Khufu
The Great Pyramid
The northernmost and oldest of the three, and still the landmark that UNESCO calls the only surviving wonder of the ancient world.
UNESCO describes the Great Pyramid of Khufu as the only surviving wonder of the ancient world.1 The northernmost and oldest pyramid of the group was built for Khufu (Greek: Cheops), the second king of the 4th dynasty, and is called the Great Pyramid.2
Britannica gives the Great Pyramid a base averaging 755.75 feet (230 metres) on each side and an original height of 481.4 feet (147 metres).2 The sides of the Great Pyramid, Britannica says, rise at an angle of 51°52′ and are accurately oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass.2 Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone were cut, transported and assembled to create the 5.75-million-ton structure.2
The same article says the Great Pyramid is now only 451.4 feet (138 metres) high, after being almost entirely stripped of its outer casing of smooth white limestone.2 That Great Pyramid article puts the current height at 449 feet (137 metres), after the loss of most of the casing stones.3 It also gives the original height as about 482 feet (147 metres), a slightly different figure from the 481.4 feet (147 metres) in the Giza article.3
The entrance to the Great Pyramid is on the north side, about 59 feet (18 metres) above ground level.2
In 1984, Mark Lehner and David Goodman measured the elusive base of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.4 Stripped of nearly all of its casing, Dash writes, the monument no longer has any corners, nor well-defined edges.4 In a table of casing lengths in metres, Dash’s mean of the four sides from the Lehner–Goodman survey is 230.329.4
A walk through the interior is on the inside page, with a labelled section drawing of the same route.
How tall is the Great Pyramid now?
Britannica’s Pyramids of Giza article says 451.4 feet (138 metres). The same publisher’s Great Pyramid article says 449 feet (137 metres). Both figures are current heights after the loss of almost all the outer casing. This site keeps both in view and does not pick a winner.
How tall was it originally?
The Giza article gives 481.4 feet (147 metres). The Great Pyramid article says about 482 feet (147 metres). The metre figure is the same in both; the foot figures differ slightly. A later millimetre survey figure is sometimes quoted elsewhere; it is not used here because it was not found in the cached AERA excerpt used for this site.
How long is each side at the base?
Britannica averages the Great Pyramid’s sides at 755.75 feet (230 metres). Glen Dash, publishing the 1984–85 Lehner–Goodman survey in AERAGRAM 13.2, gives a mean casing length of 230.329 metres for the four sides. The figures agree at the metre; the survey is more precise, and Dash notes that the monument no longer has corners or well-defined edges.
When was the 4th dynasty?
Britannica’s Giza article uses c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE. Its Great Pyramid article uses c. 2543–c. 2436 BCE. Both are the same publisher’s ranges for the same dynasty. The dates are kept side by side.