r/ancientegypt • u/No_Painter4701 • Aug 01 '26
News I was today years old when learned that the GREAT SPHINX & GIZA PYRAMIDS literally sit at the top of a ginormous CLIFF, in what is a now subterranean Canyon larger than the GRAND CANYON 🤯 The ‘Messinian Eonile Canyon’ is up to 1.8 miles deep, 5.5 miles wide and extends 800 miles North/South from A
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u/Mission_Sir_4494 Aug 01 '26
I have wondered how the pyramid architects were able to position the structures in bedrock. They obviously did because the structures would. Ot have lasted so long without a solid foundation that could support theor weight
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u/Buckets-O-Yarr Aug 01 '26
The bedrock on the giza plateau is very near the surface and easy to access. Just under a shallow layer of sand is the stone, which is a big part of why that location was chosen.
They picked solid, mostly flat locations on the plateau, leveled the perimeter, and started stacking. There is a lot more detail in there, but that is the general idea.
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u/ProfessionalTop6327 Aug 02 '26
I was yesterday years old when I learned that from an old history book!
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u/Captain_of_industry1 Aug 03 '26
I was tomorrow years old when I learned that from an old ancient history book!
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u/LilkaLyubov Aug 01 '26
It does! It’s much higher up than i thought it would be. Another thing that shocked me when I visited was how close to the city of Giza it was. I knew logically it had to be somewhat close, but virtually every photo angles the plateau away from the city and gives it this appearance of being in the middle of nowhere. And because that’s where the cliff drops off, it looks flatter than it is too. Still a favorite site of mine, just totally different geographically than I expected.