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Other Archaeological Sites / The Neolithic of the Levant (500 Page Book Online) Ancient Giza -- Gizeh -- Jizah
Giza is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite the modern day capital of Egypt (Cairo). 17 kilometres to the north of Saqqara it is part of the northernmost extension of the necropolis of ancient Memphis. Even though the oldest known tomb is a mastaba dated to the early 1st Dynasty the site is mainly known because of the Great Sphinx and the three pyramids of Khufu -- Khafre -- Menkaure. About 2550 BC King Khufu (Cheops), the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, commissioned the building of his tomb at Giza. Some Egyptologists believe it took 10 years just to build the ramp that leads from the Nile valley floor to the pyramid and 20 years to construct the pyramid itself. On average the over two million blocks of stone used to build Khufu's pyramid weigh 2.5 tons and the heaviest blocks, used as the ceiling of Khufu's burial chamber, weigh in at an estimated 40 to 60 tons ... |
