The Great Pyramid of Khufu: Last Wonder of the Ancient World

The Great Pyramid of Khufu — known to the Greeks as Cheops and in Arabic as al-Haram al-Akbar — is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Built over 4,500 years ago, it is the centrepiece of the Giza complex and one of the most impressive monuments humanity has ever raised. This guide tells you what makes this pyramid so special and how to visit it today.

Who was Khufu (Cheops)

Khufu was the second pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned roughly between 2589 and 2566 BC, at the peak of centralised pharaonic power and large-scale state organisation. He was the son of Sneferu — the pharaoh who built the Red and Bent Pyramids of Dahshur — and inherited an architectural know-how that he pushed to the limit.

Ironically, of the pharaoh who commissioned the biggest monument of antiquity, only one tiny statue (8 cm) survives, on display at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

The numbers

• Original height: 146.7 metres (today 138.5 m due to the lost casing).
• Base: 230 metres per side.
• Estimated weight: 6 million tonnes.
• Number of blocks: 2.3 million, weighing between 2.5 and 80 tonnes each.
• Construction time: about 20–30 years.
• Height record: the tallest building in the world for nearly 4,000 years, until Lincoln Cathedral in England (14th century).

The most impressive part is the precision: the four faces are aligned to the cardinal points with an error of less than half a degree, and the burial-chamber blocks fit within millimetres.

How it was built

Still debated, but the most accepted theory combines:

• Earth-and-brick ramps to raise the blocks.
• Sleds dragged over wet sand to reduce friction (attested in surviving hieroglyphs).
• A labour organisation of tens of thousands of skilled workers (not slaves — paid workers with a documented diet) rotating seasonally.

Against the popular myth, the workers were free Egyptians, well fed and buried with honour near the site. Their tombs were discovered in 1990.

What's inside

Three known chambers:

• Subterranean chamber: unfinished, carved into the bedrock.
• Queen's chamber: mid-height. Despite the name, it probably never held a queen.
• King's chamber: the main burial chamber, built in Aswan granite. Houses the empty granite sarcophagus.

Connecting them: the spectacular Grand Gallery, a 47-metre ascending corridor with an 8.5-metre stepped corbelled ceiling carved in stone.

In 2017, cosmic-ray muon imaging revealed a previously unknown large void above the Grand Gallery, around 30 metres long. Its purpose is still unclear.

How to visit it today

• General Giza entry: around 540 EGP (includes the outside and the Sphinx).
• Inside the Great Pyramid: extra ticket of about 900 EGP.
• Daily capacity: limited. Two slots (morning and afternoon) with a fixed number of tickets that sell out.
• Buy: at the gate with cash (Egyptian pounds) or card. Arrive early to secure the inside slot.

What to expect inside

The visit is physically demanding: you go down and up through narrow corridors with ceilings as low as 1.20 m, sometimes inclined. It gets hot, low on air, and slightly humid. Skip it if you are claustrophobic or have back/knee issues.

Inside there is no decoration (unlike the tombs in Luxor): the space is austere, almost pure engineering. The magic is the simple idea of being inside the oldest standing monument in the world.

Practical tips

• Go early (08:00) so it's cooler inside.
• Bring water and a small torch: the floor is uneven.
• Light clothes and closed shoes.
• No camera allowed inside — you may be asked to leave it at the entrance.
• Climbing on the pyramid is forbidden and fined.

Where to stay to visit it

The best experience is waking up with the Great Pyramid in front of you. For that, stay in the Giza / Al Haram area: many hotels offer rooms with direct views of the monument and rooftops for sunset. If you prefer a more central base, Downtown Cairo leaves you 30–40 minutes by car.