The Great Pyramid at Giza is an awesome sight, thirty times larger than the Empire State Building(in mass), the Pyramid's features are so large they can be seen from the Moon. The oldest structure in existence, having been started 4,617 years ago, it is the sole remnant of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Great Pyramid did not always look as "rough" as it does today. Originally it was encased with a layer of tight-fitting, highly polished 20-ton stone slabs.W.M. Flinders Petrie determined the exact dimensions of the sides of the Pyramids and he found that they were almost exactly the same length to a accuracy of 0.1 +/- inch.

The Great Pyramid is the most comprehensively studied building in the world. It sited at the northern edge of the Giza plateau. It was estimated that 2,300,000 blocks of stone, weighing between 2-70 tons each, were used in its construction, but recent computer calculations estimated the total number of slabs to be 590,712. The mortar used is of an unknown origin. It has been analyzed and it's chemical composition is known but even using today techniques it can't be reproduced.

The Pyramid contains two interior chambers and a number of interior shafts. Below is a computer generated image of the pyramid:

Facts about The Great Pyramid

The temperature inside The Great Pyramid is at a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is exactly the same at the earths internal temperature.

The side of the pyramids used to be covered in mantle slabs, 144,000 in all, and would have been visible from the mountains in Israel and the moon.

The only remaining "seven wonders of the world".

The area covered by the Great Pyramid can accommodate St Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined.

It has been suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3 m (10 ft) high 0.3 m (1 ft) thick wall around France.

The great pyramid was built during the reign of Khufu (Cheops in Greek), 2nd king of the fourth dynasty ± 2,720-2,560 BC

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