The pyramids of Giza, the most celebrated monument
on our planet, have attracted travelers and scholars since ancient times, In
the 5th century BC, the Greek historian , Herodotus, was the first
to write about these colossal buildings,
by far the largest in the ancient world, speculating at length on the method and
cost of their construction, since then
for generations, they have evoked the mystery and fabled wealth of ancient
Egypt.
Herodotus
was told that the pyramids of Giza are tombs, but by the Middle Ages, their
very purpose had become a matter for speculation. In the 9th century
, the Arabs tunneled into the Great pyramid of Cheops in search of gold, Five
hundred years later, sir John Mandeville called them ( Joseph's Barns),
thinking them graneries , ( It is not likely that they are tombs )
More
scientific inquiries over the last two centuries have re- established them as
tombs but the techniques which achieved such mathematical precision with the
tools available and the motivation for building them are still in question.
Recent
excavations around Giza pyramids and Sphinx, however, have shown that there are
many more discoveries to be made here which may yet provide the answers.
No
longer isolated on the desert plateau, Giza pyramids are now approached from
the dense urban congestion of one of the world's largest city. As Al Qahirah (
Cairo ) throws out its tentacles further and further into the countryside, It
threaten to engulf the only surviving example of the seven Wonders of the
Ancient World
