Editing Great Pyramid of Giza (section)

=== Materials ===
{{Location map+ | Egypt
| relief = 1
| width = 300
| caption = Origins of the materials used for Khufu's pyramid complex
| places =
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Wadi Maghareh]]<br />(copper)
      | position = right
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 28.8973
      | lon_deg = 33.3726
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Aswan]] (granite)
      | position = right
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 24.077
      | lon_deg = 32.895
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = Lebanon (timber)
      | position = bottom
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 32
      | lon_deg = 35
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Giza]] (limestone)
      | position = top
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 29.974
      | lon_deg = 31.135
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = [[Tura, Egypt|Tura]] (white limestone)
      | position = right
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 29.8528
      | lon_deg = 31.3458
      | marksize = 13
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Egypt
      | label = Widan el-Faras (basalt)
      | position = left
      | background = white 
      | label_width = 150
      | lat_deg = 29.657250
      | lon_deg = 30.625710
      | marksize = 13
  }}
}}
The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3&nbsp;million blocks. Approximately 5.5&nbsp;million tonnes of [[limestone]], 8,000&nbsp;tonnes of [[granite]], and 500,000&nbsp;tonnes of mortar were used in the construction.{{sfn|Romer|2007|p=157}}

Most of the blocks were [[Quarry|quarried]] at Giza just south of the pyramid, an area now known as the [[Central Field, Giza|Central Field]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Great Pyramid Quarry « Ancient Egypt Research Associates|date=14 October 2009|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/gpmp-project/great-pyramid-quarry/|access-date=2021-03-21|language=en-US}}</ref> They are a particular type of [[Nummulite|nummulitic limestone]] formed of the fossils of prehistoric shell creatures, whose small disc form can still be seen in some of the pyramid's blocks upon close inspection.<ref>Kaplan, Sarah, ''[https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?e=d3AucmVhZGVya0BnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&s=5aa036bcfe1ff62bafa91c52 Brilliance without a brain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103700/https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?e=d3AucmVhZGVya0BnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&s=5aa036bcfe1ff62bafa91c52|date=2018-03-08}}'', Speaking of Science, The Washington Post, March 7, 2018</ref> Other fossils have been found in the blocks and other structures on the site, including fossilized shark teeth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital Giza {{!}} Fossilized shark's tooth |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/objects/15290/full/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=giza.fas.harvard.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital Giza {{!}} Western Cemetery: Site: Giza; View: G 2100-I |url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/photos/50574/full/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=giza.fas.harvard.edu}}</ref> The white limestone used for the casing was transported by boat across the Nile from the [[Tura, Egypt|Tura]] quarries of the [[Eastern Desert]] plateau, about {{Convert|10|km|abbr=on}} south-east of the Giza plateau. In 2013, rolls of papyrus called the [[Diary of Merer]] were discovered, written by a supervisor of the deliveries of limestone from Tura to Giza in the 27th year of Khufu's reign.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stille|first=Alexander|title=The World's Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928173821/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619/|archive-date=28 September 2015|access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref>

The granite stones in the pyramid were transported from [[Aswan]], more than {{convert|900|km|mi|abbr=on}} south.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=207}} The largest, weighing 25 to 80 tonnes, form the ceilings of the "King's chamber" and the "relieving chambers" above it. Ancient Egyptians cut stone into rough blocks by hammering grooves into natural stone faces, inserting wooden wedges, then soaking these with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, breaking off workable chunks. Once the blocks were cut, they were carried by boat on the [[Nile]] to the pyramid and used a now dry offshoot of the river to transport blocks closer to the site.{{sfn|Lehner|1997|p=202}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/02/world/nile-river-egypt-pyramid-scn-trnd/index.html#:~:text=This%20explanation%2C%20known%20as%20the,down%20to%20the%20river%27s%20bottom. | title=A now-dry branch of the Nile helped build Egypt's pyramids, study says | date=2 September 2022 }}</ref>