Incredible Precision of Granite Casing Stones in Giza's Valley Temple of Khafre

Its walls have no relief decorations, which contrast with the New Kingdom temples built a thousand years later. Although decorations and inscriptions are present in the interiors of private mastabas of that time, royal monumental buildings are almost devoid of them. The architecture of the Old Kingdom is simple, geometric shapes, the severity of which was softened by exquisite finishing. Limestone walls were covered with highly polished facing, granite or alabaster. The building gave the impression of a shiny monolith. Covering the walls with reliefs would have ruined this effect. The only inscriptions here are the titula executed in sank relief on the granite door frames. The two entrances to the temple are signed with the Serekh of Khafre, his Horus name, Woserib, strong-minded, and the names of two solar goddesses. The pharaoh is described as Beloved of Bastet, giving life, and Beloved of Hathor. According to the Egyptian Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, the two entrances symbolize Khafre's rule over the two lands. An inscription by the north door contains the name of Bastet, who was associated with the site in the delta called Tel Basta in the Old Kingdom. This, then, should be the door for Lower Egypt. The name of the goddess Hathor, the principal goddess of Denderah in Upper Egypt from the Old Kingdom onwards, is found by the southern entrance, indicating that this is the door for Upper Egypt. Yes, that's a fact. You can't even put a razor blade between some of these blocks. The precision with which these walls were made four and a half thousand years ago is astonishing and stimulates the imagination, no doubt about it. The precisely made blocks aren't regular. The ancients knew about the special durability of polygonal walls, which are much more resistant to earthquakes, which, although rare in Egypt, can be extremely violent and destructive. The last major earthquake here took place in the Middle Ages, in the 14th century, and stripped the nearby great pyramids of their facing. It also ultimately destroyed the famous lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The lack of reliefs on these walls is, as I've learned, considered by some alternative researchers as evidence of the non-Egyptian origin of these structures. It completely differs from the religious architecture that we already know from my episodes, from, for example, the New Kingdom and later periods. There are no hieroglyphs, no inscriptions, no paintings at all. But it's actually also like comparing the modern European architecture with the medieval one. They seem not to see the difference between the two eras. In a thousand years, the style changed in Egypt. The lowest layer of granite facing has been preserved on the eastern wall, which allows us to determine the angle of the external walls and the height of the building. The largest of the casing blocks is over five meters long. When the stone thieves began to dismantle them, the temple must have been largely buried under sand. It's likely that the destruction began as early as the Second Intermediate Period, in the 17th and 16th centuries BC. Before we go in, I'd like to recommend you my previous episodes from Giza, both about the pyramids and private tombs. You can find the links in the description. Please also subscribe to my channel, leave a like and a comment. Thank you! Today visitors enter the temple through the northern entrance. In front of us a vestibule, the highest of the rooms, once plunged into total darkness. Originally, all the rooms of the temple were roofed with granite slabs. The entrance to the courtyard was closed with wooden double doors. We can see holes in the stone where the upper and lower hinges were placed. Each of the rooms of the temple had such doors. No one really knows how big these perfectly joined together blocks are. Some are even over two meters long. How was this gigantic puzzle made? How were the multi-ton granite blocks placed on the highest fifth layer? These are the same issues that concern the technique used to build the pyramids. More questions than answers. After smoothing the limestone wall, matching granite blocks were placed on it. The stones were still unfinished, almost raw from the outside, from this visible side. The smoothing of the granite blocks took place only after the walls were built. Admiring the corner blocks with perfectly chiseled angles, you can imagine how much granite was removed from the original blocks to achieve this effect. The inclined passage that connected the valley temple with the causeway leading to the pyramids temple was also originally covered with a ceiling of granite beams. It was from here that Khafre probably set out on his last journey. The king's coffin was carried in a solemn procession to its final resting place.