The Giza Plateau

The Great Pyramid of Khufu, the largest monument in over ​ (a)   years of Egyptian history. The Great Pyramid consists of a estimated​ (b)   million blocks averaging 2.5 tons apiece for a grand total of a ​ (c)   million ton structure. The structure was​ (d)   feet high, with each side measuring 755 feet. Khufu's pyramid is perhaps the most colossal single building ever erected on the planet. Its sides are accurately oriented to the ​ to the four cardinal points of the​ (e)   .

• 4000
• 2.3
• 5.75
• 481
• compass
• 600
• 5000
• earth
• 7.8

Upon leaving the Great Pyramid, we walked past some pits dug in the ground near the structure. These pits were used to hold many of the artifacts that Khufu would need in the ​ (a)   . In on of the pits, piles of Lebanese ​ (b)   were discovered. The wood pieces were numbered and it quickly became apparent that the wood could be reassembled. When they reassembled the wood pieces, they were piecing together the oldest, largest and best preserved ​ (c)   from the ancient world...at over 4500 years old, it is the very boat that would ferry Khufu up and down the Nile River. It is housed in the Solar Boat Museum. The boat is ​ (d)   feet long and at its widest, 20 feet wide. The vessel is called a ​ (e)   because Khufu's use of it represented the way that the Egyptian sun god Ra would travel in his solar bard across the heavens each day.

• afterlife
• cedar wood
• wooden boat
• 143
• "solar bark"
• 242
• pine wood
• heaven
• "sun boat"

Standing alongside Khufu's pyramid is another pyramid. From many angles, this middle pyramid looks like it it the​ (a)   but that is not accurate. Its base is on a higher part of the Giza Plateau, so while it looks larger, it is only​ (b)   feet high. The pyramid was commissioned by​ (c)   the king that was the son of Khufu, to serve as his tomb. The most notable aspect of this pyramid is that it still maintains, at its top, the original​ (d)   limestone casing, the outer layer of the pyramid. This outer covering gave each pyramid a ​ (e)   appearance. All of the Giza pyramids would have originally been constructed this way, but none of the outer layer is present on the remaining structures.

• tallest
• 470
• Khafre
• Tura
• smooth
• 760
• widest
• rough
• Khufu

A unique feature built inside Khafre's pyramid complex was the​ (a)   a guardian statue carved in limestone with the head of a​ (b)   and the body of a ​ (c)   . It was the largest statue in the ancient world, measuring​ (d)   feet long and 66 feet high. It is one of Egypt's most famous landmarks and is arguably the best known example of sphinx art. The statue was carved from a single piece of limestone and pigment residue suggests that the entire Great Sphinx was​ (e)   . According to some estimates, it would have taken about 3 years for 100 workers, using stone hammers and copper chisels to finish the statue.

• Great Sphinx
• man
• lion
• 240
• painted
• 560
• falcon
• cat
• Giza plateau

The ​ (a)   and southernmost pyramid at Giza was built for Khafre's son​ (b)   in​ (c)   BCE. It is the ​ (d)   of the three pyramids at​ (e)   feet and is a precursor of the smaller pyramids that would be constructed during the fifth an sixth dynasties.

• Menkaure
• 2500
• shortest
• 218
• third
• 3000
• Khufu
• fourth
• longest
• 525