Land of the Pharaohs - Day 3: Cairo, Giza

06:30 Wake up call

07:30 Breakfast

08:30 In the car. Today is Sunday, which is a working day in Egypt. The traffic is a LOT more hectic than yesterday. The culture shock seems to have passed, because I'm not silently screaming 'I don't want to die like this!' every ten seconds any more. At one stage, our 4-lane highway crosses another. There is not a single traffic light in sight. There is, however, an utter cacophony of hooting and wild gesticulation. Cars, trucks, buses, donkey-carts, motorcycles, pushbikes and jay-walkers intersect. People change taxis. After several minutes of this, we emerge on the other side. Gouda explains that the traffic system is based on tolerance and respect. There is a lot of tolerance here.

We stare in amazement at the unfinished buildings. They are left that way by design. When a building is completed, tax need to be paid. Therefore the building is never completed.

Half and Half

Gouda has realised why we asked for an extra day in the Egyptian museum to be added to the itinerary and changes his management strategy accordingly. Instead of pleading with us to move on, he tells us how little time we have left and how much we still need to see. And he takes control of the wheelchair. This works. No dawdling, and only a few questions about what he considers to be unimportant pieces. But we want to see everything and read every single cartouche.

On the ground floor, we pick up where we left off yesterday. We look at statues of Tuthmosis III, the stepson of queen Hatsepsut. He was one of the greatest Pharaohs of Egypt, both in terms of strengthening the empire and the building work done in his name, although he did try to delete all traces of Hatsepsut by defacing all her cartouches and statues.

 

Tuthmosis III

Queen Hatsepsut

From there we move on to the colossal statues and busts of Amenhotep IV, a.k.a Akhenaten and the stone carvings of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. They are magnificent. I have seen many pictures of them, over the years, and here I am standing in front of them!! Unbelievable. Gouda tries to convince us of his lineage as he kind of resembles Akhenaten - If you switch the lights and use your imagination big time...

 

 Amenhotep IV, a.k.a Akhenaten a.k.a Gouda Mamdouh

We get a lift up to the second floor. This floor is almost completely dedicated to the treasures found in the tomb of Tuthankamun. Hall upon hall, filled with display cabinets. It is overwhelming. We had all been to see the King Tut exhibitions in London, and thought we knew what to expect. Gouda assured us that we are not as prepared as we think we are. He is correct. (How quickly he has learnt to push our buttons!)

The Pharaohs believed that their earthly goods could accompany them to the afterlife, so they tried to take as much along as possible. Including slaves and pets. Judging by what Tutankamun took along, he must have lived quite well.

We see everything from the combs and mirrors of his wives, to perfume bottles, spoons, weapons, shields, chariots, beds, chairs, thrones, sandals, jewellery and linen. Even the imperial underwear. All of this is accompanied by lessons in reading the hieroglyphic names of the Pharaohs. Very interesting. "nb-khprw-re, t-u-t-ankh-Amun: ‘The Lord of Manifestations is Ra, Living Image of Amun’ – The throne name of King Tut.

 

The boy king, Tutankhamun

One of his thrones.

The highlight of this floor is the treasure room. It holds the personal jewellery of Pharaoh Tuthankamun. He was loaded. We see incredibly fine inlays of gold and precious stones, huge scarab brooches, pectorals, ear-rings and armbands.

Each of his gilded coffins is on display too. We see the same incredibly detailed work in gold and gemstones.

 

A pendant

Udjat, the Eye of Horus

Found inside the final coffin, lying on the chest of the mummy.

Lastly, we see his famous death mask After 3300 years it is still incredibly beautiful.

 

 

PS: None of the pics above are my own. Cameras are not allowed inside the museum. I have found these on the web. They are uncopyrighted and available for everybody's use.


Archaeologists have discovered 119 pyramids in Egypt, and about as many royal tombs carved into mountains or into the bedrock. They were too late. Grave robbers found them first. They took everything of value and left only the heavy stuff. This is why we only have statues and sarcophagi left to look at today.

Tutankamun's tomb is is the only one that has been found intact. Think of all that has been lost! Only a handful of Pharaohs remain with their tombs unaccounted for, Maybe, just maybe, another one could be found intact.

Gouda calls time and we have to leave.

We have lunch in sight of the great pyramids of Giza. A delicious buffet of salads, meats and bread.

Next stop: the Great Pyramids of Giza! Over the Nile and up the escarpment to reach the plateau of Giza, which is absolutely dominated by the imposing bulks of the two great pyramids of Khufu and Khafre. The great pyramid of Khufu is 146.5m high and 230m wide at the base. It contains 2.3 million limestone blocks, each weighing about 3 metric tons. It was built within the 23 years of the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, around 2550 B.C.

To put it in perspective: These pyramids were built about 400 years after Zoser’s pyramid and at about the same time as Stonehenge.

The sun behind the Great Pyramid 

To achieve this, they needed to put one block in position every 3 minutes, for 12 hours a day, 365 days per year, every year for 23 years. These stone blocks are not just stacked up. They are perfectly carved and exactly aligned. Not only that. They had to be quarried, shaped and transported at the same rate.

