Building the Pyramids
Understand how the pyramids were built: thousands of workers moved enormous stone blocks using ramps, rollers, and sledges, the work was organised by the pharaoh's officials, and the design evolved from flat-topped mastabas to step pyramids (like Djoser's) to the smooth-sided Great Pyramid, and know that later pharaohs were buried in hidden rock-cut tombs in the Valley of the Kings
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe at least two methods used to move and raise heavy stone blocks
- Explain that pyramid design changed over time from simple tombs to the Great Pyramid
- Explain why later pharaohs chose hidden tombs in the Valley of the Kings instead of pyramids
1 · Read
A pyramid took thousands of workers and many years to build. The pharaoh's officials planned the work and organized teams of workers. Without trucks or cranes, workers moved giant stone blocks using sledges (flat sleds pulled with ropes), rollers, and long ramps made of packed earth.
Picture a team pulling a huge stone block on a wooden sledge. Workers pour water on the sand just ahead of it. The wet sand packs down hard, so the sledge glides instead of digging in. Other workers push blocks up a long ramp to reach the higher layers.
Remember three helpers: sledges, rollers, and ramps. And remember why pyramids stopped: they were easy for robbers to spot, so later pharaohs hid their tombs deep in rock, in what we now call the Valley of the Kings.
Egyptians moved huge stones with sledges, rollers, and ramps, and tomb design changed from simple mastabas to the Great Pyramid, and then to hidden tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
More to read
The Great Pyramids of Giza
The Great Pyramids of Giza are the last wonder of the ancient world still standing. For thousands of years after they were built, nothing on Earth was taller. People are still amazed by how huge they are and how perfectly they were made. The builders pointed the pyramids in an exact direction and lined up the stones with great care. No computers or machines helped them. Only clever plans, simple tools, and thousands of workers working together. That is why these pyramids are still famous today.
The Pyramid of Khufu
The Great Pyramid was built for King Khufu. It is the biggest pyramid at Giza and it rises 146 meters into the sky. That is about as tall as a 40 story building. For a very long time, nobody built anything taller. Not until the year 1221, when the steeple of Old Saint Paul's Cathedral was built in London, did anything stand higher, and that steeple fell down less than 350 years later. The height is not the only amazing part. The stones fit together so well that it is hard to slide a piece of paper between them.
The Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx
The second big pyramid at Giza was built by Khafre, the son of King Khufu. It looks like the biggest pyramid, but it is actually a little smaller than Khufu's. Khafre's pyramid only looks bigger because it was built 10 meters higher up on the rocky plateau. At the very top, some of the smooth white casing stones still survive. Long ago, these shiny stones covered all the pyramids, so they glowed in the sunlight. Next to it sits the Great Sphinx, a giant statue with a lion's body and a human head.
Tutankhamun's Tomb in the Valley of the Kings
Tutankhamun became king of Egypt when he was only nine years old. He ruled during the New Kingdom, hundreds of years after the Great Pyramid was built. By then, kings no longer built giant pyramids. Instead, they were buried in hidden tombs cut into the rock in a place called the Valley of the Kings. The tombs were kept secret so robbers could not find them. Tutankhamun's tomb stayed hidden for over 3,000 years. In 1922, a man named Howard Carter finally found it. The tomb was almost untouched by robbers, and the king's gold treasures were still inside. That is how we learned so much about ancient Egypt.
2 · Watch
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Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.