Great Pyramid of Giza: Encyclopedia II - Great Pyramid of Giza - Age and location

Great Pyramid of Giza - Age and location

Believed by mainstream egyptologists to have been constructed in approximately 20 years, the most widely accepted estimate for its date of completion is c. 2580 BC. This date is loosely supported by archæological findings which have yet to reveal a civilization (of sufficient population size or technical ability) older than the fourth dynasty in the area.

The Great Pyramid is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis adjacent to the outskirts of modern Cairo, Egypt in Africa. It is the main part of a complex setting of buildings that included a special walkway, two temples, three small pyramids (called the queens' pyramids), boat pits (with boats buried inside) and the mastabas for the nobles. One of this small pyramids contains the tomb of queen Hetepheres (discovered in 1925),sister and wife of Sneferu and the mother of Khufu.

Also there was a town for the workers along with their cemetery, bakeries, a beer factory and a copper smelting complex. More buildings and complexes are being discovered by the The Giza Mapping Project.

A few hundred metres south-west of the Great Pyramid lie the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre, one of Khufu's successors who is believed to have built the Great Sphinx, and a few hundred metres further south-west is the Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre's successor, which is about half as tall. Khafre's pyramid appears the tallest on some photographs as it is somewhat steeper and built on higher terrain.

Great Pyramid of Giza - Dating evidence

An astronomical study, by Kate Spence (see below), suggests a date of 2467 BC. (Nature (vol 408, p 320))

In 1984, the Edgar Cayce Foundation, endeavoring to research the claim that the pyramids were at least 10,000 years old, funded the "David H. Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Project". The project took organic material from several places in the core of the Great Pyramid as well as other 4th Dynasty pyramids and locations so as to try and date their radiocarbon. This yielded results averaging 374 years earlier than the date accepted by egyptologists but much more recent than 10,000 years ago. A second dating in 1995 with new but similar material obtained dates ranging between 100-400 years earlier than those indicated by the historic record. This raised interesting questions concerning the origin and date of the wood. Massive quantities of wood were used and burned, so to reconcile the earlier dates the authors of the study theorize that possibly "old wood" was used, assuming that wood was harvested from any source available, including old construction material from all over Egypt. It is also known that King Sneferu imported wood from Lebanon. Project scientists based their conclusions on the evidence that some of the material in the 3rd Dynasty pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser and other monuments had been recycled, concluding that the construction of the pyramids marked a a major depletion of Egypt's exploitable wood. Dating of more short-lived material around the pyramid (cloth, small fires, etc) yielded dates nearer to those indicated by historical records. The authors insist more evidence is need to settle this issue. (Archeology "[Dating the Pyramids ]" Volume 52 Number 5, September/October 1999 by members of the David H. Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Project")

This study does not sufficiently address key anomalies in its findings, however - mainly how and where the Egyptians were able to obtain literally tons of 100-400 year old dead wood. Even preserved in a desert climate, finding forests of such magnitude comprised of ancient dead wood would be a phenomenon in and of itself. It is believed Egypt's climate would have only been able to support such a forest (though there is no evidence of one having existed at the time being largely grasslands) at the latest only prior to 4,000-6,000 BC. For this to be true an entire revision of Egypt's climactic history would be required. When considering the data, what is shown is the radio carbon of the pyramids yielded dates ranging from 100-400 years earlier than the "historical record", yet the signs of last casual occupation, ie. cloth, small fires, etc, have given dates much closer to what is expected from egyptologists. Instead of requiring a revision of Egypt's climatic history based solely on the fact these dates do not support accepted theory despite supporting climatology data to the contrary, it is equally possible that what the study suggests is true--that the pyramids are indeed older (if only by 100-400 years) than what is currently believed.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Age and location", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki