The Pyramid of Egypt in Giza is proof of human ingenuity and engineering. Built to mark the tomb of ancient Pharaoh, this large building has been established for thousands of years.
But for thousands of years, the pyramid has changed, mostly because construction workers reuse the materials needed, also due to looting. What kind of pyramid shape when built?
It is said that when the ancient Egyptian pyramid was originally established, both in Giza and in other places, these buildings do not look sand brown as often seen today. Conversely, the pyramid is covered with a layer of shiny sedimentary rocks.
"All pyramids are coated with fine white limestone," said Mohamed Megged, an assistant professor at the Czech Institute of Egyptology at Charles University in Prague, quoted from Live Science.
Limestone material makes the pyramid has a smooth layer and bright white shining under the sun. The Great Pyramid of Giza alone, used around 6.1 million tons of limestone during its construction.
The large pyramid, also called the Khufu pyramid, is the largest and oldest of all pyramids standing in Giza. However, the sheath was then used again for other building work under the ruler of Egypt at the time, as was mostly a pyramid shell.
There is evidence that the shell of this shell began to be stripped under the government of Tutankhamun (around 1336 BC to 1327 BC), and this continued until the 12th century AD This was explained by Egyptian History Mark Lehner. The earthquake in 1303 AD also loosened several stones.
At present, the Giza pyramid still maintains several limestone sheaths, although it looks a little more weathered than ancient times. "You can see it at the top of the Khafre Pyramid in Giza," Megahed said.
The Khafre pyramid has remnants of the sheath around its peak which gives the impression that the second peak is pinched above the first. In ancient Egypt, this pyramid also has a red granite sheath around a lower level, wrote Egyptologist Miroslav Verner in his book 'The Pyramids: The Archaeology and History of Egypt's Iconic Monuments'.
The third and smallest pyramid of the three main pyramids in Giza, the Menkaure pyramid, uga uses a red granite sheath around it.
At present there is nothing at the top of the Giza Pyramid. But initially, this peak accommodated the cornerstone, covered with electrum from a mixture of gold and silver, so it would look like a pointed gem at the end of the pyramid.
Most pyramids have disappeared from time to time, but there are some examples that survive in the museum. This specimen reveals that the pyramid is carved with religious imagery.
For example, the British Museum has a limestone pyramid covered in Hieroglyphic from Abydos, an archeological site in Egypt, which depicts the dead who worshiped the ancient Egyptian god Osiris and underwent mummification from the wolf -headed anubis.
Considering the splendor of the previous pyramid, the features that are lost at this time look like an open wound. Maybe the best example of this can be seen in the Menkaure pyramid.
"When you see the Pyramid Mencaure from the north, you can see big 'wounds', like a large basin," said Yukinori Kawae, an archeologist at Nagoya University's Institute for Advanced Research.
The basin in the Pyramid Menkaure may be a visual disease that will not exist in ancient times. However, the damage is useful into a window to look into the pyramid.
"This is also an important area for archeologists because we can see the internal structure of the pyramid," Kawae said.