Construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built as the tomb of the pharaoh Khufu, the second ruler of Egypt's Fourth Dynasty, and is conventionally dated to around 2560 BCE based on associated inscriptions and the length of Khufu's reign. Standing originally at about 146.6 meters, faced in polished white limestone that has since been largely stripped away, it remained the tallest human-made structure in the world for roughly 3,800 years, a record unsurpassed until the completion of medieval European cathedrals and towers in the modern era. Ancient Greek historians credited its construction to a large workforce, and archaeological excavation of nearby worker settlements in the twentieth century uncovered evidence of organized, paid labor camps supporting several thousand workers at a time, rather than the enslaved laborers of later popular legend. The pyramid forms the centerpiece of the wider Giza pyramid complex, alongside the smaller pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx, and it is the only surviving structure among the traditional Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.