How much does a pyramid stone weigh? Giza pyramid complex

The most ancient wonder of the world, which we can still admire now, is the Pyramid of Cheops. Shrouded in myths and legends, the Egyptian pyramid was the largest and tallest structure for many millennia. Khufu (another name for the pyramid) is located in Giza - the popular place crowds of tourists.

History of the pyramids

The pyramids in Egypt are practically the main attraction of the country. There are many hypotheses related to their origin and construction. But they all converge on one important conclusion: the pyramids in Egypt are impressive tombs for the great inhabitants of the country (in those days these were the pharaohs). The Egyptians believed in the afterlife and life after death. It was believed that only a few were worthy of continuing their life's journey after death - these were the pharaohs themselves, their families and the slaves who were constantly close to the rulers. Images of slaves and servants were painted on the walls of tombs so that after their death they could continue to serve their king. According to ancient religion According to the Egyptians, man had two inner souls, Ba and Ka. Ba left the Egyptian after his death, and Ka always acted as a virtual double and waited for him in the world of the dead.

To ensure that the pharaoh did not need anything in the afterlife, food, weapons, kitchen utensils, gold and much more were left in the pyramid tomb. In order for the body to remain unchanged and wait for the second soul of Ba, it was necessary to preserve it. This is how the birth of body embalming and the need to create pyramids arose.

The emergence of pyramids in Egypt dates back to the construction of the pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser 5 thousand years ago. External walls The first pyramids were in the form of steps, which symbolized the ascent to heaven. The height of the structure was 60 meters with many corridors and several tombs. Djoser's chamber was located in the underground part of the pyramid. From the royal tomb, several more passages were made leading to small chambers. They contained all the accessories for the further afterlife of the Egyptians. Closer to the east, chambers for the entire family of the pharaoh were found. The structure itself was not so huge compared to the pyramid of Pharaoh Cheops, whose height was almost 3 times greater. But it is with the pyramid of Djoser that the history of the emergence of all Egyptian pyramids begins.

Very often in the photo of the Cheops pyramid you can see two more pyramids standing nearby. These are the famous pyramids of Herfen and Mekerin. It is these three pyramids that are considered the most important assets of the country. The height of the Cheops pyramid significantly distinguishes it from the others located nearby and other pyramids in Egypt. Initially, the walls of the structure were smooth, but after a long period of years they began to crumble. If you look at modern photos pyramids of Cheops, you can see the relief of the facade and its unevenness, formed over millennia.

Birth of the Cheops Pyramid

Pyramid of Cheops official version was erected in the fall of 2480 BC. Date of first occurrence ancient miracle light, many historians and researchers dispute, giving arguments in favor of their arguments. Construction Great Pyramid lasted about 2-3 decades. More than one hundred thousand inhabitants of ancient Egypt and the best craftsmen of that time took part in it. First of all, it was built big road for the delivery of building materials, then underground passages and a mine. Most of time was spent on the construction of the upper part of the pyramid - the walls and internal passages and tombs.

There are very interesting feature buildings: the height of the Cheops pyramid in its original form and the width were 147 meters. Due to the sands filling the base of the building and sprinkling of the facing part, it decreased by 10 meters and is now 137 meters in height. The giant tomb was built mainly from huge blocks of limestone and granite, weighing about 2.5 tons, which were carefully polished so as not to lose the ideal shape of the structure. And in the tomb itself ancient pharaoh granite blocks were found, the weight of which reached almost 80 tons. According to Egyptologists, about 2,300,000 huge stones were needed, which cannot but impress us all.

Doubts associated with the construction of the pyramid lay in the fact that in those dark times there were no special machines or devices capable of lifting and ideally stacking heavy blocks at a certain slope. Some believed that more than a million people took part in the construction, others that the blocks were lifted by a lifting mechanism. Everything was so thought out and as perfect as possible that without the use of concrete mortar and cement, the stones were laid in such a way that it was completely impossible to insert even thin paper between them! There is an assumption that the pyramid was created not by people at all, but by aliens or another force unknown to man.

We are based specifically on the fact that the pyramids are still the creation of people. In order to quickly remove a stone of the required size and shape from the rock, its outlines were made. A conventional shape was carved out, and dry wood was inserted there. It was regularly watered, the moisture made the tree grow larger, and under its pressure a crack formed in the rock. Now a large block was removed and given the required shape and size. The stones for construction were redirected along the river by huge boats.

To lift heavy boulders to the top, massive sleds made of wood were used. Along the gentle slope, the stones were lifted one after another by teams of hundreds of slaves.

Pyramid device

The entrance to the pyramid was not originally where it is now. It had the shape of an arch and was located on the northern side of the building with a height of more than 15 meters. In an attempt to rob the great tomb in 820, a new entrance was made, already at a height of 17 meters. But Caliph Abu Jafar, who wanted to enrich himself with the loot, did not find any jewelry or valuable things and left with nothing. It is this passage that is now open to tourists.

The pyramid consists of several long corridors leading to the tombs. Immediately after the entrance there is a common corridor that diverges into 2 tunnels leading to the central and lower part of the pyramid. For some reason, the chamber below was not completed. There is also a narrow loophole, behind which there is only a dead end and a three-meter well. Climbing up the corridor, you will find yourself in the Great Gallery. If you take the first left and walk a little, you will see the chamber of the ruler's wife. And along the corridor above is the largest one - the tomb of the pharaoh himself.

The beginning of the gallery is interesting because there is a long and narrow almost vertical Grotto built there. There is an assumption that he was there even before the foundation of the pyramid itself. Narrow passages about 20 centimeters wide were made from both tombs of the pharaoh and his wife. Presumably they were made for ventilation of the wards. There is another version that these passages and corridors are indicators of the stars: Sirius, Alnitaki and Thuban and that the pyramid served as a place for astronomical research. But there is another opinion - according to the belief in the afterlife, the Egyptians believed that the soul returned from heaven through channels.

There is one important interesting fact- the construction of the pyramid was carried out strictly at one angle of 26.5 degrees. There is every reason to assume that the inhabitants of antiquity were very well versed in geometry and the exact sciences. Just look at the proportional, even corridors and ventilation ducts.

Not far from the pyramid itself, Egyptian cedar boats were found during excavations. They were made of pure wood without a single nail. One of the ball's boats is divided into 1224 parts. The restorer Ahamed Yussuf Mustafa managed to assemble it. To achieve this, the architect had to spend 14 years; such high patience in the name of science can only be envied. Today the assembled boat can be admired in the bizarrely shaped museum. It is located on the south side of the Great Pyramid.

Unfortunately, you cannot shoot video or take photographs inside the pyramid itself. But you can take many incredible pictures against the backdrop of this creation. Various souvenirs are also sold here so that an excursion to these enchanting places can remind you of itself for a long time.

Photos of the Cheops pyramid, of course, do not reflect all the greatness and uniqueness of this structure. With us you will plunge into history and look at the world with different eyes!

- one of the most ancient “seven wonders of the world” that has survived to this day. It inherited its name from its creator, Pharaoh Cheops, and is the largest in the group of Egyptian pyramids.

It is believed that it serves as a tomb for his dynasty. The Pyramid of Cheops is located on the Giza Plateau.

Dimensions of the Cheops pyramid

The height of the Cheops Pyramid initially reached 146.6 meters, but time is inexorably and gradually destroying this impressive structure. Today it has decreased to 137.2 meters.

The pyramid is made up of a total of 2.3 million cubic meters of stone. The average weight of one stone is 2.5 tons, but there are even some whose weight reaches 15 tons.

The most interesting thing is that these blocks are so perfectly fitted that even the blade of a thin knife cannot pass through them. They were glued together with white cement as protection against water penetration inside. It has still been preserved.

One side of the pyramid is 230 meters long. The base area is 53,000 square meters, which can be equated to ten football fields.

This huge structure amazes with its grandeur and emanates antiquity. According to scientists, the total weight of the pyramid is 6.25 million tons. Previously, its surface was perfectly smooth. Now, unfortunately, there is no trace of this smoothness.

There is one entrance leading inside the Cheops pyramid, located at a height of 15.5 meters above the ground. It contains tombs in which the pharaohs were buried. These so-called burial chambers are made of durable granite and are located at a depth of 28 meters.

The pyramid consists of ascending and descending passages that were not used in any other similar structure. One of the features is a large descent leading to the tomb of the pharaoh.

The Pyramid of Cheops is located directly in the place that points to all four cardinal directions. She is the only one of all ancient buildings, has such accuracy.