The sides of the pyramid are exactly aligned to the four directions. The north side faces true north, not magnetic north, to within 1/12 of a degree.

The pyramids pose the question: ‘How was it possible’. There are many completely fruit-loopy theories to answer this question.

My interpretation is that the architects of the pyramids, the mathematicians and priests, specifically wanted that question to be asked. The pyramids are as much a monument to the Pharaoh and the gods as it is to human knowledge and ingenuity.

This interpretation I base on some simple mathematical facts. (Bear with me here). The circumference of the basis of the great pyramid is 230m x 4 = 920m. The height is 146.5m.

Divide the circumference by the height: 920 / 146.5= 6.28.

Looks familiar? It should be. 6.28 = 2 x pi

What the architect has done here is to describe circular geometry in terms of a square and a triangle. This can only be done if your base circumference is exactly right, and the angle of the slope is exactly right. This was no chance event. This pyramid is a temple to mathematics.


We step out on the north side, which is in shadow. From here we walk around to the west side, catching the afternoon sun. Now the character changes. The stone is yellow and the sky is clear blue. Turn around and you see the other great pyramid, that of Khafre. Almost as big and fewer tourists.

Looking back from the Pyramid to Cairo. That's mom in the wheelchair.

Eli on the pyramid, a few rows up.

The sun side.

Tourist policeman. I had to pay him LE10 for the pic!

We have tickets to descend into the tomb chamber of the pyramid of Khafre. 72 steps down a very narrow stairway. Almost on all-fours. Then a short level stretch where one can stand upright, then another 50 steps or so into the tomb chamber. The chamber itself is plain, unadorned and oppressive. I try not to think about the fact that several millions of tons of rock were placed above this chamber by the lowest bidder.

The walls are completely bare. There is a broken sarcophagus to one side and a small light bulb for illumination. I don’t know what to think of this place. It is no resting place for a king. After a few minutes the lack of oxygen, heat and oppressive humidity start to get to us and we head for the exit.

 

The stairs down. At the top is the alternate passageway leading to the 'queen's chamber' (Not my pic)

I could stay here for days to ponder and take it all in, but ‘ponder’ is not on the itinerary. We drive to the ‘panoramic viewpoint’ for a view of the three pyramids, those of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, and several of the smaller ones, built for their wives. In the far distance, lost in the ‘mist’ is Cairo.

 

Happy Campers!

The pyramids of Khufu and Khafre

Khufu, Khefre and Menkaure's pyramids, with tour bus and camels.

The burial complex of Khafre is the only one of the three that still remains. When it was built, there was a channel from the Nile to the outer court of the valley temple, where the body of the Pharaoh was delivered for mummification. This temple remains, well preserved, along with its guardian, the Sphinx.

The temple is clearly a funeral temple: Plain, but functional. This is where the body of Khafre was embalmed before being placed in the pyramid. Macabre as it may sound, the process is was quite similar to how meat is cured today: Wash it out, stuff it full of salt and let it air-dry for 40 days!

The Sphinx was not built. It was carved out of solid rock. It lies between the temple and the pyramid, facing the Nile. Over the millennia, it has suffered from wind erosion, acid rain and cannonballs. During a target practice session in 1789, the French shot away its nose and beard. A restoration effort is under way at the moment.

 

On our way back from the Sphinx we have to pass through the temple again. I stand in awe of the construction. The walls and pillars are constructed from solid granite blocks, the pillars being about 3.5m by 1.8 by 1.8m. Square cut and smooth. The joints between the stones are straight and tight, fitting like a jigsaw. These granite blocks, weighing about 50 tons each, were quarried in Aswan, 800km to the south and brought here by boat. This was done 4500 years ago and it still stands.

 

The inner court. The depressions to the right originally held statues of Khafre. Only one has been found. (Not my pic)

Detail of the joints. (Not my pic)

Khafre.  (Not my pic)

Outside the temple, in the late afternoon sun, I start to understand what it must have looked like 4500 years ago: The Sphinx stares at you, while you raise your eyes to the pyramids that dominate the horizon. The sun slowly sets behind them in the west, the land of the dead.

 Late afternoon

Farewell

By now our feet are aching and our brains can’t take much more in. Despite this, we make one more stop. A papyrus factory. We are given a demonstration of how papyrus sheets are made. Very simple, with an amazing final product. We saw examples of 4000 year old papyrus in the Egyptian museum this morning. One roll, stretching maybe 15 metres, with the writing still as clear as if it was written yesterday. We walk around inside the factory, admiring the modern illustrations done, but my wallet stays firmly in my pocket.

The view from the window, on the way back to the hotel.

18:00. Back at the hotel. Feet up. Sakkara and shisha. Relief!

We discuss the day, but it is slow going. There is so much to digest. One needs time to think and reflect.

We read up about the next part of our trip. Tomorrow morning we leave the smoke behind and head out into the Sahara for 3 days.

Dinner is once again a delicious combination of tabbouleh, baba ganoush, humus, fattouche, and Egyptian bread.

21:10 My hand is going spastic. I can’t write any more. My last Sakkara is almost done. One more drag from the shisha, then to bed.