Want to fully understand the mystery of the Egyptian pyramids.

Pyramids

2,500 years ago, the ancient Greeks listed the seven wonders of the world at that time. Today, only the pyramid, the first of the seven wonders, has withstood the test of thousands of years and survived. . No wonder there is a proverb in Egypt that says: "Humans are afraid of time, and time is afraid of pyramids."

The ancient Egyptians had the custom of building pyramids as tombs for kings and queens, so there are many pyramids in Egypt, known as the pyramids. The country’s reputation. The most magnificent of them is, of course, the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid) in Giza, which has become a symbol of Egypt's country and civilization. The Great Pyramid is made up of about 2.3 million stacked limestone and granite blocks without any binding materials in between. The stones fit together so seamlessly that despite more than 4,000 years of wind and rain, even a sharp knife cannot be inserted between the cracks. Each square stone weighs an average of 2.5 tons, and the heaviest one weighs more than 100 tons. With the labor force of the ancient Egyptians at that time, how did they quarry out the huge stones and transport them here? How did they build them up? How can they resist the erosion of time until today? Moreover, the four sides of the bottom of the pyramid almost face Zhengnan, Zhengbei, Zhengdong, and Zhengxi, with an error of less than one degree. How did the ancient Egyptians calculate this accurately?

For many years, the Great Pyramid has been a mystery that people have explored but cannot confirm. Not knowing how to explain these phenomena, modern man has exhausted his imagination and ability to reason. Some people say that the pyramid was built by aliens and was a landing point for them when they came to the earth. Others say that the Pyramid of Khufu was built by the missing ancestors of Atlantis.

In order to uncover the mystery of the pyramids, people have never stopped trying to enter the Great Pyramid. Unlike China's Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, which set up mechanisms to deal with tomb robbers, the Egyptian pharaoh relied on spells to protect himself. There is a chilling text engraved on the Pyramid of Khufu: "Whoever disturbs the peace of the Pharaoh, the wings of death will fall on his head." And the American "Medical Monthly" also published a report confirming that 100 people had entered Among people who have visited the Great Pyramid, the chance of dying from cancer in the next 10 years is as high as 40%. However, this has not stopped people from exploring the mysteries deep in the pyramid. The most recent and most watched operation was the archaeological excavation process that was broadcast live in 142 countries around the world in 2002, and micro-robots were also used. Ironically, however, the expected treasure, burial chamber, or mummies were not found. Behind the stone gate is another stone gate. Unsolved mysteries still baffle curious modern people. As long as the pyramids still stand, people will probably continue to search for them.

Although it is impossible to confirm how the majestic pyramids were built, the existence of the pyramids can well explain the ancient Egyptians' view of life and death. The ancient Egyptians believed that this world is temporary, the next life is eternal, and death is the door to eternal life. But the prerequisite is that their bodies must be properly declared with customs numbers.

The Sphinx, which has also become a symbol of Egypt, is another place that attracts tourists in Giza. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the lion, which they believed was the embodiment of strength. The lion's body and the head of the pharaoh are symbols of wisdom and strength. At the same time, this peculiar image is also in line with the ancient Egyptians' view that the pharaoh is both a god and a human being.

The secret of the Great Pyramid has not yet been solved, and is it not just the pyramid or the Sphinx that is attractive? The entire civilization of Egypt and everything in the desert are fascinating. Regardless of whether the mystery of the pyramids has been revealed or not, people will yearn to go to the west bank of the Nile River to personally experience the light that the pyramids shed on the earth. After all, this is the same light that shone on the earth four thousand years ago.

Geographical overview:

There are 107 existing pyramids in Egypt, mainly located on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, the capital of Egypt. There are three larger pyramids in this area, namely the Pyramid of Khufu (also called the Great Pyramid), the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure. Among them, the Pyramid of Khufu is the most famous, and it is the largest of the Giza pyramids. , the best preserved and the one with the highest architectural achievements.

