EVOLUTION FROM MASTABAS

TO GIZA PYRAMIDS
The Ancient Egypt – Mastabas and Pyramids
MASTABAS
The word 'mastaba' comes from the Arabic word for a bench of
mud, and when seen from a distance a mastaba does resemble a
bench.  the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with
outward sloping sides, constructed out of mud-bricks .
STEP PYRAMID
The Pyramid of Djoser , or step pyramid  is an archaeological
remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city
of Memphis. It was built during the 27th century BC for the
burial of Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep, his vizier.
BENT PYRAMID:
The Bent Pyramid is an ancient Egyptian pyramid located
at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, approximately 40
kilometres south of Cairo. The Bent Pyramid represents a
transitional form between step-sided and smooth-
sided pyramids.
PYRAMIDS OF GIZA
The Giza Necropolis ( "pyramids of Giza") is an
archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts
of Cairo, Egypt.
 Predynastic burial
Mastaba Step pyramid of Djoser

Red pyramid Bent pyramid Medium pyramid

Khufu’s pyramid, Giza Khafra’s pyramid, Giza Menkaure’s pyramid, Giza

 MATABAS
• Ancient Egyptians believed in life after
death, that is why preserving the body of
the dead was important to keep their soul
alive, enabling them to transcend into the
heavens.
• They make tombs to protect these
preserved bodies and they Bury finest
commodities with it.

• By the First Dynasty more elaborate graves had com.

• There were several Rooms, Offering wells, Air shaft,
chapel.
• A central Room, was containing ‘SARCOPHAGUS’.
• By the fourth Dynasty A small Offering Chapel developed
tacked on to the MASTABA.
COMPONENTS OF MASTABAS

False Door

Sarcophagus
Burial Shaft
STEP PYRAMID OF DJOZER, SAQQARA
• The Step Pyramid was built during the 3rd Dynasty (2649-
2575 BC) for the pharaoh Djoser's by his architect
Imhotep.
• Djoser's pyramid was a revolutionary design. Previously,
pharaohs were buried in rectangular mastabas (like that
of Mereruka nearby). Imhotep created a pyramid by
stacking six mastabas on top of each other.
• When it was first completed and covered in smooth limestone, the Step Pyramid had a height of 62m
and a base area of 140m by 118m.
• The Step Pyramid is surrounded by
a large funerary complex, which has
been partially reconstructed.
Among the buildings flanking the
pyramid are a hypostyle hall and
Great South Court. One wall has
a frieze of cobras. The cobra,
worshipped as a goddess in this
region, was the symbol of royalty.
• Apparently it was intended for this to be
the finishing touches to the building. It was
then enlarged all around with ten feet of
additional limestone and then again with
an extension on the eastern side.
• The extension was twenty-five feet of
limestone to make the mastaba
rectangular. Again, it was enlarged and a
two-tiered structure was made. A series of
corridors and a tomb chamber was dug.
Some of the chambers are lined with blue
tiles.

• After the third stage was finished, the

process to make it a true step pyramid was
begun.
• Over 200,000 tons of
stone was used to make
the additional two tiers
that went above the
existing two-tiered
structure. An additional
two tiers were added
above the existing four to
make it into the six-tiered
pyramid which is there
today. A Tura limestone
face was added on.

• The statue is
surrounded by a
small stone structure
known as a “serdab,”
his eyes peeking out
through a hole.
• On the northern side of the pyramid, a few blocks
of the casing remain. The casing blocks from the
Great Pyramid rested on the individual blocks of
the core masonry. The casing blocks on the step
pyramid were set at an angle to take up the thrust
of the successive layers.
• It is located in the Cairo Museum. The Tomb
Chamber has a replica of the statue in this blue-
tiled room. It can still be seen through the viewing
slit that is at the entrance.
• The chamber is closed to the public. S The
chamber walls have inscriptions that show
beyond any doubt that this is indeed a burial
chamber. It also contains offering rooms and most
of the other features that were often found in
both earlier and later tombs.
 substructure
• The substructure of the pyramid too
was built in stages and altered to
compensate for the increasing size of
the superstructure.
• It consisted basically of a great Central
shaft of 7 meters square and 28 meters
deep, that gave access to a maze of
corridors and rooms. With its more than
5.7 kilometers of shafts, tunnels,
chambers and galleries, this
substructure was without parallel both
in size and complexity among the other
Old Kingdom pyramids.
• At the bottom of this Central Shaft, a granite
vault, measuring 2.96 by 1.65 meters and
with a height of 1.65 meters, was constructed
as Netjerikhet's final resting place
BENT PYRAMID • The Bent Pyramid is an ancient Egyptian pyramid located at
the royal necropolis of Dahshur, approximately 40 kilometres
south of Cairo, built under the Old
Kingdom Pharaoh Sneferu (c. 2600 BC). A unique example of
early pyramid development in Egypt, this was the second
pyramid built by Sneferu.
• The lower part of the pyramid rises from the desert at a 54-
degree inclination, but the top section is built at the shallower
angle of 43 degrees, lending the pyramid its very obvious
'bent' appearance
• Archaeologists now believe that the Bent Pyramid represents a
transitional form between step-sided and smooth-
sided pyramids .
• It has been suggested that due to the steepness of the original
angle of inclination the structure may have begun to show
signs of instability during construction, forcing the builders to
adopt a shallower angle to avert the structure's collapse.
 INTERIOR PASSAGES
• The Bent Pyramid has two entrances, one fairly low down on the
north side, to which a substantial wooden stairway has been built.
• The second entrance is high on the west face of the pyramid. Each
entrance leads to a chamber with a high, corbelled roof; the northern
entrance leads to a chamber that is below ground level, the western
to a chamber built in the body of the pyramid itself.
• A hole in the roof of the northern chamber leads via a rough
connecting passage to the passage from the western entrance.
• The western entrance passage is blocked by two stone blocks which
were not lowered vertically, as in other pyramids, but slid down 45°
ramps to block the passage. One of these was lowered in antiquity
and a hole has been cut through it, the other remains propped up by
a piece of ancient cedar wood. The connecting passage referenced
above enters the passage between the two portcullises.
• The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of
Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of PYRAMIDS OF GIZA
the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is
now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of
the World.
• It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb
for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu and was
constructed over a 30-year period.
Khufu's vizier, Hemon, or Hemiunu, is believed to be
the architect of the Great Pyramid.
MATERIA
• The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million
LS blocks which most believe to have been transported
from nearby quarries.
• The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the "King's"
chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported
from Aswan.