History of the Pyramid of Cheops

How the ancient Egyptians were able to build this Pyramid and when, probably no one can say with exact data. But in Egypt, the official date when construction began is August 23, 2480 BC.

It was then that Pharaoh Snofu died and his son Khufu (Cheops) gave the order to build the pyramid. He wanted to build such a pyramid so that it would become not only one of the greatest structures, but also glorify his name for centuries.

It is known that about 100,000 people simultaneously participated in its construction. For 10 years they only built a road along which it was necessary to deliver stones, and the construction itself continued for another 20-25 years.

According to the research of scientists, it is known that workers cut down huge blocks in quarries on the banks of the Nile. They went on boats to the other side and dragged the block with felt along the road to the construction site itself.

Then came the turn of hard and very dangerous work. The blocks were placed next to each other with extraordinary precision using ropes and levers.

Secrets of the Pyramid of Cheops

For almost 3,500 years, no one disturbed the peace of the Cheops Pyramid. It was covered with legends about the punishment of anyone who entered the chambers of the pharaoh.

However, there was such a daredevil caliph Abdullah al-Mamun, he built a tunnel inside the pyramid in order to profit. But imagine his surprise when he found absolutely no treasures. Indeed, this is one of the many secrets of this majestic structure.

No one knows whether Pharaoh Cheops was really buried in it or whether his tomb was plundered by the ancient Egyptians. Scientists emphasize that the pharaoh's chamber does not have decorations, which were customary at that time to decorate tombs. The sarcophagus has no lid and is not completely hewn. It is obvious that the work was not completed.

After Abdullah al-Mamun's unsuccessful attempt, he became furious and ordered the pyramids to be dismantled. But naturally I did not achieve this goal. And the robbers lost all interest in her and her non-existent treasures.

In 1168, the Arabs burned down part of Cairo and when the Egyptians began to rebuild their homes, they removed the white slabs from the pyramid.

And from that pyramid that shone like gem, only the stepped body remained. This is how it appears today, before enthusiastic tourists.

The Cheops Pyramid has been constantly explored since the time of Napoleon. And some researchers are more inclined to believe the theory that the pyramid was built by aliens or Atlanteans.

Because to this day it is not clear how builders could achieve such excellent stone processing and precise laying, which has not been affected by external factors for centuries. And the measurements of the pyramid themselves are amazing in their results.

The pyramid was surrounded by other interesting buildings, mainly temples. But today almost nothing has survived.

Their purpose is not completely clear, but in 1954 archaeologists found the oldest ship at this site. It was the Solnechnaya boat, which was made without a single nail, with preserved traces of silt, and most likely sailed during the time of Cheops.

The Pyramid of Cheops is located on the Giza plateau. Giza is a settlement northwest of Cairo. You can get there by taxi, calling the Mena House Hotel as your final stop. Either take a bus from the Tahrir Square stops in Cairo or take the bus at Ramses Station.

Pyramid of Cheops on the map

Opening hours, attractions and prices

You can see the majestic Pyramid of Cheops every day from 8.00 to 17.00. in winter, visiting is limited to 16.30. It is advisable to visit the pyramid in the early morning or late afternoon. At other times it is quite hot, and you can’t get through the crowds of tourists. Although even at this hour there are not so few of them.

When walking to the ticket office, which is not far from the hotel, you should not pay attention to the barkers offering camel rides or calling themselves inspectors. Most likely, these are scammers.

The cost of entry to the territory will cost $8, entrance to the Pyramid of Cheops itself will cost $16. And of course it’s worth visiting the two nearby pyramids of Khafre and Mikerinus, each costing $4. And to see the Solar Boat - $7.

It is impossible to appreciate the full power and grandeur of the Cheops Pyramid, shrouded in many secrets, from photographs or words.

You just need to see it with your own eyes and touch this ancient, truly impressive structure.

Age of the pyramid

The architect of the Great Pyramid is considered to be Hemiun, the vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title "Manager of all Pharaoh's construction projects." It is assumed that the construction, which lasted twenty years (during the reign of Cheops), ended around 2540 BC. e. .

Existing methods for dating the start of construction of the pyramid are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon. In Egypt, the date for the start of construction of the Cheops Pyramid was officially established (2009) and celebrated - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Kate Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this method and the dates obtained with it have been criticized by many Egyptologists. Dates according to other dating methods: 2720 BC. e. (Stephen Hack, University of Nebraska), 2577 BC. e. (Juan Antonio Belmonte, University of Astrophysics in Canaris) and 2708 BC. e. (Pollux, Bauman University). Radiocarbon dating gives a range from 2680 BC. e. to 2850 BC e. Therefore, there is no serious confirmation of the established “birthday” of the pyramid, since Egyptologists cannot agree on exactly what year construction began.

First mention of the pyramid

The complete absence of mention of the pyramid in Egyptian papyri remains a mystery. The first descriptions are found in the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) and in ancient Arab legends [ ] . Herodotus reported (at least 2 millennia after the appearance of the Great Pyramid) that it was built under a despot pharaoh named Cheops (Greek: Cheops). Koufou), who ruled for 50 years, that 100 thousand people were employed in construction. for twenty years, and that the pyramid is in honor of Cheops, but not his grave. The real grave is a burial near the pyramid. Herodotus gave erroneous information about the size of the pyramid, and also mentioned about the middle pyramid of the Giza plateau that it was built by the daughter of Cheops, who sold herself, and that each building stone corresponded to the man to whom she was given. According to Herodotus, if “to lift the stone, a long winding path to the grave was revealed,” without specifying which pyramid he was talking about; however, the pyramids of the Giza plateau did not have “winding” paths to the tomb at the time Herodotus visited them; on the contrary, the Descending Passage of BP Cheops is distinguished by careful straightforwardness. At that time, no other premises were known in the BP.

Appearance

Surviving fragments of the pyramid's cladding and the remains of the pavement surrounding the building

The pyramid is called "Akhet-Khufu" - "Horizon of Khufu" (or more accurately "Related to the firmament - (it is) Khufu"). Consists of limestone and granite blocks. It was built on a natural limestone hill. After the pyramid has lost several layers of cladding, this hill is partially visible on the eastern, northern and southern sides of the pyramid. Despite the fact that the Cheops pyramid is the tallest and most voluminous of all the Egyptian pyramids, Pharaoh Sneferu built the pyramids in Meidum and Dakhshut (Broken Pyramid and Pink Pyramid), the total mass of which is estimated at 8.4 million tons.

Initially, the pyramid was lined with white limestone, which was harder than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - pyramidion (ancient Egyptian - “Benben”). The cladding shone in the sun with a peach color, like “a shining miracle to which the sun god Ra himself seemed to give all his rays.” In 1168, the Arabs sacked and burned Cairo. Residents of Cairo removed the cladding from the pyramid in order to build new houses.

Statistical data

Pyramid of Cheops in the 19th century

Map of the necropolis near the Cheops pyramid

• Height (today): ≈ 136.5 m
• Side angle (current): 51° 50"
• Side rib length (original): 230.33 m (calculated) or about 440 royal cubits
• Side fin length (current): approx. 225 m
• The length of the sides of the base of the pyramid: south - 230.454 m; north - 230.253 m; west - 230.357 m; east - 230.394 m
• Foundation area (initially): ≈ 53,000 m2 (5.3 ha)
• Lateral surface area of ​​the pyramid (initially): ≈ 85,500 m2
• Base perimeter: 922 m
• Total volume of the pyramid without deducting the cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m3
• Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (initially): 2.50 million m 3
• Average volume of stone blocks: 1,147 m3
• Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 tons
• The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - is located above the entrance to the “King’s Chamber”.
• The number of blocks of average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of rock base inside the pyramid = 1.9 million m 3 /1.147 m 3 = 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid , without taking into account the volume of mortar in interblock joints); referring to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days per year * 10 working hours per day * 60 minutes per hour leads to a speed of laying (and delivery to the construction site) of about a block of two minutes.
• According to estimates, the total weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons (1.65 million blocks x 2.5 tons)
• The base of the pyramid rests on a natural rocky elevation about 12-14 m high in the center and, according to the latest data, occupies at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid
• The number of layers (tiers) of stone blocks is 210 (at the time of construction). Now there are 203 layers.

