Saturday February 12…

Today we visited the pyramids on the Giza Plateau – first the Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops, which is the largest in Egypt and was completed around 2570BC. It’s around 137m high. The second smaller pyramid is the burial place of Khufu’s son Khafre, which still has at the top the limestone casing. It’s 136m high. The third is the pyramid of Menkaure, which is small, only 62mh high! Originally all three were clad in polished white limestone, and they must have gleamed like crystals in the desert. Around the pyramids are several smaller pyramids which are the tombs of Kufu’s wives and sisters. Before the Suez Canal was built, the Nile flowed in front of the pyramids, and the mummy of the pharaoh was brought from the temple to the pyramid in solar barques, which were then buried near the pyramid to transport the pharaoh in the next world.
Next stop was the Sphinx. It was carved from the natural rock at the base of the pyramid of Khafre when they found that the rock could not be removed, and is thought to portray the pharaoh. In Arabic, the Sphinx is known as Abu al-Hol, or the Father of Terror! The nose was hammered off (allegedly) by Napoleon’s soldiers, while the fallen beard was carted off and is now in the British Museum.
After Giza, we went to the pyramids at Saqqara. This is the major cemetery of Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt, and was an active burial ground for 3500 years. Old Kingdom pharaohs were buried in the 11 major pyramids of Saqqara, and their subjects in hundreds of smaller tombs in the complex. Most of this was buried in sand until the mid 19th century, and it is slowly being uncovered. Very slowly! The main pyramid is the Step Pyramid of Zoser, which is the oldest pyramid in the world. It was built around 2650BC. Next on to Memphis. Hard to believe now, when it is a dirty, dusty little town, this was once a large, beautiful city filled with palaces, gardens and temples. It’s like stepping back into another world, where donkeys and carts are the main forms of transportation, people still wear traditional dress, and basic agriculture is the main way of life. Oh and trying to flog postcard to tourists! Its cemetery runs for 35km, from Dahshur in the south to Giza in the north. The museum here has a fallen statue of Ramses II, which is truly impressive.