OtterKnow Kids Encyclopedia

The Pyramids of Giza are three huge pyramids in the desert near Cairo, Egypt. They were built about 4,500 years ago as tombs for Egyptian pharaohs. The biggest one is called the Great Pyramid. It was built for a pharaoh named Khufu.

The Great Pyramid is about 481 feet tall, which is almost as tall as a 50-story building. It is made of about 2.3 million stone blocks. Each block weighs as much as a car! Workers cut the blocks from quarries and moved them without trucks or cranes. Scientists are still figuring out exactly how they did it.

The Pyramids of Giza sit on a sandy plateau just outside Cairo, the capital city of Egypt. Egypt is a country in the northeast corner of Africa. The pyramids are right at the edge of the Sahara Desert, and you can see the city of Cairo from the top!

• The pyramids are the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only ones still standing.

• A giant stone sphinx with the body of a lion and the head of a person guards the pyramids nearby.

• The pyramids were once covered in smooth, shiny white limestone that gleamed in the sun.