Historical overview:

The Egyptian pyramids are the tombs where the ancient Egyptians buried their kings and queens. The history of the ancient Egyptians building pyramids extended from the Third Dynasty to the Thirteenth Dynasty (2686 BC) Year - 2181 BC), more than 4,600 years ago. The heyday occurred during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu and the two subsequent generations of monarchs Khafre and Menkaure. They all chose the junction of the desert and oasis in the Giza area to build their pyramids and other ancillary buildings. In the fifth century BC, the famous ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote down the earliest writings about the pyramids when he traveled to Egypt. Modern research on the pyramids began with data surveys after Napoleon invaded Egypt.

The three most famous pyramids and their ancillary buildings:

Pyramid of Khufu: The largest pyramid in Egypt, often called the "Great Pyramid", is the home of Pharaoh Khufu ( A royal tomb built for him by his successors Khufu (reigned 2543 to 2520 BC). The Great Pyramid was built around 2570 BC, using 100,000 laborers and slaves, and took 20 years to complete.

The original height of the Great Pyramid was 146.6 meters. After thousands of years of weathering, it is now 138 meters tall. It was the tallest building in the world until the 320-meter Eiffel Tower in Paris was completed in 1889. The flat-top stone tombs of many nobles are neatly arranged around the Great Pyramid. The majesty and majesty of the Great Pyramid are highlighted like stars holding the moon.

Pyramid of Khafre and the Sphinx: The Pyramid of Khafre is the second pyramid built in Giza after the Pyramid of Khufu. Its scale is completely comparable to the Pyramid of Khufu, except for its internal structure. Relatively simple. The famous Sphinx stands guard in front of the Pyramid of Khafre. This is a giant stone statue with the body of a lion and the head of King Khafre. There are many sphinxes in ancient Egypt, symbolizing the concept that the pharaoh is both a god and a human being. The largest one in Giza is 73 meters long and 21 meters high.

Pyramid of Menkaure: The Pyramid of Menkaure is the successor of Calaf, but its scale and architectural art are far lower than the previous two pyramids.

Ground-penetrating radar discovers the "secret corridor" of Khufu's Pyramid

Egypt's Khufu Pyramid is one of the "Seven Wonders of the World" and is said to be the tomb of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. . However, so far, the mummified remains of Pharaoh Khufu (also known as King Cheops) have never been discovered. Some archaeologists suspect that Khufu's mummy may have been stolen by ancient tomb robbers.

It is understood that the Pyramid of Khufu currently contains three known rooms. The "King's Chamber" - contains a huge granite sarcophagus, which is believed to be the burial place of Khufu's mummy. But in fact, it is now empty. Under the "King's Chamber", there is a slightly smaller tomb, which is called the "Queen's Chamber", although scientists tend to believe that it was not arranged for the queen. In addition, there is a small basement under the pyramid that has never been used.

However, two French amateur Egyptology archaeologists recently came up with an earth-shattering new insight after years of on-site inspections: there is another one under the "Queen's Chamber" in the Pyramid of Khufu. The "mysterious tomb" that is still unknown to everyone, this secret tomb may be the final burial place of Pharaoh Khufu! Now, they have detected a secret corridor leading to the secret room through ground-penetrating radar!

Khufu built three tombs for himself? One was unfinished and one had cracks

Regarding how the Pyramid of Khufu was built, the most popular theory is that: All internal structures have been designed in advance, and workers build according to the design drawings. But Dominion and Verdehut believe that the design ideas changed repeatedly during the construction of the pyramid. When the ancient Egyptian architects discovered that the originally designed "King's Chamber" might not be able to withstand the weight of the boulders above it, they began to go back to the drawing board.

It is understood that the roof of the "King's Room" is reinforced by several granite stone beams each weighing 50 tons, dividing the roof into four small spaces. Deputy Director of the Ancient Egypt and Sudan Hall of the British Museum Curator Jeffrey Spencer said: "This design is to distribute the weight of the huge stone in the center of the pyramid to the sides." However, cracks can clearly be seen on these granite stone beams, Spencer explained that the archaeological Scientists generally believe that these cracks were cracked by an earthquake long after the pyramid was built.

However, Dominion does not think so. He believes that the cracks in these stone beams appeared during the construction of the pyramids, and the ancient Egyptian architects were well aware of this. Dominion's evidence is that some 4,500-year-old plaster has been plastered in some cracks. Dominion believes that this is evidence that ancient Egyptian architects tried to repair and strengthen the roof.

