 In 4824 BC Pharaoh Khufu of the Negro Fourth Dynasty succeeded to the royal throne of Egypt. He built the first Great Pyramid of Giza. This building, though noteworthy due to its great size, accuracy, and orientation, was no more impressive than the other two Giza pyramids. The great pyramid complexes all consisted of a causeway, a valley temple, a mortuary temple, and the pyramids themselves. Surrounding the first Great Pyramid were 5 rock-hewn pits that contained boats. One such boat was 143 feet long. The distinguished Egyptologist, Professor Hornung, observed that: "The immense expenditure entailed was intended not for the glorification of a king but rather the welfare of the state, which in any case depended on the monarch: his creative powers, which held together the very order of the world, had to be preserved even behind death's doorstep. The construction of the pyramid was thus a communal religious effort on the part of the Egyptians of the old Kingdom, who were certainly not "free" in our sense of the world but rather were in various ways bound to and dependant on the king and the other divine powers."
Of the Great Pyramid, Mr Marsham Adams, a noted Oxford University historian of the nineteenth century, wrote that: "The Monument in stone is unique, solid almost to indestructability, incapable of variation, and standing unchanged and unchanging, regardless of the assaults, whether of time or of man. That extraordinary pile, the most majestic and most mysterious ever erected by the hand of man, stands close to the verge of the immense desert which stretches its arid wastes across the whole breadth of the African continent to the shore of the western ocean, just at the spot where the busy life of the earliest civilisation on record was bordered by the vast and barren solitude. Of all the other structures which made the marvels of the ancient world, scarcely a vestige is left. Where are the hanging gardens, the boast of the monarch of Babylon? Where is the far-famed Pharos of Alexandria? Centuries have passed since earthquake laid low the Colossus which bestrode the harbour of Rhodes; and a madman's hand reduced to ashes the temple of Artermis, the pride of Ephesus. But the Grand Pyramid of Ghizeh [sic] still remains, undestroyed and indestructible, ages after the lesser marvels have passed away, as it stood ages before ever they came into being." |
50 Greatest Africans - Pharaoh Khashekemui & Pharaoh Khufu 
Pharaoh Khasekhemui, the last king of the Negro Second Egyptian Dynasty, presided over a brilliant 48 years of political and religious stability. Stone sculpture developed greatly during his time. Private individuals as well as royalty had portrait sculptures carved. Khasekhemui built the largest royal tomb in the city of Abydos. Shaped like a trapezium, it was 230 feet long and over 33 feet wide. Some distance away is the remains of the king's palace. Its mud bricks undulated and wound into a number of niches and recesses. In its day it boasted white panelled walls. In size, it was an awesome 400 feet long and 213 feet wide. Standing 36 feet high, its walls were a staggering 18 feet thick. Khasekhemui built another palatial enclosure, this time at Hierakonpolis. Finally, there exists an interesting and important monument built near the city of Memphis. An astounding 1150 by 2130 feet with walls 49 feet thick, this structure was probably the world's very first building in stone. Scholars do not as yet know who built this monument but they have reason to credit King Khasekhemui.
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