document_title: Bronze Age

question_text: when did the bronze age start in china

question_tokens: when did the bronze age start in china

text: Bronze Age

text: History[edit]

text: The overall period is characterized by widespread use of bronze, though the place and time of the introduction and development of bronze technology were not universally synchronous.[2] Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production techniques. Tin must be mined (mainly as the tin ore cassiterite) and smelted separately, then added to molten copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of extensive use of metals and of developing trade networks (See Tin sources and trade in ancient times). A 2013 report suggests that the earliest tin-alloy bronze dates to the mid-5th millennium BC in a Vinča culture site in Pločnik (Serbia), although this culture is not conventionally considered part of the Bronze Age.[3] The dating of the foil has been disputed.[4][5]

text: Near East[edit]

text: Western Asia and the Near East was the first region to enter the Bronze Age, which began with the rise of the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer in the mid 4th millennium BC. Cultures in the ancient Near East (often called one of "the cradles of civilization") practiced intensive year-round agriculture, developed a writing system, invented the potter's wheel, created a centralized government, written law codes, city and nation states, empires, embarked on advanced architectural projects, introduced social stratification, economic and civil administration, slavery, and practiced organized warfare, medicine and religion. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy, mathematics and astrology.

text: The Ancient Near East Bronze Age can be divided as following:

text:
Near East Bronze Age Divisions

The archetypal Bronze Age divisions of the Near East have a well-established triadic clearness of expression. The period dates and phases below are solely applicable to the Near East and thus not applicable universally.[6][7][8]

Early Bronze Age (EBA)
3300–2100 BC

3300–3000: EBA I
3000–2700: EBA II
2700–2200: EBA III
2200–2100: EBA IV
Middle Bronze Age (MBA)
Also, Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA)
2100–1550 BC

2100–2000: MBA I
2000–1750: MBA II A
1750–1650: MBA II B
1650–1550: MBA II C
Late Bronze Age (LBA)
1550–1200 BC

1550–1400: LBA I
1400–1300: LBA II A
1300–1200: LBA II B (Bronze Age collapse)

text: Anatolia[edit]

text: The Hittite Empire was established in Hattusa in northern Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, southwestern Syria as far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the Levant conjectured to have been associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples,[9][10] the kingdom disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC.

text: Arzawa in Western Anatolia during the second half of the second millennium BC likely extended along southern Anatolia in a belt that reaches from near the Turkish Lakes Region to the Aegean coast. Arzawa was the western neighbor—sometimes a rival and sometimes a vassal—of the Middle and New Hittite Kingdoms.

text: The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia that was defeated by the Hittites under an earlier Tudhaliya I, around 1400 BC. Arzawa has been associated with the much more obscure Assuwa generally located to its north. It probably bordered it, and may even be an alternative term for it (at least during some periods).

text: Egypt[edit]

text: Early Bronze dynasties[edit]

text:
Egyptian Bronze Age

Bronze mirror with a female human figure at the base, Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1540–1296 BC).

Sphinx-lion of Thutmose III 1479–1425 BC

text:
In Ancient Egypt the Bronze Age begins in the Protodynastic period, c. 3150 BC. The archaic early Bronze Age of Egypt, known as the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt,[11][12] immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt, c. 3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until about 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom. With the First Dynasty, the capital moved from Abydos to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the major holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as art, architecture and many aspects of religion, took shape during the Early Dynastic period. Memphis in the Early Bronze Age was the largest city of the time.
The Old Kingdom of the regional Bronze Age[11] is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley (the others being Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom).

text: The First Intermediate Period of Egypt,[13] often described as a "dark period" in ancient Egyptian history, spanned about 100 years after the end of the Old Kingdom from about 2181 to 2055 BC. Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the early part of it. The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time when the rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two competing power bases: Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt and Thebes in Upper Egypt. These two kingdoms would eventually come into conflict, with the Theban kings conquering the north, resulting in the reunification of Egypt under a single ruler during the second part of the 11th Dynasty.

text: Middle Bronze dynasties[edit]

text: The Middle Kingdom of Egypt lasted from 2055 to 1650 BC. During this period, the Osiris funerary cult rose to dominate Egyptian popular religion. The period comprises two phases: the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes and the 12th[14] and 13th Dynasties centered on el-Lisht. The unified kingdom was previously considered to comprise the 11th and 12th Dynasties, but historians now at least partially consider the 13th Dynasty to belong to the Middle Kingdom.

text: During the Second Intermediate Period,[15] Ancient Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. It is best known for the Hyksos, whose reign comprised the 15th and 16th dynasties. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the 11th Dynasty, began their climb to power in the 13th Dynasty, and emerged from the Second Intermediate Period in control of Avaris and the Delta. By the 15th Dynasty, they ruled lower Egypt, and they were expelled at the end of the 17th Dynasty.

text: Late Bronze dynasties[edit]

text: The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, lasted from the 16th to the 11th century BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period. It was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of Egypt's power. The later New Kingdom, i.e. the 19th and 20th Dynasties (1292–1069 BC), is also known as the Ramesside period, after the eleven pharaohs that took the name of Ramesses.

text: Iranian Plateau[edit]

text:
Persian Bronze Age

Late 3rd Millennium BC silver cup from Marvdasht, Fars, with linear-Elamite inscription.

text: Elam was a pre-Iranic ancient civilization located to the east of Mesopotamia. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian Plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire and especially during the Iranic Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it.

text: The Oxus civilization[16] was a Bronze Age Central Asian culture dated to c. 2300–1700 BC and centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus). In the Early Bronze Age the culture of the Kopet Dag oases and Altyndepe developed a proto-urban society. This corresponds to level IV at Namazga-Tepe. Altyndepe was a major centre even then. Pottery was wheel-turned. Grapes were grown. The height of this urban development was reached in the Middle Bronze Age c. 2300 BC, corresponding to level V at Namazga-Depe.[17] This Bronze Age culture is called the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC).

text: The Kulli culture,[18][19] similar to those of the Indus Valley Civilisation, was located in southern Balochistan (Gedrosia) c. 2500–2000 BC. Agriculture was the economical base of this people. At several places dams were found, providing evidence for a highly developed water management system.

text: Konar Sandal is associated with the hypothesized "Jiroft culture", a 3rd-millennium-BC culture postulated on the basis of a collection of artifacts confiscated in 2001.

text: Levant[edit]

text:
Mediterranean Bronze Age

Chalcolithic copper mine in Timna Valley, Negev Desert, Israel.

text: In modern scholarship the chronology of the Bronze Age Levant is divided into Early/Proto Syrian; corresponding to the Early Bronze. Old Syrian; corresponding to the Middle Bronze. Middle Syrian; corresponding to the Late Bronze. The term Neo-Syria is used to designate the early Iron Age.[20]

text: The old Syrian period was dominated by the Eblaite first kingdom, Nagar and the Mariote second kingdom. The Akkadian conquered large areas of the Levant and were followed by the Amorite kingdoms, c. 2000–1600 BC, which arose in Mari, Yamhad, Qatna, Assyria.[21] From the 15th century BC onward, the term Amurru is usually applied to the region extending north of Canaan as far as Kadesh on the Orontes River.

text: The earliest known Ugarit contact with Egypt (and the first exact dating of Ugaritic civilization) comes from a carnelian bead identified with the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Senusret I, 1971–1926 BC. A stela and a statuette from the Egyptian pharaohs Senusret III and Amenemhet III have also been found. However, it is unclear at what time these monuments got to Ugarit. In the Amarna letters, messages from Ugarit c. 1350 BC written by Ammittamru I, Niqmaddu II, and his queen, were discovered. From the 16th to the 13th century BC, Ugarit remained in constant touch with Egypt and Cyprus (named Alashiya).

text: The Mitanni was a loosely organized state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from c. 1500–1300 BC. Founded by an Indo-Aryan ruling class that governed a predominantly Hurrian population, Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Kassite Babylon created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia. At its beginning, Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the Thutmosids. However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni and Egypt made an alliance to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. At the height of its power, during the 14th century BC, it had outposts centered on its capital, Washukanni, which archaeologists have located on the headwaters of the Khabur River. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to Hittite, and later Assyrian attacks, and was reduced to a province of the Middle Assyrian Empire.

text: The Israelites were an ancient Semitic-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods (15th to 6th centuries BC),[22][23][24][25][26] and lived in the region in smaller numbers after the fall of the monarchy. The name "Israel" first appears c. 1209 BC, at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the very beginning of the Iron Age, on the Merneptah Stele raised by the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah.

text: The Arameans were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical Aram) during the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia, where they intermingled with the native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. The Aramaeans never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. After the Bronze Age collapse, their political influence was confined to a number of Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire by the 8th century BC.

text: Mesopotamia[edit]

text: In Mesopotamia, the Mesopotamian Bronze Age began about 3500 BC and ended with the Kassite period (c. 1500 BC – c. 1155 BC). The usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used. Instead, a division primarily based on art-historical and historical characteristics is more common.