Concavity of the sides

Concavity of the sides of the Cheops pyramid

When the sun moves around the pyramid, you can notice the unevenness of the walls - the concavity of the central part of the walls. This may be due to erosion or damage from falling stone cladding. It is also possible that this was specially done during construction. As Vito Maragioglio and Celeste Rinaldi note, the pyramid of Mycerinus no longer has such concave sides. I.E.S. Edwards explains this feature by saying that the central part of each side was simply pressed inward over time by the large mass of stone blocks. [ ]

As in the 18th century, when this phenomenon was discovered, today there is still no satisfactory explanation for this architectural feature.

Observation of the concavity of the sides at the end of the 19th century, Description of Egypt

Tilt angle

It is not possible to accurately determine the initial parameters of the pyramid, since its edges and surfaces are currently for the most part dismantled and destroyed. This makes it difficult to calculate the exact angle of inclination. In addition, its symmetry itself is not ideal, so deviations in the numbers are observed with different measurements.

Geometric study of ventilation tunnels

A study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not provide a clear answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea about the “Golden ratio" and the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: thus, the ratio of height to base is 14/22 (height = 280 cubits, and base = 440 cubits, 280/440 = 14/ 22). For the first time in world history, these quantities were used in the construction of the pyramid at Meidum. However, for pyramids of later eras, these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have height-to-base ratios, such as 6/5 (Pink Pyramid), 4/3 (Pyramid of Khafre) or 7/5 (Broken Pyramid).

Some of the theories consider the pyramid to be an astronomical observatory. It is argued that the corridors of the pyramid accurately point towards the “pole star” of that time - Thuban, the ventilation corridors on the south side point to the star Sirius, and on the north side to the star Alnitak.

Internal structure

Cross section of the Cheops pyramid:

The entrance to the pyramid is at an altitude of 15.63 meters on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs laid in the form of an arch, but this is the structure that was inside the pyramid - the true entrance has not been preserved. The true entrance to the pyramid was most likely closed with a stone plug. A description of such a plug can be found in Strabo, and its appearance can also be imagined based on the preserved slab that covered the upper entrance to the Bent Pyramid of Snefru, the father of Cheops. Today, tourists get inside the pyramid through a 17-meter gap, which was made 10 meters lower by the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun in 820. He hoped to find the pharaoh's countless treasures there, but found there only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the Cheops pyramid there are three burial chambers, located one above the other.

Funeral "pit"

Underground Chamber Maps

A 105 m long descending corridor running at an inclination of 26° 26'46 leads to an 8.9 m long horizontal corridor leading to the chamber 5 . Situated below ground level in a limestone bedrock, it remained unfinished. The dimensions of the chamber are 14x8.1 m, it extends from east to west. The height reaches 3.5 m, the ceiling has a large crack. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well about 3 m deep, from which a narrow manhole (0.7 × 0.7 m in cross-section) stretches in a southern direction for 16 m, ending in a dead end. At the beginning of the 19th century, engineers John Shae Perring and Richard William Howard Vyse cleared the floor of the chamber and dug a well 11.6 m deep, in which they hoped to discover a hidden burial chamber. They were based on the testimony of Herodotus, who claimed that the body of Cheops was on an island surrounded by a canal in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations came to nothing. Later studies showed that the chamber was abandoned unfinished, and it was decided to build the burial chambers in the center of the pyramid itself.

Ascending Corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (18 m from the main entrance), an ascending passage goes south at the same angle of 26.5° ( 6 ) about 40 m long, ending at the bottom of the Great Gallery ( 9 ).

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite “plugs”, which from the outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the work of al-Mamun. Thus, for the first 3000 years from the construction of the pyramid (including during the era of its active visits in Antiquity), it was believed that there were no other rooms in the Great Pyramid other than the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun failed to break through these plugs and simply hollowed out a bypass to the right of them in the softer limestone. This passage is still in use today. There are two main theories about the traffic jams, one of them is based on the fact that the ascending passage has traffic jams installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the very beginning. The second argues that the current narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously located within the Great Gallery and were used to seal the passage only after the funeral of the pharaoh.

An important mystery of this section of the ascending passage is that in the place where the traffic jams are now located, in the full-size, albeit shortened model of the pyramid passages - the so-called test corridors north of the Great Pyramid - there is a junction of not two, but three corridors at once, the third of which is a vertical tunnel. Since no one has yet been able to move the plugs, the question of whether there is a vertical hole above them remains open.

In the middle of the ascending passage, the design of the walls has a peculiarity: in three places the so-called “frame stones” are installed - that is, the passage, square along its entire length, pierces through three monoliths. The purpose of these stones is unknown. In the area of ​​the frame stones, the walls of the passage have several small niches.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery in a southerly direction. The walls of this horizontal corridor are made of very large limestone blocks, on which false “seams” are applied, imitating masonry from smaller blocks . Behind the western wall of the passage there are cavities filled with sand. The second chamber is traditionally called the “Queen’s Chamber,” although according to the ritual, the wives of the pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids. The Queen's Chamber, lined with limestone, measures 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; her maximum height 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the eastern wall of the chamber.

Drawing of the Queen's Chamber ( 7 )

Niche in the wall of the Queen's Chamber

Corridor at the entrance to the queen's hall (1910)

Entrance to the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Niche in the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Ventilation duct in the queen's chamber (1910)

Corridor to the ascending tunnel ( 12 )

Granite plug (1910)

Corridor to the ascending tunnel (on the left are closing blocks)

Grotto, Grand Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another branch from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow, almost vertical shaft about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended to evacuate workers or priests who were completing the “sealing” of the main passage to the “King’s Chamber.” Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely natural extension - the “Grotto” (Grotto) of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. Grotto ( 12 ) is located at the “junction” of the masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on the limestone plateau lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially reinforced by ancient masonry, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation shaft itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, taking into account the fact that the shaft was hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular cross-section, the question arises of how the builders managed to accurately reach the Grotto.

The large gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with walls slightly tapering upward (the so-called “false vault”), a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery along almost the entire length there is a square recess with a regular cross-section measuring 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side protrusions there are 27 pairs of recesses of unknown purpose. The recess ends with the so-called. “Big step” - a high horizontal ledge, a 1x2 meter platform at the end of the Great Gallery, immediately before the hole into the “hallway” - the Antechamber. The platform has a pair of ramp recesses similar to those in the corners near the wall (the 28th and last pair of BG recesses). Through the “hallway” a hole leads into the funeral “Tsar’s Chamber” lined with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located. The sarcophagus lid is missing. Ventilation shafts have mouths in the “King’s Chamber” on the southern and northern walls at a height of about a meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventilation shaft is severely damaged, the northern one appears intact. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fastening elements of anything dating back to the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs have all burst along the southern wall and are not falling into the room only due to the pressure from the weight of the overlying blocks.

Above the “Tsar’s Chamber” there are five unloading cavities with a total height of 17 m discovered in the 19th century, between which lie monolithic granite slabs about 2 m thick, and above there is a gable roof made of limestone. It is believed that their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about a million tons) to protect the “King's Chamber” from pressure. In these voids, graffiti was discovered, probably left by workers.

Interior of the Grotto (1910)

Drawing of a Grotto (1910)

Drawing of the connection of the Grotto with the Great Gallery (1910)

Entrance to the Tunnel (1910)

View of the Great Gallery from the entrance to the room

Large gallery

Grand Gallery (1910)

Drawing of the Pharaoh's Chamber

Pharaoh's chamber

Pharaoh's Chamber (1910)

Interior of the vestibule in front of the Tsar's chamber (1910)

"Ventilation" channel at the southern wall of the king's room (1910)

Ventilation ducts

So-called “ventilation” channels 20-25 cm wide extend from the “Tsar’s Chamber” and “Queen’s Chamber” in the northern and southern directions (first horizontally, then obliquely upward). At the same time, the channels of the “Tsar’s Chamber,” known since the 17th century, through, they are open both below and above (on the edges of the pyramid), while the lower ends of the channels of the “Queen’s Chamber” are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 cm; they were discovered by tapping in 1872. The upper ends of the Queen's Chamber shafts do not reach the surface by about 12 meters, and are closed by stone Gantenbrink Doors, each with two copper handles. The copper handles were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remain). In the southern ventilation shaft, the “door” was discovered in 1993 with the help of the remote-controlled robot “Upout II”; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow Then detect the same “door” in it by this robot. In 2002, with the help new modification The robot drilled a hole in the southern “door”, but behind it a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone “door” were discovered. What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar “door” at the end of the northern channel, but they did not drill it. In 2010, a new robot was able to insert a serpentine television camera into a drilled hole in the southern “door” and discovered that the copper “handles” on that side of the “door” were designed in the form of neat hinges, and individual red ocher icons were painted on the floor of the “ventilation” shaft. Currently, the most common version is that the purpose of the “ventilation” ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptian ideas about the afterlife journey of the soul. And the “door” at the end of the channel is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not reach the surface of the pyramid. At the same time, the shafts of the upper burial chamber have through exits to the outside and inside the room; it is unclear whether this is due to some change in ritual; Since the outer few meters of the pyramid's lining have been destroyed, it is unclear whether there were "Gantenbrink Doors" in the upper shafts. (could have been in a place where the mine was not preserved). In the southern upper shaft there is a so-called “Cheops niches” are strange extensions and grooves that may have contained a “door”. There are no “niches” at all in the northern upper one.

, vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title "Manager of all Pharaoh's construction projects." More three thousand years (until the construction of the cathedral in Lincoln, England, around 1300), the pyramid was the tallest building on Earth.

It is assumed that construction, which lasted twenty years, ended around 2540 BC. e. Existing methods for dating the start of construction of the pyramid are divided into historical, astronomical and radiocarbon. In Egypt, the date for the start of construction of the Cheops Pyramid is officially established and celebrated - August 23, 2560 BC. e. This date was obtained using the astronomical method of Kate Spence (University of Cambridge). However, this date should not be considered true. historical event, since her method and the dates obtained with it were criticized by many Egyptologists. The existing three other dating methods give different dates - Stephen Hack (University of Nebraska) 2720 BC. e., Giuana Antonio Belmonte (University of Astrophysics in Canaris) 2577 BC. e. and Pollux (Bauman University) 2708 BC. e. Radiocarbon dating gives a range from 2680 BC. e. to 2850 BC e. Therefore, there is no serious confirmation of the established “birthday” of the pyramid, since Egyptologists cannot agree on exactly what year construction began.

Statistical data

• Height (today): ≈ 138.75 m
• Side angle (current): 51° 50"
• Side rib length (original): 230.33 m (calculated) or about 440 royal cubits
• Side fin length (current): approx. 225 m
• The length of the sides of the base of the pyramid: south - 230.454 m; north - 230.253 m; west - 230.357 m; east - 230.394 m
• Foundation area (initially): ≈ 53,000 m² (5.3 ha)
• Lateral surface area of ​​the pyramid (initially): ≈ 85,500 m²
• Base perimeter: 922 m
• Total volume of the pyramid without deducting the cavities inside the pyramid (initially): ≈ 2.58 million m³
• Total volume of the pyramid minus all known cavities (initially): 2.50 million m³
• Average volume of stone blocks: 1,147 m³
• Average weight of stone blocks: 2.5 tons
• The heaviest stone block: about 35 tons - is located above the entrance to the “King’s Chamber”.
• The number of blocks of average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of rock base inside the pyramid = 1.9 million m³/1.147 m³ = 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid, without taking into account the volume of mortar in interblock joints); referring to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days per year * 10 working hours per day * 60 minutes per hour leads to a speed of laying (and delivery to the construction site) of about a block of two minutes.
• According to estimates, the total weight of the pyramid is about 4 million tons (1.65 million blocks x 2.5 tons)
• The base of the pyramid rests on a natural rocky elevation about 12-14 m high in the center and, according to the latest data, occupies at least 23% of the original volume of the pyramid

About the pyramid

The pyramid is called "Akhet-Khufu" - "Horizon of Khufu" (or more accurately "Related to the firmament - (it is) Khufu"). Consists of limestone and granite blocks. It was built on a natural limestone hill. After the pyramid has lost several layers of cladding, this hill is partially visible on the eastern, northern and southern sides of the pyramid. Despite the fact that the Cheops pyramid is the tallest and most voluminous of all the Egyptian pyramids, Pharaoh Sneferu built the pyramids in Meidum and Dakhshut (Broken Pyramid and Pink Pyramid), the total mass of which is estimated at 8.4 million tons.

Initially, the pyramid was lined with white limestone, which was harder than the main blocks. The top of the pyramid was crowned with a gilded stone - pyramidion (ancient Egyptian - “Benben”). The cladding shone in the sun with a peach color, like “a shining miracle to which the sun god Ra himself seemed to give all his rays.” In 1168, the Arabs sacked and burned Cairo. Residents of Cairo removed the cladding from the pyramid in order to build new houses.

Pyramid structure

The entrance to the pyramid is at an altitude of 15.63 meters on the north side. The entrance is formed by stone slabs laid in the form of an arch, but this is the structure that was inside the pyramid - the true entrance has not been preserved. The true entrance to the pyramid was most likely closed with a stone plug. A description of such a plug can be found in Strabo, and its appearance can also be imagined based on the preserved slab that covered the upper entrance to the Bent Pyramid of Snefru, the father of Cheops. Today, tourists get inside the pyramid through a 17-meter gap, which was made 10 meters lower by the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun in 820. He hoped to find the pharaoh's countless treasures there, but found there only a layer of dust half a cubit thick.

Inside the Cheops pyramid there are three burial chambers, located one above the other.

Funeral "pit"

A 105 m long descending corridor running at an inclination of 26° 26'46 leads to an 8.9 m long horizontal corridor leading to the chamber 5 . Situated below ground level in a limestone bedrock, it remained unfinished. The dimensions of the chamber are 14x8.1 m, it extends from east to west. The height reaches 3.5 m, the ceiling has a large crack. At the southern wall of the chamber there is a well about 3 m deep, from which a narrow manhole (0.7 × 0.7 m in cross-section) stretches in a southern direction for 16 m, ending in a dead end. At the beginning of the 19th century, engineers John Shae Perring and Richard William Howard Vyse cleared the floor of the chamber and dug a well 11.6 m deep, in which they hoped to discover a hidden burial chamber. They were based on the testimony of Herodotus, who claimed that the body of Cheops was on an island surrounded by a canal in a hidden underground chamber. Their excavations came to nothing. Later studies showed that the chamber was abandoned unfinished, and it was decided to build the burial chambers in the center of the pyramid itself.

Several photographs taken in 1910

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Interior

Ascending Corridor and Queen's Chambers

From the first third of the descending passage (18 m from the main entrance), an ascending passage goes south at the same angle of 26.5° ( 6 ) about 40 m long, ending at the bottom of the Great Gallery ( 9 ).

At its beginning, the ascending passage contains 3 large cubic granite “plugs”, which from the outside, from the descending passage, were masked by a block of limestone that fell out during the work of al-Mamun. Thus, for the previous approximately 3 thousand years, it was believed that there were no rooms in the Great Pyramid other than the descending passage and the underground chamber. Al-Mamun failed to break through these plugs and simply hollowed out a bypass to the right of them in the softer limestone. This passage is still in use today. There are two main theories about the traffic jams, one of them is based on the fact that the ascending passage has traffic jams installed at the beginning of construction and thus this passage was sealed by them from the very beginning. The second argues that the current narrowing of the walls was caused by an earthquake, and the plugs were previously located within the Great Gallery and were used to seal the passage only after the funeral of the pharaoh.

An important mystery of this section of the ascending passage is that in the place where the traffic jams are now located, in the full-size, albeit shortened model of the pyramid passages - the so-called test corridors north of the Great Pyramid - there is a junction of not two, but three corridors at once, the third of which is a vertical tunnel. Since no one has yet been able to move the plugs, the question of whether there is a vertical hole above them remains open.

In the middle of the ascending passage, the design of the walls has a peculiarity: in three places the so-called “frame stones” are installed - that is, the passage, square along its entire length, pierces through three monoliths. The purpose of these stones is unknown. In the area of ​​the frame stones, the walls of the passage have several small niches.

A horizontal corridor 35 m long and 1.75 m high leads to the second burial chamber from the lower part of the Great Gallery in a southerly direction. The walls of this horizontal corridor are made of very large limestone blocks, on which false “seams” are applied, imitating masonry from smaller blocks . Behind the western wall of the passage there are cavities filled with sand. The second chamber is traditionally called the “Queen’s Chamber,” although according to the ritual, the wives of the pharaohs were buried in separate small pyramids. The Queen's Chamber, lined with limestone, measures 5.74 meters from east to west and 5.23 meters from north to south; its maximum height is 6.22 meters. There is a high niche in the eastern wall of the chamber.

