THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA

Introduction

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Khufu's Pyramid, Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt, and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that survives substantially intact. It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian King Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.



Originally the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface, and what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories regarding the Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction theories are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place

The Great Pyramid (the Pyramid of Khufu, or Cheops in Greek) at Gizeh, Egypt,
demonstrates the remarkable character of its placement on the face of the Earth.

The Pyramid lies in the center of gravity of the continents. It also lies in the exact center
of all the land area of the world, dividing the earth's land mass into approximately equal quarters


The Plate XX from an original 1877 copy of
Piazzi Smyth's "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid".
Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900) was Astronomer Royal for Scotland
and a respected Scientist.


The north-south axis (31 degrees east of Greenwich) is the longest land meridian, and the east-west axis (30 degrees north) is the longest land parallel on the globe. There is obviously only one place that these longest land-lines of the terrestrial earth can cross, and it is at the Great Pyramid! This is incredible, one of the scores of features of this mighty structure which begs for a better explanation.


Khufu Pyramid Statistics

A total of over 2,300,000 (or only 590,712)* blocks of limestone and granite were used in its
construction with the average block weighing 2.5 tons and none weighing less than 2 tons.
The large blocks used in the ceiling of the King's Chamber weigh as much as 9 tons.

Construction date (Estimated): 2589 B.C..
Construction time (Estimated): 20 years.
Total weight (Estimated): 6.5 million tons.
The estimated total weight of the structure is 6.5 million tons!

Original entrance of the Great Pyramid.
Massive blocks of limestone form a relieving arch over the entrance.

The base of the pyramid covers 13 acres, 568,500 square feet and
the length of each side was originally 754 feet, but is now 745 feet.

The original height was 481 feet tall, but is now only 449 feet.

The majority of the outer casing, which was polished limestone,
was removed about 600 years ago to help build cities and mosques
which created a rough, worn, and step-like appearance.

* According to Socrates G. Taseos, the actual number of stones used to build the Great Pyramid is only 590,712.



In his book Back in Time 3104 B.C. to the Great Pyramid- Egyptians Broke Their Backs to Build It- How the Great Pyramid Was Really Built
he presents results of his computer calculations. The following is derived from the book mentioned above.

The base measurements of the Great Pyramid are: north - 755.43 ft; south -
756.08 ft; east - 755.88 ft; west - 755.77 ft. These dimensions show no two
sides are identical; however, the distance between the longest and shortest
side is only 7.8 inches.
Each side is oriented almost exactly with the four Cardinal points. The
following being the estimated errors: north side 2'28" south of west; south
side 1'57" south of west; east side 5'30" west of north; and west side 2'30"
west of north.
The four corners were almost perfect right angles: north-east 90degrees 3'
2"; north-west 89 degrees 59'58"; south-east 89 deg 56'27"; and south-west
90 deg 0'33".
When completed, it rose to a height of 481.4 ft., the top 31 feet of which
are now missing. It's four sides incline at an angle of about 51deg. 51 min.
with the ground. At its base, it covers an area of about 13.1 acres. It was
built in 201 stepped tiers, which are visible because the casing stones have
been removed. It rises to the height of a modern 40-story building.

THE BEDROCK AND CORE

The pyramid is built partly upon a solid, large, bedrock core and a platform
of limestone blocks which can be seen at the northern and eastern sides. The
builder of this pyramid was very wise to choose this site because most of
the stones, with the exception of the casing stones, some granite and basalt
stones, could be cut right on the spot and in the nearby quarry. This
practical choice made it possible to reduce considerably the time and
back-breaking labor needed to drag the stones from distant quarries across
the Nile.

The first Step of the pyramid rests on a platform of finely finished
limestone blocks. These blocks are approximately 2.5 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft..
They project beyond the outer edges of the first Step's Casing Stones an
average of 2 feet on all sides. This platform is so flat that the official
survey of the Egyptian Government found that it was less than ½ of an inch
from being level. The removal of several platform stones showed that the
bedrock had been cut and leveled to receive each individual stone, sometimes
as deep as 1 to 2 inches.
On the north side the platform stones have been laid at an irregular angle,
each socket being carefully cut to receive the next stone. One explanation
for this irregularity of stone placement is that these northern platform
stones will have greater resistance to sliding from the downward and
horizontal pressures of the pyramid's face.

The many surveys done on the pyramid proved that the Egyptians located the
sides of the pyramid along the four Cardinal Points with extreme accuracy.
Whether they used the stars, and/or the rising and setting sun, cannot be
determined. One this is certain, that whatever method they used was direct
and very simple.