text: The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people. Ur, Kish, Isin, Larsa and Nippur in the Middle Bronze Age and Babylon, Calah and Assur in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) became the dominant power in the region, and after its fall the Sumerians enjoyed a renaissance with the Neo-Sumerian Empire. Assyria was extant from as early as the 25th century BC, and became a regional power with the Old Assyrian Empire (c. 2025–1750 BC). The earliest mention of Babylon (then a small administrative town) appears on a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 23rd century BC. The Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over 100 years later, it briefly took over the other city-states and formed the short lived First Babylonian Empire during what is also called the Old Babylonian Period. Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia all used the written East Semitic Akkadian language for official use and as a spoken language. By that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use in Assyria and Babylonia, and would remain so until the 1st century AD. The Akkadian and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Assyrian and Babylonian culture, even though Babylonia (unlike the more militarily powerful Assyria) itself was founded by non-native Amorites and often ruled by other non-indigenous peoples, such as Kassites, Arameans and Chaldeans, as well as its Assyrian neighbours.

text: Asia[edit]

text: Central Asia[edit]

text: Seima-Turbino Phenomenon[edit]

text:
The Altai Mountains in what is now southern Russia and central Mongolia have been identified as the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon.[27] It is conjectured that changes in climate in this region around 2000 BC and the ensuing ecological, economic and political changes triggered a rapid and massive migration westward into northeast Europe, eastward into China and southward into Vietnam and Thailand
[28] across a frontier of some 4,000 miles.[27] This migration took place in just five to six generations and led to peoples from Finland in the west to Thailand in the east employing the same metal working technology and, in some areas, horse breeding and riding.[27] It is further conjectured that the same migrations spread the Uralic group of languages across Europe and Asia: some 39 languages of this group are still extant, including Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian.[27]
However, recent genetic testings of sites in south Siberia and Kazakhstan (Andronovo horizon) would rather support a spreading of the bronze technology via Indo-European migrations eastwards, as this technology was well known for quite a while in western regions.[29][30]

text: East Asia[edit]

text: China[edit]

text:
Chinese Bronze Age

A Shang dynasty two-handled bronze gefuding gui (1600–1046 BC).

Spring and Autumn period pu bronze vessel with interlaced dragon design (722–481 BC)

text: The earliest bronze artifacts have been found in the Majiayao culture site (between 3100 and 2700 BC),[31][32]

text: The term "Bronze Age" has been transferred to the archaeology of China from that of Western Eurasia, and there is no consensus or universally used convention delimiting the "Bronze Age" in the context of Chinese prehistory.[33]

text: By convention, the "Early Bronze Age" in China is sometimes taken as equivalent to the  "Shang dynasty" period of Chinese prehistory (16th to 11th centuries BC),[34] and the "Later Bronze Age" as equivalent to the "Zhou dynasty" period (11th to 3rd centuries BC, from the 5th century also dubbed "Iron Age"), although there is an argument to be made that the "Bronze Age" proper never ended in China, as there is no recognizable transition to an "Iron Age".[35]

text: Bronze metallurgy in China originated in what is referred to as the Erlitou (Wade–Giles: Erh-li-t'ou) period, which some historians argue places it within the range of dates controlled by the Shang dynasty.[36] Others believe the Erlitou sites belong to the preceding Xia (Wade–Giles: Hsia) dynasty.[37] The U.S. National Gallery of Art defines the Chinese Bronze Age as the "period between about 2000 BC and 771 BC," a period that begins with the Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the disintegration of Western Zhou rule.[38]

text: The widespread use of bronze in Chinese metallurgy and culture dates to significantly later, probably due to Western influence. While there may be reason to believe that bronzework developed inside China separately from outside influence,[39] the discovery of Europoid mummies in Xinjiang suggests a possible route of transmission from the West beginning in the early second millennium BC.[40]

text: The Shang dynasty (also known as the Yin dynasty)[41] of the Yellow River Valley rose to power after the Xia dynasty around 1600 BC. While some direct information about the Shang dynasty comes from Shang-era inscriptions on bronze artifacts, most comes from oracle bones – turtle shells, cattle scapulae, or other bones – which bear glyphs that form the first significant corpus of recorded Chinese characters.

text: Iron is found from the Zhou dynasty, but its use is minimal. Chinese literature dating to the 6th century BC attests knowledge of iron smelting, yet bronze continues to occupy the seat of significance in the archaeological and historical record for some time after this.[42] Historian W. C. White argues that iron did not supplant bronze "at any period before the end of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC)" and that bronze vessels make up the majority of metal vessels all the way through the Later Han period, or to 221 BC [sic?].[43]

text: The Chinese bronze artifacts generally are either utilitarian, like spear points or adze heads, or "ritual bronzes", which are more elaborate versions in precious materials of everyday vessels, as well as tools and weapons. Examples are the numerous large sacrificial tripods known as dings in Chinese; there are many other distinct shapes. Surviving identified Chinese ritual bronzes tend to be highly decorated, often with the taotie motif, which involves highly stylized animal faces. These appear in three main motif types: those of demons, of symbolic animals, and of abstract symbols.[44] Many large bronzes also bear cast inscriptions that are the great bulk of the surviving body of early Chinese writing and have helped historians and archaeologists piece together the history of China, especially during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC).

text: The bronzes of the Western Zhou dynasty document large portions of history not found in the extant texts that were often composed by persons of varying rank and possibly even social class. Further, the medium of cast bronze lends the record they preserve a permanence not enjoyed by manuscripts.[45] These inscriptions can commonly be subdivided into four parts: a reference to the date and place, the naming of the event commemorated, the list of gifts given to the artisan in exchange for the bronze, and a dedication.[46] The relative points of reference these vessels provide have enabled historians to place most of the vessels within a certain time frame of the Western Zhou period, allowing them to trace the evolution of the vessels and the events they record.[47]

text: Korea[edit]

text:
Korean Bronze Age

Bronze artifacts from Daegok-ri, Hwasun, Korea

text: The beginning of the Bronze Age on the peninsula is around 1000–800 BC.[48][49] Although the Korean Bronze Age culture derives from the Liaoning and Manchuria, it exhibits unique typology and styles, especially in ritual objects.[50]

text: The Mumun pottery period is named after the Korean name for undecorated or plain cooking and storage vessels that form a large part of the pottery assemblage over the entire length of the period, but especially 850–550 BC. The Mumun period is known for the origins of intensive agriculture and complex societies in both the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago.

text: The Middle Mumun pottery period culture of the southern Korean Peninsula gradually adopted bronze production (c. 700–600? BC) after a period when Liaoning-style bronze daggers and other bronze artifacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula (c. 900–700 BC). The bronze daggers lent prestige and authority to the personages who wielded and were buried with them in high-status megalithic burials at south-coastal centres such as the Igeum-dong site. Bronze was an important element in ceremonies and as for mortuary offerings until 100.

text: Japan[edit]

text:
Japanese Bronze Age

2nd century BC Yayoi dōtaku bronze bell.

2nd century BC Yayoi bronze spearhead.

text: The Japanese archipelago experienced the introduction of bronze during the beginning of the Early Yayoi period (~300 BC), which saw the introduction of metalworking and agricultural practices bought in by settlers arriving from the continent. Bronze and iron smelting techniques spread to the Japanese archipelago through contact with other ancient East Asian civilizations, particularly immigration and trade from the Korean peninsula and ancient Mainland China. Iron was mainly used for agricultural and other tools, whereas ritual and ceremonial artifacts were mainly made of bronze.

text: South Asia[edit]

text: Indus Valley[edit]

text: The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BC with the beginning of the Indus Valley civilization. Inhabitants of the Indus Valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. The Indian Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Period. The Late Harappan culture, which dates from 1900–1400 BC, overlapped the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age; thus it is difficult to date this transition accurately.

text: Southeast Asia[edit]

text: Vietnam[edit]

text: Dating back to the Neolithic Age, the first bronze drum, called the Dong Son drum, were uncovered in and around the Red River Delta regions of Northern Vietnam and Southern China. These relate to the prehistoric Dong Son Culture of Vietnam. In Ban Chiang, Thailand, (Southeast Asia) bronze artifacts have been discovered dating to 2100 BC.[51] However, according to the radiocarbon dating on the human and pig bones in Ban Chiang, some scholars propose that the initial Bronze Age in Ban Chiang was in late 2nd millennium.[52] In Nyaunggan, Burma, bronze tools have been excavated along with ceramics and stone artifacts. Dating is still currently broad (3500–500 BC).[53] Ban Non Wat, excavated by Charles Higham, was a rich site with over 640 graves excavated that gleaned many complex bronze items that may have had social value connected to them.[54]

text: Ban Chiang, however, is the most thoroughly documented site while having the clearest evidence of metallurgy when it comes to Southeast Asia. With a rough date range of late 3rd millennium BC to the first millennium AD, this site alone has various artifacts such as burial pottery (dating from 2100–1700 BC), fragments of Bronze, copper-base bangles, and much more. What's interesting about this site, however, isn't just the old age of the artifacts but the fact that this technology suggested on-site casting from the very beginning. The on-site casting supports the theory that Bronze was first introduced in Southeast Asia as fully developed which therefore shows that Bronze was actually innovated from a different country.[28] Some scholars believe that the copper-based metallurgy was disseminated from northwest and central China via south and southwest areas such as Guangdong province and Yunnan province and finally into southeast Asia around 1000 BC.[55]

text: Archaeological research in Northern Vietnam indicates an increase in rates of infectious disease following the advent of metallurgy; skeletal fragments in sites dating to the early and mid-Bronze Age evidence a greater proportion of lesions than in sites of earlier periods.[56] There are a few possible implications of this. One is the increase contact with bacterial and/or fungal pathogens due to increased population density and land clearing/ cultivation. The other one is decreased levels of immunocompetence in the Metal age due to changes in diet caused by agriculture. The last is that there may have been an emergence of infectious disease in the Da But period that evolved into a more virulent form in the metal period.[56] Archaeology also suggests that Bronze Age metallurgy may not have been as significant a catalyst in social stratification and warfare in Southeast Asia as in other regions, social distribution shifting away from chiefdom-states to a heterarchical network.[57] Data analyses of sites such as Ban Lum Khao, Ban Na Di, Non Nok Tha, Khok Phanom Di, and Nong Nor have consistently led researchers to conclude that there was no forentrenched hierarchy.[58]

text: Europe[edit]

text: A few examples of named Bronze Age cultures in Europe in roughly relative order.

