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Pyramidographia

John Greaves · 1646

A 1646 English book by John Greaves describing and measuring the pyramids of Giza, including Khufu's monument.

Greaves's early scientific study of the Great Pyramid shows how Khufu's monument entered European scholarship.

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Title page of Pyramidographia, 1646. Large heading reads 'Pyramidographia: or a description of the pyramids in Aegypt.' Below: 'By John Greaves, Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford.' A Latin epigraph and an ornamental divider appear, with imprint 'London, Printed for George Badger, and are to be sold at his shop in St Dunstans Churchyard in Fleet-street 1646.'
John Greaves, Pyramidographia, 1646.

About this source

What it is

Pyramidographia is a book written in 1646 by English astronomer John Greaves, describing and measuring the Pyramids of Giza, including the Great Pyramid built for Khufu.

Why it matters

This was one of the earliest scientific European studies of the pyramids, showing how ancient Egyptian monuments entered European scholarship centuries before modern archaeology. It reflects how Europeans of Greaves's time tried to understand ancient Egypt using classical sources like Diodorus Siculus alongside their own observations.

Look closer

  • Why might a 17th-century astronomer be interested in measuring an ancient pyramid?
  • What sources did Greaves rely on besides his own observations?
  • How might early European views of Egypt differ from what we know today?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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A large limestone pyramid with a smooth-edged stepped outer surface rises against a clear blue sky over pale desert sand. Small figures stand at the lower left, and rubble and low stone blocks lie at its base.Artifact

Primary source

Great Pyramid of Giza

c. 2560 BCE

Vintage postcard showing the Great Pyramid of Giza in grey tones against a pale sky, with a large dark tree in front, two palm trees at left, a camel and rider at lower left, and the caption 'La Grande Pyramide Cheops'. Handwriting and a stamp are on the right.Photograph

Secondary source

La Grande Pyramide Cheops

1903

A small ivory statuette of a seated figure wearing a tall royal crown, with hands resting on the lap, on a clear acrylic base set against a blue cloth. Dark encrusted patches mark the chest and arm.Sculpture

Primary source

Khufu Statuette

c. 2600–2494 BCE (possibly later, 664–525 BCE)

Sepia albumen photograph of the Giza pyramids of Cheops and Chephren, with the Sphinx and the Valley Temple ruins in the foreground, and robed men with camels standing to the right. Caption printed in white script along the bottom.Photograph

Secondary source

Pyramids of Cheops and Chephren and the Sphinx at Giza

The Khufu ship, a large ancient Egyptian wooden solar barque displayed in a museum gallery. Its long hull is supported by a criss-crossed framework of metal and wooden struts, and visitors stand along the walkways and balconies around it under a curved, illuminated ceiling.Artifact

Primary source

Khufu ship

Royal shipwrights of Khufu · c. 2566 BCE

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