Pyramids of Giza: One Grand Plan

Feb. 25, 2008 -- Two of the pyramids of Giza , the last surviving wonder of the ancient world, were conceived as a single project--a sort of grandiose stage show to represent the final and most important part of a pharaoh's journey to the afterlife, an Italian study has concluded.

It is widely believed that the pharaohs Khufu, his son Khafre and grandson Menkaure built their pyramids on the edge of a desert plateau at Giza between 2600 and 2450 BC.

But according to Giulio Magli of the mathematics department at Milan's Polytechnic University, astronomical alignments and the landscape indicate that the two main pyramids, those identified with the tombs of Khufu and Khafre, were not built in different stages. On the contrary, they were planned as a single, grand project.

Check out a slideshow on Pyramidology here.

"Khufu was the mind behind the project. He conceived both pyramids to have strong symbolic meaning. He wanted to state forever that his soul had joined the sun god," Magli told Discovery News.

The study, which has been published on the Cornell University physics Web site arXiv, suggests that Khufu planned the construction of two pyramids, exactly as his father, Snefru, did in Dahshur. Only later did Khafre claim for himself the slightly smaller pyramid.

Little is known about the 4th dynasty pharaoh Khufu (2589-2566 BC), whose only portrait is a tiny three-inch high statue.

Greek historian Herodotus depicted him as a cruel despot who enslaved his people to build his huge pyramid complex. But archaeologists dispute that account.

"The name of Khufu and his pyramid is always attached to a popular notion that the pyramid was built by slaves. But that was not the case, because the workers built their own tombs near the pyramid of Khufu, and prepared their tombs for eternity like nobles and officials. They were also paid by the king, or worked instead of paying tax," Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, wrote on his Web site.

According to Magli, Khufu imagined himself as the "son of the sun god," who was thus destined for eternal life.

"What better way to prove this relationship than making the sun, himself, talk about it?" said Magli.

Indeed, during the summer solstice, a spectacular show appears to observers standing by the Sphinx.