text: Balkans[edit]

text: The oldest securely dated tin bronze artefact are found in the heart of the Balkans in Serbia. A tin bronze foil from the Pločnik (archaeological site) are dated to 4650 BC. The foil are not the only tin bronze artefact from the fifth millennium BC. 14 other artefacts from Serbia and Bulgaria are dated to before 4000 BC. The recent discoveries indicate that early tin bronze was more common than previously thought, and developed independently in Europe 1500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in the Near East.

text:
The production of complex tin bronzes lasted for c. 500 years in the Balkans. Shortly before the end of the fifth millennium BC, there are no longer evidence for production of tin bronze. This coincides with the collapse of large cultural complexes in the Balkans.
Tin bronze would be reintroduced to the area again some 1500 years later.[59]

text: Aegean[edit]

text:
Aegean Bronze Age

Bronze Age copper ingot found in Crete

text: The Aegean Bronze Age began around 3200 BC,[60] when civilizations first established a far-ranging trade network. This network imported tin and charcoal to Cyprus, where copper was mined and alloyed with the tin to produce bronze. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide, and supported the trade. Isotopic analysis of tin in some Mediterranean bronze artifacts suggests that they may have originated from Great Britain.[61]

text: Knowledge of navigation was well developed at this time, and reached a peak of skill not exceeded (except perhaps by Polynesian sailors) until 1730 when the invention of the chronometer enabled the precise determination of longitude.

text: The Minoan civilization based in Knossos on the island of Crete appears to have coordinated and defended its Bronze Age trade. Illyrians are also believed to have roots in the early Bronze Age. Ancient empires valued luxury goods in contrast to staple foods, leading to famine.[62]

text: Aegean Collapse[edit]

text: Bronze Age collapse theories have described aspects of the end of the Age in this region. At the end of the Bronze Age in the Aegean region, the Mycenaean administration of the regional trade empire followed the decline of Minoan primacy.[63] Several Minoan client states lost much of their population to famine and/or pestilence. This would indicate that the trade network may have failed, preventing the trade that would previously have relieved such famines and prevented illness caused by malnutrition. It is also known that in this era the breadbasket of the Minoan empire, the area north of the Black Sea, also suddenly lost much of its population, and thus probably some capacity to cultivate crops.[citation needed]Drought and famine in Anatolia may have also led to the Aegean Collapse by disrupting trade networks, and therefore preventing the Aegean from accessing bronze and luxury goods.[64]

text: The Aegean Collapse has been attributed to the exhaustion of the Cypriot forests causing the end of the bronze trade.[65][66][67] These forests are known to have existed into later times, and experiments have shown that charcoal production on the scale necessary for the bronze production of the late Bronze Age would have exhausted them in less than fifty years.

text: The Aegean Collapse has also been attributed to the fact that as iron tools became more common, the main justification for the tin trade ended, and that trade network ceased to function as it did formerly.[68] The colonies of the Minoan empire then suffered drought, famine, war, or some combination of those three, and had no access to the distant resources of an empire by which they could easily recover.

text: The Thera eruption occurred around the Aegean Collapse, 110 km (68 mi) north of Crete. Speculation include a tsunami from Thera (more commonly known today as Santorini) destroyed Cretan cities. A tsunami may have destroyed the Cretan navy in its home harbour, which then lost crucial naval battles; so that in the LMIB/LMII event (c. 1450 BC) the cities of Crete burned and the Mycenaean civilization took over Knossos. If the eruption occurred in the late 17th century BC (as most chronologists now think) then its immediate effects belong to the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition, and not to the end of the Late Bronze Age; but it could have triggered the instability that led to the collapse first of Knossos and then of Bronze Age society overall. One such theory highlights the role of Cretan expertise in administering the empire, post-Thera. If this expertise was concentrated in Crete, then the Mycenaeans may have made political and commercial mistakes in administering the Cretan empire.

text: Archaeological findings, including some on the island of Thera, suggest that the centre of Minoan Civilization at the time of the eruption was actually on Thera rather than on Crete.[citation needed] According to this theory, the catastrophic loss of the political, administrative and economic centre by the eruption as well as the damage wrought by the tsunami to the coastal towns and villages of Crete precipitated the decline of the Minoans. A weakened political entity with a reduced economic and military capability and fabled riches would have then been more vulnerable to human predators. Indeed, the Santorini Eruption is usually dated to  c. 1630 BC, while the Mycenaean Greeks first enter the historical record a few decades later, c. 1600 BC. Thus, the later Mycenaean assaults on Crete (c. 1450 BC) and Troy ( c. 1250BC) are revealed as mere continuations of the steady encroachments of the Greeks upon the weakened Minoan world.

text: Central Europe[edit]

text:
Central European Bronze Age

Jenišovice cup

Grenoble cuirass

Mycenaean sword found in Romania

Bronze Age weaponry and ornaments

text: In Central Europe, the early Bronze Age Unetice culture (1800–1600 BC) includes numerous smaller groups like the Straubing, Adlerberg and Hatvan cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at Leubingen with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in the Unetice culture. All in all, cemeteries of this period are rare and of small size. The Unetice culture is followed by the middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC) Tumulus culture, which is characterised by inhumation burials in tumuli (barrows). In the eastern Hungarian Körös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the Mako culture, followed by the Otomani and Gyulavarsand cultures.

text: The late Bronze Age Urnfield culture (1300–700 BC) is characterized by cremation burials. It includes the Lusatian culture in eastern Germany and Poland (1300–500 BC) that continues into the Iron Age. The Central European Bronze Age is followed by the Iron Age Hallstatt culture (700–450 BC).

text: Important sites include:

text:
Biskupin (Poland)
Nebra (Germany)
Vráble (Slovakia)
Zug-Sumpf, Zug, Switzerland

text: The Bronze Age in Central Europe has been described in the chronological schema of German prehistorian Paul Reinecke. He described Bronze A1 (Bz A1) period (2300–2000 BC : triangular daggers, flat axes, stone wrist-guards, flint arrowheads) and Bronze A2 (Bz A2) period (1950–1700 BC : daggers with metal hilt, flanged axes, halberds, pins with perforated spherical heads, solid bracelets) and phases Hallstatt A and B (Ha A and B).

text: South Europe[edit]

text: The Apennine culture (also called Italian Bronze Age) is a technology complex of central and southern Italy spanning the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age proper. The Camuni were an ancient people of uncertain origin (according to Pliny the Elder, they were Euganei; according to Strabo, they were Rhaetians) who lived in Val Camonica – in what is now northern Lombardy – during the Iron Age, although human groups of hunters, shepherds and farmers are known to have lived in the area since the Neolithic.

text: Located in Sardinia and Corsica, the Nuragic civilization lasted from the early Bronze Age (18th century BC) to the 2nd century AD, when the islands were already Romanized. They take their name from the characteristic nuragic towers, which evolved from the pre-existing megalithic culture, which built dolmens and menhirs. The nuraghe towers are unanimously considered the best preserved and largest megalithic remains in Europe. Their effective use is still debated: some scholars considered them as monumental tombs, others as Houses of the Giants, other as fortresses, ovens for metal fusion, prisons or, finally, temples for a solar cult. Around the end of the 3rd millennium BC, Sardinia exported towards Sicily a Culture that built small dolmens, trilithic or polygonal shaped, that served as tombs as it has been ascertained in the Sicilian dolmen of “Cava dei Servi”. From this region they reached Malta island and other countries of Mediterranean basin.[69]

text: The Terramare was an early Indo-European civilization in the area of what is now Pianura Padana (northern Italy) before the arrival of the Celts, and in other parts of Europe. They lived in square villages of wooden stilt houses. These villages were built on land, but generally near a stream, with roads that crossed each other at right angles. The whole complex denoted the nature of a fortified settlement. Terramare were widespread in the Pianura Padana (specially along the Panaro river, between Modena and Bologna) and in the rest of Europe. The civilization developed in the Middle and Late Bronze Age, between the 17th and the 13th centuries BC.

text: The Castellieri culture developed in Istria during the Middle Bronze Age. It lasted for more than a millennium, from the 15th century BC until the Roman conquest in the 3rd century BC. It takes its name from the fortified boroughs (Castellieri, Friulian cjastelir) that characterized the culture.

text: The Canegrate culture developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century BC) till the Iron Age in the Pianura Padana, in what are now western Lombardy, eastern Piedmont and Ticino. It takes its name from the township of Canegrate where, in the 20th century, some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects were found. The Canegrate culture migrated from the northwest part of the Alps and descended to Pianura Padana from the Swiss Alps passes and the Ticino.

text: The Golasecca culture developed starting from the late Bronze Age in the Po plain. It takes its name from Golasecca, a locality next to the Ticino where, in the early 19th century, abbot Giovanni Battista Giani excavated its first findings (some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects). Remains of the Golasecca culture span an area of c. 20,000 square kilometers south to the Alps, between the Po, Sesia and Serio rivers, dating from the 9th to the 4th century BC.

text: West Europe[edit]

text: Atlantic Bronze Age[edit]

text:
Atlantic Bronze Age

Ceremonial giant dirk (1500–1300 BC).

