the pyramd of khafre

8/17/2019 The Pyramd of Khafre

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The Pyramid of KhafreGreat Is Khafre

Original Height: 143.5 m (470.79 ft)!rrent Height: 13".4 m (447.50 ft)#ength of $ide: %15.%5 (70".19 ft)

&ngle: 53

10'

timated *ol!me: 1+"59+%00 ,! m

Khafre was a son of Khufu and hisis the second largest knownpyramid in Egypt, onlyapproximately 10 feet shorter thanthe Great Pyramid. Remnants of itsoriginal casing are still apparent atthe top of the structure. fter theaccomplishment of the !uilding ofthe Great Pyramid, King Khafrehad a hard act to follow. Khafrerose to the occasion !y !uilding hispyramid on higher ground gi"ingthe illusion that his pyramid wastaller. #e also encased the lowesttwo courses in granite. $he pyramiditself lacks the degree of precisionthat was present in the GreatPyramid. %ts angle is slightlysharper and the four corners are notas well aligned to accurately meetthe apex. $herefore it exhi!its aslight twist at the top.

-nide thePyramid ofKhafre

$his pyramid contains& known cham!ers.'ne cham!er is


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su!terranean, car"ed into the "ery !edrock. $he other has its floor car"ed into the !edrock while itsupper walls and ceiling pierce into the !ase of the pyramid.

$he higher entrance is 11.()m *+ ft- a!o"e ground le"el. $he lower entrance !egins at a!out groundle"el. s you enter the short descending passageway through the lower opening on the north side of thepyramid, you descend until the passageway le"els off. #ere we find a "ertically operated portcullis.

$his le"el passageway is higher, almost a hallway, with a large empty recess in the wall on the left side, ust past the mid/point of the passage. $o the right, across from the recess, is a short descendingpassageway leading to a cham!er. $his cham!er which is car"ed in the plateau !edrock is +) x 10. %tcontains no sarcophagus and also includes a pointed ceiling. $his cham!er may ha"e ser"ed for storageof offering material, treasure, or ha"e !een the eui"alent of a serda!. Perhaps it is this pyramidseui"alent of the middle or so/called 2ueens 3ham!er of the Great Pyramid, which also has a pointedceiling. #owe"er, this room does not contain any niche in the wall for the life/si4e statue of the king,instead its east wall frames the entrance. s you exit this cham!er and continue to the right, at the endof the passageway lies a ramp which ascends into the next passageway. 'nce you clim! this ramp, ifyou turn around, you can also see the rough dressed granite lined passageway that leads !ack up to the

higher entrance on the north side. $here is a portcullis in atthe interior end of this passageway as well. 3ontinuingsouth down the passageway leads to the main !urialcham!er. 'n this higher le"el there is a cham!er which isft. )5.( ft. long and 15.( ft. wide. $he ceiling also comesto a point. $here is a uniue !lack granite sarcophagus inthis room in that it was !uilt to !e sunken into the floor.$he original lid, though no longer attached, lies proppedup next to the coffer near the west wall. %t is possi!le thatthe open niche against the east side of the coffer held the

kings canopic chest, the !ox containing the mummified organs of the king, within ceremonial "ases.$here are a few other examples of this style in other 'ld Kingdom tom!s. 6y the time this pyramid wasreopened in 11 !y Gio"anni 6el4oni, the !ody of the king and any sign of royal treasure had !eenlong gone. 6el4oni left his graffiti in this cham!er on 7arch &, 11, which is still present today on thesouth wall of the !urial cham!er.

The Khafre Pyramid omle/


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8ithin the Khafre pyramid complexnear the remains of the 7ortuarytemple lies ( !oat pits. lthough theroofs of two were found to !e nearlyintact, no signs of !oats were found inany of these pits in modern days.

9ittle also remains of the 7ortuarytemple, although a reasona!le floorplan can !e deri"ed from the remains.:rom the time of Khafre until the endof the 'ld Kingdom, fi"e featuresremain consistent within the7ortuary temple. $hese are ; anentrance hall, an open court, fi"estatue niches, maga4ines, and asanctuary $his temple had such anexpansion on any pre"ious 7ortuary

temple, including that of Khufu, thatit is !elie"ed that there must ha"e!een some religious change inemphasis in the royal mortuary cult.

$his !uilding appears to ha"e !eenmade of a core of limestone andcasing of granite. $he floor was madeof ala!aster. $he entrance leads to anarrow passage, running from northto south. $o the south this connects to

two cham!ers. $he north passageleads to a "esti!ule with twocolumns, continuing straight leads tofour storerooms and a staircase whichled to the roof. 'n the west wall ofthe "esti!ule is a passage that leads toa hall which contained 1) suarecolumns. $he north and south ends ofthis hall gi"es passage to two large!ays. 6eyond this hall to the west wasanother hall which had 10 columns3ontinuing to the west through thishall leads to the courtyard of thetemple. 8ithin this courtyard thatthere was a colonnade supported !yrectangular pillars. Each of whichalso functioned as a !ack support forlarge statues of the king. %t is on thewestern wall of this courtyard that wesee a new feature emerge which then

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!ecomes standard in su!seuentmortuary temples < fi"e niches.

'nly in one earlier valley temple, that of =neferu,did we encounter a section with 5 niches. $hepassages flank the niches leading from the westerncorners of the courtyard. $he north passage leadsto the pyramid courtyard. $he south passage leadsto ( small storerooms, Going southward is & moresmall rooms and a door leading outside the temple.long the western most section of the temple is along narrow sanctuary which has remnants of alarge granite stela. 7ace heads of Khafre werefound in his mortuary temple

Remnants of a satellite pyramid are present on thesouth side of the pyramid. $he complex is alsouniue !ecause it incorporates the =phinx at thenorth of the distal end of its causeway. $hecauseway connects to the rear of the "alley templeat its northwest corner.

$he >alley temple is one of the !est preser"ed from the'ld Kingdom. %t is !uilt of huge core !locks sheathed inred granite. $he floor of the temple is made of ala!aster

as is the walls of some of the smaller cham!ers. $here aretwo entrances on the eastern wall which flank a "esti!ule,diorite statues of Khafre were found in here. n entrancein the center of the western wall leads to a $/shaped hallwhich has &+ statue !ases and had 15 suare red granitepillars, which supported the roof. 7any of these columnsare still in place. $his hall was dimly lit !y small slottedwindow holes in the original ceiling, which were eachpositioned as to cast a small ray of light on each of thestatues. t the southwest corner of the ?$@ of the hallthere is a small passage that leads to a two tiered set of

storerooms, three upon three. $hese ha"e low ceilings andthe lower rooms are made of highly polished sla!s of redgranite while the upper rooms are made of ala!aster. tthe northwest corner of the ?$@, a passageway leads !ackupward to an opening to the causeway. %t is a!out halfway

up this passage on the south wall that we find a small cham!er that is lined and pa"ed with ala!aster.cross from the entrance to this cham!er, on the north wall of that passage is a clockwise windingascending ramp that leads upward to the roof of the temple. 'n the south side of the temple roof was asmall courtyard which was located directly a!out the aforementioned 5 storerooms.

the pyramd of khafre

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