Around 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (transported from Aswan, 800km away), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar were used to build the Great Pyramid. This mighty stone formed part of an outer layer of fine white limestone that would have made the sides completely smooth.

The pyramids of Giza were originally encased in a layer of fine white Tura limestone, which was meticulously polished until it gleamed like a mirror in the sun. Ancient Egyptian masons used a combination of copper chisels, flint tools, and abrasive sands to achieve this "optical" smoothness. Each casing stone was custom-cut and fitted with such precision that the joints were often less than 0.5mm wide—thinner than a human hair. While the majority of these smooth stones were stripped away in the Middle Ages to build mosques and palaces in Cairo, a small section remains visible at the summit of the Pyramid of Khafre. In 2026, some researchers, such as those at the Geopolymer Institute, also explore the theory that certain blocks may have been "cast" using an early form of limestone concrete, which would explain the supernatural fit. However, the prevailing archaeological consensus remains that they were traditionally quarried, transported by Nile barges, and polished manually to create a seamless, radiant surface.