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Secondary sourceBook1883

The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh

William Matthew Flinders Petrie · 1883

Flinders Petrie's 1883 survey book giving the first precise measurements of the Great Pyramid built for Khufu.

Petrie's survey measured the pyramid Khufu commissioned, giving scientific proof of its scale and precision.

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Plain bright red-orange hardcover book cover with a vertical spine along the left edge and a subtle textured surface. No title, text, or images are visible.
William Matthew Flinders Petrie, The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, 1883.

About this source

What it is

This is a scholarly book by Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie, published in 1883, presenting the first precise measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is held in various libraries today.

Why it matters

Petrie's exact surveying set the scientific basis for understanding the scale and accuracy of the pyramid built for the pharaoh Khufu. His work turned legends about the pyramid into measurable facts, showing just how precisely ancient builders worked.

Look closer

  • Why might a surveyor's measurements matter more than old stories about the pyramid?
  • What kind of training would someone need to measure a huge stone monument so precisely?
  • What does this book NOT tell us about who actually built the pyramid?

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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