The Three Pyramids of Giza

The three pyramids were built within a 100 year period with the Great Pyramid of Khufu built around 2589-2566 BC, the Pyramid of Khafre (Khephren) built around 2558-2532 BC and the smallest of the three, Pyramid of Menkaure, built around 2532-2503 BC.



The Great Pyramid of Khufu is 481 feet high and the sides are roughly 756 feet wide. Believe it or not, this structure was the tallest man-made structure until the 1800's!


This camel was in front of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.



The Pyramid of Khafre (Khephren), the son of Khufu, is only 10 feet shorter, 471 feet high but its sides are 706 feet wide. It looks larger now because it is on higher ground and portions of its top still has the limestone casing that all three originally had. Most of the limestone was taken by medieval rulers building their own monuments.


The Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest, on the left, is 240 feet high and 357 feet wide.



The Sphinx is 66 feet high and 150 feet long and was built around 2500 BC.

Here I am in front of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Khufu and Pyramid of Khafre.

This is how close the city of Cairo, population 16,000,000, is to Giza and the Pyramids. Since the Pyramids sit atop a plateau, there is a natural buffer eliminating the possibility of construction at the Pyramids. The government has been destroying structures in areas of the city that were farmlands only 10 years ago.