Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology

Step Pyramid

Built by King Djoser, this is the first large-scale stone structure in the world. Corridors beneath this structure stretched three and a half miles with over four hundred rooms.

Imhotep

Egyptian high official who served Djoser, and likely the architect of the Step Pyramid.

Manetho

Egyptian priest and writer of the Aegyptiaca.

Dynasties

Established based on location of the center of power of the Egyptian royal family at the time. Based on the Mantheo.

Kingdoms

In ancient Egypt there were three of these: Old, Middle, and New. Most general frames of time in Egyptian history.

Old Kingdom

2649-2150 BCE, 3rd - 6th Dynasties Much of the information comes from the Palermo tome and royal tombs.

The Pyramid Texts

A collection of religious texts from the Old Kingdom, written in the walls of the pyramids of 5th and 6th Dynasty kings and queens.

Aegyptiaca

A history of Egypt, its kings and dynasties, written by Manetho during the Ptolemaic Period.

Ptolemaic Period

A period characterized by the Macedonian Greek rule of Egypt, initiated with the country's conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. (332-30 BCE)

Sphinx

A royal monument built by Khafre at Giza, consisting of a lion's body and a human head with a royal headdress. The statue was carved from the natural limestone bedrock in the plateau, and it represents the first piece of colossal sculpture known from ancient Egypt.

King's List

A set of ancient documents describing the sequence of Egyptian rulers, known from several periods of ancient Egyptian history. The most famous of these is the Abydos King List, set up by Sety I in his temple at Abydos.

Saqqara

A site in northern Egypt, to the south of Cairo, which served as a royal and elite burial ground throughout ancient Egyptian history. Its most famous complex is that of Djoser's Step Pyramid.

Djedefre

A son of Khufu, and the first king to introduce the title "Son of Re" in the royal titulary. His pyramid complex was built at Abu Roash, not Giza.

Khafre

A son of Khufu, he is the builder of the second largest pyramid at Giza, as well as the Sphinx. He and Djedefre were likely half-brothers.

Palermo Stone

A stele inscribed with the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom, now in the Palermo Archaeological Museum, Italy. It: - dates periods of rule for each king from the Early dynastic period to the Fifth dynasty (Old Kingdom) - specifies the chronological order of leadership - is the oldest-surviving king's list

Division of Egyptian History

Kingdoms, dynasties, intermediate periods

Giza

Site of the Great Pyramids in the Fourth dynasty kings. Selected because of proximity to Egypt's then capital, presence of a natural limestone quarry, and easy access to other natural resources.

Memphis

The capital of Old Kingdom Egypt, near the head of the Nile Delta. Early rulers were interred in the nearby pyramids.

Snefru

The first king of the Fourth Dynasty, he was the first to attain the true pyramidal form, and the most active builder of the dynasty, with four known pyramids, and possibly more.

Djoser

The second king of the Third Dynasty, sometimes classified as the first king of the Third Dynasty, and the builder of the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara. Also known by his Horus name, Nejerirkhet.

Menkaure

The son of Khafre and grandson of Khufu, he was the last king to build a pyramid at Giza. His complex is, by far, the smallest of the three.

Khufu

The son of Snefru and builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza.