caption: The great pyramids and the sun god re:
exif: {"Image DocumentName": "The great pyramids and the sun god re:", "Image ImageDescription": "The Egyptians always buried their dead on the west side of the Nile, where the sun sets. When Khufu, also known as Cheops, became pharaoh one of his first acts was to curtail the growing power of the priesthood. He shut up all the temples and forbade sacrifices . As a priest\u2019s living came from performing these rituals it is not surprising that Khufu was unpopular with the religious orders. Some believe that his pyramid at Giza was built by slaves but this is not true. One hundred thousand people worked on it for three months of each year. This was the time of the Nile s annual flood which made it impossible to farm the land and most of the population was unemployed. He provided good food and clothing for his workers and was kindly remembered in folk tales for many centuries. There are three pyramids at Giza, each of which once had an adjoining mortuary temple. Attached to this temple would have been a covered causeway descending down to a valley temple, near the Nile. The great pyramid itself is truly an astonishing work of engineering skill - for over four thousands years, until the modern era, it was the tallest building in the world. The sides are oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass and the length of each side at the base is 755 feet (230.4 m). They rise at an angle of to a height , originally, of 481 feet (147 m) but nowadays 451 feet (138 m). It was constructed using around 2,300,000 limestone blocks, weighing, on average, 2.5 tons each. Although some weigh as much as 16 tons. Until recently, relatively speaking, it was cased in smooth limestone but this was plundered to build Cairo. Is it conceivable that by bringing together so many people and giving them a common goal, that of making a mountain, a national identity is forged in their hearts. From Upper and Lower Egypt communities would have got to know each other and a common bond would have been manifest in the object of the pyramid. If this is true it is unique because all other forms of nationalism have grown out of war. For example England and France in the Hundred years war and the USA through the revolutionary, civil and Indian wars. The Great Pyramid of Khufu 2530 BCE Khafre s Pyramid c BCE The Pyramid of Menkure c BCE", "Image XResolution": "200", "Image YResolution": "200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}