The pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx.
Where
A limestone plateau on the west bank, at the edge of modern Cairo
When
The 4th Dynasty, c. 2589–2503 BC
Built by
Khufu, his son Khafre and Menkaure
Biggest
The Great Pyramid: 146.6 m high when finished (now about 138.5 m), 230.3 m on a side
Who built what
Three kings of the 4th Dynasty built their pyramids here. Khufu's, the Great Pyramid, came first and is the largest; his son Khafre built the second, on higher ground so that it looks almost as tall; Menkaure's is much smaller. Each pyramid was the center of a complex: a temple against its east side, a covered causeway down to a valley temple at the edge of the floodplain, small pyramids for queens, and boat pits. The Great Sphinx, carved from a ridge of rock left in the quarry, lies beside Khafre's causeway and is usually credited to him.
Around the pyramids are streets of mastaba tombs for the royal family and officials. South of the plateau, excavators have found the town where the builders lived, with bakeries, breweries and their own cemetery. The pyramids were built by organized Egyptian crews, fed and housed by the state; how exactly the stones were raised (which ramps, which levers) is still argued over.
What survives
The pyramids have lost almost all of their smooth white limestone casing, which was taken for building stone in medieval Cairo; some casing survives near the top of Khafre's pyramid and at the base of Khufu's. Inside the Great Pyramid are the descending passage, the unfinished underground chamber, the Grand Gallery and the King's Chamber with Khufu's granite sarcophagus.
Between the Sphinx's paws stands the Dream Stela of Thutmose IV (c. 1400–1390 BC), which tells how the Sphinx promised him the throne if he cleared away the sand: Giza was already an ancient monument then.
3 short, well-known texts from Giza, each with its transliteration (the Egyptian sounds in Latin letters) and a translation. Tap Sign by sign to see what each sign is and how it is read. Royal names are drawn in their cartouches.
Khufu's name above the King's Chamber
Transliteration
ḫwfw
Translation
“Khufu”
Where: Painted in red on the blocks of the relieving chambers above the King's Chamber, found by Howard Vyse in 1837.
These are builders' marks, not formal inscriptions: work gangs painted their names, which included the king's, on blocks before they were set in place. Some are upside down or run behind other blocks, so they were painted before the chambers were built. They are among the best evidence that the pyramid was built for Khufu.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Khufu". Greek writers called him Cheops.
Khafre on his statue
Transliteration
ḫꜥ=f-rꜥ
Translation
“Khafre ("He appears like Ra")”
Where: On the base of his seated statue of dark gneiss, protected by a falcon, found by Auguste Mariette in the valley temple in 1860; now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
The sun disk of Ra is written first out of honor but read last. The statue came from the valley temple at the bottom of Khafre's causeway, next to the Sphinx.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Khafre".
Menkaure on the triad statues
Transliteration
mn-kꜣw-rꜥ
Translation
“Menkaure ("Enduring are the kas of Ra")”
Where: On the statues of the king with the goddess Hathor and a local god, found by George Reisner in Menkaure's valley temple in 1908 and carved in greywacke, a dark stone often called slate. They are now in Cairo and in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The three kꜣ signs (two raised arms) make the plural kꜣw, and Ra is read last. The valley temple was left unfinished at the king's death and completed in mud brick.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Menkaure".
Dates follow Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000); before 664 BC they are approximate. Readings are the standard ones in the sources named under each inscription; translations are Teddy Rook Book's own. The hieroglyphs are drawn in the site's font, TRB Hieroglyphs, so their shapes are simplified; where an inscription's arrangement or signs can't be shown faithfully, the card says so.