A view of the massive stones that make up the core of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Notices the person sitting on one of the stones. Shutterstock.

Here’s an Insane Perspective on Just How Immense The Great Pyramid of Giza Is

The Great Pyramid of Giza is truly massive. But are you aware of just how massive?

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Have you ever considered how big the Great Pyramid of Gizza truly is? To tell you the truth, it is difficult to fathom the immense size of this incredible ancient monument.

While many people have had the honor and opportunity to travel to Egypt and see the Great Pyramids and their accompanying structures for themselves, many people have never been there. They have only seen the beauty of the Giza Pyramids through photographs or images. Seeing the pyramid in a photograph or video is not like seeing it up close and personal.

It is hard to describe just how immense the Great Pyramid really is. The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering present-day Giza, Egypt.

How Immense The Great Pyramid of Giza Is

The entrance to the Great Pyramid of Giza circled in white. Shutterstock.
The entrance to the Great Pyramid of Giza is circled in white. Shutterstock.

It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only remaining largely intact. It is a massive structure built thousands of years ago by means we still are unable to comprehend today. The Great Pyramid is a humongous monument with a volume of 2,583,283 cubic meters.

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Despite this, it’s not the largest pyramid in terms of volume. That honor goes to the Great Pyramid of Cholula, located in present-day Mexico. Nonetheless, the great pyramid of Giza is a monstrous, massive structure. Experts estimate that as many as 5.5 million tons of limestone8,000 tons of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tons of mortar were used to construct the Great Pyramid.

Insane Perspective on Just How Immense The Great Pyramid of Giza Is

An image of the Great Pyramid of Giza with a sand storm in the background. Shutterstock.
An image of the Great Pyramid of Giza with a sand storm in the background. Shutterstock.

The size of the Great Pyramid

The pyramid’s ancient builders completed a pyramid consisting of 2.3 million stones weighing nearly 3 tons each for a total mass of 6.5 million tons. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the “King’s” chamber, weighed 25 to 80 tons. These were transported from Aswan, more than 800 km (500 mi) away. We are talking about the fact that the pyramid was built thousands of years ago, which means it was erected when some of the most impacting early technologies were far from discovered.

How the ancients erected such a majestic ancient wonder is amazing. But since images say more than a thousand words, check out this stunning image of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which gives you an idea of just how large the structure is. Mind-boggling, right? Look at the below image and notice the size of the blocks of stone compared to the group of people waiting to enter the Great Pyramid’s interior.

A group of people climbing the Great Pyramid. Shutterstock.
Shutterstock.

The Great Pyramid is truly big

It is thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian Royal cubits tall, around 146.5 meters (480.6 ft)). Still, with erosion and the absence of its pyramidion, its present height is 138.8 meters (455.4 ft). Each pyramid’s base side was 440 cubits, 230.4 meters (755.9 ft) long. The mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tons. The volume, including an internal hillock, is 2,583,283 cubic meters (roughly 88,000,000 cu ft). 

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Based on archaeological and historical estimates, building the pyramid took the ancients around 20 years. This would involve installing approximately 800 tons of stone every day. Furthermore, since the Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the entire monument in 20 years would mean the builders had to move, on average, more than 12 massive blocks into place each hour, day, and night.


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Written by Ivan Petricevic

I've been writing passionately about ancient civilizations, history, alien life, and various other subjects for more than eight years. You may have seen me appear on Discovery Channel's What On Earth series, History Channel's Ancient Aliens, and Gaia's Ancient Civilizations among others.

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