Sun., 1/23/11 - Giza, Memphis, and Sakkara
We were up and on the road early this morning. Our first stop was at Giza to see the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. Giza is only about a half hour west of Cairo and far enough from the Nile that it is all desert. The weather was initially very foggy so our view of the pyramids was not as spectacular as it might have been. It did clear some as the morning wore on. Regardless of the fog, this is a SPECTACULAR place. Links to a Map of Giza and information about the Pyramids.
Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) The Great Pyramid was built by and for Khufu (Cheops), son of Sneferu. It was 480 feet high but the top 30 feet are missing - it is flat at the very top. It was built with about 2,600,000 limestone blocks, some weighing about 17 tons, over a 14-20-year period around 2560 BC.
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Great Pyramid with people waiting to enter. One of the original entrances to the tomb is above the present tourist entrance. |
Keeping things clean |
Just to prove we were really there!
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Sun rising higher, fog clearing on the Great Pyramid
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Mastaba - a rectangular, flat-roofed tomb - this one is at the SE corner of the Great Pyramid |
Queen Hetepheres' tombs to the south of the Great Pyramid
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Behind the Great Pyramid is a museum that houses the reconstructed Nile funerary boat belonging to Khufu and the pit in which it was buried. The pit was dug into the limestone earth and covered with 14 huge stones. The boat was buried dismantled. Restorers carefully removed the 13 layers of Lebanese cedar wood, cleaned and preserved each piece and then reassembled the boat. It is totally amazing that this 4,500-year old boat was all there and the reconstructed boat looks like it could float today.
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Funerary boat of Khufu
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Funerary boat of Khufu |
Funerary boat of Khufu |
Funerary boat of Khufu
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Pyramid of Khafre (middle pyramid)
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Funerary temple of Khafre at the base of his Pyramid |
Pyramid of Mendaure (small pyramid) |
We drove over to the smallest of the three great pyramids and Gale entered it walking down the low, narrow tunnel into the inner chambers and the vault where the sarcophagus would have been if the grave robbers had left anything. There were no decorations on the walls and only the stones that lined the burial chamber were impressive. The ceiling is corbeled and the roof was of inclined flat stones. The trip was more just to give the feeling of entering the inner chamber with all those stones above you. Entry to most pyramids is not allowed or very limited because the moisture from humans (expiration and perspiration) is destructive to any painted walls, etc. We drove to a high spot from which we could see all three pyramids. For $10 we could take a five minute camel ride near the pyramids - we passed on the opportunity having ridden a camel for three hours in Australia (more than enough!).
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Gale emerging from the depths
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The Pyramids of Giza |
Next we drove down to look at the Great Sphinx of Giza. Herodotus, the Greek historian who visited Egypt in the mid-400s BC and wrote descriptions of things in ancient Egypt, named the statue a sphinx from the Greek word meaning, "putting parts together." The face is that of a pharaoh with the body of a lion representing the pharaoh's power. The Great Sphinx was carved from a monolithic rock that was in the direct line from Khafre’s funerary temple to his pyramid (the second).
Great Sphinx of Giza with the Pyramid of Khafre |
Great Sphinx of Giza - the whole world is under construction!
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Great Sphinx of Giza |
Great Sphinx of Giza
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Great Sphinx of Giza - what big feet you have!
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Great Sphinx of Giza - posterior view with people for scale |
"Dream Stela" between the feet of the Great Sphinx
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Link to information about sphinxes in general and the Great Sphinx link 1 and Great Sphinx link 2. |
We ate lunch at a tour bus stop on the way to Memphis. We had mezze (starters) - pickled veggies and grilled veggies with humus and eggplant tahina dips and aish baladi, a type of flatbread baked in a wood burning oven. We then had lamb and chicken kabobs with rice and an orange for dessert. It was our first Egyptian meal and was very much like Turkish food.
There is nothing much left at Memphis, once an ancient capital of Egypt. We looked at an alabaster sphinx that was made from limestone, not real alabaster, and what is left of a statue of Ramses the Great (Ramses II). He is missing some parts but the carving was in good condition. It is an imposing figure.
Alabaster sphinx
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Hieroglyphs on the back of a fake statue of Ramses II |
Hieroglyph – stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound, as found in ancient Egyptian and other writing systems Hieroglyphics – writing consisting of hieroglyphs Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing site
An oblong, or oval, magical rope which was drawn to contain the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics that spelled out the name of a King or Queen. You will see many pictures in hieroglyphs and cartouches as you go through these pictures. Many are tremendously well preserved and very beautiful.
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Statue of Ramses II in the Mit Rahina Museum
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Statue of Ramses II |
One of several Cartouches of Ramses II
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At Sakkara we saw the first pyramid ever built, the Step Pyramid of Zoser (or Djoser, father of Khufu) built by the architect Imhotep (2589 BC). It is really a mastaba built in six layers. A mastaba is a tomb-chapel normally built from mud-brick and having a flat roof. The shaft to the tomb is 190 feet deep beneath the pyramid.
Step Pyramid of Djoser
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Closer view of the brickwork |
Colonnade at the funerary complex of Djoser
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Tomb chamber of Djoser |
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Enjoying the sun!
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From the site of the Step Pyramid we could look south and see the bent pyramid and several smaller pyramids in the distance. The Bent pyramid was a failure and was never used. Its edges bend in at the top. |
Bent pyramid (far left) and Straight Pyramids in Dahshur |
The drive from Giza to Sakkara was through Nile farmland. The fields were small, worked mostly by the entire family and grew cabbage, alfalfa, corn, etc. They use water buffalo instead of oxen in the fields and transport them in the back of pickup trucks. Donkeys and donkey carts are used to transport the harvest and use the same roads as our bus and far too many cars. There are also many date palms lining the fields. Egypt is the third largest exporter of dates behind Afghanistan and Iraq. There are many eucalyptus trees along the roads and many unfinished brick multistoried apartments.
Our last stop was at a carpet school. Since children go to school either in the morning or afternoon (two shifts because there are more children than classrooms), the farm kids are taught to make the double-knotted rugs like what we saw in Turkey. The children work two hours a day and get paid. Three kids work on one loom. It keeps them out of trouble and gives them some money to use.
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Wool
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Small farm plots |
Donkey cart
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