Pyramids of Giza facts: age, height, builders and what you can see today

Pyramids of Giza facts: the three pyramids

The Giza plateau has three large pyramids. Each one is the tomb of a king of the 4th Dynasty. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities dates this dynasty to approximately 2613–2494 BC. All dates for these kings are approximate.

The heights and dates in this table come from the Ministry. Other sources give slightly different numbers.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

The Great Pyramid is the oldest and the largest of the three. These are its main facts:

• Height. The Ministry gives an original height of 146.5 m (481 ft). Wikipedia (secondary) gives 146.6 m. Today the pyramid is approximately 138.5 m (454 ft) high (Wikipedia, secondary). Most of the smooth outer casing stones were removed. What you see today is the core.
• Tallest structure. The Ministry says that it was the tallest structure in the world for 3,800 years. Wikipedia (secondary) says "more than 3,700 years".
• Ancient wonder. UNESCO says that it is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world.
• Base. Each side of the base is approximately 230.3 m (756 ft) long (Wikipedia, secondary).
• Stone. The core is local limestone. The casing was high-quality limestone from Turah, south of Maadi. Ships brought it to Giza (Ministry).
• Blocks. Wikipedia (secondary) gives an estimate of 2.3 million blocks. It is not an exact count.
• Time to build. The Ministry estimates 10 to 20 years. Other researchers give different numbers.

The pyramid has three chambers. One is cut into the bedrock. Two are high up in the stone structure. The Ministry says that no other pyramid has this layout. For the route inside and what you see, read Inside the Great Pyramid.

The pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure

Khafre was a son of Khufu. The Ministry gives his pyramid a height of 143.5 m (471 ft). Today it is approximately 136.4 m (448 ft) high (Wikipedia, secondary). It is on higher ground, so it can look as tall as the Great Pyramid. But it is slightly shorter than the Great Pyramid.

The top of Khafre's pyramid still has some of its polished white casing stones. The rest of the casing is gone (Ministry).

Menkaure was probably a son of Khafre. His pyramid is the smallest of the three. The Ministry gives an original height of 65 m (213 ft). Its base area is less than a quarter of the base area of the other two.

The Ministry gives these reasons for the smaller size:

• There was less space on the plateau.
• The lower casing is granite from Aswan, more than 800 km (500 mi) away. Granite is much harder than limestone.

Menkaure died before his complex was complete. Many of its granite casing blocks were never smoothed. Some granite casing blocks remain near the base (Wikipedia, secondary).

The Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx is a statue with the body of a lion and the head of a king. Workers carved it directly from the bedrock. The Ministry says that it is the oldest and the most famous colossal statue in Egypt.

The Sphinx is younger than the Great Pyramid. The Ministry says that the evidence points to the reign of Khafre. His valley temple was finished before work started on the Sphinx. The face of the Sphinx is similar to the faces on statues of Khafre.

For its size, its location and what the plateau ticket lets you see, read Great Sphinx of Giza tour.

Queens' pyramids, boat pits and tombs

Each king's pyramid was one part of a larger group of buildings, called a pyramid complex. The Ministry lists these parts:

• Smaller pyramids for queens
• A satellite pyramid, a second symbolic tomb for the king
• Mastaba tombs (flat, rectangular tombs) for nobles and family members
• Pits for real or symbolic boats
• A valley temple near the water and a temple next to the pyramid, with a causeway (a long, raised road) between them

Three small queens' pyramids stand next to the Great Pyramid. Three more stand next to the Pyramid of Menkaure.

The boats of Khufu. Archaeologists found two large ships in pits on the south side of the Great Pyramid. The ships were in pieces. The Ministry says that the ships probably carried the royal mummy and the burial equipment to the tomb.

The first ship was found in 1954 and rebuilt from its cedar timbers. It is approximately 43.6 m (143 ft) long (Wikipedia, secondary). It is now at the Grand Egyptian Museum. The museum ticket includes Khufu's Boats Museum. The ticket costs EGP 1,830 for a foreign adult.

Who built the pyramids of Giza?

Organized teams of Egyptian workers built the pyramids. The old story says that slaves built them. Archaeologists found evidence against this story.

The evidence comes from a town and a cemetery in the southeast of the plateau:

• The workers' town. Archaeologists found the remains of a large town called Heit el-Ghurab. It is approximately 400 m (1,310 ft) south of the Sphinx (AERA). The state built it for the people who worked on the pyramids. It had houses, bakeries, workshops, store rooms and large galleries where workers possibly slept (Ministry and AERA).
• Food. The Ministry says that archaeologists found large quantities of fish, bird, cattle, sheep, goat and pig bones. The Ministry says that the state kept the workers in good health.
• The workers' tombs. Overseers and workers were buried on the hill next to the town. Skilled craftsmen and senior overseers had larger stone tombs.
• Medical care. Many skeletons show hard physical work. Many have broken bones that healed correctly. The Ministry says that this shows very good medical care.

Wikipedia (secondary) says that modern finds suggest thousands of conscripted workers (people that the state called to work), not slaves. We found no official source that says how the workers were paid.

How were the pyramids built? What is not known

Nobody knows exactly how the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid. The Ministry says that "it is not entirely certain how this was done". UNESCO says that scientists continue to research how it was built.

These facts are known:

• Materials. Local limestone for the core, Turah limestone for the casing, and granite from Aswan (Ministry).
• Transport by water. Ships brought the casing stones (Ministry). In 2013, archaeologists found papyri at the ancient harbor of Wadi al-Jarf. They include the diary of an inspector called Merer. His team took limestone from Turah to Giza by boat (Wikipedia, secondary).

These facts are not known, or researchers do not agree:

• The construction method. Researchers suggest many different methods. There is no definite agreement (Wikipedia, secondary).
• The number of workers. The Greek writer Herodotus wrote 100,000. Modern estimates are lower, from approximately 10,000 to 30,000 (Wikipedia, secondary).
• The exact dates. All dates for the 4th Dynasty kings are approximate.

Common claims, checked

A UNESCO World Heritage Site

The pyramids are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur". A necropolis is a large ancient cemetery. UNESCO inscribed the site in 1979.

UNESCO gives these facts:

• The site has more than 38 pyramids, from Giza in the north to Dahshur in the south.
• It also has the Great Sphinx and more than 9,000 rock-cut tombs.
• The Giza pyramids are not the first pyramids. The first pyramid ever built is the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.

For a visit to the Step Pyramid, read Saqqara tour.

What you can see and enter today

The plateau ticket lets you walk around the three pyramids and see the Sphinx from the public area. It costs EGP 700 for a foreign adult. Every day, except Ramadan, you can enter the plateau from 07:00, last entry 16:00.

The plateau ticket does not include the inside of a pyramid or a tomb. You need an extra ticket for each one:

The pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure close in turns for maintenance. Check the status before your visit. To compare the pyramids that you can enter, read Can you go inside the pyramids?. For all prices and where to buy tickets, read Pyramids of Giza tickets.