FILE - The Great Pyramid of Cheops
CAIRO – 2 December 2021: The site of Memphis and its cemetery is one of the most important World Heritage sites in the world.
Memphis was the Egyptian capital over several historical periods, from the Old Kingdom, to the Middle and New Kingdoms, to the Late Period, and during the beginning of the era of Alexander the Great.
The city of Memphis contains the Great Pyramid of King Khufu [Cheops], which is the only surviving wonder of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Pyramid of Khufu (2589-2566 BC), with its original height of 146.5 m, was the tallest building in the world for 3800 years.
It took 10-20 years to build the Pyramid of Cheops, and until today, we don't have definitive information about how it was built.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops was built of local limestone, and in the old days it was completely covered with a high-quality limestone. The cladding stones were brought from the quarries of Tora by boats up to the pyramid.
From the inside, the pyramid includes three burial chambers, one of which is cut under the lower rock, and two are at a height inside the building itself. It is something unique that no other pyramid has.
The visitor can see the sarcophagus in which King Khufu was lying in the upper chamber known as the King's Chamber. This room can be accessed through the Great Hall, a corridor with a grandiose stepped ceiling, considered a masterpiece of ancient architecture.
The archaeological area of Memphis also includes 38 pyramids in Giza, Saqqara, Abu Sir and Dahshur, and more than 9000 monuments and tombs that date back from the era of the First Dynasty until the Greco-Roman era, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
As an archaeological site, Memphis is divided into seven administrative divisions: Abu Rawash, Giza, Zawyat al-Arian, Abu Sir, Saqqara, Mit Rahina, and Dahshur.
The site of Memphis and its cemetery were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in the year 1979.
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