• It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and
500,000 tonnes of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.
The Great Pyramids of Giza
• The original entrance to the Great Pyramid is 17 metres (56 ft.) vertically above INTERIOR
ground level and 7.29 metres (23.9 ft.) east of the centre line of the pyramid.
• From this original entrance there is a Descending Passage 0.96 metres (3.1 ft. high
and 1.04 metres (3.4 ft.) wide which goes down at an angle of 26° 31'23" through the
masonry of the pyramid and then into the bedrock beneath it.

• After 105.23 metres (345.2 ft.), the passage becomes level and continues for an
additional 8.84 metres (29.0 ft.) to the lower Chamber, which appears not to have
been finished. There is a continuation of the horizontal passage in the south wall of
the lower chamber; there is also a pit dug in the floor of the chamber.
• Some Egyptologists suggest this Lower Chamber was intended to be the original
burial chamber, but Pharaoh Khufu later changed his mind and wanted it to be higher
up in the pyramid.

• At 28.2 metres (93 ft.) from the entrance is a square hole in the roof of the
Descending Passage. Originally concealed with a slab of stone, this is the beginning
of the Ascending Passage.
• The Ascending Passage is 39.3 metres (129 ft.) long, as wide and high as the
Descending Passage and slopes up at almost precisely the same angle. The lower end
of the Ascending Passage is closed by three huge blocks of granite, each about 1.5
metres (4.9 ft) long.
COMPONENTS OF PYRAMID OF
GIZA KING’S
CHAMBER

QUEEN’S CHAMBER

GRAND GALLERY
SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER
THE QUEEN'S CHAMBER
The Queen's Chamber is exactly half-way between
the north and south faces of the pyramid and
measures 5.75 metres (18.9 ft.) north to south,
5.23 metres (17.2 ft.) east to west, and has a
pointed roof with an apex 6.23 metres (20.4 ft.)
above the floor. At the eastern end of the chamber
there is a niche 4.67 metres (15.3 ft.) high

GRAND GALLERY
The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Giza
The Grand Gallery continues the slope of the Ascending
Passage, but is 8.6 meters (28 ft.) high and 46.68 meters
(153.1 ft.) long. At the base it is 2.06 meters (6.8 ft.) wide,
but after 2.29 meters (7.5 ft.) the blocks of stone in the
walls are corbelled inwards by 7.6 centimeters (3.0 in) on
each side. There are seven of these steps, so at the top the
Grand Gallery is only 1.04 meters (3.4 ft.) wide
THE PRESENCE OF THE GOLDEN
• The Egyptians thought that the golden
RATIO IN THE GREAT PYRAMID  ratio was sacred.  Therefore, it was very
important in their religion. 
• They used the golden ratio when building
temples and places for the dead.  If the
proportions of their buildings weren't
according to the golden ratio, the deceased
might not make it to the afterlife or the
temple would not be pleasing to the gods. 

Sacred Geometry in the Great Pyramid

The Egyptians used both Pi (Π) and Phi
(Φ) in the design of the Great Pyramids. 
GIZA NECROPOLIS:THE
PYRAMID COMPLEX OF
GIZA
• The Giza pyramid complex,
which includes among other
structures the pyramids of
Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, is
surrounded by
a cyclopean stone wall, the Wall
of the Crow.
• On the south side are the
subsidiary pyramids,
popularly known as Queens'
Pyramids.
KHUFU’S PYRAMID COMPLEX • pyramid complex consists of a
Valley Temple, now buried beneath
the village of Nazlet el-Samman;
basalt paving and nummulitic
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. 

• 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 range.
 KHAFRE’S PYRAMID
COMPLEX • 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. 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
• Menkaure’s pyramid complex
consists 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.
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