Sakkara
I made my final visa run of the year last week by going to Egypt. As usual, I only had a few days, not nearly enough to explore a culture as rich as the Egyptians. I flew into Cairo, the world’s 16th largest city with a population of about 20 million. A friend had set me up with a great travel agent,
Harty Tours, and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend them.
These things are really big. That was my first thought when I saw the Pyramids at Giza for the first time. When you think that they were built over 3500 years ago, it’s truly amazing. They were my first stop on my first day and by far the highlight of my three days. The pyramids were built in the 4th Dynasty of Egypt and are the only survivor of the original
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The largest was built for Khufu, or Cheops, and is called the Great Pyramid. It is about 482 feet tall, is made up of about 2.3 million blocks of stone, and weighs about 6 million tons (12 billion pounds)! Like I said, it’s big. The stones used for construction were said to been brought up the Nile from
Aswan and Tura, which is not a small feat in itself. One theory for the construction is that the pyramids were built for only a few months a year when the Nile was flooded and the peasants were unable to work their land. Before the construction of the pyramids, crime was high during this time and this kept the people out of trouble. They were also paid for their labor which helped to build the ancient economy.
The other two pyramids were built for by the sons of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus. The Pyramid of Chephren is the one that looks like it has a cap on it. All of the pyramids originally had a aesthetic stone covering the building blocks but it has completely eroded on the two other pyramids. Out of respect, Pharaoh Chephren built his pyramid about 10 feet shorter than his father, but since it is built on higher ground, it appears taller.
As cool as it was to see the pyramids from the outside, it was even more amazing to see them from the
inside. My guide lucked out and got me one of the 300 tickets they issue when the Great Pyramid is open to the public. The entrance is about 30 feet above the ground. The first hallway you must walk up an incline hunched over for about 300 or 400 feet. This opens up to a much taller shaft that leads to the King’s Chamber, which the pyramid operators have added wood stairs to reach the entrance to the chamber. To enter the King’s Chamber, you again have to stoop over or just crawl for about 10 feet. It opens up to a room 17ft x 34ft and 19 ft high. The most amazing thing about being inside is that the stone blocks line up with each other PERFECTLY! How these 5000 pound blocks were each set with such precision is a mystery.
Right next to the pyramids was a museum for the Pharaoh’s Solar Boats. These boats were included in every tomb to help accompany the soul of the dead on its eternal journey. The boats were discovered in 1954 but unfortunately, one of the boats decomposed while the others were being excavated.
The last stop in Giza was the Sphinx. The Sphinx was built by Chephren and its face is his portrait. It faces the rising sun and was worshiped by the Egyptians as the sun-god and is surrounded by a temple that was only accessible to high priests and the pharaoh. The nose is rumored to have been shot off by Napoleon but more likely was done by a man upset with the local people making offerings to the Sphinx in the 14th century. Or it could have eroded over the last couple thousands of years.
Next was the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo. I had one hour for a museum that houses over 120,000 Egyptian artifacts. It was like going to the Baseball Hall of Fame, seeing the jerseys of
Babe Ruth,
Lou Gerhig, and
Ty Cobb, and then leaving. But that was all the time I had. I did get to see all of the
burial jewelry of King Tut, which was worth the price of admission.
The last stop of the day was the Pyramids Sound and Light show. Seats are set up in front of the Sphinx so the pyramids are in the background. A narrator then tells the history of the pyramids and pharaohs while the Sphinx and pyramids are lit up. The stories are a bit corny but the light show is pretty neat. I tried to take a few pictures but it was the same result when you try to photograph fireworks. This
link has some good photos of the show.
The next day, I got up early to catch a flight to Luxor. It was a lot warmer and less congested than Cairo. Our first stop of the
Valley of the Kings. The kings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasty are buried here. They had a huge problem with grave robbers and wanted a place to protect them as their funerary objects were very important to the after life. Well, I think almost all of the tombs ended up being robber anyway except for one,
King Tutanankamen. The reason is that Tut’s tomb was built down into the mountain instead of up. His was the only tomb left intact. Inside was his sarcophagus and the actual mummy. He was just a little guy but he also died when he was about 20 so maybe he was still growing.
King Tut’s tomb was neat to see because he is the most famous of the pharaohs, but it is not as large or well decorated as the other ones in the Valley of the Kings. The reason is that right after becoming pharaoh, these guys start building there burial chamber. Tut died suddenly at a young age so a burial chamber for him hadn’t been completed. Plus, he had to be buried within 80 days of his death so it was thought that he was buried in the tomb of a nobleman, not a pharaoh, which would explain the size and location.
Different tombs are open on different days so I was also able to see Ramses III, Ramses VI, and Ramses IV. These tombs were decorated from floor to ceiling with carvings and hieroglyphics. It was really amazing to see and imagine the amount of work that went into making the tomb. Pictures weren’t allowed inside the tombs otherwise I would have spend 3 times as long there.
Close to the Valley of the Kings is the AlDeir Al-Bahri Temple built for
Queen Hatshepsut, one of the few women to become pharaoh in ancient Egypt. She was born of royal parents, Tutmosis I and Aahmes. Her two brothers died prematurely but Tutmosis I had a son, Tutmosis II, by a commoner. Rather than have a woman become pharaoh, a man of partial royal lines became king but married his half-sister Hatshepsut. However, he too died early in his life giving Hatshepsut the opportunity to become pharaoh, partially because Tutmosis III, another partially royal son of Tutmosis I. This did not make Tutmosis III very happy and after Queen Hatshepsut died, he defaced many of the monuments erected during her reign.
I met quite a few Egyptians in the shops in Luxor. Each one of them asked where I was from and when I told them I was from Chicago, everyone of them either asked me where I hid my gun or told me they heard Chicago was a dangerous place. I guess Chicago has a bad rap in Egpyt.
I also hit two other temples that day, the
Temple of Karnak and Temple of Luxor. The Temple of Karnak was great because it was so big. I spent a lot of time just wandering around both of them taking pictures.
I flew back to Cairo that night and got up early ready to see more sights. We started off with a few different churches, temples, and mosques the next day. All were very beautiful and ornate but did not compare to what I had seen the previous 2 days. So were set off for
Sakkara, the site of the oldest known pyramid in Egypt. My boss tried to tell me it was more impressive than the Pyramids at Giza but I would argue otherwise.
The oldest surviving pyramid is called the Step Pyramid of Djoser and was built in the 3rd Dynasty for Pharaoh Djoser by the architect
Imhotep. It is not built with the large stones that constructed the Pyramids at Giza but with smaller stones in a series of terrace and is the largest stone building in the world. Another great place to wander around because of all the other buildings and ruins around it. It also provided a great long distance view of Cairo and the pyramids.
After that, my time in Egypt was up. I did a little shopping and left for the airport. Back to Kuwait and work.
The week before I went to Egypt I spent my first Thanksgiving. I had a nice meal of butter chicken with all of the office guys. I sure missed turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. My worst Thanksgiving ever but only because it wasn’t anywhere close to Thanksgiving at my grandparent’s house.
I will be back on US soil in 6 days. I can’t wait. It’s hard to believe I’ve been gone 8 months. Plus I don’t have a winter coat, much less any coat, so it’s going to be a little cold. Hope I get to see all of you that are in the Chicago area. If not, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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