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Drawing of the Queen's Chamber ( 7 )

Niche in the wall of the Queen's Chamber

Corridor at the entrance to the queen's hall (1910)

Entrance to the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Niche in the Queen's Chamber (1910)

Ventilation duct in the queen's chamber (1910)

Corridor to the ascending tunnel ( 12 )

Granite plug (1910)

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Corridor to the ascending tunnel (on the left are closing blocks)

Grotto, Grand Gallery and Pharaoh's Chambers

Another branch from the lower part of the Great Gallery is a narrow, almost vertical shaft about 60 m high, leading to the lower part of the descending passage. There is an assumption that it was intended to evacuate workers or priests who were completing the “sealing” of the main passage to the “King’s Chamber.” Approximately in the middle of it there is a small, most likely natural extension - the “Grotto” (Grotto) of irregular shape, in which several people could fit at most. Grotto ( 12 ) is located at the “junction” of the masonry of the pyramid and a small, about 9 meters high, hill on the limestone plateau lying at the base of the Great Pyramid. The walls of the Grotto are partially reinforced by ancient masonry, and since some of its stones are too large, there is an assumption that the Grotto existed on the Giza plateau as an independent structure long before the construction of the pyramids, and the evacuation shaft itself was built taking into account the location of the Grotto. However, taking into account the fact that the shaft was hollowed out in the already laid masonry, and not laid out, as evidenced by its irregular circular cross-section, the question arises of how the builders managed to accurately reach the Grotto.

The large gallery continues the ascending passage. Its height is 8.53 m, it is rectangular in cross-section, with walls slightly tapering upward (the so-called “false vault”), a high inclined tunnel 46.6 m long. In the middle of the Great Gallery along almost the entire length there is a square recess with a regular cross-section measuring 1 meter wide and 60 cm deep, and on both side protrusions there are 27 pairs of recesses of unknown purpose. The recess ends with the so-called. “Big step” - a high horizontal ledge, a 1x2 meter platform at the end of the Great Gallery, immediately before the hole into the “hallway” - the Antechamber. The platform has a pair of ramp recesses similar to those in the corners near the wall (the 28th and last pair of BG recesses). Through the “hallway” a hole leads into the funeral “Tsar’s Chamber” lined with black granite, where an empty granite sarcophagus is located. The sarcophagus lid is missing. Ventilation shafts have mouths in the “King’s Chamber” on the southern and northern walls at a height of about a meter from the floor level. The mouth of the southern ventilation shaft is severely damaged, the northern one appears intact. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the chamber do not have any decorations or holes or fastening elements of anything dating back to the construction of the pyramid. The ceiling slabs have all burst along the southern wall and are not falling into the room only due to the pressure from the weight of the overlying blocks.

Above the “Tsar’s Chamber” there are five unloading cavities with a total height of 17 m discovered in the 19th century, between which lie monolithic granite slabs about 2 m thick, and above there is a gable roof made of limestone. It is believed that their purpose is to distribute the weight of the overlying layers of the pyramid (about a million tons) to protect the “King's Chamber” from pressure. In these voids, graffiti was discovered, probably left by workers.

Interior of the Grotto (1910)

Drawing of a Grotto (1910)

Drawing of the connection of the Grotto with the Great Gallery (1910)

Entrance to the Tunnel (1910)

Entrance to the Tunnel (1910)

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View of the Great Gallery from the entrance to the room

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Large gallery

Grand Gallery (1910)

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"Big Step"

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Drawing of the Pharaoh's Chamber

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Pharaoh's chamber

Pharaoh's Chamber (1910)

Interior of the vestibule in front of the Tsar's chamber (1910)

"Ventilation" channel at the southern wall of the king's room (1910)

Ventilation ducts

So-called “ventilation” channels 20-25 cm wide extend from the “Tsar’s Chamber” and “Queen’s Chamber” in the northern and southern directions (first horizontally, then obliquely upward). At the same time, the channels of the “Tsar’s Chamber,” known since the 17th century, through, they are open both below and above (on the edges of the pyramid), while the lower ends of the channels of the “Queen’s Chamber” are separated from the surface of the wall by about 13 cm; they were discovered by tapping in 1872. The upper ends of these channels do not reach the surface by about 12 meters. The upper ends of the channels of the Queen's Chamber are closed by stone Gantenbrink Doors, each with two copper handles. The copper handles were sealed with plaster seals (not preserved, but traces remain). In the southern ventilation shaft, a “door” was discovered in 1993 with the help of a remote-controlled robot “Upout II”; the bend of the northern shaft did not allow this robot to detect the same “door” in it. In 2002, using a new modification of the robot, a hole was drilled in the southern “door,” but behind it a small cavity 18 centimeters long and another stone “door” were discovered. What lies next is still unknown. This robot confirmed the presence of a similar “door” at the end of the northern channel, but they did not drill it. In 2010, a new robot was able to insert a serpentine television camera into a drilled hole in the southern “door” and discovered that the copper “handles” on that side of the “door” were designed in the form of neat hinges, and individual red ocher icons were painted on the floor of the “ventilation” shaft. Currently, the most common version is that the purpose of the “ventilation” ducts was of a religious nature and is associated with the Egyptian ideas about the afterlife journey of the soul. And the “door” at the end of the channel is nothing more than a door to the afterlife. That is why it does not reach the surface of the pyramid.

Tilt angle

It is not possible to accurately determine the original parameters of the pyramid, since its edges and surfaces are currently mostly dismantled and destroyed. This makes it difficult to calculate the exact angle of inclination. In addition, its symmetry itself is not ideal, so deviations in the numbers are observed with different measurements.

A study of the geometry of the Great Pyramid does not provide a clear answer to the question of the original proportions of this structure. It is assumed that the Egyptians had an idea about the “Golden ratio" and the number pi, which were reflected in the proportions of the pyramid: thus, the ratio of the height to half the perimeter of the base is 14/22 (height = 280 cubits, and the base = 220 cubits, semi-perimeter of the base = 2 ×220 cubits; 280/440 = 14/22). For the first time in world history, these quantities were used in the construction of the pyramid at Meidum. However, for pyramids of later eras, these proportions were not used anywhere else, as, for example, some have height-to-base ratios, such as 6/5 (Pink Pyramid), 4/3 (Pyramid of Khafre) or 7/5 (Broken Pyramid).

Some of the theories consider the pyramid to be an astronomical observatory. It is argued that the corridors of the pyramid accurately point towards the “pole star” of that time - Thuban, the ventilation corridors on the south side point to the star Sirius, and on the north side to the star Alnitak.

Concavity of the sides

As in the 18th century, when this phenomenon was discovered, today there is still no satisfactory explanation for this architectural feature.

Pharaoh's boats

Near the pyramids, seven pits with real ancient Egyptian boats, dismantled into pieces, were discovered. The first of these vessels, called "Solar Boats" or " Solar boats", was discovered in 1954 by Egyptian architect Kamal el-Mallah and archaeologist Zaki Nour. The boat was made of cedar and did not have a single trace of nails for fastening the elements. The boat consisted of 1224 parts; they were assembled by restorer Ahmed Youssef Mustafa only in 1968.

Boat dimensions: length - 43.3 m, width - 5.6 m, and draft - 1.50 m.

On the southern side of the Cheops pyramid there is a museum of this boat.

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One of two solar boat pits. East End pyramids

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The place where the Solar Boat was discovered

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Boat Museum on the south side of the pyramid

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The Cheops solar boat, discovered near the pyramid in 1954.