Dominion wrote in his new book "The Tomb of Cheops", "The entire problem of Khufu's Pyramid can be attributed to the following theory. Khufu built it for himself all at once. Of the three tombs, the first tomb (the Queen's Chamber) has not been completed; the second tomb (the secret chamber that has not yet been discovered) can be put into use; and the third tomb (the King's Chamber) has cracks on it. Therefore, Khufu. Finally, he was buried in the second tomb.” Dominion said that he believed that the reason why the “Queen’s Chamber” was not Khufu’s tomb was because its entrance was too narrow and it was impossible to carry Khufu’s large sarcophagus.

Is the "mysterious tomb" the "heart" of the entire pyramid?

Jean-Pierre Cotygian, a famous ancient Egyptologist from the French Oriental Archeology Association in Cairo, Egypt Ni was impressed from the beginning by Dominion and Verdehut's pyramid studies.

According to Cortigianni, the reason why he was interested in the research of the two men was because he provided their radar detection data to a French ground radar data expert for analysis. The explanation confirmed the two men's guesses. Cortigianni said: "This expert works for a large company, and one of the company's projects is to design track lines for the future special express train from Paris to Strasbourg. If this expert says that it will be very difficult to lay tracks here, Safe, that's because he found that there are no holes in the ground here. I think he can't make a mistake, otherwise, there will be a big accident in the future.

”

Cottigianni said that the second reason that interested him was that the location of the “mysterious tomb” hypothesized by two amateur archaeologists was located to the west under the “Queen’s Chamber”. Structurally, it is the "heart of the entire pyramid", so it is probably the symbolic final resting place of Pharaoh Khufu

The latest discovery of Egyptian archaeology: the truth about the death of Pharaoh Tutankhamun<. /p>

For decades, after being exaggerated in various movies and novels, the "Pharaoh's Curse" has become more and more evil, which not only scares away tomb robbers, but also worries many archaeologists and tourists. Recently, Egyptian archaeology. Scientists were not afraid of the threat of spells and used high-tech equipment to conduct a comprehensive examination of the pharaoh's body, thus unraveling the mystery of the death of the ancient Egyptian boy pharaoh 3,300 years ago.

Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun was the 18th Egyptian pharaoh, who ruled Egypt from 1336 to 1327 BC. Tutankhamun was not the most outstanding pharaoh in ancient Egyptian history, but he is the most famous Egyptian pharaoh today. After Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by British archaeologists Howard Carter and Count Carnarvon in 2006, the tomb contained dazzling funerary objects, the world-famous golden mask, and the Pharaoh's curse that made people feel a little creepy. All of them have aroused great interest from the world, but what people are most concerned about is the young pharaoh himself. The 19-year-old Tutankhamun died suddenly and mysteriously. He died prematurely, was buried in a hurry, and suffered injuries to the back of his head... People I believe there must be some huge secret hidden behind his untimely death...

Did young Tutankhamun die of murder?

The unexpected death of this young king? The mystery has triggered waves of doubts, inducing modern explorers to do their best to break through the fog of history, travel through time and space, and touch the long and mysterious world of ancient Egypt.

According to legend, it has been handed down. According to scattered historical records, Tutankhamun's father Akhenaten was a famous "pagan" king in the ancient Egyptian dynasty, and he tried his best to promote "reforms" and convert ancient Egypt from polytheistic belief to monotheistic belief. It was controversial and resentful at the time, and his son Tutankhamun was likely to get into trouble.

Judging from the situation in Tutankhamun's tomb, his death was sudden. The tomb is narrow and small, as if it had been buried in a hurry before it was repaired. At first glance, it does not seem to be prepared for the royal family, and the decoration is also very sloppy. There is a lot of paint splashed on the murals on the walls of the tomb, and no one has wiped it clean. . And some of the burial antiques that attracted the world's attention were not actually his daily necessities, because archeology found that these antiques were originally engraved with other people's names, and Tutankhamun's name was temporarily added after erasing the original name. . The process of making mummies is not to slowly soak the body with antiseptic spices like other pharaohs, but to pour barrels of antiseptic spices on the mummies.

