http://www.worldpyramids.net en-us Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:35:41 -0800 http://www.worldpyramids.net/nubian-pyramids/ Nubia, well known with its independent kingdoms in the distant past, is a region in Southern Egypt along the Nile valley and in what is nowadays northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt. Throughout antiquity Nubia was native land to three Kushite kingdoms: the initial with its capital at Kerma (4400–1500 BC), that centred on Napata (1000–300 BC) and, finally, that of Meroe (300 BC–AD 300).

The first centralized state in Nubia (from approximately 2500 BC to 1520 BC) was the Kingdom of Kerma. It has its own native forms of architecture and burial customs. The last two kingdoms, Napata and Meroe, were heavily influenced culturally, economically, politically, and militarily by the powerful pharaonic Egyptian empire to the north. The Kushite kingdoms in turn competed strongly with Egypt, to the extent that during the late period of Ancient Egyptian history the rulers of Napata conquered and unified Egypt herself, ruling as the pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The Napatan domination of Egypt was relatively brief — it ended with the Assyrian conquest in 656 BC — but its cultural impact on the Napatans was enormous, and this coalesced into an extraordinary burst of pyramid-building activity that was sustained throughout the existence of Napata's successor kingdom, Meroe.

Totally, at three sites in Nubia, over a period of a few hundred years, there were built about 223 pyramids to serve as tombs for the kings and queens of Napata and Meroe. The first of these were built at the site of el-Kurru, including the tombs of King Kashta and his son Piye (Piankhi), together with Piye's successors Shabaka, Shabataka, and Tanwetamani. Fourteen pyramids were constructed for their queens, several of whom were renowned warrior queens. This can be compared to approximately 120 pyramids that were constructed in Ancient Egypt over a period of 3000 years. Later Napatan pyramids were sited at Nuri, on the west bank of the Nile in Upper Nubia. This necropolis was the burial place of 21 kings and 52 queens and princes. The oldest and largest pyramid at Nuri is that of the Napatan king and twenty-fifth dynasty pharaoh Taharqa.

The most wide-ranging Nubian pyramid site is at Meroe, which is located between the fifth and sixth cataracts of the Nile, about one hundred kilometres north of Khartoum. During the Meroitic period over forty queens and kings were buried there.

Bring out for yourself that the physical proportions of Nubian pyramids differ significantly from the Egyptian edifices that influenced them: they are built of stepped courses of horizontally positioned stone blocks, and vary between approximately six to thirty metres in height, but rise from fairly small foundation footprints that rarely exceed eight metres in width, resulting in tall, narrow structures inclined at approximately seventy degrees. Most also have small Egyptian-inspired offering temple structures abutting their base. By comparison, Egyptian pyramids of similar height generally had foundation footprints that were at least five times larger and were inclined at angles of between forty and fifty degrees.

Full of treasures Nubian pyramid tombs were entirely robbed in ancient times, but wall reliefs preserved in the tomb chapels reveal that their royal occupants were mummified, covered with jewellery and laid to rest in wooden mummy cases. At the time of their exploration by archaeologists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, some pyramids were found to contain the remains of bows, quivers of arrows, archers' thumb rings, horse harnesses, wooden boxes, furniture, pottery, colored glass, metal vessels, and many other artifacts attesting to extensive Meroitic trade with Egypt and the Hellenistic world. ]]> Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:12:47 -0800 http://www.worldpyramids.net/nubian-pyramids/ http://www.worldpyramids.net/pyramid-of-hellinikon/ The Pyramid of Hellinikon can be found in the plain of Argolid, Greece. In the times of Pausanias, it was considered to be a tomb. Twentieth century researchers have suggested other possible uses. At the Southeastern edge of the plain of Argolid, near the springs of the Erasinos river (nowadays Kephalari) and on the main arterial road which in antiquity led from Argos to Tegea and the rest of Arcadia and Kynouria, there is a small structure extant better known as the Pyramid of Hellenikon.

