Giza

Located west of the Nile in northern Egypt, near modern Cairo, Giza is the site of the cemetery of Fourth Dynasty Memphis royalty and nobility. Situated on the Giza plateau are three large pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty kings Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Standing 482 feet tall and covering thirteen acres, the Great Pyramid of Khufu represents the peak of Egyptian pyramid building. King Khafre’s pyramid stands about 478 feet tall, and King Menkaure’s is 217 feet tall. Guarding the pyramids is the great statue of the sphinx, with the body of a lion and head of a king, which is about 240 feet long. There are also several smaller pyramids and stone mastabas—large, flat, rectangular tombs—surrounding the three main pyramids.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum’s 1915 excavation of the "minor cemetery" at Giza provided information about Old Kingdom mastabas. The Museum sent another expedition to Giza from 1923–1915. It further helped sponsor the Giza Mastaba Project in the 1970s and participated in the same project when it was continued during 1989. On exhibit from Giza is the Set of Canopic Jars (see cat. nos. 81a-d) used to hold internal organs of the deceased.

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