Giza Interior Design

In the early dynastic period of Egypt, huge burial complexes were built as tombs for the pharaohs (Kagan 16). These elaborate tombs were called pyramids and they still stand to this day in Giza, Egypt. These pyramids demonstrated the great power and enormous wealth of the pharaohs during this time (Kagan 16). The first version of the pyramid was called a step pyramid, which was originally built by Djoser (Kagan 16). Djoser was a king from the Third Dynasty in Egypt (Kagan 16). There are many different aspects to look at when talking about the Great Pyramids at Giza. Who built the pyramids, their design details, and how they were built are some important aspects to be discussed. There are three main pyramids in Giza, also referred to as the …show more content…
The interior design is made up of a series of passageways and rooms. There are two passageways in Khufu’s pyramid, the descending and ascending passageways (Gandalla 118-123). The descending passageway is three hundred and forty five feet long and leads to Subterranean Room, which served no purpose (Gandalla 119). The ascending passageway is one hundred and twenty nine feet long and leads to the king’s burial chamber (Gandalla 122). In Khafre’s pyramid, there is an upper and lower passageway (Gandalla 154). The upper passageway leads to the Gabled Inner room, which was empty (Gandalla 155). The lower passageway leads to the Subterranean Room and then back up to the Gabled Inner room (Gandalla 155). In Menkaura’s pyramid, there is a first and a second passageway (Gandalla 162). The first passageway leads to the first inner room, which has no known use (Gandalla 162). The second passageway is actually cut up underneath the first passageway and was used as an entrance for the archeologist (Gandalla 162). It leads down to the first inner room also, then down to second, or granite, room, which contained a basalt chest that was lost at sea (Gandalla …show more content…
Concerning the materials used to build the pyramids, there are many different theories on what was used to build these pyramids. One theory is the common theory. It states that the pyramids core was constructed of local quarried limestone cemented together and that casing blocks came from Tura, which was across the Nile River (Gandalla 31-32). However, archeologists Moustafa Gandalla disproved this theory. He believes that the workers made their stones by hand with a mixture of different materials (Gandalla 41). By mixing alumina, natron salt (sodium carbonate), lime, arsenic materials, and natron (a type of flux), Gandalla (41) believes that the workers mixed these ingredients together to produce a high quality limestone