In 1968, researchers from the University of Liverpool in the UK. After being allowed to conduct X-rays on the mummy, it was discovered that there was a displaced bone in the brain cavity of the deceased, and a shadow that looked like a blood clot on the back of the head. Dr. Harrison of the research team said: "There is nothing abnormal about the edge of this shadow, but in fact it may be caused by an intrameningeal hemorrhage at this site. This internal hemorrhage is probably the result of a heavy blow to the back of the brain. On the other hand, This blow is most likely the cause of death, which means that Tutankhamun is likely to die from a murder."

The three suspects

When the clues gradually began to emerge. When it emerges from the drizzle of history, all the doubts surrounding this tragic story flash like ghosts.

Who is the murderer of the king? What kind of short and extraordinary life did a flesh-and-blood body that once lived like us have a short and extraordinary life? What traces did this political conspiracy leave in history? What is the fate of the dynasty?

Playing the dual role of historian and detective, Bob Breyer inadvertently became a messenger of history. Under his careful integration of scattered cultural relics, files, tombs and ancient mummies, he told a story The true and extremely complex story gives people a real sense of the bloody battle for royal power at that time.

In the time of Tutankhamun in Egypt 3,000 years ago, it was an extremely turbulent era in the history of ancient Egypt. The country was torn apart, religious and political turmoil further undermined the inherent social order, and greedy careerists in the DPRK formed parties and conspired. Meanwhile, the young king and his beloved wife were unable to find an heir to the throne. These unstable factors make Egypt like a powder keg, ready to explode. The devil finally raised his arms to the young King Tutankhamun - and the country changed hands. Breyer also named three people who were most likely to be the killers.

Suspect 1: Army Commander Horamheb

Horamheb often taught Tutankhamun how to hunt and drive a chariot. These activities provided sufficient information to plan an accident. Chance. If Tutankhamun did die on the road, the body may have decomposed before Horanheb brought it back. This may explain why a lot of extra antiseptic spices were poured on the mummies. The most likely motive for Horamheb's regicide was to usurp power and ascend to the throne. It was not difficult for him to do this as he had military power in his hands.

Suspect 2: His wife Ankesanamen

Her motive may be to usurp the throne, or she may hope to have an heir. Two fetal mummies were also found in Tutankhamun's tomb. It is inferred that the two stillborn babies were the daughters of Tutankhamun and his wife, and the cause of death was premature birth or stillbirth. If Tutankhamun was incapable of producing healthy offspring, Ankhzana might have wanted him out so she could marry someone who could give her healthy children.

Suspect 3: Prime Minister Ai

When Tutankhamun’s father was in power, Ai was the prime minister. Later, he assisted the 9-year-old Tutankhamun to ascend the throne. In fact, he has been in charge of the power of the country and won Tutankhamun's trust. Ai's motive for killing may have been to covet the throne of the Pharaoh, and he did become the next Pharaoh after Tutankhamun's death. The murals in Tutankhamun's tomb show Ai presiding over Tutankhamun's funeral ceremony. At that time, the person who had the authority to preside over this ceremony was the person who was determined to have the right to inherit.

CT scans show that Tutankhamun was not fatally injured

However, well-known scholars who study the history of ancient Egypt have called this conclusion nonsense. A scholar specializing in Tutankhamun at the Brandenburg Institute of Science and Anthropology in Berlin said: "Everyone likes to speculate, but there is no evidence to prove these speculations so far." In order to unravel a mystery that has lasted for many years, To solve the mystery, the Egyptian Archaeological Ministry and a research team from the United States used a vehicle carrying special equipment to remove the mummy of the pharaoh from the tomb in the "Valley of the Kings" at the beginning of this year, hoping to use High-tech equipment took stereoscopic photographs of his skull and ribs to determine the cause of death.

On March 8, the research team announced the scan results: the 18-year-old ancient Egyptian pharaoh 3,300 years ago did not die of murder. In just 15 minutes of CT scanning, researchers took nearly 1,700 pictures of different parts of the mummy. The study showed that Tutankhamun was slim and healthy, with no malnutrition or infectious diseases, but he There is a slight cleft lip.

