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Ancient_01. The Great Pyramid of Khufu

[AFRICA-Egypt]

Background Knowledge of the Great Pyramid of Khufu


 The Pyramid of Khufu is the only surviving structure of the Seven Wonders of the World, built in Giza, Egypt. It is believed that the tomb of King Khufu was built around 2560 BC over a period of 20 years.


  ● Location: A desert plateau of the Egyptian city of Giza

  ● When constructed: It was completed when King Khufu (2589 BC-2566 BC) ruled ancient Egypt.

  ● Size: Each side of the pyramid’s square base is 233 m long. The base spans 53,000 m2 and the pyramid’s volume is 2.5 million cubic meters. The height of the pyramid was shortened to 137 m from the original height of 147 m after the top 10 m part broke off.

  ● Materials: About 2.3 million stone blocks cut from the stones near Giza and limestone from the Nile River. Each stone weighs about 2.5 tons. The whole pyramid weighs almost 6 million tons.

  ● Features:

  - One of the seven Wonders of the World.

  - One of the three pyramids of Giza together with Khafre’s Pyramid and Menkaure’s Pyramid. As the biggest pyramid in Egypt, it is also called the Great Pyramid.


1. Interesting Story about Artifacts and Historic Sites

Pyramid of Khufu and Sphinx

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In Egypt stands the Great Pyramid of Khufu, a truly remarkable structure. Its base could fit ten soccer fields and it stands as tall as a 45-floor building. Construction required over 100,000 workers and took about 20 years to complete.

The pyramid tradition began with King Djoser, who created the first step pyramid by stacking rectangular structures called mastabas. After him, Egyptian pharaohs built pyramids for centuries. Today, about 80 pyramids remain standing in Egypt.

Egyptians built these massive tombs because of their strong belief in the afterlife. They preserved bodies through mummification and created elaborate tombs to protect them eternally. Near Khufu's pyramid stand two smaller pyramids built for his son and grandson. Nearby, the Great Sphinx—a statue with a lion's body and human face—has guarded the area for over 4,500 years.


Did you know? The pyramids were originally covered with white limestone that made them shine brilliantly in the sunlight!




In Egypt, there is a gigantic pyramid near a city called Giza. It was built a long, long time ago by a king named Khufu. This pyramid is so big that it can fit ten soccer fields at its base, and it's as tall as a building with 45 floors! Can you imagine that? It took about 20 years to build this huge pyramid, and guess what? Over 100,000 workers helped to build it!

Before Khufu, another king named Djoser wanted a special tomb, so he told his servants to build a step pyramid. They stacked rectangular structures called mastabas on top of each other to make it. After Djoser, many kings, called pharaohs, built pyramids with flat steps for hundreds of years. Today, only 80 pyramids are left standing.

Why did the Egyptians build such big tombs? Well, they believed in something called the afterlife, which means they thought there was life after death. They wanted to keep their bodies safe, so they mummified dead people and built tombs to protect them. Isn't that interesting?

Next to Khufu's pyramid, there are two more pyramids. One holds the king's son, and the other holds his grandson. And guess what else? There is a famous statue called the Great Sphinx nearby! It was built for another king named Khafre, and it has the body of a lion and the face of a human. How cool is that?