Khafre\'s pyramid has still some of is original casing left at the top. The base side was originally 215 m and the height 144. By the ValleyTemple the Sphinx is guarding. It\'s the king himself lying there with a 72 m long lion\'s body.
Left: Burial Chamber - 46.5 ft. long and 16.5 ft. wide - pointed ceiling. Right: There is a unique black granite sarcophagus in this room in that it was built to be sunken into the floor. The original lid, though no longer attached, lies propped up next to the coffer near the west wall. It is possible that the open niche against the east side of the coffer held the king\'s canopic chest, the box containing the mummified organs of the king, within ceremonial vases. The inner structure of Khafre\'s pyramid is quite simple. There are two main entrances. The lower descends slightly before ascending somewhat. At this point it meets the passage from the upper entrance. A long corridor (upper photo) leads straight to the burial chamber (lower photo). In the burial chamber there is little to see except a sarcophagus made from black granite. Along the lower passage there is a subsidiary chamber. Nobody knows which purpose this served. It could have been the queen\'s chamber. Although it appears as if the corridor and burial chamber are perfectly placed according to the pyramid\'s exterior, this is not the case. The corridor lies as much as 12 metres to the east compared to the north-south axis. Khafre\'s pyramid was since old times considered without any opening. But it was a rather fascinating figure of Egyptian research, Belzoni, who blasted open the portal in 1818. Belzoni had a background as a strongman in a circus.
Kephren and Horus Khafre\'s mummy has been lost, but his mortuary temple at Giza yielded one of the finest extant Old Kingdom statues ´ an almost undamaged life-size seated diorite figure of the king enjoying the protection of the god Horus. A statue of Khafre under the protective shadow of a falcon is in the CairoMuseum. 發展成 Horus 『加持』,實在是為護住脖子,別在年久之後『斷頸』的必要發明~
獅身人面像曾長期埋在黃沙之下,相傳當第十八王朝的 Tuthmosis IV 王 (1401 - 1391BC) 還是王子時,有一天他在沙漠上狩獵得累了,便在被黃沙掩埋的獅身人面像頭上睡覺,夢見太陽神 Ra 對他說如果將獅身人面像自黃沙中拯救出來,他便可當上法老。他醒來後立刻著手,當然,後來他即成為法老王,這件事更被記載在獅身人面像巨大前掌間的石碑上。
Left: Cairo: SphinxTemple of Giza. Right: Curved lintel joint in Khafre\'s ValleyTemple. 這中庭的石柱可比較於階梯金字塔,沒有裝飾,但可一獨立支撐起壁面。但是可以看到高超石造建築的轉角及嵌接技巧。 Interior view of the \"ValleyTemple\" of King Khafre, built far in front of his pyramid at Giza. The huge red granite blocks and pillars were mined in the quarry at Aswan, at the border of Nubia, and were shipped by river to the pyramid construction site.
WOMEN IN POWER BCE 4500-1000 2570- ca. 2530/10 Politically Influential Queen Meresankh III of Egypt Daughter of Kawab and Hetepheres II, and married to Khafre as second wife, although continuing to assert her claims by her title \"King\'s Daughter\" and \"Beholder of the Horus and Seth\", even though her father was never pharao. It seems that she was not content to remain in the background. Both she and her mother became prominent at court, on sculptures and inscriptions. Her eldest son eventually became superior lector priest and vizier. She was probably around 55 when she died.
http://www.tracyanddale.50megs.com/crossmenkaure.gif Cut-away of the pyramid, shwoing its internal structure. Source: Lehner, Complete Pyramids, p. 134.
http://www.guardians.net/images/mendesc1.jpg http://www.guardians.net/egypt/menkaure/images/menk98f.jpg Left: Decending Tunnel To Kings Room. Right: Inside of Menkaure pyramid. Celler Room Possible Buriel Niches
http://www.guardians.net/egypt/menkaure/images/menk98c.jpg Down the passageway from the previous chamber leads to the main burial chamber. Notice the finely finished interior of the vaulted ceiling that we saw from above in an earlier chamber. The niche in the floor housed the original sarcophagus. This sarcophagus was removed from the pyramid and shipped on a boat to England. The boat sank on the way, and the sarcophagus of Menkaure has not been seen since.
Map showing the location of the pyramid of Mykerinos in relation to the other parts of his funerary complex.
Statue of Menkaure and His Queen unearthed on January 18, 1910 Image Source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
http://www.crystalinks.com/menkaure&queen.jpg Menkaure\'s main queen was Khamerernebty II, who is portrayed with him in a group statue found in the Valley Temple. It is believed that she is buried in Giza.
\"Triad of Menkaure\" with Het-Hert, Menkaure, and the local deity of Thebes, originally from the MenkaureValleyTemple, now in the CairoMuseum. Photo from Russmann: Egyptian Sculpture: Cairo and Luxor.