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The Bent Pyramid
This was the most unique and mysterious of the pyramids that I saw. Sadly, it was off limits to tourists.Everything was going exactly how I had planned. I effortlessly breezed through the passport control station - Not really surprising considering that I was in a region that had been on the tourist circuit for over two thousand years. I found my backpack exactly were it was supposed to be on the baggage carousel and I didn’t even get a glance from the customs man as I walked past him, out into the scorching desert heat. I boldly pushed my way past all of the eager taxi drivers that were lined up on the curb vying for my business and then I walked down the entrance road to the airport, following a long line of baggage toting locals. Eventually I found the dusty curb on the big round a bout where I was supposed to catch the bus into town. An overstuffed bus pulled up to the curb and the man at the door beckoned me inside with a big smile, but it was the wrong bus number so I shook my head and waved him on - The fact that the numbers were strangely painted on the side of the bus didn’t seem all that alarming at first. When the
next bus came by with a similarly smiling man at the door I started getting a bit concerned, because the numbers were mixed in with characters that looked remotely familiar, but not recognizable as numbers. It was then that I realized that the numbers I thought I was reading on the side of the buses were not exactly as they seemed!
My mind drifted back to 2003 when I was living in San Diego. I was studying Arabic with a friend that I had met when I replied to a Craigslist post about an Arabic study group. At the time, neither of us had any immediate plans on visiting the Middle East, but we were both intrigued by the language and wanted to learn how to read and understand it. We spent about six months meeting once or twice a week to go over our problems and to try and use our newly acquired language skills. In that time we both learned the Arabic alphabet and numbers, as well as several useful phrases. Our studies were cut short when I found out that I had been accepted into the US Antarctic Program and I never started them up again.
The Robber's Tunnel
This is the entrance to the pyramid of Khufu. I didn’t really retain much from my Arabic studies, but, as I stood there on the curb staring at the strange markings on the buses, forgotten information started to trickle back into my mind. I excitedly took out my phrasebook and found the number section and then the light bulb flashed on in my head. Many of the Arabic symbols for the numbers are similar to the numbers we use in English, which explained why I thought I could read the first bus. However some are similar to different numbers, for instance, the symbol that looks like ‘7’ actually stands for ‘6’ in Arabic and the ‘o’ stands for ‘5’. By the time I came to that revelation I had been standing on the curb for nearly an hour. I quickly studied the new symbols looking up in time to see the number I was looking for! Sadly it was painted on the side of a bus that had just closed its doors and was driving off! I knew better than to hope the bus would stop, but I still waved my arms and shouted for it to stop. I had missed the bus, but at least I learned something!
Blue Egyptian Water Lilies
In the pool in front of the Museum. At that point I scrapped my well-laid plans to take the bus into town and I accepted the next desperate cabbie’s plea - I knew it was a long way into the city center and I suspected that it was going to be expensive, but I didn’t care anymore. We agreed on a price that I though was exorbitant at the time (it was actually absurdly cheap) and then I climbed inside. The man that picked me up spoke little English, so I used the opportunity to brush up on my Arabic. We both laughed hard and frequently as I tried new phrases on him. He was very good-natured and he always corrected me when I messed up, but I was surprised at how well he could understand me. I am not exactly sure how long it took us to get into the city center, but the ride was continuously exciting and occasionally terrifying. The car we were in was an old Japanese car, but few of its original parts remained - My seat resembled a normal seat, but it felt like somebody had stretched a second-hand seat cover over a pile of sharp rocks and sticks. Luckily all
The Egyptian Museum
One of the only pictures allowed at the museum. of the sharp protrusions helped to hold me in place as the driver weaved in and out of the thick traffic like a blind racecar driver, occasionally cutting it so close that I was sure we had hit the other vehicles. Every once in a while he would take his attention off of the obstacle course long enough to point out a building or an interesting sight. My favorite of these was known as the Baron’s Palace and it looked like a reproduction of an ancient Hindu temple. The building was in a sad state of ruin, but the stonework was impressive - Hopefully someone will convert it into a hotel or something, so it doesn’t disappear in the sands of time.
