Khufu's Great Pyramid By Phyllis Naegeli

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¹     Hemiunu stood at the base of the structure and looked up. "Magnificent," he said to himself. "I hope Khufu will be pleased."
 
²     Hemiunu was the nephew of Khufu, pharaoh of Egypt. The pharaoh had put him in charge of building a tomb for the pharaoh. After his death, Khufu wanted to be entombed in a secret chamber to keep his mummified body and treasures safe for the trip to the afterlife. After 20 years of work, Hemiunu had completed the project. The pyramid stood 482 feet high. Its corners pointed north, south, east, and west and the top straight up to the afterlife. The giant structure could be seen for miles around. It had taken 2,300,000 two and one-half ton blocks and thousands of men to build it.
 
³     "It is finished?" asked a deep voice behind Hemiunu.
 
⁴     Startled, Hemiunu turned to face his uncle, "Yes, it is finished, my king."
 
⁵     "Show me what you have done," said Khufu.
 
⁶     "Very well," answered Hemiunu.
 
⁷     The two turned and walked to the front of the giant pyramid. Walking along the causeway, they came to the Mortuary temple. Entering the temple, Hemiunu showed the pharaoh the paintings on the walls that depicted his life to date.
 
⁸     "Here is mighty pharaoh on his horse at war with our enemies, and over here is the family portrait with your daughters," explained Hemiunu.
 
⁹     "They are well done," replied Khufu looking around the huge open room. "Shall we continue?"
 
¹⁰     Walking to the back of the temple, the two men entered the great pyramid. They started up the ascending corridor and came to the first of three chambers that had been built inside the structure. "We call this the queen's chamber," said Hemiunu.
 
¹¹     "Yes, this is good; it is easy to access and will throw off any who seek to disturb my treasures," said Khufu. "And where is my chamber?"
 
¹²     "This way," said Hemiunu leading the pharaoh back to the corridor. As they walked along, the corridor suddenly widened to a tall, broad hallway. "There at the end is your chamber, my king," said Hemiunu. "Should I wait here?'
 
¹³     "No, come with me," said Khufu, leading the way.
 
¹⁴     The men entered the king's chamber, and Hemiunu held his breath in anticipation of the pharaoh's reaction. Khufu's expression did not change as he looked around the large chamber. The sarcophagus that would hold his body was in the center of the room.
 
¹⁵     "There is plenty of room for my treasures, Hemiunu," said Khufu. "You have done as I requested."
 
¹⁶     "Yes, my king," said Hemiunu. "There are special areas above to relieve the weight of the stones on your chamber. And with your room so far into the pyramid, your treasures should be safe for your trip to the afterlife. We will seal the end of the large corridor to protect your chamber from being discovered."
 
¹⁷     "I believe it will work well," said Khufu. "And the underground chamber, where is that?"
 
¹⁸     "We need to go back to the entrance and follow the passageway down to see it," Hemiunu answered.
 
¹⁹     "Shall we proceed?" said Khufu.
 
²⁰     "Yes, this way," said Hemiunu, bowing as the pharaoh passed.
 
²¹     The men walked back through the large hallway to the smaller passageway and back towards the entrance. Turning at a fork in the passageway, they continued to the underground chamber, which was made to fool grave robbers should they enter the pyramid from underground.
 
²²     "Ah, yes, this will do," said Khufu. "I am very pleased with your work."
 
²³     "Thank you, my king," said Hemiunu. "I am honored by your words."
 
²⁴     The two men returned to the outside. "I have another project for you, Hemiunu. Are you ready for more work?" asked Khufu.
 
²⁵     "Of course, whatever I can do to please my king," replied Hemiunu.
 
²⁶     "I would like three smaller pyramids built here beside mine for the queens," said Khufu. "They must have their own entrance to the afterlife."
 
²⁷     "We will begin immediately," said Hemiunu. "The river will flood soon, and we can bring many more stones from Aswan to begin. We can begin to prepare the ground now, so that we are ready."
 
²⁸     "That will do fine," said Khufu, turning and walking away.
 
²⁹     Hemiunu watched as the pharaoh left and then turned to the project overseer.
 
³⁰     "He is pleased," said Hemiunu. "We are to build three smaller tombs for the queens."
 
³¹     "That is good," said the overseer. "We will have work for many more years."
 
³²     "Yes, it is good," said Hemiunu.

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Name _____________________________

Date ___________________

Khufu's Great Pyramid

1.   Who is Khufu?   The master builder   A slave   The pharaoh   The overseer	2.   How tall is the pyramid?   1000 feet   390 feet   482 feet   561 feet
3.   How many stone blocks were needed to build the pyramid?   230,000   23,000,000   2,300   2,300,000	4.   How much did each stone block weight?   Two tons   Two and one-half tons   Ten and one-half tons   Three tons
5.   Where did Hemiunu get the stone blocks?   Thebes   Aswan   Memphis   Cairo	6.   How long did it take to build the giant pyramid?
7.   Why did Khufu want secret chambers built in the pyramid?	8.   What was one of the pictures on the wall of the mortuary?

 

Name _____________________________

Date ___________________

Khufu's Great Pyramid

9.   If the stone blocks weigh 2 1/2 tons each, how many pounds do they weigh altogether?	10.   Khufu asked for one more pyramid to be built for the queen.   False   True
11.   It took fifty years to build the pyramid.   False   True	12.   Hemiunu was Khufu's nephew.   False   True

 

Khufu's Great Pyramid - Answer Key

1    The pharaoh
2    482 feet
3    2,300,000
4    Two and one-half tons
5    Aswan
6  20 years
7  to fool grave robbers that might invade the tomb after his death
8  the pharaoh on his horse at war OR a family portrait with his daughters
9  2.5 tons x 2,300,000 stones=5,750,000 tons; 5,750,000 tons x 2,000 lbs/ton = 11,500,000,000 lbs
10    False
11    False
12    True