Great Pyramids of Giza Facts and History

This Ancient Egyptian necropolis is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau. It consists of the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops, the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre a few hundred meters away and the moderately modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure a few hundred meters further south-west, along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as “queens” pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.

On the east side of the complex, lies The Great Sphinx lies facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Connected with these royal monuments are the tombs of high Egyptian officials and much later burials and monuments.

Only Menkaure’s Pyramid of the five is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing, with Khafre’s Pyramid retaining a prominent display of casing stones at its apex. Khafre’s Pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction – it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume.

The most active phase of the constructions in Giza Plateau was in the 25th century BC. It was popularized in Hellenistic times when Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World listed the Great Pyramid. Today the pyramids are the only one of the ancient Wonders still existing and one of the Egypt’s most visited tourist destinations.