We skidded to a stop at a roadblock manned by several heavily armed police officers. My driver pointed to the giant blue synagogue behind the temporary barrier and made a series of hand motions and grimaces that I interpreted to mean that the police were guarding the synagogue during Ramadan. I handed the driver a stack of crumpled bills and said farewell. I hoisted my backpack onto my back and walked around the roadblock, smiling at the
A Boat Pit
One of the pits at the base of Khufu's pyramid that once contained a boat. guards as I went. They saw the slightly confused look on my face and pointed me into an unmarked alley beside the synagogue where I found a sign for my hostel. I climbed up a spiraling set of stairs several floors to the hostel I was hoping to stay at. As suspected, they had plenty of beds available - Tourists seem to be scared to travel in the Middle East during Ramadan. I got a bed in an empty dorm overlooking the busy street below. I took a quick look around the hostel and then I set off to explore Cairo, Africa’s biggest city.
It felt good to be back in Africa, though it was immediately clear that Egypt had nothing in common with its sub-Saharan neighbors. It was also nice to be back in the Middle East. It had only been two weeks since I had left Turkey, but it seemed so long ago. I had kicked off Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkey) there and I was back in the Islamic world for its conclusion. There were thousands of things I wanted to see and do in and around Cairo, but I only had a few days at my
The Solar Barque
The restored boat in the museum at the base of the Pyramid of Khufu. disposal. That meant that many of the wonderful places in the old parts of the city would have to be missed - One of the many downsides of traveling with a set departure date. It also meant that I didn’t have the luxury of exploring at my own leisure - I had to be on a fairly strict schedule!
When I left the hostel I knew that I didn’t have enough daylight left to do any serious exploring. I decided to spend what remained of the day walking around the city center. I walked past the guards, who were busy rolling up their prayer mats in the alley - They had just finished their afternoon prayers. They all waved at me and said ‘hello’ in a way that suggested it was the only English they knew. I walked to the corner and decided to cross the street. The traffic was crazy and there were no crosswalks or traffic lights. After about five minutes waiting for a break in the traffic it became clear that I wasn’t going to get across the street in a civilized way. I waited for a gap that looked large enough for me to get
A Tourist Trap
Where else in the world would they put the bus parking lot right next to the pyramid? across one of the lanes and I stepped out. I herd the engine of the car in my lane rev up as he pushed the accelerator to the floor and rocketed towards me. It looked like the man in the car wanted to hit me, so I quickly retreated back to the curb prompting a few smiles from the passers by. I decided to stay on the side of the street that I was on and I continued walking.
When I came to the next corner I found a road that was even wider and considerably busier. My prospects of exploring the city were not looking good. I knew that I either had to figure out how to cross the streets, or resign myself to several days of exploring my block, which wasn’t all that interesting. I thought of one of my favorite childhood video games, Frogger. I had always loved that game though I seldom got all the way across the busy lanes on my first try. In the video game world that wasn’t much of a problem - just put another quarter in the machine and try again - but in real life there were no magical
The door to the Pyramid
Actually this is a tomb in the foreground, but it looks like the pyramid's door. quarters. I tried and failed to cross the road a few more times and then I started to get a little frustrated. It was difficult for me to understand how a region that had been continuously occupied and thriving for more than four thousand years could have so little regard for a human life - The drivers really were trying to hit me!
I was waiting for another break in the traffic when two local women walked past me and stepped off of the curb into the traffic without paying any concern to the speeding cars. I looked on in horror, expecting the worst. I heard the rev of the engine and watched as the car rocketed towards them, but then something unexpected happened. The speeding car in the lane they were in skidded to a stop and the driver waved his arms in anger, but he hadn’t hit them! I watched the same thing happen as the women effortlessly crossed each of the lanes - They were Frogger wizards! The solution seemed so simple. I followed the women’s example and stepped out into the traffic, ignoring all of the common sense that my mom had forced into my
Carved in Stone
This badly eroded carving shows some ibexes. head as a child. The engine revved and the car shot towards me. The driver’s face contorted into a demonic grin. The fire in his eyes gleamed, as they seemed to shout, “I’m going to enjoy this!” I jumped back up on the curb, defeated again, this time by my own fear (or good sense), and he sped by - I thought I heard a maniacal roar of victory as he went by, but it may have just been his loud exhaust.
As another group of locals approached the curb I remembered a small statement in my guidebook that I hadn’t really understood when I read it, ‘Use the locals as shields!’ It sounds horrible, but I decided to try it. I positioned myself so that the locals were between the approaching cars and me and then I stepped off of the curb at the same time they did and walked at the same pace they did. The engines revved, the cars launched forward, the drivers’ faces contorted into demonic grins and then, just as it seemed my plan had backfired in a very bad way, they each skidded to a stop and started shouting and waving their arms!
