For more than four thousand years, the pyramids of Giza have stood like giant question marks that have intrigued and endlessly fascinated people: who exactly built them, when and why, and how did they create these colossal structures? But the pyramids are not a complete mystery – the stones, the hieroglyphs, the landscape and even the layers of sand and debris hold stories for us to read. Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass, two of the most eminent Egyptologists of our time, have excavated and studied the site for over four decades, and in Giza and the Pyramids provide their unique and personal insights, making this a record unparalleled in its detail and scope. The celebrated Great Pyramid of Khufu, or Cheops, is the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world still standing, but there is much more to Giza. We may think of the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, and the Sphinx as rising from the desert, isolated and enigmatic, yet they were surrounded by temples, noble tombs, vast cemeteries and even harbours and teeming towns of the living. All are described in detail in this complete overview, along with the history of exploration, the religious and social function of the pyramids, how they were built, and the story of Giza before and after the Old Kingdom. Hundreds of illustrations, including detailed photographs of the monuments, excavations and objects, as well as plans, reconstructions and images from remote-controlled cameras and laser scans, help bring these monuments back to life. Through the ages, and up to the present day, Giza and the pyramids have inspired the most extraordinary speculations and wild theories, but here, in this definitive account, is the in-depth story as told by the evidence on the ground and by the greatest authorities on the site.
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