Golden helmet (Leiro, Galicia)

text: The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the period of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Portugal, Andalusia, Galicia and the British Isles. It is marked by economic and cultural exchange. Commercial contacts extend to Denmark and the Mediterranean. The Atlantic Bronze Age was defined by a number of distinct regional centres of metal production, unified by a regular maritime exchange of some of their products.

text: Great Britain[edit]

text: In Great Britain, the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from around 2100 to 750 BC. Migration brought new people to the islands from the continent. Recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around Stonehenge indicate that at least some of the migrants came from the area of modern Switzerland. Another example site is Must Farm, near Whittlesey, which has recently been host to the most complete Bronze Age wheel ever to be found. The Beaker culture displayed different behaviours from the earlier Neolithic people, and cultural change was significant. Integration is thought to have been peaceful, as many of the early henge sites were seemingly adopted by the newcomers. The rich Wessex culture developed in southern Britain at this time. Additionally, the climate was deteriorating; where once the weather was warm and dry it became much wetter as the Bronze Age continued, forcing the population away from easily defended sites in the hills and into the fertile valleys. Large livestock farms developed in the lowlands and appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. The Deverel-Rimbury culture began to emerge in the second half of the Middle Bronze Age ( c. 1400–1100 BC) to exploit these conditions. Devon and Cornwall were major sources of tin for much of western Europe and copper was extracted from sites such as the Great Orme mine in northern Wales. Social groups appear to have been tribal but with growing complexity and hierarchies becoming apparent.

text: The burial of the dead (which, until this period, had usually been communal) became more individual. For example, whereas in the Neolithic a large chambered cairn or long barrow housed the dead, Early Bronze Age people buried their dead in individual barrows (also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as tumuli), or sometimes in cists covered with cairns.

text:
The greatest quantities of bronze objects in England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire, where the most important finds were recovered in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces).[70]
Alloying of copper with zinc or tin to make brass or bronze was practised soon after the discovery of copper itself. One copper mine at Great Orme in North Wales, extended to a depth of 70 meters.[71] At Alderley Edge in Cheshire, carbon dates have established mining at around 2280 to 1890 BC (at 95% probability).[72] The earliest identified metalworking site (Sigwells, Somerset) is much later, dated by Globular Urn style pottery to approximately the 12th century BC. The identifiable sherds from over 500 mould fragments included a perfect fit of the hilt of a sword in the Wilburton style held in Somerset County Museum.[73]

text: Ireland[edit]

text: The Bronze Age in Ireland commenced around 2000 BC, when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufacture Ballybeg type flat axes and associated metalwork. The preceding period is known as the Copper Age and is characterised by the production of flat axes, daggers, halberds and awls in copper. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC), Middle Bronze Age (1500–1200 BC), and Late Bronze Age (1200–c. 500 BC). Ireland is also known for a relatively large number of Early Bronze Age burials.

text: One of the characteristic types of artifact of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland is the flat axe. There are five main types of flat axes: Lough Ravel (c. 2200 BC), Ballybeg (c. 2000 BC), Killaha (c. 2000 BC), Ballyvalley (c. 2000–1600 BC), Derryniggin (c. 1600 BC), and a number of metal ingots in the shape of axes.[74]

text: North Europe[edit]

text:
Bronze artifacts

Assorted Celtic bronze castings dating from the Bronze Age.

text: The Bronze Age in Northern Europe spans the entire 2nd millennium BC (Unetice culture, Urnfield culture, Tumulus culture, Terramare culture, Lusatian culture) lasting until c. 600 BC. The Northern Bronze Age was both a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700–500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. It is followed by the Pre-Roman Iron Age.

text: Even though Northern European Bronze Age cultures were relatively late, and came into existence via trade, sites present rich and well-preserved objects made of wool, wood and imported Central European bronze and gold. Many rock carvings depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as stone ships suggest that shipping played an important role. Thousands of rock carvings depict ships, most probably representing sewn plank built canoes for warfare, fishing and trade. These may have a history as far back as the neolithic period and continue into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as shown by the Hjortspring boat. There are many mounds and rock carving sites from the period. Numerous artifacts of bronze and gold are found. No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artifacts.

text: Caucasus[edit]

text: Arsenical bronze artifacts of the Maykop culture in the North Caucasus have been dated around the 4th millennium BC.[75] This innovation resulted in the circulation of arsenical bronze technology over southern and eastern Europe.[76]

text: Pontic–Caspian steppe[edit]

text: The Yamna culture is a Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age culture of the Southern Bug/Dniester/Ural region (the Pontic steppe), dating to the 36th–23rd centuries BC. The name also appears in English as Pit-Grave Culture or Ochre-Grave Culture. The Catacomb culture, c. 2800–2200 BC, comprises several related Early Bronze Age cultures occupying what is presently Ukraine. The Srubna culture was a Late Bronze Age (18th–12th centuries BC) culture. It is a successor to the Yamna and the Poltavka culture.

text: Africa[edit]

text: Sub-Saharan Africa[edit]

text: Iron and copper smelting appeared around the same time in most parts of Africa.[77][78]  As such, most African civilizations outside of Egypt did not experience a distinct Bronze Age. Evidence for iron smelting appears earlier or at the same time as copper smelting in Nigeria c. 900–800 BC, Rwanda and Burundi c. 700–500 BC and Tanzania c. 300 BC.[78][79][80]

text: There is a longstanding debate about whether the development of both copper and iron metallurgy were independently developed in sub-Saharan Africa or were introduced from the outside across the Sahara Desert from North Africa or from the Indian Ocean.[78] Evidence for theories of independent development and for outside introduction are scarce and subject to active scholarly debate.[78] Scholars have suggested that both the relative dearth of archeological research in sub-Saharan Africa as well as long standing prejudices have limited or biased our understanding of pre-historic metallurgy on the continent.[79][81][82] One scholar characterized the state of historical knowledge as such: “To say that the history of metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa is complicated is perhaps an understatement.”[83]

text: Nubia[edit]

text: The Bronze Age in Nubia, started as early as 2300 BC.[84] Copper smelting was introduced by Egyptians to the Nubian city of Meroë, in modern-day Sudan, around 2600 BC.[77] A furnace for bronze casting has been found in Kerma that is dated to 2300–1900 BC.[84]

text: West Africa[edit]

text: Copper smelting took place in West Africa prior to the appearance of iron smelting in the region. Evidence for copper smelting furnaces was found near Agadez, Niger that has been dated as early as 2200 BC.[79] However, evidence for copper production in this region before 1000 BC is debated.[85][77][79] Evidence of copper mining and smelting has been founded at Akjoujt, Mauretania that suggests small scale production c. 800 to 400 BC.[79]

text: Americas[edit]

text: The Moche civilization of South America independently discovered and developed bronze smelting.[86] Bronze technology was developed further by the Incas and used widely both for utilitarian objects and sculpture.[87] A later appearance of limited bronze smelting in West Mexico (see Metallurgy in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica) suggests either contact of that region with Andean cultures or separate discovery of the technology. The Calchaquí people of Northwest Argentina had bronze technology.[88]

text: Trade[edit]

text: Trade and industry played a major role in the development of the ancient Bronze Age civilizations. With artifacts of the Indus Valley Civilization being found in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, it is clear that these civilizations were not only in touch with each other but also trading with each other. Early long-distance trade was limited almost exclusively to luxury goods like spices, textiles and precious metals. Not only did this make cities with ample amounts of these products extremely rich but also led to an inter-mingling of cultures for the first time in history.[89]

text: Trade routes were not only over land but also over water. The first and most extensive trade routes were over rivers such as the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates which led to growth of cities on the banks of these rivers. The domestication of camels at a later time also helped encourage the use of trade routes over land, linking the Indus Valley with the Mediterranean. This further led to towns sprouting up in numbers any and everywhere there was a pit-stop or caravan-to-ship port.


document_title: Muppet Babies

question_text: who does the voice of nanny on muppet babies

root

text: Muppet Babies

text: Overview[edit]

text: The Muppet Babies live in a large nursery watched over by Nanny, who is seen only from the shoulders down. The babies' imaginary games transition from the nursery into scenes that become "real" to the babies, such as finding themselves aboard a pirate ship or in the land of Oz. Often these fantasies are filled with stock footage scenes or live-action clips from popular movies such as Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and Indiana Jones. Each episode contains a related musical number. When the pretend game becomes too perilous, or when an interruption occurs (often in the form of Nanny checking in or the imaginary game straying too far from its original premise), the scene dissolves and they find themselves in the nursery once more.

tag: p

text: The central idea of each episode is the power of imagination. Sometimes the babies use their imagination to solve a problem (when Nanny's newspaper is accidentally ruined, the babies write their own newspaper to replace it), but occasionally their imaginations run away with them (overhearing Nanny's phone call to the garbage collector to help her decide which armchair to donate to charity leads the babies to fear that one of them [which was thought to be Fozzie] is going to be thrown away). Other frequent themes involve the babies coming up with new ways to play with old toys, imagining what life will be like when they are adults, or facing common childhood firsts such as a visit to the dentist or a new addition to the family. Nanny is the voice of reason, congratulating them on their creativity or soothing their fears.

text: Characters[edit]

text: The series stars Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Scooter, Skeeter, Rowlf the Dog, and Gonzo as the main muppets. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker made regular appearances as did Camilla in the form of Gonzo's stuffed baby chick. In the final two seasons, Bean Bunny and Statler and Waldorf began making regular appearances.

text: Several Muppets made guest appearances including Janice as an older preteen, and Kermit's nephew, Robin, a young tadpole.

text: The Muppet Baby character Skeeter, Scooter's twin sister, only appeared in this series, and was never a live-action Muppet. This was done because the producers wanted another female character added to the cast. Despite this, Skeeter was always voiced by a male actor (first Howie Mandel, and later Frank Welker).