Pyramids of the Queens of Cheops

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Descent to the Henoutsen burial chamber

Pyramide Henoutsen 02.JPG

Henoutsen burial chamber

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Literature

• Ionina N. A. 100 Great Wonders of the World. - Moscow., 1999.
• Vojtech Zamarovsky. Their Majesties pyramids. - Moscow., 1986.

see also

Notes

Links

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Ancient kingdom (2686-2181 BC) 1st transition period (2181–2040 BC) Middle Kingdom (2040–1650 BC) 2nd transition period (1650–1570 BC) New kingdom (1570–1070 BC)

Pyramids Sculptures

Excerpt characterizing the Pyramid of Cheops

-What are you talking about the militia? - he said to Boris.
“They, your lordship, in preparation for tomorrow, for death, put on white shirts.”
- Ah!.. Wonderful, incomparable people! - said Kutuzov and, closing his eyes, shook his head. - Incomparable people! - he repeated with a sigh.
- Do you want to smell gunpowder? - he said to Pierre. - Yes, a pleasant smell. I have the honor to be an admirer of your wife, is she healthy? My rest stop is at your service. - And, as often happens with old people, Kutuzov began to look around absently, as if he had forgotten everything he needed to say or do.
Obviously, remembering what he was looking for, he lured Andrei Sergeich Kaisarov, the brother of his adjutant, to him.
- How, how, how are the poems, Marina, how are the poems, how? What he wrote about Gerakov: “You will be a teacher in the building... Tell me, tell me,” Kutuzov spoke, obviously about to laugh. Kaisarov read... Kutuzov, smiling, nodded his head to the beat of the poems.
When Pierre walked away from Kutuzov, Dolokhov moved towards him and took him by the hand.
“I’m very glad to meet you here, Count,” he told him loudly and without being embarrassed by the presence of strangers, with particular decisiveness and solemnity. “On the eve of the day on which God knows which of us is destined to survive, I am glad to have the opportunity to tell you that I regret the misunderstandings that existed between us, and I would like you not to have anything against me.” Please forgive me.
Pierre, smiling, looked at Dolokhov, not knowing what to say to him. Dolokhov, with tears welling up in his eyes, hugged and kissed Pierre.
Boris said something to his general, and Count Bennigsen turned to Pierre and offered to go with him along the line.
“This will be interesting for you,” he said.
“Yes, very interesting,” said Pierre.
Half an hour later, Kutuzov left for Tatarinova, and Bennigsen and his retinue, including Pierre, went along the line.

Bennigsen from Gorki descended along the high road to the bridge, which the officer from the mound pointed out to Pierre as the center of the position and on the bank of which lay rows of mown grass that smelled of hay. They drove across the bridge to the village of Borodino, from there they turned left and past a huge number of troops and cannons they drove out to a high mound on which the militia was digging. It was a redoubt that did not yet have a name, but later received the name Raevsky redoubt, or barrow battery.
Pierre didn't pay attention special attention to this redoubt. He did not know that this place would be more memorable for him than all the places in the Borodino field. Then they drove through the ravine to Semenovsky, in which the soldiers were taking away the last logs of the huts and barns. Then, downhill and uphill, they drove forward through broken rye, knocked out like hail, along a road newly laid by artillery along the ridges of arable land to the flushes [a type of fortification. (Note by L.N. Tolstoy.) ], also still being dug at that time.
Bennigsen stopped at the flushes and began to look ahead at the Shevardinsky redoubt (which was ours only yesterday), on which several horsemen could be seen. The officers said that Napoleon or Murat was there. And everyone looked greedily at this bunch of horsemen. Pierre also looked there, trying to guess which of these barely visible people was Napoleon. Finally, the riders rode off the mound and disappeared.
Bennigsen turned to the general who approached him and began to explain the entire position of our troops. Pierre listened to Bennigsen's words, straining all his mental strength to understand the essence of the upcoming battle, but he felt with disappointment that his mental abilities were insufficient for this. He didn't understand anything. Bennigsen stopped talking, and noticing the figure of Pierre, who was listening, he suddenly said, turning to him:
– I think you’re not interested?
“Oh, on the contrary, it’s very interesting,” Pierre repeated, not entirely truthfully.
From the flush they drove even further to the left along a road winding through a dense, low birch forest. In the middle of it
forest, a brown hare with white legs jumped out onto the road in front of them and, frightened by the stomping large quantity horses, was so confused that he jumped for a long time along the road in front of them, arousing everyone’s attention and laughter, and only when several voices shouted at him, he rushed to the side and disappeared into the thicket. After driving about two miles through the forest, they came to a clearing where the troops of Tuchkov’s corps, which was supposed to protect the left flank, were stationed.
Here, on the extreme left flank, Bennigsen spoke a lot and passionately and made, as it seemed to Pierre, an important military order. There was a hill in front of Tuchkov’s troops. This hill was not occupied by troops. Bennigsen loudly criticized this mistake, saying that it was crazy to leave the height commanding the area unoccupied and place troops under it. Some generals expressed the same opinion. One in particular spoke with military fervor about the fact that they were put here for slaughter. Bennigsen ordered in his name to move the troops to the heights.
This order on the left flank made Pierre even more doubtful of his ability to understand military affairs. Listening to Bennigsen and the generals condemning the position of the troops under the mountain, Pierre fully understood them and shared their opinion; but precisely because of this, he could not understand how the one who placed them here under the mountain could make such an obvious and gross mistake.
Pierre did not know that these troops were not placed to defend the position, as Bennigsen thought, but were placed in a hidden place for an ambush, that is, in order to be unnoticed and suddenly attack the advancing enemy. Bennigsen did not know this and moved the troops forward for special reasons without telling the commander-in-chief about it.

On this clear August evening on the 25th, Prince Andrei lay leaning on his arm in a broken barn in the village of Knyazkova, on the edge of his regiment’s location. Through the hole in the broken wall, he looked at a strip of thirty-year-old birch trees with their lower branches cut off running along the fence, at an arable land with stacks of oats broken on it, and at bushes through which the smoke of fires—soldiers’ kitchens—could be seen.
No matter how cramped and no one needed and no matter how difficult his life now seemed to Prince Andrei, he, just like seven years ago at Austerlitz on the eve of the battle, felt agitated and irritated.
Orders for tomorrow's battle were given and received by him. There was nothing else he could do. But the simplest, clearest thoughts and therefore terrible thoughts did not leave him alone. He knew that tomorrow's battle was going to be the most terrible of all those in which he participated, and the possibility of death for the first time in his life, without any regard to everyday life, without consideration of how it would affect others, but only according to in relation to himself, to his soul, with vividness, almost with certainty, simply and horribly, it presented itself to him. And from the height of this idea, everything that had previously tormented and occupied him was suddenly illuminated by a cold white light, without shadows, without perspective, without distinction of outlines. His whole life seemed to him like a magic lantern, into which he looked for a long time through glass and under artificial lighting. Now he suddenly saw, without glass, in bright daylight, these poorly painted pictures. “Yes, yes, these are the false images that worried and delighted and tormented me,” he said to himself, turning over in his imagination the main pictures of his magic lantern of life, now looking at them in this cold white light of day - a clear thought of death. “Here they are, these crudely painted figures that seemed to be something beautiful and mysterious. Glory, public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself - how great these pictures seemed to me, what deep meaning they seemed filled with! And all this is so simple, pale and rough in the cold white light of that morning, which I feel is rising for me. Three major sorrows of his life in particular occupied his attention. His love for a woman, the death of his father and the French invasion that captured half of Russia. “Love!.. This girl, who seemed to me filled with mysterious forces. How I loved her! I made poetic plans about love, about happiness with it. Oh dear boy! – he said out loud angrily. - Of course! I believed in some kind of ideal love, which was supposed to remain faithful to me during the whole year of my absence! Like the tender dove of a fable, she was to wither away in separation from me. And all this is much simpler... All this is terribly simple, disgusting!
My father also built in Bald Mountains and thought that this was his place, his land, his air, his men; but Napoleon came and, not knowing about his existence, pushed him off the road like a piece of wood, and his Bald Mountains and his whole life fell apart. And Princess Marya says that this is a test sent from above. What is the purpose of the test when it no longer exists and will not exist? will never happen again! He's gone! So who is this test for? Fatherland, death of Moscow! And tomorrow he will kill me - and not even a Frenchman, but one of his own, as yesterday a soldier emptied a gun near my ear, and the French will come, take me by the legs and head and throw me into a hole so that I don’t stink under their noses, and new conditions will arise lives that will also be familiar to others, and I will not know about them, and I will not exist.”
He looked at the strip of birch trees with their motionless yellow, green and white bark, glistening in the sun. “To die, so that they would kill me tomorrow, so that I wouldn’t exist... so that all this would happen, but I wouldn’t exist.” He vividly imagined the absence of himself in this life. And these birches with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke from the fires - everything around was transformed for him and seemed something terrible and threatening. A chill ran down his spine. Quickly getting up, he left the barn and began to walk.
Voices were heard behind the barn.
- Who's there? – Prince Andrei called out.
The red-nosed captain Timokhin, the former company commander of Dolokhov, now, due to the decline of officers, a battalion commander, timidly entered the barn. He was followed by the adjutant and the regimental treasurer.
Prince Andrei hastily stood up, listened to what the officers had to convey to him, gave them some more orders and was about to let them go, when a familiar, whispering voice was heard from behind the barn.
- Que diable! [Damn it!] - said the voice of a man who bumped into something.
Prince Andrei, looking out of the barn, saw Pierre approaching him, who tripped on a lying pole and almost fell. It was generally unpleasant for Prince Andrei to see people from his world, especially Pierre, who reminded him of all those difficult moments that he experienced on his last visit to Moscow.
- That's how! - he said. - What destinies? I didn't wait.
While he was saying this, in his eyes and the expression of his whole face there was more than dryness - there was hostility, which Pierre immediately noticed. He approached the barn in the most animated state of mind, but when he saw the expression on Prince Andrei’s face, he felt constrained and awkward.
“I arrived... so... you know... I arrived... I’m interested,” said Pierre, who had already senselessly repeated this word “interesting” so many times that day. “I wanted to see the battle.”
- Yes, yes, what do the Masonic brothers say about the war? How to prevent it? - said Prince Andrei mockingly. - Well, what about Moscow? What are mine? Have you finally arrived in Moscow? – he asked seriously.
- We've arrived. Julie Drubetskaya told me. I went to see them and didn’t find them. They left for the Moscow region.

