The necropolis at Giza, just south of Cairo, Egypt, were built between 2600 B.C.E. and 2500 B.C.E. The three main pyramids, dedicated to Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, are precisely aligned along their southeast corners.
Here’s an image of the pyramids taken from the international space station (ISS) in 2012. southeast-facing sides of the pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure are all brightly illuminated by the sun, while the northwest facing sides are in shadow.
The pyramids themselves are spaced in such a way that at different, significant times of the year, the setting sun hits the angles of the horizon and the pyramids. For example, at the spring equinox, the sun sets at the very corner of the Pyramid of Khufru.
At the Summer solstice, the sun give us this most-famous image of setting exactly between the two larger pyramids.
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