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Greg Berg – Baby Fozzie, Baby Scooter, Dr. Julius Strangepork (archive footage, ep. 107)
Barbara Billingsley – Nanny
Dave Coulier (1986–1991) – Baby Animal, Baby Bunsen, Baby Bean Bunny, Baby Janice, Uncle Statler and Waldorf, Camilla (occasionally), Himself (ep. 91)
Katie Leigh – Baby Rowlf, Mrs. Mitchell
Howie Mandel (1984–1985) – Baby Skeeter, Baby Animal, Baby Bunsen
Laurie O'Brien – Baby Piggy
Russi Taylor – Baby Gonzo, Baby Robin, Aunt Fanny, and Camilla (occasionally)
Frank Welker – Baby Kermit, Baby Beaker, Baby Skeeter (1986–1991), Camilla, Irma/Charlie (ep. 12), The Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard (ep. 31), Polly the parrot (ep. 38), Adult Kermit (looped dialogue, ep. 45), Bosko the Snowman (ep. 100)

tag: ul

text: Additional voices and performances[edit]

text:
Jered Barclay -
Bob Bergen - Link Hogthrob (archive footage, ep. 107)
Phillip Clark -
Peter Cullen – Smoggy the Bear (ep. 33), Football-Playing Bear (ep. 33)
Brian Cummings -
Pat Fraley - Announcer
Barry Gordon -
Jim Henson - Dr. Teeth (archive footage, ep. 61), Kermit the Frog (archive footage, ep. 45)
Irv Immerman -
Paul Kirby -
Derek McGrath -
Tony Pope -
Hal Rayle - Miss Piggy (archive footage, ep. 107)
Neilson Ross -
Steve Schatzberg -
Hal Smith -
Bob Towers -

text: Crew[edit]

text: Hank Saroyan – Executive in Charge of Series, Voice Director, Story Editor, Song Producer, Composer

text: Production history[edit]

text: In 1984, The Muppets Take Manhattan, the third full-length Muppet film, debuted. The film included a fantasy sequence in which Miss Piggy imagined what growing up with Kermit would have been like. While Piggy sang, baby versions of Rowlf, Fozzie, Scooter, and Gonzo acted as backup singers. The live-action sequence was so popular that The Jim Henson Company turned the idea into a half-hour cartoon program. In order for 107 episodes to be produced, Henson and Marvel hired two companies: the Japanese-based Toei Animation for Seasons 1–3 and five episodes of Season 4, and the Korean-based AKOM Productions for Episode six of Season 4 through Season 7, both of which also animated G.I. Joe and The Transformers for Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions.

text: Muppet Babies proved highly popular and ran on CBS from 1984 to 1991, a total of seven seasons. At the height of its popularity it ran in two or three episode blocks. Even after the conclusion of the series, it had remained so popular that CBS continued to air reruns of the series until the fall of 1992.

text: For a brief run in the second season, the program became Muppets, Babies & Monsters, and a second half-hour was dedicated to a new show called Jim Henson's Little Muppet Monsters. This show featured live action puppets and cartoons starring the adult Muppet characters. The program lasted three weeks before Jim Henson pulled the plug, despite 18 episodes having been made. The show then reverted to an hour of Muppet Babies; however, a portion of the Little Muppet Monsters theme could still be heard in the show's end credits for the remainder of its run. Muppet Babies later expanded to 90 minutes after CBS pulled The Garbage Pail Kids before it even aired due to controversy.

text: It is noted for starting a trend of relaunching popular cartoon characters as younger versions of themselves. This trend can be seen in numerous TV series such as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Flintstone Kids, Baby Felix, Tiny Toon Adventures (the main characters actually are parodies of the Looney Tunes. The Looney Tunes themselves are their instructors), Tom and Jerry Kids and Jungle Cubs (based on characters from Walt Disney's animated film The Jungle Book) as well as merchandise items such as Baby Snoopy, Baby (Betty) Boop, Disney Babies, Baby Hello Kitty, Care Bear Cubs, and Baby Garfield. In recent years, Baby Looney Tunes, Sesame Beginnings and Baby Mario continued the concept. The show was a critical success during its time on the air: the show won four consecutive Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Animated Program, 1985–88, and won a Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation in 1985.[2]

text: Muppet Babies was voted "Top Cartoon of the Childhood Days" by the Irvin Hall newspaper's weekly review of the Pennsylvania State University in 2007.

text: Syndication[edit]

text: The series entered local syndication in 1989, and ran until 1992. Syndication rights were sold to Nickelodeon (1992–1999) and Odyssey Network (1999–2001).

text: Music[edit]

text: Approximately 100 of the songs were co-written by Alan O'Day and Janis Liebhart, with the exception of the theme song and "Rocket To The Stars" which were written by Hank Saroyan and Rob Walsh, and Dream for Your Inspiration, written by Scott Brownlee. The song that played during the end credits was laughingly titled "Hank in the Box" in deference to Hank Saroyan.

text: Merchandise[edit]

text: In the mid-1980s PVC Muppet Babies toys were available as prizes in McDonald's' Happy Meals. Each non-articulated character came with a wheeled vehicle. Some time later, special Christmas stuffed versions of the Muppet Babies were available in Happy Meals, too.

text: In 1992, after the last aired Muppet Babies episode in 1991, an episode book collection of Muppet Babies was produced from the book company Grolier. It was called The Muppet Babies Press Books. The book talked mostly about character traits and learning for young children. It was produced and ended in 1992.

text: There were two Muppet Babies LP records produced and released on Parker Bros./Columbia records. Both albums were produced by Hank Saroyan and Rob Walsh and featured extended versions of songs from certain Muppet Babies episodes. The first album, "Rocket To The Stars" was also a fully produced stereo story-adventure starring the Muppet Babies characters in which the songs were woven into the all new story written by Saroyan. The second album was strictly more fully produced longer versions of songs from the show.

text: BMG released a CD version of the first album when it bought Henson. The CD was renamed "Rock It To The Stars", likely due to Parker Bros./Columbia records owning the name "Rocket to the Stars".

text: Songs—Rocket To The Stars: Muppet Babies theme, Merry-G0-Round, Sleep Rockin', Dream For Your Inspiration, Good Things Happen in the Dark, Camilla, Rocket To The Stars, Practice Makes Perfect, Be What You Wanna Be, I Can't Help Being a Star, Closing Theme.

text: A second, music only Muppet Babies LP, "Music Is Everywhere" was also produced.

text: Songs: (side one) Music Is Everywhere, Table For One, Wocka Wocka Wocka, Snow White Blues, Wishes Have A Way, Best Friends, Runnin' Out Of Time (side two) We Love Cartoons, Show Us The Real You. Amadogus, Semi-Weirdo, Art Is For Your Heart, Playin' In The City, TV Maniacs.

text: Comics[edit]

text: From 1985 until 1989, Marvel Comics produced a monthly comic book of the Muppet Babies with their Star Comics imprint, drawn by Marie Severin. The series lasted for twenty-six issues. The back-up stories on the last two issues, #25 (May 1989) and #26 (July 1989), were drawn by Nate Butler. In 1992, Harvey Comics acquired the rights to produce Muppet Babies comics and produced a further 3 issues (restarting at issue #1).

text: The Muppet Babies also appeared in Star Comics Digest (also known as Star Comics Magazine). This comic was printed in digest size format, and features a number of reprinted short stories in each issue. The series itself lasted for thirteen issues from 1986 until 1988. It should be noted that the Muppet Babies appeared in some, but not all the issues. Other short stories contained in Star Comics Digest included Madballs, Heathcliff, the Care Bears, and Top Dog.

text: Home media releases[edit]

text: Although not every Muppet Babies episode was released on VHS, a number of them were released between 1993 and 1995.[citation needed] One series released on VHS called "Yes I Can" included three videos, which featured two Muppet Babies episodes inside. The series focused on Robin the Frog, who asks his uncle Kermit for assistance in different chores he was struggling with such as cleaning his room or doing homework. Kermit would lead off into a Muppet Babies episode which told of a similar situation. Sometimes, he would give examples about achieving Robin's trouble. For example, in one Yes I Can video, Robin is worried about making new friends, and Kermit tells him that sharing is an example of having a good friendship, which leads directly to a Muppet Babies episode.