The officers wanted to take their leave, but Prince Andrei, as if not wanting to remain face to face with his friend, invited them to sit and drink tea. Benches and tea were served. The officers, not without surprise, looked at the thick, huge figure of Pierre and listened to his stories about Moscow and the disposition of our troops, which he managed to travel around. Prince Andrei was silent, and his face was so unpleasant that Pierre addressed himself more to the good-natured battalion commander Timokhin than to Bolkonsky.
- So, did you understand the entire disposition of the troops? - Prince Andrei interrupted him.
- Yes, that is, how? - said Pierre. “As a non-military person, I can’t say that I completely, but I still understood the general arrangement.”
“Eh bien, vous etes plus avance que qui cela soit, [Well, you know more than anyone else.],” said Prince Andrei.
- A! - Pierre said in bewilderment, looking through his glasses at Prince Andrei. - Well, what do you say about the appointment of Kutuzov? - he said.
“I was very happy about this appointment, that’s all I know,” said Prince Andrei.
- Well, tell me, what is your opinion about Barclay de Tolly? In Moscow, God knows what they said about him. How do you judge him?
“Ask them,” said Prince Andrei, pointing to the officers.
Pierre looked at him with a condescendingly questioning smile, with which everyone involuntarily turned to Timokhin.
“They saw the light, your Excellency, as your Serene Highness did,” Timokhin said, timidly and constantly looking back at his regimental commander.
- Why is this so? asked Pierre.
- Yes, at least about firewood or feed, I’ll report to you. After all, we were retreating from the Sventsyans, don’t you dare touch a twig, or some hay, or anything. After all, we are leaving, he gets it, isn’t it, your Excellency? - he turned to his prince, - don’t you dare. In our regiment, two officers were put on trial for such matters. Well, as His Serene Highness did, it just became so about this. We saw the light...
- So why did he forbid it?
Timokhin looked around in confusion, not understanding how or what to answer such a question. Pierre turned to Prince Andrei with the same question.
“And so as not to ruin the region that we left to the enemy,” said Prince Andrei with malicious mockery. – This is very thorough; The region must not be allowed to be plundered and the troops must not be accustomed to looting. Well, in Smolensk, he also correctly judged that the French could get around us and that they had more forces. But he couldn’t understand that,” Prince Andrei suddenly shouted in a thin voice, as if breaking out, “but he couldn’t understand that we fought there for the first time for Russian land, that there was such a spirit in the troops that I had never seen, that We fought off the French for two days in a row and that this success increased our strength tenfold. He ordered a retreat, and all efforts and losses were in vain. He didn’t think about betrayal, he tried to do everything as best as possible, he thought it over; but that’s why it’s no good. He is no good now precisely because he thinks everything over very thoroughly and carefully, as every German should. How can I tell you... Well, your father has a German footman, and he is an excellent footman and will satisfy all his needs better than you, and let him serve; but if your father is sick at the point of death, you will drive away the footman and with your unusual, clumsy hands you will begin to follow your father and calm him down better than a skilled but stranger. That's what they did with Barclay. While Russia was healthy, a stranger could serve her, and she had an excellent minister, but as soon as she was in danger; I need my own, dear person. And in your club they made up the idea that he was a traitor! The only thing they will do by slandering him as a traitor is that later, ashamed of their false accusation, they will suddenly make a hero or a genius out of the traitors, which will be even more unfair. He is an honest and very neat German...
“However, they say he is a skilled commander,” said Pierre.
“I don’t understand what a skilled commander means,” said Prince Andrey with mockery.
“A skillful commander,” said Pierre, “well, the one who foresaw all the contingencies... well, guessed the thoughts of the enemy.”
“Yes, this is impossible,” said Prince Andrei, as if about a long-decided matter.
Pierre looked at him in surprise.
“However,” he said, “they say that war is like a chess game.”
“Yes,” said Prince Andrei, “only with this small difference that in chess you can think about every step as much as you like, that you are there outside the conditions of time, and with this difference that a knight is always stronger than a pawn and two pawns are always stronger.” one, and in war one battalion is sometimes stronger than a division, and sometimes weaker than a company. The relative strength of the troops cannot be known to anyone. Believe me,” he said, “if anything depended on the orders of the headquarters, I would have been there and made the orders, but instead I have the honor of serving here, in the regiment with these gentlemen, and I think that we really tomorrow will depend, not on them... Success has never depended and will not depend on position, weapons, or even numbers; and least of all from the position.
- And from what?
“From the feeling that is in me, in him,” he pointed to Timokhin, “in every soldier.”
Prince Andrei looked at Timokhin, who looked at his commander in fear and bewilderment. In contrast to his previous restrained silence, Prince Andrei now seemed agitated. He apparently could not resist expressing those thoughts that unexpectedly came to him.
– The battle will be won by the one who is determined to win it. Why did we lose the battle at Austerlitz? Our loss was almost equal to that of the French, but we told ourselves very early that we had lost the battle - and we lost. And we said this because we had no need to fight there: we wanted to leave the battlefield as quickly as possible. “If you lose, then run away!” - we ran. If we hadn’t said this until the evening, God knows what would have happened. And tomorrow we won’t say this. You say: our position, the left flank is weak, the right flank is stretched,” he continued, “all this is nonsense, there is none of this.” What do we have in store for tomorrow? A hundred million of the most varied contingencies that will be decided instantly by the fact that they or ours ran or will run, that they will kill this one, they will kill the other; and what is being done now is all fun. The fact is that those with whom you traveled in position not only do not contribute to the general course of affairs, but interfere with it. They are busy only with their own small interests.
- At such a moment? - Pierre said reproachfully.
“At such a moment,” repeated Prince Andrei, “for them it is only such a moment in which they can dig under the enemy and get an extra cross or ribbon.” For me, for tomorrow this is this: a hundred thousand Russian and a hundred thousand French troops came together to fight, and the fact is that these two hundred thousand are fighting, and whoever fights angrier and feels less sorry for himself will win. And if you want, I’ll tell you that, no matter what it is, no matter what is confused up there, we will win the battle tomorrow. Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!
“Here, your Excellency, the truth, the true truth,” said Timokhin. - Why feel sorry for yourself now! The soldiers in my battalion, would you believe it, didn’t drink vodka: it’s not such a day, they say. - Everyone was silent.
The officers stood up. Prince Andrei went out with them outside the barn, giving the last orders to the adjutant. When the officers left, Pierre approached Prince Andrei and was just about to start a conversation when the hooves of three horses clattered along the road not far from the barn, and, looking in this direction, Prince Andrei recognized Wolzogen and Clausewitz, accompanied by a Cossack. They drove close, continuing to talk, and Pierre and Andrey involuntarily heard the following phrases:
– Der Krieg muss im Raum verlegt werden. Der Ansicht kann ich nicht genug Preis geben, [War must be transferred to space. I cannot praise this view enough (German)] - said one.
“O ja,” said another voice, “da der Zweck ist nur den Feind zu schwachen, so kann man gewiss nicht den Verlust der Privatpersonen in Achtung nehmen.” [Oh yes, since the goal is to weaken the enemy, the losses of private individuals cannot be taken into account]
“O ja, [Oh yes (German)],” confirmed the first voice.
“Yes, im Raum verlegen, [transfer into space (German)],” Prince Andrei repeated, snorting angrily through his nose, when they passed. – Im Raum then [In space (German)] I still have a father, a son, and a sister in Bald Mountains. He doesn't care. This is what I told you - these German gentlemen will not win the battle tomorrow, but will only spoil how much their strength will be, because in his German head there are only arguments that are not worth a damn, and in his heart there is nothing that is only and what is needed for tomorrow is what is in Timokhin. They gave all of Europe to him and came to teach us - glorious teachers! – his voice squealed again.
– So you think that tomorrow’s battle will be won? - said Pierre.
“Yes, yes,” said Prince Andrei absently. “One thing I would do if I had power,” he began again, “I would not take prisoners.” What are prisoners? This is chivalry. The French have ruined my house and are going to ruin Moscow, and they have insulted and insulted me every second. They are my enemies, they are all criminals, according to my standards. And Timokhin and the entire army think the same. We must execute them. If they are my enemies, then they cannot be friends, no matter how they talk in Tilsit.
“Yes, yes,” said Pierre, looking at Prince Andrei with sparkling eyes, “I completely, completely agree with you!”
The question that had been troubling Pierre since Mozhaisk Mountain all that day now seemed to him completely clear and completely resolved. He now understood the whole meaning and significance of this war and the upcoming battle. Everything he saw that day, all the significant, stern expressions on faces that he glimpsed, were illuminated for him with a new light. He understood that hidden (latente), as they say in physics, warmth of patriotism, which was in all those people whom he saw, and which explained to him why all these people were calmly and seemingly frivolously preparing for death.
“Take no prisoners,” continued Prince Andrei. “This alone would change the whole war and make it less cruel.” Otherwise we were playing at war - that’s what’s bad, we’re being generous and the like. This is generosity and sensitivity - like the generosity and sensitivity of a lady who becomes sick when she sees a calf being killed; she is so kind that she cannot see the blood, but she eats this calf with gravy with appetite. They talk to us about the rights of war, about chivalry, about parliamentarianism, to spare the unfortunate, and so on. It's all nonsense. I saw chivalry and parliamentarianism in 1805: we were deceived, we were deceived. They rob other people's houses, pass around counterfeit banknotes, and worst of all, they kill my children, my father, and talk about the rules of war and generosity towards enemies. Don't take prisoners, but kill and go to your death! Who got to this point the way I did, through the same suffering...
Prince Andrei, who thought that he did not care whether they took Moscow or not, the way they took Smolensk, suddenly stopped in his speech from an unexpected spasm that grabbed him by the throat. He walked several times in silence, but his eyes shone feverishly, and his lip trembled when he began to speak again:
“If there were no generosity in war, then we would go only when it’s worth it to go to certain death, as now.” Then there would be no war because Pavel Ivanovich offended Mikhail Ivanovich. And if there is a war like now, then there is a war. And then the intensity of the troops would not be the same as it is now. Then all these Westphalians and Hessians, led by Napoleon, would not have followed him to Russia, and we would not have gone to fight in Austria and Prussia, without knowing why. War is not a courtesy, but the most disgusting thing in life, and we must understand this and not play at war. We must take this terrible necessity strictly and seriously. That's all there is to it: throw away the lies, and war is war, not a toy. Otherwise, war is the favorite pastime of idle and frivolous people... The military class is the most honorable. What is war, what is needed for success in military affairs, what are the morals of military society? The purpose of war is murder, the weapons of war are espionage, treason and its encouragement, the ruin of the inhabitants, their robbery or theft to feed the army; deception and lies, called stratagems; the morals of the military class - lack of freedom, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery, drunkenness. And despite this, this is the highest class, respected by everyone. All kings, except the Chinese, wear a military uniform, and the one who killed the most people is given a large reward... They will come together, like tomorrow, to kill each other, kill, maim tens of thousands of people, and then they will serve thanksgiving services for having beaten there are many people (whose number is still being added), and they proclaim victory, believing that the more people are beaten, the greater the merit. How God looks and listens to them from there! – Prince Andrei shouted in a thin, squeaky voice. - Oh, my soul, Lately It became difficult for me to live. I see that I have begun to understand too much. But it is not good for a person to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... Well, not for long! - he added. “However, you are sleeping, and I don’t care, go to Gorki,” Prince Andrei suddenly said.

