Student 21 Exam I Fall 1999

*note: this exam was typed exactly from the student's manuscript; no changes have been made.

The pyramids are truly great monumental structures not only because they big in height, but also because each one carries a significant meaning inside. There are believed to be 80 pyramids standing today. Few include the step pyramid, the great pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx.

The step pyramid was built for the pharaoh Zoser in Saqarah. Its designer was Inmenhoptet, and he was the first recorded architect in history. The great pyramids at Giza were built for Kufu (Cheops), Chefren, and Mycerinus. The pyramids for Kufu was the biggest of the three, and the pyramids for Mycerinus was the littlest of the three.

The pyramid for Kufu was extraordinary. It had complex levels of ascending and descending passageways. The ascending passage way led to the sarcophagus of Kufu, but the mummy isn't there and the where-abouts remains a mystery. The descending passageway leads to, what is believed by scholars, to be a burial chamber, a pit, or a deceivance to plunderers. It is also thought by scholars that if one could sit in a niche in the grand gallery during an astronomical year, they could predict the flooding of the Nile by charting the movements of the heavens. The prictions were aided by the rocks that lined the walls because the builders built the walls so that the rocks could move. Also, one could calculate the center of the pyramid by sitting in a nich while the descending passageway flooded. By looking at the reflection of the stars in the descending passageway and comparing them to the stars appearing in the ascending passageway, one can find the center of the pyramid.

The pyramid for Chefren was made with a limestone casing. When the pyramid was painted, it glistened in the sun. The sphinx is connected to the pyramid for Chefren. It is believed that the Sphinx is at least 2,000 years older than the pyramids. The face of the sphinx was believed to be modified to represent or look like that of Chefren's. The body is that of a lion. There is also evidence of erosion of water, which historians discover that the Sahara wasn't always a desert.

The pyramids are referred to as the "stairways to heaven" and they do appear to reach for the stars. The pyramids served many functions and many of the functionalist theories are supported. The pyramids house the Ka and the mummies of the pharaohs because ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaohs would then return to earth. The pyramids also served as astronomical observatories and significant landmarks. One amazing thing about the building of the pyramids that stunts the historians today is how, in fact, they were built. The stones way an average of two tons and they are stacked in a way that no mortar was used and even a piece of paper couldn't fit through the cracks. The pyramids will always remain one of life's little mysteries.

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