The last standing wonder of the ancient world. Built as the final resting place of King Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the world’s tallest building for at least 3,800 years. Over the past few centuries, the pyramids of Giza have been revealed to have hidden chambers and mysterious voids, intriguing the world to find out what other marvellous secrets it must hold.
Pyramids were initially built because Egypt's pharaohs were believed to become gods in the afterlife. Thus, the pyramids were filled with prized possessions and necessities that were believed to be required by the pharaoh to support them in the next world.
Legend says that it took 20 years to build the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is incredible when taking into account the absence of modern technology in their construction. Let’s take a look at the math.
Standing at a height of 481 feet, with 756 feet length on each side, it is composed of 2.3 million stones weighing nearly 3 tons each for a total mass of 6.5 million tons. This means that in order to build it in 20 years time, a block weighing 3 tons each would have had to be moved into place practically every five minutes throughout the entire span of time it took to build. That pace of building could not be possible without the help of thousands of individuals, working both day and night.
“Surely we must have the resources in 2021 to build a pyramid with ease? Right?” you, the reader, ask with unease. But let's take a look at the math yet once again.
Using today’s highest technology and construction equipment, building a pyramid of that size would still pose a challenge. It would take a minimum of 2000 workers over five years, including the use of cranes, helicopters, and stone-carrying vehicles. And the cost? $5 billion USD. To put it in perspective, the One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan cost $3.9 billion USD.
