What did the ancient Egyptian pyramids look like when they were built?

A digital reconstruction of a Giza pyramid by Australian insurance company Budget Direct. — A digital reconstruction of a Giza pyramid by Australian insurance coverage firm Finances Direct. (Picture credit score: Finances Direct)

The Egyptian pyramids erupting from the sands at Giza are a testomony to human ingenuity and engineering. Raised to mark the tombs of historic pharaohs, these nice constructions have stood for 1000’s of years.

However over the millennia, the pyramids have modified, largely because of development employees’ repurposing of in-demand supplies and looting. So what did the pyramids seem like after they had been constructed?

When the historic Egyptian pyramids had been initially erected, each in Giza and elsewhere, they did not look sandy brown as they usually do right this moment; quite, they had been lined in a layer of shiny sedimentary rock.

“All of the pyramids had been cased with advantageous, white limestone,” Mohamed Megahed (opens in new tab), an assistant professor on the Czech Institute of Egyptology at Charles College in Prague, informed Stay Science. The limestone casing would have given the pyramids a clean, polished layer that shined vibrant white underneath the Egyptian solar.

Associated: Who constructed the Egyptian pyramids?

Builders used round 6.1 million tons (5.5 million metric tons) of limestone throughout the development of the Nice Pyramid of Giza alone, in accordance with Nationwide Museums Scotland (opens in new tab), which shows one of many authentic limestone blocks. The Nice Pyramid — additionally known as Khufu’s Pyramid after the pharaoh Khufu, who commissioned it throughout his reign (circa 2551 B.C. to 2528 B.C.) — is the most important and oldest of all of the standing pyramids in Giza. Nevertheless, its casing stones had been later repurposed for different constructing work underneath Egyptian rulers, as was the case for many pyramid shells.

There’s proof that the casing stones started being stripped underneath Tutankhamun‘s reign (circa 1336 B.C. to 1327 B.C.), and this continued till the twelfth Century A.D., Egyptologist Mark Lehner defined in a PBS NOVA (opens in new tab) Q&A thread. An earthquake in A.D. 1303 would even have loosened a number of the stones, in accordance with BBC Information (opens in new tab).

Right this moment, the Giza pyramids nonetheless retain a few of their authentic limestone casing, although it seems barely extra weathered than in historic occasions. “You’ll be able to see it on the highest of the Pyramid of Khafre in Giza,” Megahed stated.

View of pyramids from the Giza Plateau (three pyramids known as Queens' Pyramids on front side; next in order from left - the Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu. WitR via Shutterstock

The Pyramids of Giza right this moment. So as from left to proper: The Pyramid of Menkaure, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Nice Pyramid. (Picture credit score: WitR through Shutterstock)

The Pyramid of Khafre, named after the pharaoh Khafre (who reigned circa 2520 B.C. to 2494 B.C.), has casing stones leftover round its peak that give the impression {that a} second peak is wedged on high of the primary. In historic Egypt, this pyramid additionally had crimson granite casing round its decrease ranges, Egyptologist Miroslav Verner wrote in his e book “The Pyramids: The Archaeology and Historical past of Egypt’s Iconic Monuments (opens in new tab)” (The American College in Cairo Press, 2021). The third and smallest of the three most important pyramids in Giza, the Pyramid of Menkaure — named after the pharaoh Menkaure, who reigned circa 2490 B.C. to 2472 B.C. — additionally sported crimson granite casing round its decrease echelons.

There’s nothing on the high of the Giza pyramids right this moment, however initially they hosted capstones — additionally known as pyramidions — lined in electrum, a mixture of gold and silver, in accordance with Megahed. The pyramidions would have seemed like pointy jewels on the suggestions of the pyramids.

Most pyramidions have been misplaced over time, however there are just a few surviving examples in museums. These specimens reveal that pyramidions had been carved with spiritual imagery. For instance, the British Museum (opens in new tab) has a limestone pyramidion lined in hieroglyphics from Abydos, an archaeological web site in Egypt, that depict deceased individuals worshipping the traditional Egyptian god Osiris and present process mummification from the jackal-headed Anubis.

Contemplating the pyramids’ former splendor, absent options right this moment can seem like open wounds. Maybe the perfect instance of that is evident on the Pyramid of Menkaure. “If you see the Menkaure’s pyramid from the north, you’ll be able to see a fantastic gash, like an enormous despair,” Yukinori Kawae (opens in new tab), an archaeologist at Nagoya College’s Institute for Superior Analysis in Japan, informed Stay Science.

The Pyramid of Menkaure’s gash could also be a visible blight that would not have existed in historic occasions, however the advantage of such harm is that right this moment, it offers a window into the pyramids.

“That is additionally the vital space for archaeologists as a result of we are able to see the inner constructions of the pyramids,” Kawae stated.

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