text: There have been no plans announced of any DVD releases of Muppet Babies. One possible reason is that clips from other TV shows and movies (such as Star Trek, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, The $25,000 Pyramid, Raiders of the Lost Ark and *batteries not included) were used extensively in imagination sequences, closet opening scenes, and scenes on the TV in the nursery and thus could pose difficulties in terms of resolving possible copyright issues.[citation needed] In 2003, four episodes were made available, in uncut form, as bonus DVDs with 10-inch Muppet Babies plush toys, The Daily Muppet, Eight Take Away One Equals Panic, Piggy's Hyper-Activity Book, and Gonzo's Video Show.[citation needed]

text: Distribution[edit]

text:
United States: Kids Klassics, Jim Henson Video, Muppet Home Video, Sony Wonder (Video Buddy releases), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
United Kingdom: Children's Video Library, Palace Video, Buena Vista Home Video, Columbia Tristar Home Video, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Australia/New Zealand: Communications and Entertainment Limited, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

text: VHS release[edit]

text: There are 18 VHS releases in all

text: U.S. 1st Releases (4):

text:
Muppet Babies: Be My Valentine

Episode 407: My Muppet Valentine

Muppet Babies: Explore With Us

Episode 610: The New Adventures of Kermo Polo
Episode 801: The Transcontinental Whoo-Whoo

Muppet Babies: Time to Play

Episode 708: Muppet Babies: The Next Generation
Episode 502: Beauty and the Schnoz

Muppet Babies: Let's Build

Episode 603: Six-to-Eight Weeks
Episode 808: Eight Flags Over the Nursery

text: 'U.S. 2nd releases 'Yes I Can' Release (3):

text:
Muppet Babies: Yes I Can Learn

Episode 306: Kermit Goes to Washington
Episode 805: Nice to Have Gnome You

Muppet Babies: Yes I Can Help

Episode 113: Good, Clean Fun
Episode 802: Get Me to the Perch on Time

Muppet Babies: Yes I Can Be A Friend

Episode 204: The Great Cookie Robbery
Episode 301: Pigerella

text: McDonald's Releases (4):

text:
Episode 308: The Daily Muppet
Episode 207: I Want My Muppet TV! and Episode 110: Gonzo's Video Show
Episode 206: Snow White and the Seven Muppets
Episode 210: The Great Muppet Cartoon Show

text: Video Buddy Interactive Releases (3)

text:
Episode 105: Scooter's Hidden Talent
Episode 108: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
Episode 209: What's New at the Zoo?

text: UK Releases (2) (works on any VCR):

text: Muppet Babies: Close Encounters of the Frog Kind and Dental Hyjinks

text: Episode 109: Close Encounters of the Frog Kind Episode 102: Dental Hyjinks

text: Muppet Babies: Gonzo's Video Show and Noisy Neighbors

text: Episode 110: Gonzo's Video Show Episode 101: Noisy Neighbors

text: Australia Releases (2) (works on any VCR):

text: Muppet Babies: I Want My Muppet T.V 1985, Snow White and the Seven Muppets, Once Upon an Egg Timer

text: Episode 207: I Want My Muppet TV! Episode 206: Snow White and the Seven Muppets Episode 201: Once Upon an Egg Timer

text: Muppet Babies: Muppet Babies: Raiders of the Lost Muppet, Dental Hyjinks

text: Episode 104: Raiders of the Lost Muppet Episode 102: Dental Hyjinks

text: Total 25 VHS Release Episodes in order:

text:
Episode 101: Noisy Neighbors
Episode 102: Dental Hyjinks
Episode 104: Raiders of the Lost Muppet
Episode 105: Scooter's Hidden Talent
Episode 108: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
Episode 110: Gonzo's Video Show
Episode 113: Good, Clean Fun
Episode 201: Once Upon an Egg Timer
Episode 204: The Great Cookie Robbery
Episode 206: Snow White and the Seven Muppets
Episode 207: I Want My Muppet TV!
Episode 209: What's New at the Zoo?
Episode 210: The Great Muppet Cartoon Show
Episode 301: Pigerella
Episode 306: Kermit Goes to Washington
Episode 308: The Daily Muppet
Episode 407: My Muppet Valentine
Episode 502: Beauty and the Schnoz
Episode 603: Six-to-Eight Weeks
Episode 610: The New Adventures of Kermo Polo
Episode 708: Muppet Babies: The Next Generation
Episode 801: The Transcontinental Whoo-Whoo
Episode 802: Get Me to the Perch on Time
Episode 805: Nice to Have Gnome You
Episode 808: Eight Flags Over the Nursery

text: Other appearances[edit]

text: Baby Kermit, Piggy, and Gonzo made small appearances in the drug prevention TV special (later released on home video) Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990). When the rest of the characters met the cats, Murray Hare, and the rest of the characters that they sang from Jefferson Starship and more of the songs from Muppet Babies - Out of this Rockin' Town World.

text: A live-action version of all the characters except Skeeter also appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) in the form of a home movie, which the adult Muppets watched during the Christmas Party. The segment was cut out of the home video releases because the rights to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" could not be obtained.

text: Skeeter in her adult form was featured in the "Family Reunions" issues of The Muppet Show comics.

text: Cameos[edit]

text:
In the film Eye for an Eye (1996), Sally Field's daughter is seen watching an episode of Muppet Babies.
In an episode of Robot Chicken, "Schindler's Bucket List" (2011), we learn what happened to Skeeter from Muppet Babies when she comes back from the grave to kill the other Muppets.

text: Reception[edit]

text: In January 2009, IGN named Jim Henson's Muppet Babies as the 31st best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows.[3]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Won award for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (presented to Margaret Loesch, Lee Gunther, Jim Henson, Bob Richardson, Hank Saroyan, John Gibbs and Jeffrey Scott)
Won award for Outstanding Film Sound Editing (presented to Richard C. Allen, Robert T. Gillis, Richard Bruce Elliott, Michael L. DePatie, Michael Tomack and Ron Fedele) (1985)
Nominated for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition (Robert J. Walsh)
Nominated for Outstanding Film Sound Editing (Robert T. Gillis, Allison Cobb, Michael Tomack, Michael L. DePatie, Ron Fedele, Richard Bruce Elliott, and Richard C. Allen)
Won award for Outstanding Animated Program (presented to Jim Henson, Margaret Loesch, Lee Gunther, Bob Richardson, John Gibbs and Jeffrey Scott) (1986)
Nominated for Outstanding Film Sound Mixing (Bill Thiederman, Bob Minkler and Lee Minkler) (1986)
Won award for Outstanding Animated Program (presented to Jim Henson, Margaret Loesch, Lee Gunther, Bob Richardson, Robert Shellhorn and Jeffrey Scott) (1987)
Won award for Outstanding Animated Program (presented to Margaret Loesch, Lee Gunther, Jim Henson, Bob Richardson, John Ahern and Robert Shellhorn) (1988)
Won award for Outstanding Film Sound Editing (presented to Al Breitenbach, Ron Fedele, Richard C. Allen, Steven D. Williams and Kenneth R. Burton)
Won award for Outstanding Film Sound Mixing (presented to Jeffrey J. Haboush and Greg P. Russell)
Nominated for Outstanding Animated Program (presented to Margaret Loesch, Jim Henson, Bob Richardson, John Ahern, Karen Peterson, Rudy Cataldi, Al Kouzel, Chuck Downs, Hank Saroyan, Sindy McKay and Larry Swerdlove)
Nominated for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series (Barbara Billingsley) (1989)
Nominated for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series (Barbara Billingsley) (1990)

text: 2018 reboot[edit]

text: A reboot of the series premiered on Disney Junior on March 23, 2018.[5] As opposed to the traditional animation of the original show the reboot instead uses CGI, but still will be targeted to children ages 4–7 with each episode consisting of two 11-minute stories. Disney Junior, Disney Consumier Products and Interactive Media’s Content & Media group, and The Muppets Studio are co-producing the show. Tom Warburton, creator of Cartoon Network's Codename: Kids Next Door, will serve as the executive producer while former SpongeBob SquarePants writer Eric Shaw will serve as the story editor.[6]


document_title: Great Pyramid of Giza

question_text: who was buried in the great pyramid of giza

text: Great Pyramid of Giza

text: History and description

text: Egyptologists believe the pyramid was built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (often Hellenized as "Cheops") and was constructed over a 20-year period. Khufu's vizier, Hemiunu (also called Hemon) is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid.[2] It is thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian Royal cubits tall (146.5 metres (480.6 ft)), but with erosion and absence of its pyramidion, its present height is 138.8 metres (455.4 ft). Each base side was 440 cubits, 230.4 metres (755.9 ft) long. The mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes. The volume, including an internal hillock, is roughly 2,500,000 cubic metres (88,000,000 cu ft).[3]

text: Based on these estimates, building the pyramid in 20 years would involve installing approximately 800 tonnes of stone every day. Additionally, since it consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the building in 20 years would involve moving an average of more than 12 of the blocks into place each hour, day and night. The first precision measurements of the pyramid were made by Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie in 1880–82 and published as The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh.[4] Almost all reports are based on his measurements. Many of the casing-stones and inner chamber blocks of the Great Pyramid fit together with extremely high precision. Based on measurements taken on the north-eastern casing stones, the mean opening of the joints is only 0.5 millimetre wide (1/50 of an inch).[5]

text: The pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years,[6] unsurpassed until the 160-metre-tall (520 ft) spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid's workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only 58 millimetres in length.[7] The base is horizontal and flat to within ±15 mm (0.6 in).[8] The sides of the square base are closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within four minutes of arc)[9] based on true north, not magnetic north,[10] and the finished base was squared to a mean corner error of only 12 seconds of arc.[11]

