Pyramids of the Giza Plateau: Pyramid Complexes of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure

by Charles Rigano

Available as both a soft cover book and ebook.

"The most remarkable piece of ground in the World" as Flinders Petrie described the Giza Plateau. Here the Pyramid Complexes of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure have stood for 4,600 years. The Giza pyramids have been scientifically studied for the last 300 years; now for the first time all three are brought together in one book.

Virtually all contemporary "pyramid" books address only Khufu's Great Pyramid. This book goes beyond the Great Pyramid and provides a complete detailed look at all three Giza pyramids and their complexes: the main pyramid, the Sphinx, subsidiary pyramids, temples, boat pits, and enclosures. The descriptions are supplemented by almost 300 photos and drawings to provide the reader a detail look which can only be surpassed by being there in person with a very knowledgeable guide.

But it is not just descriptions as the complexes are today, but how the early explorers entered the pyramids and what they found. In addition Charles Rigano provides new ideas on:
- How Khufu was interred in his Great Pyramid.
- How the first robbers gained entry and robbed Khufu's pyramid.
- How Caliph Al Mamun in 820AD really penetrated the Great Pyramid.
- Why Heterpheres "tomb" is at Giza.
- Why there is a field of stone bases near Khafre's Pyramid.
- The initial smaller plan for Khafre's Pyramid.
- Conclusive evidence that ties the Sphinx to Khafre.
- How Menkaure's Burial Chamber and Inclined Passage were built.

In this book Charles Rigano combines both his on-site examinations, with the study of more than 200 references from the early explorers to the recent Egyptologists, to form a complete picture of the Pyramid Complexes. This material is available nowhere else in a single volume.
See web site at:
http://www.pyramidsofgizaplateau.com

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 19, 2014

About the author

I remember the moment in 1970 when my fascination with Ancient Egypt started. At work, someone left a book about the Great Pyramid sitting on a desk. I casually picked it up and leafed through the pages...and was immediately absorbed by the subject. That moment led to a lifetime of study and fascination with Egyptology. My interest focused from the full 3,000 year Ancient Egyptian history to architecture during the 500 year long Old Kingdom; the time when a newly unified Egypt made its first mark on history and a time the full resources of an ancient country were harnessed to build the enormous mortuary complexes, the pyramids and the Sphinx.

In my reading I was frustrated by the lack of detail and photographs in generally available books. After much research and a number of trips to Egypt, I felt the need – it was not just a thought or a desire or a feeling, but a real need - to write about Ancient Egypt and the Old Kingdom. I started this book to provide the detail which had been missing. Through my trips and research I developed proposals about subjects which were outside the book’s scope and wrote articles on: the Bent Pyramid interior, Sneferu’s pyramid at Meidum, the small subsidiary pyramid uncovered near Khufu’s Pyramid, and two articles on pyramid building, all of which provided new ideas on these subjects. My ideas and proposals were in keeping with conventional Egyptological thinking. Through my on-site study of the ancient sites, the writings of ancient travelers, what early scientists found when they removed the sand and re-discovered the old monuments, when explorers entered the pyramids to study and not to plunder, and the works of modern Egyptologists, I developed new insights on the old monuments.

Many contemporary authors focus only on the Great Pyramid and consider what might be possible. I focus on the archaeological record to see where it leads me. In my new book, "The Pyramids of the Giza Plateau" I form the first complete “picture” of the ancient Giza monuments of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure.

Reviews

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who like archeology and architecture, and also for those who want to know more about the mysterious pyramids of Egypt, this book is for you. It is extremely well-written and the information has been thoroughly researched and prepared. It gives the average person an insight into these three pyramid complexes that could never be attained as a casual tourist. However, having read this book, now I would like to go see them and be a tourist there in real life.

[Bonnie Sampsell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like thousands of others, I am an Egyptophile and have studied ancient Egypt for more than two decades. Some of us first became fascinated by mummies, for others Akhenaten was the lure; but many of us developed a passion for pyramids. This preoccupation led us to read all we could find on the subject, and, for those who were able, to visit the monuments themselves. I wish a book like this had been available twenty years ago!
Charles Rigano’s book on the Pyramids of Giza performs a valuable service by drawing together an immense amount of information from sources ranging from the earliest explorers to the latest archaeological discoveries. I will quote a few numbers to show what an enormous contribution he has made on this popular topic. Among his 222 references are many that are out of print or available only in specialized libraries, while his 400+ endnotes testify to the rigor of his research and allow a curious reader to penetrate further into the primary literature.
Rigano supplements his literature review with first-hand observations – made during a number of extended visits – to provide vivid descriptions and a large number of photographs of seldom-seen areas. His decision to devote an entire 220 page book to the three Giza pyramid complexes was made after his long, and often frustrating, study of the available pyramid books. Even the most comprehensive of these treat the entire Giza group in fewer than 30 pages. There is much, much more to learn about the Giza pyramids, and Rigano both provides more information about each pyramid as well as treating the entire plateau as a coherent funerary site developed over the reigns of three Dynasty IV kings. The book includes information about the subsidiary pyramids, temples and causeways, the Sphinx, and building technology. He also offers new ideas about some outstanding mysteries while staying well within the conventional Egyptological canon as supported by archaeological findings.
Anyone who has seen the pyramids, will want to read this book to better understand their own observations and to see what they have missed. Arm-chair travelers will find everything they could want to know in a concise, readable format illustrated with hundreds of excellent photographs and diagrams. If you only buy one more book about pyramids, this should be the one!!