EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS

HOW THEY WERE MADE

• Egyptian pyramids usually took 15-20 years to build
• Pyramids were usually 756 feet long and 450 feet tall
• It took around 2,300,000 stones to make pyramids
• The most common types of stones used for building pyramids were:
• alabaster, basalt, limestone, granite, and mudbricks

WHO BUILT THE PYRAMIDS?

• Pharaohs did not build their own pyramids, so their slaves did it for them
• Many slaves died in the process of building because they got overworked or fell off of the pyramid
• Pharaohs spent most of their lives planning the design of their pyramids
• An average of about 10,000 slaves helped in building their pharaoh's pyramid

WHY PYRAMIDS?

• Because bodies disintegrated in the ground, pharaohs thought their afterlives were ruined
• King Zoser (or "Djoser") decided to build pyramids above ground for Egypt's glorious pharaohs
• The first Egyptian pyramid (King Zoser's) was built in around 2650 BC
• There are 138 known pyramids in Egypt as of today

USES OF PYRAMIDS

• Pyramids were used for pharaohs in their afterlives
• Slaves (dead and alive) and animals were put in pharaoh's pyramids with their coffins
• Clothing, food, and means of transportation were put in pyramids also
• Pictures were painted on the inner walls of the pyramids for the pharaohs
• Egyptians believed that their lives on earth were only the beginning of their long lives

SOURCES:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids, Wikipedia, copyright March 4, 2014
• http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/egypt/f/pyramidheight.htm, About.com, copyright 2014
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djoser, Wkipedia, copyright February 25, 2014