The CT scan also showed that the young pharaoh had a tiny cleft palate, which did not appear to be caused by a decorative beard or other facial decoration (image). His front teeth were large, and like other pharaohs in his family, his teeth had the characteristic of an overbite. Hawass said that Tutankhamun's body was well preserved, and the outline of King Tut's face could be clearly seen, and even his toes and fingers were well preserved.

Egypt's most famous archaeologist who discovered King Tut's "hiding place" and Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Hawass, said that the research team focused on various aspects of Tutankhamun's murder. An investigation was launched, but no evidence was found that he had been hit hard on the back of the head, and there was no other indication that foul play was involved.

They also found that it was extremely unlikely that he suffered an accidental chest injury. Hawass said that some members of the research team believed that Tutankhamun had a fracture crack on his left thigh bone, indicating that he may have seriously injured his thigh before his death. Although the crack itself does not pose a threat to life, it can lead to bacterial infection. Although the crack could have been caused during the embalming process, they considered it unlikely. The research results show that Tutankhamun was not persecuted by a conspiracy during his lifetime. After the mystery is solved, the mummy, which has been in the spotlight, will be returned to his tomb and live a peaceful "life" from now on.

"The gift of the Nile"

"Egypt is the gift of the Nile". This is a famous saying by the famous ancient Greek historian Herodotus. This is exactly the fact. Without the Nile River, there would be no ancient civilization like Egypt.

The Nile River runs through northeastern Africa, with a total length of more than 6,600 kilometers. The section where it flows through Egypt only accounts for one-sixth of the total length.

River flooding is generally not a good thing. However, Egypt benefited greatly from the regular flooding of the Nile River. Every year, when the mountains of Ethiopia, where the Nile originates, enter the rainy season, the water in the Nile rises. Starting in mid-July, the river gradually flooded the entire basin of Egypt. At the end of November, the river receded, leaving behind fertile silt, as if nature had fertilized the land in Egypt. Although Egypt is a place with little rain all year round, relying on the Nile River, people planted crops and developed production on the moist and fertile land, making it the cradle of ancient civilization.

Egypt is one of the oldest countries in the world. 6,000 years ago, many small slave states (city-states) appeared here. Around 3100 BC, Egypt established a unified slave kingdom. The capital is Memphis, located in the southern Nile Delta.

The king of ancient Egypt had the habit of avoiding taboos and was not allowed to call his name. He was generally addressed as "Pharaoh". "Pharaoh" originally meant "big house."

The more than 2,700 years from 3100 BC to the conquest of Egypt by King Alexander of Macedonia in 332 BC was the "Pharaonic Era" in Egyptian history, with 31 dynasties in one period. After that, Egypt was under the rule of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires until 640 AD, when the Arabs conquered Egypt, ending the era of ancient Egyptian history.

The history of ancient Egypt is the history of a slave society. The poor and slaves resisted the cruel exploitation and oppression of slave owners in various forms.

During the Thirteenth Dynasty (about 1785 BC - 1647 BC), a large-scale uprising of the poor and slaves broke out. A man named Iura Wei recorded the situation of this uprising. He wrote: "The royal capital was immediately occupied, the king was deposed, the country's chief officials were driven to various places, the officials in charge of documents were killed, and the documents were destroyed. Take away..." Although the uprising was later suppressed, the Thirteenth Dynasty suffered a heavy blow and soon perished.

The Egyptians were in a leading position in ancient history in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, physics and architecture. How do people know about the history and splendid culture of ancient Egypt? This is mainly due to the efforts of archaeologists.

Archaeologists mostly understand the history and culture of ancient Egypt through the study and textual research of tombs. The history of the first few dynasties of ancient Egypt was unknown for a long time due to the lack of written records. Later, after excavations at Abydos on the Nile River, archaeologists discovered the tombs of many kings of Egypt's first and second dynasties. The top of the tomb is slightly above the ground, and the tomb chamber is 10 to 17 meters deep underground. There are many large wine bottles in the tomb, the mouths of the bottles are sealed with Nile soil and straw, and the king's seal is stamped on them. These marks have become an important basis for identifying the owner of the tomb. In a royal tomb called Zell, an arm bone was found with four beautiful arm bracelets on it. This was a decoration worn by the ladies in the palace at that time. From this we can know that in the first 200 years after Egypt became a unified kingdom, maids, that is, slaves, were used to bury the king. This is evidence that Egypt entered a slave society.

