The Great Pyramid stood as the tallest structure on Earth for nearly 4,000 years
The only Ancient Wonder still standing also held the height record longer than any building since.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the last survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — the other six are long gone. Built around 2600 BCE as the tomb of the pharaoh Khufu, it was completed in roughly two and a half decades using millions of limestone blocks.
When finished it rose about 147 metres (482 feet), and it remained the tallest human-made structure on the planet for nearly 3,800 years, until medieval European cathedrals finally surpassed it.
No building stood taller for almost four millennia — a record no modern skyscraper comes close to matching in duration.
Today it measures around 137 metres, because its polished white limestone casing was stripped away over the centuries, leaving the rougher core stones you see now.
Sources & references
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