Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza--Days 3-4

Egypt is a country that is 95 percent desert.  There are 100 million people living in Egypt in the 5 percent of the fertile land along the River Nile that is not desert.

Cairo is the capital of Egypt, with a population of 20 million.  Cairo is where we spend the first few days of our trip, starting with a short drive out to Giza, home of the 3 Great Pyramids and the Sphinx and a look at life some 4,500 years ago.

I wish I could say I took this photo with clear skies and no haze...

internet photo

...but this is how we first saw it.  The haze around Cairo is due to air-pollution caused by vehicles, open-air burning and fine sand blown from the Sahara Desert.

The pyramids are relics of Egypt's Old Kingdom era and were constructed some 4,500 years ago as monumental tombs.  Here is a drawing of the layout of the Giza Pyramid Plateau.

Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project around 2550 B.C. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and towers to a height of 481 feet. It was the tallest man-made structure in the world until the Eiffel Tower was built in 1889.  It is the only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Of course we had to do the typical tourist pose here.

It is estimated the Great Pyramid was built with more than 2 million stone blocks, some weighing as much as 15 tons.  We are able to go inside this pyramid...the entrance is a climb up about 5 rows of blocks.

We were not allowed to take cameras inside the pyramid.  However, some people do and so I have a couple photos taken from the internet to show what we saw.

First, here is a drawing of what the interior of the pyramid holds.

We entered and at first descended a bit and then started climbing up the ascending passage to the Grand Gallery.  It was very easy to bump the head on the top of the passage even though we were stooped over.  I said "ouch" a few times along the way...

These are the steps through the Grand Gallery.  No head bumping here!

And we finally arrived at the King's Chamber.  It was hot and humid inside the pyramid.

Khufu's mummy has never been found. His empty sarcophagus is all that lies inside the Great Pyramid.

It is assumed that, as with all the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, Khufu must have been buried with an amazing treasure.  Egypt's pharaohs expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they built temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves, filled with all the things each ruler would need to guide and sustain himself in the next world.

Next to the Khufu's Great Pyramid is the Solar Boat Museum.

Ancient Egyptians used to bury a "solar barge" near the tomb of their pharaoh because they believe that their ruler needed transportation in the afterlife. In 1954, the parts of a cedar-wood barge were found in five pits near the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The barge was restored and assembled out of 1200 pieces of wood and it is displayed in this museum.

Khufu's son, Pharaoh Khafre, built the second pyramid at Giza around 2520 B.C. His necropolis also included the Sphinx, the carved lion with outstretched paws and the head of a king, most likely himself.  It is ancient Egypt's earliest known monumental sculpture.

It looked small from a distance with the pyramid in the background.  But then we got up close...

...and it was huge!

We drove away from the pyramids for an overview of the area.  We wonder how did the Egyptians ever build these monumental structures some 4,500 years ago.

Evidently it is still under debate.  Even today scientists can't be sure how the pyramids were built. Yet they have learned much about the people who built them from archaeological digs in the area.

The builders were skilled, well-fed Egyptian workers who lived in a nearby temporary city.  It's likely that communities across Egypt contributed workers, as well as food and other essentials, for what became a national project to display the wealth and power of the ancient pharaohs.

Later in our trip we will visit a quarry where the stone blocks originated.  It was miles and miles away from where these pyramids stand.

Here is what the pyramids probably looked like 4500 years ago...

Internet photo from stepfeed.com

The pyramids were originally covered with limestone casing that reflected sunlight and made the pyramids shine like a jewel.  Only a small cap of limestone remains on the Great Pyramid.  Over the years, the limestone finish was removed to be used in various temples built by other pharaohs.

There were groups of children at the pyramids on a field trip from school.  They loved to come over to us, ask our names, and have their photo taken by us or they wanted to take a selfie with us.

That evening our Trip Leader, Tarek, led us for a walk in Medieval Cairo.  We saw ancient minarets,

 ...and domes of several mosques.  Egypt is 90 percent Muslim; 10 percent Jewish and Christian.  The majority of Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, which was the dominant religion in Egypt before Islam.

We wander through the Khan al-Khalili, a maze of narrow alleys filled with shops of glittering gold, colorful silks and spices.

And stop for dinner at a local restaurant.  Here is a look at a typical meal..

It starts with this pita or "puffy" bread...along with dips, usually tahini, hummus, and baba ganouche.

Then there is always soup...mostly lentil or vegetable.

And then the main dish.. cooked vegetables, rice, potatoes, a blend of meat--lamb, beef, or chicken--barbecued on skewers.  The meals were all very good.

The next morning we visited the world-renowned Egyptian Museum, which houses the greatest Egyptian antiquities in the world.  

Here's Terry taking over the duty of rounding up our group of 15 travelers while our Trip Leader purchases our entry tickets.

In the museum there are over 120,000 ancient artifacts.  Here's just a tidbit of what we saw...

Statues of King Khufu's brother and wife.  Remember, King Khufu had the Grand Pyramid built.

Below is a seated scribe from a tomb in Saqqara dated about 2600 B.C.  It is painted limestone with inlaid eyes.

This statue represented King Tutankhamen or more commonly called, King Tut--the boy king who became more famous dead than alive.  It is inside a glass case, thus the reflections.

A highlight was seeing King Tut's burial mask.  No photos were allowed, but somebody got one so here it is from the internet.  It was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 in King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The mask is one of the most well-known works of art in the world.

There was a special exhibit of royal mummies, many unwrapped.  No photos were allowed in that room--and it was kind of creepy--but there were other mummified bodies on exhibit in the museum with a face mask and wrapped in linen bandages.

And again, we were a hit with the kids...

Also in the museum is the Rosetta Stone....no, not the real one, that one is in the British Museum in London.  This is a replica...

The stone was discovered in 1799 by the French and eventually claimed by the British so that's why it is in London.  It was a most important discovery as it was the key to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs.  More about the stone later as we actually visit the place where it was found.  

Under construction is the new Egyptian Museum...at a cost of over 1 billion dollars.  Here is a drawing of what it will look like when finished.  Personally, I think the "real" Rosetta Stone should be returned to Egypt to be on display in this new museum.  

The next morning we take off on a flight to Luxor--it was the capital of Egypt's New Kingdom around 1500 B.C. and was known as Thebes.  It is here where we will visit temples, the Valley of the Kings, and go inside the tombs...even King Tut's!

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