text: The completed design dimensions, as suggested by Petrie's survey and subsequent studies, are estimated to have originally been 280 Egyptian Royal cubits high by 440 cubits long at each of the four sides of its base. The ratio of the perimeter to height of 1760/280 Egyptian Royal cubits equates to 2π to an accuracy of better than 0.05% (corresponding to the well-known approximation of π as 22/7). Some Egyptologists consider this to have been the result of deliberate design proportion. Verner wrote, "We can conclude that although the ancient Egyptians could not precisely define the value of π, in practice they used it".[12] Petrie, author of Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh concluded: "but these relations of areas and of circular ratio are so systematic that we should grant that they were in the builder's design".[13] Others have argued that the Ancient Egyptians had no concept of pi and would not have thought to encode it in their monuments. They believe that the observed pyramid slope may be based on a simple seked slope choice alone, with no regard to the overall size and proportions of the finished building.[14] In 2013, rolls of papyrus called the Diary of Merer were discovered written by some of those who delivered limestone and other construction materials from Tora to Giza.[15]

text: Materials

text: The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks which most believe to have been transported from nearby quarries. The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the "King's" chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported from Aswan, more than 800 km (500 mi) away. Traditionally,[clarification needed] ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering into them wooden wedges, which were then soaked with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, causing the rock to crack. Once they were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid.[16] It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.[17]

text: Casing stones

text: At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced by white "casing stones" – slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished white limestone. These were carefully cut to what is approximately a face slope with a seked of 5½ palms to give the required dimensions. Visibly, all that remains is the underlying stepped core structure seen today. In AD 1303, a massive earthquake loosened many of the outer casing stones, which were then carted away by Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan in 1356 to build mosques and fortresses in nearby Cairo. Many more casing stones were removed from the great pyramids by Muhammad Ali Pasha in the early 19th century to build the upper portion of his Alabaster Mosque in Cairo, not far from Giza. These limestone casings can still be seen as parts of these structures. Later explorers reported massive piles of rubble at the base of the pyramids left over from the continuing collapse of the casing stones, which were subsequently cleared away during continuing excavations of the site.

text: Nevertheless, a few of the casing stones from the lowest course can be seen to this day in situ around the base of the Great Pyramid, and display the same workmanship and precision that has been reported for centuries. Petrie also found a different orientation in the core and in the casing measuring 193 centimetres ± 25 centimetres. He suggested a redetermination of north was made after the construction of the core, but a mistake was made, and the casing was built with a different orientation.[4] Petrie related the precision of the casing stones as to being "equal to opticians' work of the present day, but on a scale of acres" and "to place such stones in exact contact would be careful work; but to do so with cement in the joints seems almost impossible".[19] It has been suggested it was the mortar (Petrie's "cement") that made this seemingly impossible task possible, providing a level bed, which enabled the masons to set the stones exactly.[20][21]

text: Construction theories

text: Many alternative, often contradictory, theories have been proposed regarding the pyramid's construction techniques.[22] Many disagree on whether the blocks were dragged, lifted, or even rolled into place. The Greeks believed that slave labour was used, but modern discoveries made at nearby workers' camps associated with construction at Giza suggest that it was built instead by tens of thousands of skilled workers. Verner posited that the labour was organized into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 100,000 men, divided into five zaa or phyle of 20,000 men each, which may have been further divided according to the skills of the workers.[23]

text: One mystery of the pyramid's construction is its planning. John Romer suggests that they used the same method that had been used for earlier and later constructions, laying out parts of the plan on the ground at a 1-to-1 scale. He writes that "such a working diagram would also serve to generate the architecture of the pyramid with precision unmatched by any other means".[24] He also argues for a 14-year time-span for its construction.[25] A modern construction management study, in association with Mark Lehner and other Egyptologists, estimated that the total project required an average workforce of about 14,500 people and a peak workforce of roughly 40,000. Without the use of pulleys, wheels, or iron tools, they used critical path analysis methods, which suggest that the Great Pyramid was completed from start to finish in approximately 10 years.[26]

text: Interior

text: The original entrance to the Great Pyramid is on the north, 17 metres (56 ft) vertically above ground level and 7.29 metres (23.9 ft) east of the centre line of the pyramid. From this original entrance, there is a Descending Passage 0.96 metres (3.1 ft) high and 1.04 metres (3.4 ft) wide, which goes down at an angle of 26° 31'23" through the masonry of the pyramid and then into the bedrock beneath it. After 105.23 metres (345.2 ft), the passage becomes level and continues for an additional 8.84 metres (29.0 ft) to the lower Chamber, which appears not to have been finished. There is a continuation of the horizontal passage in the south wall of the lower chamber; there is also a pit dug in the floor of the chamber. Some Egyptologists suggest that this Lower Chamber was intended to be the original burial chamber, but Pharaoh Khufu later changed his mind and wanted it to be higher up in the pyramid.[27]

text: 28.2 metres (93 ft) from the entrance is a square hole in the roof of the Descending Passage. Originally concealed with a slab of stone, this is the beginning of the Ascending Passage. The Ascending Passage is 39.3 metres (129 ft) long, as wide and high as the Descending Passage and slopes up at almost precisely the same angle to reach the Grand Gallery. The lower end of the Ascending Passage is closed by three huge blocks of granite, each about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long. One must use the Robbers' Tunnel (see below) to access the Ascending Passage. At the start of the Grand Gallery on the right-hand side there is a hole cut in the wall. This is the start of a vertical shaft which follows an irregular path through the masonry of the pyramid to join the Descending Passage. Also at the start of the Grand Gallery there is the Horizontal Passage leading to the "Queen's Chamber". The passage is 1.1m (3'8") high for most of its length, but near the chamber there is a step in the floor, after which the passage is 1.73 metres (5.7 ft) high.

text: Queen's Chamber

text: The "Queen's Chamber"[1] is exactly halfway between the north and south faces of the pyramid and measures 5.75 metres (18.9 ft) north to south, 5.23 metres (17.2 ft) east to west, and has a pointed roof with an apex 6.23 metres (20.4 ft) above the floor. At the eastern end of the chamber there is a niche 4.67 metres (15.3 ft) high. The original depth of the niche was 1.04 metres (3.4 ft), but has since been deepened by treasure hunters.[28]

text: In the north and south walls of the Queen's Chamber there are shafts, which, unlike those in the King's Chamber that immediately slope upwards (see below), are horizontal for around 2 m (6.6 ft) before sloping upwards. The horizontal distance was cut in 1872 by a British engineer, Waynman Dixon, who believed a shaft similar to those in the King's Chamber must also exist. He was proved right, but because the shafts are not connected to the outer faces of the pyramid or the Queen's Chamber, their purpose is unknown. At the end of one of his shafts, Dixon discovered a ball of black diorite (a type of rock) and a bronze implement of unknown purpose. Both objects are currently in the British Museum.[29]

text: The shafts in the Queen's Chamber were explored in 1993 by the German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink using a crawler robot he designed, Upuaut 2. After a climb of 65 m (213 ft),[30] he discovered that one of the shafts was blocked by limestone "doors" with two eroded copper "handles". Some years later the National Geographic Society created a similar robot which, in September 2002, drilled a small hole in the southern door, only to find another door behind it.[31] The northern passage, which was difficult to navigate because of twists and turns, was also found to be blocked by a door.[32]

text: Research continued in 2011 with the Djedi Project. Realizing the problem was that the National Geographic Society's camera was only able to see straight ahead of it, they instead used a fibre-optic "micro snake camera" that could see around corners. With this they were able to penetrate the first door of the southern shaft through the hole drilled in 2002, and view all the sides of the small chamber behind it. They discovered hieroglyphs written in red paint. They were also able to scrutinize the inside of the two copper "handles" embedded in the door, and they now believe them to be for decorative purposes. They also found the reverse side of the "door" to be finished and polished, which suggests that it was not put there just to block the shaft from debris, but rather for a more specific reason.[33]

text: Grand Gallery

text: The Grand Gallery continues the slope of the Ascending Passage, but is 8.6 metres (28 ft) high and 46.68 metres (153.1 ft) long. At the base it is 2.06 metres (6.8 ft) wide, but after 2.29 metres (7.5 ft) the blocks of stone in the walls are corbelled inwards by 7.6 centimetres (3.0 in) on each side. There are seven of these steps, so, at the top, the Grand Gallery is only 1.04 metres (3.4 ft) wide. It is roofed by slabs of stone laid at a slightly steeper angle than the floor of the gallery, so that each stone fits into a slot cut in the top of the gallery like the teeth of a ratchet. The purpose was to have each block supported by the wall of the Gallery, rather than resting on the block beneath it, in order to prevent cumulative pressure.[34]

text: At the upper end of the Gallery on the right-hand side there is a hole near the roof that opens into a short tunnel by which access can be gained to the lowest of the Relieving Chambers. The other Relieving Chambers were discovered in 1837–1838 by Colonel Howard Vyse and J. S. Perring, who dug tunnels upwards using blasting powder.

