Djoser

Egypt: Engineering an Empire

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• published: 09 May 2014
• views: 175552

Menes, the founding king of the First Dynasty and the first pharaoh to unify Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom, oversaw the construction of the world's first dam, a massive, 50-foot-high wall that protected Egypt's capital Memphis from the Nile's ravaging flood waters. An enterprising young pharaoh named Djoser, in 2668 B.C. commissioned a colossal burial tomb which would become the first stone building ever erected on Earth, and the first of Egypt's 100 pyramids. Pharaoh Snefru, who married his half-sister in an effort to solidify his claim to the throne, was a benevolent leader but a brutal warrior who looted neighboring kingdoms to finance his architectural ambitions. Through a series of trials and catastrophic errors, he elevated the art of pyramid building to a new level. Snefru's son Khufu built on his father's engineering experience to create the biggest and most perfect pyramid ever constructed: the Great Pyramid at Giza. Each of the building's four 700-foot sides was almost perfectly symmetrical, and each corner of the pyramid was level within fractions of an inch. Essentially inventing military architecture, Pharaoh Sesostris III, the great warrior, conquered gold-rich Nubia with the help of a network of 17 vast and sophisticated fortresses stretching hundreds of miles into enemy territory. The rebel pharaoh Akhenaten (father of Tutankhamen) who, based on a religious vision, moved Egypt's capital to a barren patch of desert virtually overnight-requiring his engineers to develop far faster building techniques. Within two years, the bustling city housed 20,000 people. Ramesses II, who fathered more than 100 children, combined engineering and ego on an unprecedented scale to build two temples at Abu Simbel, one for himself and one for his beloved queen, Nefertari. Carved out of the face of a virgin cliff, Ramesses' monument was adorned by 69-foot solid rock statues and a lavishly decorated sanctuary built 200 feet inside the mountain. SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, LIKE, FAV, SHARE !!!!