Once the sand, gravel and loose rocks had been removed, down to the solid
bedrock of the plateau, the whole pyramid site was open-cast quarried into
blocks, leaving a square core for the center of the pyramid (the core is
approximately 412.7 ft square, and rises approx. 46.25 feet high). These
blocks were then stored outside a low wall; made of mortared stone that
surrounds the core (the outside dimensions of the wall are approx. 887.3
feet square). Today there still remains the foundation of this wall on the
north, south and west sides of the pyramid, at an average distance of 65
feet from the outer edge of the base casing stone.

This core gives the pyramid stability from the downward and horizontal
forces that will develop from the superimposed loads of blocks of stones
that are piled up

, as the pyramid rises. Also, from the prevailing
north-west winds that exert enormous pressures on the huge areas of the
pyramid's faces, thus increasing these forces further.

Leveling of the entire pyramid site was accomplished by flooding the area
inside the wall with water, leaving just the high spots. These them were cut
down to the level of the surface of the water. Next, some of the water was
released and the high spots again were cut down to the water's surface. This
process was repeated until the entire pyramid site, between the core and the
four walls, was leveled down to the base of the pyramid's platform.

THE CASING STONES

A few of the fine limestone casing blocks remain at the base of the northern
side and show how accurately the stones were dressed and fitted together.
The core masonry, behind the casing stones, consists of large blocks of
local limestone, quarried right on the spot, built around and over the
bedrock core. The size of this core cannot be determined, since it is
completely covered by the pyramid.

The casing stones were of highly polished white limestone, which must have
been a dazzling sight. Unlike marble, which tends to become eroded with time
and weather, limestone becomes harder and more polished.

HOW MANY BLOCKS DID IT ACTUALLY TAKE TO BUILD
THE GREAT PYRAMID?

Most books and encyclopedia state that there are 2.3 million blocks of stone
in the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), with no mention of method used to
figure this.

Socrates determined the size and weight of the blocks (a standard block),
and ran a Pascal Computer Program (a mathematical model of all the blocks of
stone needed; written by the author to optimize the sizes and weights of the
stones) to come up with the real number of blocks used. Since the volume of
passageways and internal chambers are very small compared to the high volume
of the pyramid, they are ignored at this time, just as though the pyramid
was built of solid stone blocks with mortared joints.

THE SIZE OF THE BLOCKS
The size of the blocks are based on a chance discovery in 1837 by Howard
Vyse. He found two of the original side casing blocks at the base of the
pyramid, 5 ft x 8 ft x 12 ft, with an angle of 51 degrees, 51 minutes cut on
one of the 12 ft. sides. Each of these stones weighed (5 x 8 x 12)/2000 =
39.9 tons before the face angle was cut. These originally were used for the
side casing stones of Step No. 1, in the Pascal computer program. The sizes
of all the other blocks were scaled from these two original blocks of the
remaining Steps 2 to 201.

THE GREAT PYRAMID'S DIMENSIONS AND THEIR LAYOUT
One acre = 43,560 sq. ft, or 208.71 feet on a side.
For the pyramid's base, length = width = (square root of 13.097144 acres) x
208.71 feet = 755.321 feet. Or 755.321 x 12 = 9063.85 inches.

Height = (755.321 x tangent 51deg 51 min)/2 = 480.783 feet. Or 480.783 x 12
= 5769.403 inches.

For the cap stone base: length = width = (32.18 x 2)/tangent 51deg 51 min =
50.55 inches.

The average size of a pyramid stone = (5 x 8 x 12)
The average side measurement, at the base = 759.3 ft.
The height used was 201 steps high, or 480 feet. (This is minus the height
of the Capstone, which was one piece in itself.

The number reached by the Pascal computer program was 603,728 blocks used.
The solid core takes up the space of 13,016 stones.
So, the actual number of stones used to build the Great Pyramid is 603,728 -
13,016 = 590,712.
This figure is (2,300,000 - 590,712) = 1,709,288 blocks less than the often
published 2.3 million value.

NUMBER OF VARIOUS BLOCKS OF STONE USED
TO BUILD THE GREAT PYRAMID

Number of platform blocks used (2.5 ft x 10 ft square), equals (759.3 x
759.3(pyramid base)) - (412.7 x 412.7(core base))/(10 x 10(platform block
base)) = 4,062.

Number of CORNER Casing stones where the pyramid faces meet equals 201 steps
x 4 sides = 804.

Number of side casing stones equals ((244 x 127) + 8,953) = 39,941.

Due to Bedrock Core, in the center of Step 1 through 10, the total number of
blocks needed is reduced by 13,016.

THE NUMBER OF ALL BLOCKS BEHIND
THE CASING STONES EQUALS
(590,712 - 804 - 39,941) = 549,967.

