The Giza pyramids were built during Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty, around 4,500 years ago, as royal tombs for Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Each pyramid belonged to a wider funerary complex with temples, causeways and other structures, so the three monuments were never intended as isolated buildings. Khufu’s Great Pyramid is the oldest and largest, originally reaching about 146.5 metres.
The plateau also includes the Great Sphinx, valley temples, queens’ pyramids and elite tombs. What photographs rarely convey is the space between everything: Giza feels broad, exposed and monumental. Give yourself time to move around rather than treating the visit as a single viewpoint.
