The Giza Necropolis, more famously known as the Pyramids of Giza, is an Ancient Egyptian pyramid complex located near the city of Giza, Egypt. The Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, their associated pyramid complexes, and the Great Sphinx were all built from 2600 to 2500 BC during the 4th Dynasty of Old Kingdom Egypt. The pyramids sit at the edge of the Western Desert near the ancient city of Mennefer, with Pharaoh Khufu building his monumental tomb 5.6 miles west of the Nile and north of the pyramids at Saqqara. The Pyramids were built by well-paid craftsmen who moved huge stones from a quarry and dragged and lifted them into place; the stone was quarried immediately to the south of the Great Pyramid. 10,000 laborers worked in three-month shifts to build a single pyramid over the course of 30 years, and they were paid with beer and the finest of foods; as they were to work on sacred ground, their jobs were considered to be an honor, and many workers even gave their work teams creative names and engaged in friendly competition in exchange for extra rations.
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