PLACING THE BLOCKS

The average number of blocks that have to be placed each day equals (590,712
blocks)/(20years x 364.25 days) = 81 blocks per day.

If 10 crews of 300 men work on each of the four sides of the pyramid, then
the totals of 40 crews and 12,000 men will be needed. Each of the crews will
be responsible to place 81/40 = 2 blocks per day.

The workload passes through three phases of decreasing difficulty, which are
determined by the weights of the heaviest blocks:
Steps 1 through 21 (60.59 to 27.24 tons)
Steps 22 through 136 (17.66 to 6.44 tons)
Steps 127 through 201 (3.05 to 2.63 tons)

As the weight of the blocks decrease, Step to Step, the sizes of the drag
crews will decrease. However, when this happens, the number of blocks needed
to be dragged each day can be reduced because one large block can be dragged
and cut into several smaller blocks that are needed.

As the pyramid rises there is less space for the crews to work in and fewer
block to be placed. In other words, the number of workers that will be
needed depends on three factors of: weight of blocks, number of blocks to be
placed, and the working space available.




Where was Khufu buried?


The question remaining to the many who have arrived by one route or another at the conclusion that he was not buried in his pyramid.

No tomb has yet been found at Giza which could have been his. At one time the idea was circulated (it is in Edgar's Great Pyramid) that the tomb near to the Sphinx, called 'Campbell's Tomb', had been that of Khufu; but this tomb is now known to be of a very much later date. Taking the procedure adopted with Hetep-heres, one can assume that Khufu would probably have chosen a position within the boundary of his royal cemetery, which limits are clearly defined, but this area has been almost entirely excavated down to the rock. The possibilities lie in the 'almost '. There is, for instance, a pre-Khufu quarry alongside and beneath his causeway, which has been filled in with large blocks of limestone and gypsum. This was done presumably to give a level floor for Khufu's causeway, which crosses it, and the filled quarry lies within a few yards of the tomb of Hetep-heres. The clearing of this would be a difficult, laborious, and expensive task; but it cannot be said that there is nothing there but a filled quarry until the quarry has been emptied.

The area of the pyramid-temple has also remained unexcavated so far, though there appears to be little left beyond the basalt floor, across a part of which thousands of tourists trek yearly to the Sphinx, and perhaps the lowest courses or other traces of some of the walls There seem to be no other possibilities so far as we know at present. That there was a problem connected with Khufu's place of burial was known in later Egyptian times, when the fact that the Great Pyramid was his work must have still been well known; and the question was then put into writing as to who knew the places of burial of Im-hetep, Seneferu and Khufu, as though it were an oft-repeated query.




Edgar Cayce - Great Pyramid and Sphinx Reading from 1932
READING 5748-6. This Reading given by Edgar Cayce July 1st 1932.



1. EC: Much has been written respecting that represented in the Great Pyramid, and the record that may be read by those who would seek to know more concerning the relationships that have existed, that may exist, that do exist, between those of the Creative Forces that are manifest in the material world. As indicated, there were periods when a much closer relationship existed, or rather should it be said, there was a much better understanding OF the relationship that EXISTS between the creature and the Creator.

2. In those conditions that are signified in the way through the pyramid, as of periods through which the world has passed and is passing, as related to the religious or the spiritual experiences of man - the period of the present is represented by the low passage or depression showing a downward tendency, as indicated by the variations in the character of stone used. This might be termed in the present as the Cruciatarian Age, or that in which preparations are being made for the beginning of a new sub-race, or a change, which - as indicated from the astronomical or numerical conditions - dates from the latter portion or middle portion of the present fall [1932]. In October there will be a period in which the benevolent influences of Jupiter and Uranus will be stronger, which - from an astrological viewpoint - will bring a greater interest in occult or mystic influences.

3. At the correct time accurate imaginary lines can be drawn from the opening of the great Pyramid to the second star in the Great Dipper, called Polaris or the North Star. This indicates it is the system toward which the soul takes it flight after having completed its sojourn through this solar system. In October there will be seen the first variation in the position of the polar star in relation to the lines from the Great Pyramid. The dipper is gradually changing, and when this change becomes noticeable - as might be calculated from the Pyramid - there will be the beginning of the change in the races. There will come a greater influx of souls from the Atlantean, Lemurian, La, Ur or Da civilizations. These conditions are indicated in this turn in the journey through the pyramid. 4. How was this begun? Who was given that this should be a record of man's experiences in this root race? for that is the period covered by the prophecies in the pyramid. This was given to Ra and Hermes in that period during the reign of Araaraart when there were many who sought to bring to man a better understanding of the close relationship between the Creative Forces and that created, between man and man, and man and his Maker.

