2023学年完整公开课版BOOK8-Unit5Meetingyourancestors市赛一等奖

Egyptianpyramids

AllGizaPyramids

ThePyramidsofEgyptareamongthelargestconstructionseverbuiltandconstituteoneofthemostpotentandenduringsymbolsofAncientEgyptiancivilization.MostwerebuiltduringtheOldandMiddleKingdomperiods.

ThenumberofpyramidstructuresinEgypttodayisreportedbymostsourcesasbeingbetween81and112,withamajorityfavouringthehighernumber.In1842KarlRichardLepsiusmadealistofpyramids,inwhichhecounted67,butmorehavebeenidentifiedanddiscoveredsincehistime.Theimprecisenatureofthecountisrelatedtothefactthatasmanysmallerpyramidsareinapoorstateofpreservationandappearaslittlemorethanmoundsofrubble,theyareonlynowbeingproperlyidentifiedandstudiedbyarchaeologists.Mostaregroupedinanumberofpyramidfields,themostimportantofwhicharelistedgeographically,fromnorthtosouth,below.

AbuRawash

AbuRawashisthesiteofEgypt'smostnortherlypyramidotherthantheruinsofLepsiuspyramidnumberone—thesonandsuccessorofKhufu.Originallyitwasthoughtthatthispyramidhadneverbeencompleted,butthecurrentarchaeologicalconsensusisthatnotonlywasitcompleted,butthatitwasoriginallyaboutthesamesizeasthePyramidofMenkaure,thesixthlargestpyramidinEgypt.

Itslocationadjacenttoamajorcrossroadsmadeitaneasysourceofstone.Quarrying—whichbeganinRomantimes—hasleftlittleapartfromafewcoursesofstonesuperimposeduponthenaturalhillockthatformedpartofthepyramid'score.Asmalladjacentsatellitepyramidisinabetterstateofpreservation.

Giza

TheGizapyramidfield,viewedfromthesouth-west.DominatingthepicturefromforegroundtobackgroundarethePyramidsofMenkaure,KhafreandGizaPlateauinalltookabout400yearstobuild.

GizaisthelocationofthePyramidofKhufu(alsoknownasthe"GreatPyramid"andthe"PyramidofCheops"),thesomewhatsmallerPyramidofKhafre(orKephren),andtherelativelymodest-sizedPyramidofMenkaure(orMykerinus),alongwithanumberofsmallersatelliteedifices,knownaslightbulbpyramids,andtheGreatSphinx.

TheGreatSphinxofGizawithKhafre'spyramidinthebackground.

Ofthethree,onlyKhafre'spyramidretainspartofitsoriginalpolishedlimestonecasing,towardsitsapex.ThispyramidappearslargerthantheadjacentKhufupyramidbyvirtueofitsmoreelevatedlocation,andthesteeperangleofinclinationofitsconstruction—itis,infact,smallerinbothheightandvolume.

TheGizaNecropolishasbeenapopulartouristdestinationsinceantiquity,andwaspopularisedinHellenistictimeswhentheGreatPyramidwaslistedbyAntipaterofSidonasoneoftheSevenWondersoftheWorld.TodayitistheonlyoneoftheancientWondersstillinexistence.

ThissiteisthelocationfortwounfinishedOldKingdompyramids.Thenorthernstructure'sownerisbelievedtobethePharaohNebka,whilstthesouthernstructureisattributedtotheThirdDynastyPharaohKhaba,(alsoknownasHudjefa),successortoSekhemkhet.Khaba'sfour-yeartenureaspharaohmorethanlikelyexplainsthesimilarprematuretruncationofhissteppyramid.Todayitisapproximatelytwentymetersinheight;haditbeencompleted,itwouldprobablyhavemorethandoubledinsize.

AbuSir

Thereareatotalof57pyramidsatthissite,whichservedasthemainroyalnecropolisduringthefifthDynasty.ThequalityofconstructionoftheAbuSirpyramidsisinferiortothoseoftheFourthDynasty—perhapssignallingadecreaseinroyalpoweroralessvibranteconomy.Theyaresmallerthantheirpredecessors,andarebuiltoflowqualitylocallimestone.

