Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [50]
The ruins of the Great Pyramid are one of thirty-five major pyramids still standing in Egypt, each built to protect the body of an Egyptian king. The pyramids of Giza (Al Jizah) stand on the west bank of the Nile River outside Cairo, where there are ten pyramids, including three of the largest and best preserved. These extraordinary monuments to the power of one man have also been the source of wonder, curiosity, and speculation for centuries.
Besides the colossal dimensions they achieved in the Pyramid Age, the pyramid also became more elaborate in its designs and religious functions. The simple burial chamber of early tombs and periods grew to include attached temples where offerings to the dead king were made, multiple chambers, and granite doors and false passageways intended to deter grave robbers (unsuccessfully, for the most part!). The simplest explanation for the Giza pyramids is that the pharaohs had become obsessed with maintaining their status for eternity, an expression of their divinity. But in almost all aspects of its design and construction, the pyramid was symbolically tied to Egyptian mythology. The four smooth, straight ascending sides of the pyramid were meant to imitate the slant of the sun’s rays, a physical representation of the centrality of the sun—and the sun god—in Egyptian religion. The building itself represented, or re-created, the primeval mound that had emerged out of the watery chaos at the beginning of time—the benben stone on which the first god stood and brought to life all the other gods in the Egyptian Creation story.
More recent theories about the pyramids and their geographical alignment are related to Egyptian astronomy. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was called “Khufu’s Horizon” in ancient Egyptian times, meaning that it was the place where the earth met the sky. Since the word for “horizon” was also closely associated with the word for “inundation,” Egyptologists now believe that the pyramid went beyond being a physical memorial to the dead god-king and represented the totality of the belief in regeneration. The concepts of sun, horizon, inundation, the primeval mound, and the king’s resurrection were all tied together in these monumental buildings and the complexes of temples and burial grounds surrounding them.
In a modern context, a parallel of sorts might exist in America’s increasingly controversial presidential libraries. Why do some American citizens willingly contribute millions of dollars to finance the construction of large, expensive, but little-used—at least by the general public—buildings to house presidential papers? Critics dismiss these expensive monuments to former presidents and their papers as extravagant and wasteful. But admirers and the society wish to honor a former leader, even, in some cases, a disgraced one. Although presidents are not buried in their libraries, these new tributes fill a limited social purpose but are an expression of the society’s wealth, social legends, and desire for posterity—they may be as close as Americans might get to creating the pyramids of Egypt.
What’s so great about the “Great Pyramid”?
Practically since the time of Herodotus (484–425 BCE), there has been considerable disagreement over how the pyramids were built. Based on decades of research, it is now believed that the Egyptians, although lacking machinery or iron tools, cut large limestone blocks with copper chisels and saws. The extremely difficult work of quarrying was done in searing heat by slaves, usually prisoners of war. While most of the stone came from nearby quarries, other blocks were floated down the Nile from distant quarries, during the period of inundation. Not only was the Nile higher at this time, which would make it easier to get the massive stones closer to the pyramid complex sites, but the period of flooding was the time when most Egyptian farmers were unable to work their land and provided a large, available labor force. Unlike