5. Only those who have been called may truly understand. Who then has been called? Whosoever will make himself a channel may be raised to that of a blessing that is all that entity-body is able to comprehend. Who, having his whole measure full, would desire more does so to his own undoing.

6. (Q) What are the correct interpretations of the indications in the Great Pyramid regarding the time when the present depression will end?
(A) The changes as indicated and outlined are for the latter part of the present year [1932]. As far as depression is concerned, this is not - as in the minds of many - because fear has arisen, but rather that, when fear has arisen in the hearts of the created, SIN lieth at the door. Then, the change will occur - or that seeking will make the definite change - in the latter portion of the present year. Not that times financially will be better, but the minds of the people will be fitted to the conditions better.

7. (Q) What was the date of the actual beginning and ending of the construction of the Great Pyramid?
(A) Was one hundred years in construction. Begun and completed in the period of Araaraart's time, with Hermes and Ra.

8. (Q) What was the date B.C. of that period?
(A) 10,490 to 10,390 before the Prince entered into Egypt.

9. (Q) What definite details are indicated as to what will happen after we enter the period of the King's Chamber?
(A) When the bridegroom is at hand, all do rejoice. When we enter that understanding of being in the King's presence, with that of the mental seeking, the joy, the buoyancy, the new understanding, the new life, through the period.

10. (Q) What is the significance of the empty sarcophagus?
(A) That there will be no more death. Don't misunderstand or misinterpret! but the INTERPRETATION of death will be made plain.

11. (Q) If the Armageddon is foretold in the Great Pyramid, please give a description of it and the date of its beginning and ending.
(A) Not in what is left there. It will be as a thousand years, with the fighting in the air, and - as has been - between those returning to and those leaving the earth.

12. (Q) What will be the type and extent of the upheaval in '36?
(A) The wars, the upheavals in the interior of the earth, and the shifting of same by the differentiation in the axis as respecting the positions from the Polaris center.

13. (Q) Is there not a verse of scripture in Isaiah mentioning the rock on which the great pyramid is builded?
(A) Not as we find; rather the rock on which John VIEWED the New Jerusalem - that is, as of the entering in the King's Chamber in the Pyramid.

14. (Q) What is the date, as recorded by the Pyramid, of entering in the King's Chamber?
(A) '38 to '58.

15. (Q) If the Passion of Jesus is recorded in the Great Pyramid, please give the date according to our present system of recording time?
(A) This has already been presented in a fair and equitable manner through those students of same, and these descriptions have been presented as to their authenticity.

16. (Q) How was this particular Great Pyramid of Gizeh built?
(A) By the use of those forces in nature as make for iron to swim. Stone floats in the air in the same manner. This will be discovered in '58.

17. (Q) What is the significance of the character of the figure of the Sphinx, mentioned above?
(A) In this particular period of Araaraart and of the priest (that began those understandings - and passed through those of the hell in the misinterpretation of same), there was even then the seeking through those channels that are today called archaeological research.

In those periods when the first change had come in the position of the land, there had been an egress of peoples - or THINGS, as would be called today - from the Atlantean land, when the Nile (of Nole, then) emptied into what is now the Atlantic Ocean, on the Congo end of the country. What is now as the Sahara was a fertile land, a city that was builded in the edge of the land, a city of those that worshipped the sun - for the use of its rays were used for supplying from the elements that which is required in the present to be grown through a season; or the abilities to use both those of introgression and retrogression - and mostly retrograded, as we are in the present.

The beginnings of these mounds were as an interpretation of that which was crustating in the land. (See, most of the people had tails then!) In those beginnings these were left. When there was the entrance of Arart and Araaraart, they begin to build upon those mounds which were discovered through research. With the storehouse, or record house (where the records are still to be uncovered), there is a chamber or passage from the right forepaw to this entrance of the record chamber, or record tomb. This may not be entered without an understanding, for those that were left as guards may NOT be passed until after a period of their regeneration in the Mount, or the fifth root race begins. In the building of the pyramid, and that which is now called the Mystery of Mysteries [the Sphinx], this was intended to be a MEMORIAL - as would be termed today - to that counsellor who ruled or governed, or who acted in the capacity of the director in the MATERIAL things in the land.

With the return of the priest (as it had been stopped), this was later - by Isis, the queen, or the daughter of Ra - turned so as to present to those peoples in that land the relationships of man and the animal or carnal world with those changes that fade or fall away in their various effect. These may be seen in a different manner presented in many of the various sphinxes, as called, in other portions of the land - as the lion with the man, the various forms of wing, or characterizations in their various developments. These were as presentations of those projections that had been handed down in their various developments of that which becomes man - as in the present.

18. We are through.