The great pyramid of Giza is not only the oldest of the seven wonders but is also the only one to have survived to the present day.
It stands near the ancient city of Memphis on the Giza plateau, a necropolis or tract of land used for burials now part of modern Cairo.
Although there are three pyramids standing on the Giza plateau it is only the largest of them that is actually one of the seven wonders, the great pyramid of Khufu more commonly referred to as the pyramid of Cheops.
The pyramid was built around 2560 BC by and for the pharaoh Khufu intended to be both his tomb and a great and lasting monument after his death.
The tombs construction is believed to have been achieved over a period of twenty years.
The exterior of the pyramid now have a stepped appearance though when it was completed it has a smooth covering of stone which the desert winds have worn away over nearly four and a half millennia.
When it was built, the Great pyramid stood 481 ft high but 30 ft has been worn off the top over its many years and the base consists of four equal sides 751ft in length.
It wasn’t until the latter part of the nineteenth century that the great pyramid was surpassed as the tallest structure on earth a position it had occupied for over four thousand three hundred years.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of the Pyramid is the incredible mathematical accuracy involved in its construction.
The great pyramid was built to such great precision using very rudimentary techniques which even with all of our 21st century technology we cannot replicate.
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