The pyramid

THE GREAT PYRAMID
The kings of ancient Egypt were very rich. They planned strong tombs to keep the bodies of the dead. These tombs kept the bodies safe. They also held the treasures of the dead.
Over the tombs, the kings built huge stone pyramids. There are about eighty known pyramids in Egypt. The Great Pyramid is the largest of all. It was built by a king called Khufu. The Great Pyramid stands on the west bank of the Nile River not far from Cairo. In fact, all the Pyramids are on the west bank of the Nile. There is a reason for this. The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west. The ancient Egyptians compared the rising of the sun with the beginning of life and the setting of the sun with the end of life. They compared day to life and night to death.
It is very hard to realize just how big the Great Pyramid is. It has over 2,300,000 blocks of solid stone. These huge stone blocks weigh an average of two and a half tons each, as much as a small car. Some even weigh fifteen tons. Without machinery, the ancient Egyptians cut and moved and lifted each of these stones. The blocks came from the east bank of the Nile. Slaves took them across the Nile in a boats at flood time. It took more than 100,000 slaves twenty years to build the Great Pyramid.
The Great Pyramid is over 450 feet high today, and it is once higher. Its base covers thirteen acres. Each of the sides of the pyramid is 755 feet long, or about as long as two city blocks. It takes about twenty minutes to walk all the way around the pyramid.
Every king wanted his tomb to be the finest. But Khufu outdid them all. The surface of his pyramid used to shine with smooth white limestone, and its top came to a sharp point. Inside, the body of Khufu rested in a great stone coffin. His body was preserved to last forever, and about him lay many treasures.
Now after many years, weather has worn away the shining surface, and men have taken some of the huge stones to build other things. Thieves have stolen the treasures, and they have even stolen the body of Khufu himself.
Today, the sides of the Great Pyramid are no longer smooth and white. The limestone is gone. The huge stones are exposed and you can climb them, like steps, to the top. When you have reached the top, you can see for miles about you. You can see the smaller pyramids and the Sphinx, the great stone statue of the lion with a human head. To the west, you can see the Libyan Desert; to the east, you can see the green Nile Valley and the modern city of Cairo.

why did the kings of ancient Egypt want strong tombs?
How many known pyramids are there in Egypt?
Why are the pyramids on the west bank of the Nile?
How many stone blocks does the Great Pyramid have? How much do they weigh? Where did they come from?
How high is the pyramid today? How big is the base of the pyramids? How long is the pyramid?
Why doesn’t the surface shine today?
What happened to the body of Khufu? To the treasures?
if you climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid, what could you see?
Would you like to see the pyramids of Egypt?