The Pyramids of Giza consist of the Great Pyramid of Giza (known as
the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu), the somewhat
smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the
south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or
Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west. The Great
Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. Current consensus
among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of
Khafre. Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller
satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and
valley pyramids.
The Giza pyramids have been recorded in the Giza Plateau Mapping
Project run by the Ancient Egypt Research Associates, directed by
Dr. Mark Lehner. In addition, Lehner´s team undertook radiocarbon
dating on material recovered from the exterior of the Great
Pyramid. Aera´s 2009 field season was recorded in a blog.
Khufu’s pyramid complex
Khufu’s pyramid complex consists of a Valley Temple, now
buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; basalt paving and
limestone walls have been found but the site has not been
excavated.The Valley Temple was connected to a causeway which was
largely destroyed when the village was constructed. The Causeway
led to the Mortuary Temple of Khufu. From this temple only the
basalt pavement remains. The mortuary temple was connected to the
king’s pyramid. The king’s pyramid has three smaller
queen’s pyramids associated with it and five boat pits.[8]
The boat pits contain a ship, and the two pits on the south side of
the pyramid still contained intact ships. One of these ships has
been restored and is on display. Khufu´s Pyramid maintains a
limited collection of casing stones at its base. These casing
stones were made of fine white limestone quarried from the nearby
Muqattam range.
Khafre’s pyramid complex consists of a Valley temple
(sometimes referred to as the Sphinx temple), a causeway, a
mortuary temple and the king’s pyramid. The Valley Temple
yielded several statues of Khafre. Several were found in a well in
the floor of the temple by Mariette in 1860. Others were found
during successive excavations by Sieglin (1909–10), Junker,
Reisner, and Hassan. Khafre’s complex contained five
boat-pits and a subsidiary pyramid with a serdab.[8] Khafre´s
Pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of
its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of
its construction – it is, in fact, smaller in both height and
volume. Khafre´s Pyramid retains a prominent display of casing
stones at its apex.
Menkaure’s pyramid complex consistes of a Valley Temple, a
causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king’s pyramid. The
Valley Temple contained several statues of Menkaure. During the 5th
dynasty a smaller ante-temple was added on to the Valley temple.
The Mortuary temple also yielded several statues of Menkaure. The
king’s pyramid has three subsidiary or Queen’s
pyramids. Of the four major monuments, only Menkaure´s Pyramid is
seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing
.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
Voir plus