8 646

ABOUT Egyptian pyramid Many articles and books have been written about Cheops, considering it from the standpoint of a modern materialistic view, not taking into account that it was built during the period of the previous highly developed civilization, the knowledge of which has not reached us. The Pyramid of Cheops, with its enormous size, involuntarily raises the question of the methods of its construction. The hypotheses put forward in this regard are far from the truth.

The Pyramid of Cheops, built about 4,600 years ago, is located on a rock plateau in the Libyan Desert. The stones for its construction were brought mainly from the quarries of the Makkatim Highlands, which is located east of the Nile River. The construction of the pyramid was carried out under the leadership of the famous architect Khafre over a period of 20 years. According to ancient sources, peasants took part in its construction only three months a year, in their free time from field work, during the Nile flood. But this does not exclude the work of a small number of specialists who prepared the work front for thousands of seasonal peasant builders.

The purpose of building a tomb pyramid.

The word “pyramid” literally translated from Greek means “fire that is inside.” By “fire” here we must understand the presence of an ordered energy flow both inside and outside the pyramid. Similar energy flows can be observed in crystals (quartz, diamond...), in trees, etc. A vertical energy flow is formed above the top of the pyramid (tree...), which is sometimes called a cosmic channel (pillar). In the morning, at dawn, this energy flow can be seen above the top of the pyramid with the naked eye. The energy flows at the top of the Cheops pyramid connect with the energy flows of neighboring pyramids, forming a channel-energy connection with each other. In nature, a similar energy connection is observed in trees of crystals (druze), etc. At the same time, the formation of an additional dome energy shell, a collective aura, is observed above them. Until now, the pyramid was considered as a material body without taking into account its energy properties, just as in medicine the physical body of a person is studied without taking into account his other six subtle bodies.

The pyramid, like the human physical body, is only a material frame for subtle energy systems. Legends say that the pyramid contains the Great Stone, which flew from Space to Earth. He has great energy and magical powers. Similar stones are found in the Kaaba mosque (Mecca, Saudi Arabia) in the Himalayas, and was previously with Emperor Tatzlau in Atlantis, who is buried in Taimyr. These are stones of spiritual centers and centers of civilization.

To create energy vertical columns of cosmic communication (streams) on Earth, humanity has used a variety of technical solutions throughout the millennia. For example, in mountainous areas The tops of the mountains were built in the form of pyramids, tents, sphinxes and other structures, and underneath them were tombs. In flat areas, artificial architectural above-ground or underground structures were created (mounds, pyramids, labyrinthine drawings...)

The pyramid has design characteristics to obtain the necessary types of energy flows. The larger the pyramid, the more powerful its energy flow. Above the top of Mount Everest (Himalayas) there is one of the most powerful energy flows on Earth.
Tombs Ancient Egypt are found both in mountainous areas (near Lake Victoria) and in lowland areas (near the Nile Delta). Their construction was carried out mainly during the heyday ancient civilization, which had a high technical level of development ( air Transport(vimanas, chariots), eternal lamps, energy, laser, nuclear, sound weapons, etc.).

Start of construction.

The Pyramid of Cheops has a height of about 150 meters with a base length of one side of 250 meters. It was built at west bank Nile, near the city of Cairo.
The famous architect Khafre did not build this pyramid from scratch. Here were very ancient squat pyramids made of monolithic stone, which were called “remnants” by modern experts. One of the ancient pyramids with its energy flows and underground passages(built about 14,000 years ago) Khafre used it for its intended purpose, increasing its height and redesigning the internal passages and rooms. This ancient pyramid had a powerful foundation and special entrances to the dungeons for underground work.

The Cheops pyramid, like the ancient one, is oriented towards spiritual centers (Shambhala in the east, and Thule in the north), since the north pole 12,000 years ago was located in northwestern Canada near the border with America. The geographic North Pole is constantly migrating around the globe.

By using the ancient pyramid as the basis for a new one, the builders achieved a significant reduction in labor and material costs and a reduction in construction time. Now no one remembers the more ancient builders, although more than half the volume of the Cheops pyramid is made up of stones ancient pyramid. The original monolithic pyramid (remnant) had its own burial chamber with other dungeons. During the construction of the pyramid, Khafre made a new redevelopment of the dungeons. Therefore, some voids from the ancient pyramid that do not fit into the new layout do not find a logical explanation among researchers.