Abstract
Accumulating building information of the pyramid shape as a tomb mostly took all of the third and fourth dynasties’ times in Egypt. The tomb, as a mastaba, symbolized the oneness of the people's sacred belief in the beginning of time. When the mastaba was vertically multiplied into six to give shape in height by the time of Djoser, they were covered by a non-successful casing by Sneferu's time. That dress was expelled, and the multiple mastabas were visually clear by the same time; here the oneness was betrayed, which pushed Sneferu to try for a new, complete tomb/pyramid. For the second time, it was not a successful try, so he built a third pyramid, which was the “Red Pyramid”. Constructionally, it was sound, but architecturally and proportionally, it was not successful.
By the time of “Khufu”, thanks to the architect “Hemiunu,” he managed to select a complex of structural systems to hold together for the purpose of having a complete one edifice symbolizing the sacred oneness. The combination of four structural systems was: 1- two cross-diagonal walls, 2- seven stepped cores filling the four gaps within the diagonal walls where both systems were rotated in six degrees clockwise. 3- one pyramid that forms a coat, following the four geographic directions, enclosed both the rotated cross walls and the stepped core; 4- the last cover was the casing dress over the previous one.
Courses were different in height all over the pyramid. They mostly served the stability of constructing the two main chambers that acquired the names of King’s and Queen’s; consequently, the core steps followed that formation. Stone arrangement in each course of the 210 existing courses – plus the missing ones- followed two orientations, one in the core and the other in the coat and the dress. Under seismic blows, forces of each orientation contradicted the other, resulting in an almost zero effect and causing the edifice's stability. The final edifice shape expressed the whole idea of the complete, stable, balanced, aesthetically sound, and impressive oneness. That was the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Full text article
References
Allen, J. P. (2007). The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts. Society of Biblical Literature.
Assmann, J. (2001). The search for God in ancient Egypt (D. Lorton, Trans.). Cornell University Press.
Assmann, J. (2012). Egyptian solar religion in the New Kingdom: Re, Amun and the crisis of polytheism. Routledge.
Bauval, R., & Gilbert, A. (2001). The Orion mystery: unlocking the secrets of the pyramids. Random House.
Darwish, M. (2017). Variation of the structural dynamic characteristics of the great pyramid with the limestone properties. In H. Rodrigues, A. Elnashai, & G. M. Calvi (Eds.), Facing the challenges in structural engineering (pp. 1–11). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61914-9_1
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). What do the pyramids of Giza represent? In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved October 28, 2025, from https://www.britannica.com/question/What-do-the-pyramids-of-Giza-represent
Fernandez, J. M., & Farell, B. (2006). A reversed structure-from-motion effect for simultaneously viewed stereo-surfaces. Vision Research, 46(8-9), 1230–1241.
Flanagan, P. (1975). Pyramid power. De Vorss & Co.
Flanagan, P. (2017). Pyramid power II: The scientific evidence. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Hornung, E. (1996). Conceptions of God in ancient Egypt: The one and the many (J. Baines, Trans.). Cornell University Press. (Original work published 1971).
Kaelin, O. (2016). Gods in ancient Egypt. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.244
Lehner, M. (1997). The complete pyramids: Solving the ancient mysteries. Thames & Hudson.
Markowsky, G. (1992). Misconceptions about the golden ratio. The College Mathematics Journal, 23(1), 2–19. https://doi.org/10.2307/2686193
Meebed, Y. A., Fathi Al-Muslimi, G. M., Fawaila, L. A., & Khaled Ali, D. M. (2024). Analytical study of the golden ratio in the architecture of the pyramids of Giza. Journal of Arts & Applied Sciences (JAAS), 11(2), 303–315.
Nell, E., & Ruggles, C. (2014). The orientations of the Giza pyramids and associated structures. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 45(3), 304–360.
Redford, D. B. (2002). The ancient gods speak: A guide to Egyptian religion. Oxford University Press.
Romer, J. (2007). The great pyramid: Ancient Egypt revisited. Cambridge University Press.
Stadelmann, R. (1997). Die ägyptischen Pyramiden: Vom Ziegelbau zum Weltwunder [The Egyptian pyramids: From brick building to wonder of the world] (3rd ed.). Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
With the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher's final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher's request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author's own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- The Work is the Author's original work;
- The Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- The Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- The Work has not previously been published;
- The Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- The Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author's breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 7 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher's use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Article Details
Accepted 2026-07-08
Published 2026-07-31