construction. Such facing gave the pyramids a truly regal glow under the dazzling Egyptian sun.
Only for the construction of the pyramid of Cheops, the builders used more than five million tons of limestone! One of these original limestone blocks is in the collection of the National Museum of Scotland.
Most of the facing stones under other rulers were “repurposed” for new building work. Such a fate befell all known pyramids
But some of the original cladding can still be seen on the pyramids of Giza. It has noticeably faded over time.
You can clearly see the original facing on the top of Khafre’s pyramid.
In ancient times, its lower levels were also decorated with a red granite belt, said Egyptologist Miroslav Werner.
The third and smallest of the three main pyramids of Giza, the Pyramid of Menkaure, built over 4,500 years ago, also sported red granite cladding at its base.
According to Mohamed Megahed, an Egyptologist at Charles University in the Czech Republic, the tops of the pyramids of Giza were originally decorated with “points”, also known as pyramidions.
They were covered with electrum – an alloy of gold and silver.
Pyramidions were inscribed with the names and titles of the pharaohs, as well as hieroglyphic instructions.
Most of the pyramidions were lost over time, but museums, in particular the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, have preserved a few copies.
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