From about the 27th century BC, the "Pharaohs" began to build huge tombs for themselves. This is a tall square cone-shaped building with a square base and each side is triangular. It looks like the Chinese character "gold", so we call it "pyramid". In English it is called "cone".

The pyramid is built with millions of huge stones. Each stone weighs more than 2,000 kilograms on average, and the largest one weighs more than 100 tons. These boulders were quarried from the east bank of the Nile and transported to the west bank of the river. How such heavy and huge rocks were transported over mountains and rivers and stacked into towers is still a difficult problem that no one can give a complete answer to this day. How can one not admire the great strength and wisdom of the Egyptian people!

Although the stones used in the pyramids and underground tombs are very hard, skilled craftsmen still cut and shape them into various shapes, and the stones are so tightly bonded that even sharp blades can be inserted into them. Not going in, this shows the ancient Egyptians' superb ability to cut mountains and rocks.

The average error in the length of the four sides of the pyramid base is only 2 centimeters, and the error in the four right angles is only 0.12°. This shows that ancient Egyptian geometry and measurement technology have reached a very high level and can accurately measure and calculate the areas of rectangles, triangles, trapezoids and circles.

What is even more amazing is the embalmed "mummy" of the pharaoh's body placed in the "underground palace". In ancient Egypt, not only the bodies of pharaohs and nobles were mummified, but ordinary civilians also had this custom. Archaeologists estimate that there were more than 200 million mummies buried in the Egyptian river valleys during the approximately 2,700 years from the First Dynasty to the Thirty-first Dynasty. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death, only by keeping the body well and preventing it from rotting could one enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The pharaoh’s mummy was very delicately made. It takes 70 days to make one. The corpse's internal organs are hollowed out and stuffed with spices. The whole body is also coated with spices, then tightly wrapped in linen and placed in a coffin made of precious antiseptic wood. The poor mummies could only be soaked in salt water and then dried. In ancient Egypt, not only human corpses were mummified, but cattle, which were worshiped as gods, were also mummified after death and buried in stone tombs.

Due to the ancient Egyptians’ superb skills in preserving corpses, people thousands of years later can still see the appearance of ancient emperors. In 1881, the mummies of almost all the pharaohs of the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st dynasties from 1567 BC to 945 BC were discovered in a secret cliff chamber in Debs on the Nile. , plus their queens and princes, there are 40 people. These dynasties no longer had the financial resources to build the pyramids they had before. However, the pharaoh's mummy was still very delicate. One of them was Ramses II who came to the throne in 1304 BC. As can be seen from the mummy, he was a tall man.

The production of mummies enabled the Egyptians to accumulate considerable anatomical knowledge. At that time, the rest of the world knew almost nothing about anatomy.

Speaking of ancient Egyptian civilization, we must mention the famous "Sphinx" - the Sphinx. In 2611 BC, Pharaoh Khafre of the Fourth Dynasty ordered a stone statue to be carved next to his pyramid in order to make his appearance "immortal." It is said that a young sculptor suggested carving a sphinx. Khafre was very happy and ordered the construction to begin immediately. This giant statue is 20 meters high, 57 meters wide, and one ear is 2 meters long. It was carved from a huge stone leftover from the construction of the pyramid. The Sphinx sits west to east, symbolizing the incomparable majesty of the Pharaoh as the sun god.

This great work of art has a history of more than 4,600 years. It was buried in sand and gravel for a long time until it was excavated by French archaeologists in 1926. When it was dug out, its 2-meter-long nose had been severely damaged. It was said that it had been gouged off with a pickaxe. But this statement is not very credible, because it has been buried in yellow sand several times and dug out several times. The nose is the most prominent part of the head and is easily damaged.

After thousands of years, the Sphinx has been severely eroded. The most serious thing is its neck, which is likely to break because it cannot support the several-ton head. The largest pyramid in Egypt, the Pyramid of Khufu, has also begun to loosen and fall off due to the erosion of thousands of years of wind and rain, as well as the knocking and climbing of thousands of tourists. The Egyptian government has organized manpower and material resources to rescue the pyramids and the Sphinx.