text: The floor of the Grand Gallery consists of a shelf or step on either side, 51 centimetres (20 in) wide, leaving a lower ramp 1.04 metres (3.4 ft) wide between them. In the shelves there are 54 slots, 27 on each side matched by vertical and horizontal slots in the walls of the Gallery. These form a cross shape that rises out of the slot in the shelf. The purpose of these slots is not known, but the central gutter in the floor of the Gallery, which is the same width as the Ascending Passage, has led to speculation that the blocking stones were stored in the Grand Gallery and the slots held wooden beams to restrain them from sliding down the passage.[35] This, in turn, has led to the proposal that originally many more than 3 blocking stones were intended, to completely fill the Ascending Passage.[citation needed]

text: At the top of the Grand Gallery, there is a step giving onto a horizontal passage some metres long and approximately 1.02 metres (3.3 ft) in height and width, in which can be detected four slots, three of which were probably intended to hold granite portcullises. Fragments of granite found by Petrie in the Descending Passage may have come from these now-vanished doors.

text: In 2017, scientists from the Scan Pyramids Project discovered a large cavity above the Grand Gallery, using muon radiography that can detect cosmic rays. Its length is at least 30 metres (98 ft) and its cross-section is similar to that of the Grand Gallery. It was detected using three different technologies: nuclear emulsion films, scintillator hodoscopes, and gas detectors.[36][37] The purpose of the cavity is not known and it is not accessible but according to Zahi Hawass it may have been a gap used in the construction of the Grand Gallery.[38] The Japanese research team disputes this, however, saying that the huge void is completely different from the construction spaces previously identified.[39]

text: King's Chamber

text: The "King's Chamber"[1] is 20 Egyptian Royal cubits or 10.47 metres (34.4 ft) from east to west and 10 cubits or 5.234 metres (17.17 ft) north to south. It has a flat roof 11 cubits and 5 digits or 5.852 metres (19 feet 2 inch) above the floor. 0.91 m (3.0 ft) above the floor there are two narrow shafts in the north and south walls (one is now filled by an extractor fan in an attempt to circulate air inside the pyramid). The purpose of these shafts is not clear: they appear to be aligned towards stars or areas of the northern and southern skies, yet one of them follows a dog-leg course through the masonry, indicating no intention to directly sight stars through them. They were long believed by Egyptologists to be "air shafts" for ventilation, but this idea has now been widely abandoned in favour of the shafts serving a ritualistic purpose associated with the ascension of the king’s spirit to the heavens.[40]

text: The King's Chamber is entirely faced with granite. Above the roof, which is formed of nine slabs of stone weighing in total about 400 tons, are five compartments known as Relieving Chambers. The first four, like the King's Chamber, have flat roofs formed by the floor of the chamber above, but the final chamber has a pointed roof. Vyse suspected the presence of upper chambers when he found that he could push a long reed through a crack in the ceiling of the first chamber. From lower to upper, the chambers are known as "Davison's Chamber", "Wellington's Chamber", "Nelson's Chamber", "Lady Arbuthnot's Chamber", and "Campbell's Chamber". It is believed that the compartments were intended to safeguard the King's Chamber from the possibility of a roof collapsing under the weight of stone above the Chamber. As the chambers were not intended to be seen, they were not finished in any way and a few of the stones still retain masons' marks painted on them. One of the stones in Campbell's Chamber bears a mark, apparently the name of a work gang.[41][42]

text: The only object in the King's Chamber is a rectangular granite sarcophagus, one corner of which is broken. The sarcophagus is slightly larger than the Ascending Passage, which indicates that it must have been placed in the Chamber before the roof was put in place. Unlike the fine masonry of the walls of the Chamber, the sarcophagus is roughly finished, with saw-marks visible in several places. This is in contrast with the finely finished and decorated sarcophagi found in other pyramids of the same period. Petrie suggested that such a sarcophagus was intended but was lost in the river on the way north from Aswan and a hurriedly made replacement was used instead.

text: Modern entrance

text: Today tourists enter the Great Pyramid via the Robbers' Tunnel, a tunnel purportedly created around AD 820 by Caliph al-Ma'mun's workmen using a battering ram.[43] The tunnel is cut straight through the masonry of the pyramid for approximately 27 metres (89 ft), then turns sharply left to encounter the blocking stones in the Ascending Passage. It is believed that their efforts dislodged the stone fitted in the ceiling of the Descending Passage to hide the entrance to the Ascending Passage and it was the noise of that stone falling and then sliding down the Descending Passage, which alerted them to the need to turn left. Unable to remove these stones, however, the workmen tunnelled up beside them through the softer limestone of the Pyramid until they reached the Ascending Passage. It is possible to enter the Descending Passage from this point, but access is usually forbidden.[44]

text: Pyramid complex

text: The Great Pyramid is surrounded by a complex of several buildings including small pyramids. The Pyramid Temple, which stood on the east side of the pyramid and measured 52.2 metres (171 ft) north to south and 40 metres (130 ft) east to west, has almost entirely disappeared apart from the black basalt paving. There are only a few remnants of the causeway which linked the pyramid with the valley and the Valley Temple. The Valley Temple is buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; basalt paving and limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated.[45][46] The basalt blocks show "clear evidence" of having been cut with some kind of saw with an estimated cutting blade of 15 feet (4.6 m) in length, capable of cutting at a rate of 1.5 inches (38 mm) per minute. John Romer suggests that this "super saw" may have had copper teeth and weighed up to 300 pounds (140 kg). He theorizes that such a saw could have been attached to a wooden trestle and possibly used in conjunction with vegetable oil, cutting sand, emery or pounded quartz to cut the blocks, which would have required the labour of at least a dozen men to operate it.[47]

text: On the south side are the subsidiary pyramids, popularly known as the Queens' Pyramids. Three remain standing to nearly full height but the fourth was so ruined that its existence was not suspected until the recent discovery of the first course of stones and the remains of the capstone. Hidden beneath the paving around the pyramid was the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I, sister-wife of Sneferu and mother of Khufu. Discovered by accident by the Reisner expedition, the burial was intact, though the carefully sealed coffin proved to be empty.

text: The Giza pyramid complex, which includes among other structures the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, is surrounded by a cyclopean stone wall, the Wall of the Crow. Mark Lehner has discovered a worker's town outside of the wall, otherwise known as "The Lost City", dated by pottery styles, seal impressions, and stratigraphy to have been constructed and occupied sometime during the reigns of Khafre (2520–2494 BC) and Menkaure (2490–2472 BC).[48][49] Recent discoveries by Mark Lehner and his team at the town and nearby, including what appears to have been a thriving port, suggest the town and associated living quarters consisting of barracks called "galleries" may not have been for the pyramid workers after all, but rather for the soldiers and sailors who utilized the port. In light of this new discovery, as to where then the pyramid workers may have lived, Lehner now suggests the alternative possibility they may have camped on the ramps he believes were used to construct the pyramids or possibly at nearby quarries.[50]

text: In the early 1970s, the Australian archaeologist Karl Kromer excavated a mound in the South Field of the plateau. This mound contained artefacts including mudbrick seals of Khufu, which he identified with an artisans' settlement.[51] Mudbrick buildings just south of Khufu's Valley Temple contained mud sealings of Khufu and have been suggested to be a settlement serving the cult of Khufu after his death.[52] A worker's cemetery used at least between Khufu's reign and the end of the Fifth Dynasty was discovered south of the Wall of the Crow by Zahi Hawass in 1990.[53]

text: Boats

text: There are three boat-shaped pits around the pyramid, of a size and shape to have held complete boats, though so shallow that any superstructure, if there ever was one, must have been removed or disassembled. In May 1954, the Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh discovered a fourth pit, a long, narrow rectangle, still covered with slabs of stone weighing up to 15 tons. Inside were 1,224 pieces of wood, the longest 23 metres (75 ft) long, the shortest 10 centimetres (0.33 ft). These were entrusted to a boat builder, Haj Ahmed Yusuf, who worked out how the pieces fit together. The entire process, including conservation and straightening of the warped wood, took fourteen years.

text: The result is a cedar-wood boat 43.6 metres (143 ft) long, its timbers held together by ropes, which is currently housed in a special boat-shaped, air-conditioned museum beside the pyramid. During construction of this museum, which stands above the boat pit, a second sealed boat pit was discovered. It was deliberately left unopened until 2011 when excavation began on the boat.[54]

text: Looting

text: Although succeeding pyramids were smaller, pyramid-building continued until the end of the Middle Kingdom. However, as authors Brier and Hobbs claim, "all the pyramids were robbed" by the New Kingdom, when the construction of royal tombs in a desert valley, now known as the Valley of the Kings, began.[55][56] Joyce Tyldesley states that the Great Pyramid itself "is known to have been opened and emptied by the Middle Kingdom", before the Arab caliph Abdullah al-Mamun entered the pyramid around AD 820.[43]

text: I. E. S. Edwards discusses Strabo's mention that the pyramid "a little way up one side has a stone that may be taken out, which being raised up there is a sloping passage to the foundations". Edwards suggested that the pyramid was entered by robbers after the end of the Old Kingdom and sealed and then reopened more than once until Strabo's door was added. He adds: "If this highly speculative surmise be correct, it is also necessary to assume either that the existence of the door was forgotten or that the entrance was again blocked with facing stones", in order to explain why al-Ma'mun could not find the entrance.[57]

text: He also discusses a story told by Herodotus. Herodotus visited Egypt in the 5th century BC and recounts a story that he was told concerning vaults under the pyramid built on an island where the body of Cheops lies. Edwards notes that the pyramid had "almost certainly been opened and its contents plundered long before the time of Herodotus" and that it might have been closed again during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt when other monuments were restored. He suggests that the story told to Herodotus could have been the result of almost two centuries of telling and retelling by Pyramid guides.[58]