Khafre’s Pyramid is the second largest and central pyramid of the major three on the Giza Plateau. Khafre was an important ruler of Ancient Egypt and the son of the Great Pyramid builder, Khufu. The pyramid was built around 2520 B.C.E. during his reign, and he was buried inside the pyramid after his death.
The pyramid is a part of the Khafre Pyramid complex which includes the Khafre Pyramid Temple, Khafre Valley Temple, and a monumental causeway from the Valley Temple to the Pyramid Temple. The nearby pyramids of Khufu and Menkaure had similar pyramid temples and valley temples.
Khafre’s pyramid is the second largest at Giza, standing over 136 meters or 448 feet tall! Each base length is 215.5 meters (or 706 feet), and the pyramid base is a square with four sides rising to create the pyramid shape. The pyramid is built out of limestone blocks, and has a less elaborate series of discovered chambers than the nearby pyramid of Khufu. Each limestone block weighs over two tons or about half a school bus!
The body of Khafre was never found inside the pyramid. It’s believed that the pyramid was opened and robbers took many of the offerings buried with Khafre only a few hundred years after the pharaoh was buried there. When archaeologists studied the pyramid in the early 19th century, inside the sarcophagus in the burial chamber in the pyramid, they only uncovered a few animal bones instead of any human remains.
