Men's Effort to Eternity
Traveling past the bear desert, you would see three massive triangle-like constructions. How is it able to stand? How is such construction possible? Why would people go such length to build such construction? From the sight of these pyramids of Giza, questions of impossibility floods to mind.
Religious Aspect
The main reason for building these pyramids come from the Egyptian religion. It is of great importance because it promised an afterlife. The pharaohs are the sun god’s representative on Earth. They act as intermediaries to the god and their people. Tombs are to protect the remains of the dead and the belongings that are needed in the afterlife. The pharaohs constructed pyramids in order to make tombs big enough and grand enough that supports their status. In their afterlife, they live in paradise with a body like they had on earth, so they had advanced science to preserve the body for the afterlife. The concept of mummification preserves the body from decaying and to protect the spirit. The spirit is able to move around freely and enter heaven to speak with god. Therefore there are cramped passages as a means for the spirit to move in and out of the pyramid. The structure of the pyramid symbolizes the ascending of the soul to the sun and sky. The precisely oriented slope of the pyramids is gigantic staircase that petrifies sunbeams and the soul unites with the divine sun. They gain absolute eternity.
Evolution of the Pyramids
The structure of the pyramid didn't just appear in someone’s mind and put it to construction. The pyramids evolved from just a flat bench, a mastaba, to adding steps to the mastaba. This stepped pyramid reached its height with the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara which symbolized steps to the gods. The first true pyramid is the Bent Pyramid and the North Pyramid by Sneferu which inspired Khufu’s pyramid. During the construction of the Bent Pyramids, the design was altered as they learn things through trial and error.
Construction
Building such grand architect is not easy. One would think to build such a construction; a massive slave labor force would be needed. However, that was not the case. To the Egyptians, pyramid building was a very important job. It was an act of national pride. That’s why many people were eager to participate. As expected, it was not easy to build. The pyramids of Giza took a whole seventy years to build. Each stone were two and a half tons and used an average of two minutes to place each in place. Building the pyramids was hard but the conditions of workers were not horrible, but rather had good living conditions. They worked in the morning and return to village at night. They couldn't only work on the pyramids; they had agriculture work as well. In order not to interfere, they made teams of about twenty thousand to rotate every three to four months. People worked hard but worked with pride on these constructions.
The pyramids represent the pharaohs’ souls remaining and ruling for eternity watching over them. The effort of the people created a wonder. They presented impossibility to our eyes.