ThethreemajorpyramidsarethoseofNiuserre(whichisalsothemostintact),NeferirkareKakaiandSahure.ThesiteisalsohometotheincompletePyramidofNeferefre.AllofthemajorpyramidsatAbuSirwerebuiltassteppyramids,althoughthelargestofthem—thePyramidofNeferirkareKakai—isbelievedtohaveoriginallybeenbuiltasasteppyramidsome70metresinheightandthenlatertransformedintoa"true"pyramidbyhavingitsstepsfilledinwithloosemasonry

Saqqara

TheSteppedPyramidofDjozer

MajorpyramidshereincludetheStepPyramidofDjozer—Egypt'soldeststonemonumentalbuilding—thePyramidofUserkafandthePyramidofTeti.AlsoatSaqqaraisthePyramidofUnas,whichretainsapyramidcausewaythatisamongstthebest-preservedinEgypt.Thispyramidwasalsothesubjectofoneofantiquities'earliestrestorationattempts,conductedundertheauspicesofoneofthesonsofRamessesII.SaqqaraisalsothelocationoftheincompletesteppyramidofDjozer'ssuccessorSekhemkhet,knownastheBuriedPyramid.ArchaeologistsbelievethathadthispyramidbeencompleteditwouldhavebeenlargerthanDjozer's.

Dahshur

Snofru'sRedPyramid

ThisareaisarguablythemostimportantpyramidfieldinEgyptoutsideGizaandSaqqara,althoughuntil1996thesitewasinaccessibleduetoitslocationwithinamilitarybase,andhencewasvirtuallyunknownoutsidearchaeologicalcircles.

ThesouthernPyramidofSneferu,commonlyknownastheBentPyramidisbelievedtobethefirst(orbysomeaccounts,second)attemptatcreatingapyramidwithsmoothsides.Inthisitwasonlyapartial—butnonethelessvisuallyarresting—success;itremainstheonlytobegreatestevertobebuiltsignificantproportionofitsoriginallimestonecasing,andservesasthebestexampleoftheluminousappearancecommontoallpyramidsintheiroriginalstate.

Thenorthern,orRedPyramidbuiltatthesamelocationbySneferuwaslatersuccessfullycompletedastheworld'sfirsttruesmooth-sidedpyramid.Despiteitsrelativeobscurity,theRedPyramidisactuallythethirdlargestpyramidinEgypt—afterthepyramidsofKhufuandKhafreatGiza.AlsoatDahshuristhepyramidknownastheBlackPyramidofAmenemhetIII.

Mazghuna

LocatedtothesouthofDahshur,thisareawasusedintheFirstIntermediatePeriodbyseveralkingswhoconstructedtheirpyramidsoutofmudbrick.Todaythesestructuresareobscureandunimpressive.

Lisht

TheruinedPyramidofAmenemhetIatLisht

TwomajorpyramidsareknowntohavebeenbuiltatLisht—thoseofAmenemhatIandhisson,SenusretI.Thelatterissurroundedbytheruinsoftensmallersubsidiarypyramids.OneofthesesubsidiarypyramidsisknowntobethatofAmenemhat'scousin,KhabaII.ThesitewhichisinthevicinityoftheoasisofFayyum,midwaybetweenDahshurandMeidum,andabout100kilometressouthofCairo,isbelievedtobeinthevicinityoftheancientcityofItjtawy(thepreciselocationofwhichremainsunknown),whichservedasthecapitalofEgyptduringthe12thDynasty.

Meidum

Sneferu'sPyramidatMeidum;thecentralcorestructureremains,surroundedbyamountainofrubblefromthecollapsedoutercasing.

ThepyramidatMeidumisoneofthreeconstructedduringthereignofSneferu,andisbelievedbysometohavebeencommencedbythatpharaoh'sfatherandpredecessor,Huni.However,thisisnotverylikely,ashisnamedoesnotappearonthesite.SomearchaeologistsalsosuggestthattheMeidumpyramidmayhavebeenthefirstunsuccessfulattemptattheconstructionofa"true"orsmooth-sidedpyramid.

Thepyramidsufferedacatastrophiccollapseinantiquity,andtodayonlythecentralpartsofitssteppedinnercoreremainstanding,givingitanoddtower-likeappearancethatisuniqueamongEgyptianpyramids.Thehillthatthepyramidsitsatopisnotanaturallandscapefeature—itisthesmallmountainofdebriscreatedwhenthelowercoursesandoutercasingofthepyramidgaveway.

Hawara

ThePyramidofAmenemhetIIIatHawarra

AmenemhetIIIwasthelastpowerfulrulerofthe12thDynasty,andthepyramidhebuiltatHawarra,nearFaiyum,isbelievedtopost-datetheso-called"BlackPyramid"builtbythesameruleratDahshur.ItistheHawarrapyramidthatisbelievedtohavebeenAmenemhet'sfinalrestingplace.

el-Lahun

ThePyramidofSenusretII.Thepyramid'snaturallimestonecoreisclearlyvisibleastheyellowstratumatitsbase.

ThepyramidofSenusretIIatel-Lahunisthesouthernmostroyal-tombpyramidstructureinEgypt.Itsbuildersreducedtheamountofworknecessarytoc