The Greek pyramids are not well known, however, and most archeologists deny that they are true pyramids and categorize them as unusual buildings. Despite the fact the pyramid structures of Argolis are of great interest, written references are rather scarce. Pausanias (2nd century AD) regards the structure as a tomb:
"On the way from Argos to Epidauria there is on the right a building made very like a pyramid, and on it in relief are wrought shields of the Argive shape. Here took place a fight for the throne between Proetus and Acrisius; the contest, they say, ended in a draw, and a reconciliation resulted afterwards, as neither could gain a decisive victory. The story is that they and their hosts were armed with shields, which were first used in this battle. For those that fell on either side was built here a common tomb, as they were fellow citizens and kinsmen".
Pausanias says that in this battle, shields were employed for the first time. This later remark by Pausanias is indicative of the great antiquity of the structure, as estimated by him and his contemporaries.

Arvanitopoulos believes that the monument dates to the Mycenean era (1600 BC-1100 BC). Christos Tsountas, Manat, Curtius and Donaldson believe it is from the 6th century BC. The most common belief, supported by Leak, Ross, Fischer, Clark, Fraccia and Lord was that the structure was from the early Hellenistic era, more specifically late 4th century BC.

The Academy of Athens unveiled results of dating samples taken from the Hellenikon pyramid (9-2-1995). Dating measurements were performed by the Laboratory of Archaeometry at Democritus Research Institute in Athens and by the Nuclear Dating Laboratory of the department of Physics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Latest experimental method of optical thermoluminescence was used to date samples taken from the pyramid. It was determined that the samples which had been tested had been quarried at about 2720 BC ± 580 years. The method employed, while scientifically sound, has yet to be calibrated. The results, producing a date considered too early for the structure, have not been accepted by the archaeological community. In the absence of a full excavation, the exact dating of the structure will remain unidentified. Adamantios Sampson, archaeologist and Ephor of Antiquities, writing in the Magazine Archaeologia kai Technes (December 1995) repeats the accepted line that "the excavational data and our knowledge of the protohelladic period in the entire Greek area exclude the construction of analogous edifices in such early years". ]]> Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:53:22 -0700 http://www.worldpyramids.net/pyramid-of-hellinikon/ http://www.worldpyramids.net/giza-pyramids/ The Giza Pyramids are perhaps the only true rival to the Great Sphinx when one thinks of ancient Egypt and its incredible architecture. The Valley of Giza - with its amazing monuments - is an astonishing marvel of architectural prowess. The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located in the valley, some 8 km (5 miles) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 miles) southwest of Cairo city centre. The Great pyramid is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the "Great Pyramid" and the "Pyramid of Cheops"), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred metres to the south-west, and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus) a few hundred metres further south-west, along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments signifying the reverence to those buried in the necropolis.

What is more, of the five, only Menkaure's Pyramid is seen nowadays without any of its original polished limestone casing, with Khafre's Pyramid retaining a prominent display of casing stones at its apex, while Khufu's Pyramid maintains a more limited collection at its base. 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. The most active phase of construction here was in the 25th century BC. It was popularised in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient Wonders still in existence.

Furthermore, due largely to 19th-century images, the pyramids of Giza are by and large thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even though they are located in what is now part of the most populous city in Africa. Consequently, urban development reaches right up to the perimeter of the antiquities site, to the extent that in the 1990s, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants opened across the road. The ancient sites in the Memphis area, including those at Giza, together with those at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abu Ruwaysh, and Abusir, were collectively declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

One more interesting moment is that, the sides of all three of the Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to be north-south and east-west within a small fraction of a degree. Among recent attempts to explain such a clearly deliberate pattern are those of S. Haack, O. Neugebauer, K. Spence, D. Rawlins, K. Pickering, and J. Belmonte.

There have been diverse scientific theories regarding the pyramid's construction techniques. Most construction theories are based on the idea that the pyramids were built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place. The disagreements center on the method by which the stones were conveyed and placed. A recent theory proposes that the building blocks were manufactured in-place from a kind of "limestone concrete".

Additionally to the many theories as to the techniques involved, there are also differences in opinions as to the kind of workforce that was used. One theory, proposed by the Greeks, posits that slaves were forced to work until the pyramid was done. This theory is no longer accepted in the modern era, however. Archaeologists believe that the Great Pyramid was built by tens of thousands of skilled and unskilled workers who camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of paying taxes until the construction was completed. The worker's cemeteries were found out in 1990 by archaeologists Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner. Egyptologist Miroslav Verner put forward that the labor was organized into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 100,000 men, splitted into five zaa or phyle of 20,000 men for each, which may have been additionally divided along with the skills of workers. ]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:16:36 -0700 http://www.worldpyramids.net/giza-pyramids/