I had won, but I had been reduced to using human shields, which, at least in warfare, is not a very honorable thing! As I walked I got better and better at getting across the streets. Eventually I didn’t even need my shields - I had finally become a Frogger wizard myself!
I ended up walking for several hours on my first evening in town. The people-watching was amazing. There were professional men and women rushing about in western business attire and there were men and women dressed in traditional Islamic dress slowly going about their day. Everywhere I looked there were new and interesting things to look at. I came across a comically unexpected sight when I passed a lingerie shop, which had several women wearing stylishly tailored burqas staring into the windows at the scantly clad mannequins. It would have made a beautiful picture, but I knew it would have been rude and culturally insensitive to take. As the sun started setting the crowds descended onto the sidewalks. All of the food vendors that had been closed all day started setting up tables and then the food started flowing. The lively Iftar, or the breaking of the
A View from the Bathroom
Sadly these wonderful tombs serve as the Giza Plateau bathrooms, since there are few real ones (no, I didn't use them). fast meal, had started. I ate dinner in a little restaurant called Falafel that was excitingly decorated with a jungle theme, complete with lots of green plants and fish aquariums.
I spent the next day exploring more of the town. I walked along the banks of the fabled Nile, detouring into the Egyptian Museum during the hot part of the day. I stood in line for nearly an hour to get into the museum. I paused at the entrance to the museum to take in the beautiful pool full of blue Egyptian water lilies. The museum was full of amazing things from every era of ancient Egyptian history. I took a few pictures of the pinkish-red façade of the museum and then I put the camera away and went inside - Sadly, photography was not allowed inside the museum. As I toured the dusty halls in the museum I took in the amazing history of ancient Egypt. I gazed upon the famous golden burial mask of Tutankhamen, aka King Tut, as well as his huge array of well preserved funerary offerings - It was an amazing exhibit, despite the crowds. Most of the museum was haphazardly organized and descriptive
Facing Stones
The Pyramid of Menkaure was the only of the great pyramids that were closed. This is a view of its partially intact limestone facing. information was non-existent. It seemed like the information was intentionally left out so that hiring a guide was obligatory. Luckily, I recognized most of the important artifacts and knew their significance, so I didn’t need to pay the extra money to tour the museum in a group of twenty or thirty other people. I was conflicted regarding whether or not I wanted to see the royal mummies. I didn’t really want to see a bunch of shriveled human bodies, but my curiosity and love of all things ancient forced me to pay the extra fee and go in. The bodies on display were from many of ancient Egypt’s most famous pharos and queens. Their bodies were covered with thick white sheets and they were contained in climate-controlled cases with only their heads showing. It was a macabre scene, but interesting and very respectfully done. After about three hours worth of gold, papyrus and carved stone I had had enough. I quickly walked through the remaining rooms and then made my way to the exit.
The Egyptian museum was amazing, but I left with a bit of a sad feeling. The museum’s main objective seems to be extracting copious amounts
The Giza Plateau
This is the view of the pyramids from way out in the desert. of money from the tourists instead of preserving the artifacts. Beautiful works of art were stacked all over the place and countless greasy hands have been wearing their carved stone surfaces smooth. I was hoping that the photography ban was more to protect the pigments in the artifacts from the destructive flashes, but seeing the lines in the gift shop made me think otherwise - It is just good business to force the tourist to buy the photos.
That evening I talked with the owners of the hostel regarding the best way of getting out to the pyramids. They told me to catch a cab and leave early if I wanted get a ticket to go into the Pyramid of Khufu. I set up an early breakfast and then I went to bed. The thick clouds of smog were starting to get to me and I found myself coughing more than sleeping - I knew it was already time to get out of Cairo, but I still had two days to go.
Early the following morning I was racing out of the city in another wreck of a cab. We crossed over the Nile and left the congestion
A Lion in the Desert.
The dry desert wind made my hair look a lot like the mane of a lion! of the city behind us. A short time later I spotted the giant pyramids rising up out of the modern buildings of Giza, looking somewhat like a scene from the Las Vegas Strip. We pulled off of the highway and drove through Giza for a few minutes before we arrived at a huge line of cars waiting to get into the parking area for the pyramids. We were about half an hour early, so I paid the cab driver and continued the journey on foot. I reached the entrance about ten minutes before the gates were supposed to open. I was standing there talking to several other travelers that were hoping to get into the great pyramid as well. One of them was Nick from South Africa, who I ended up exploring the Giza plateau with. About half an hour after the gates were supposed to open we were let in and we ran to the ticket booth for the Khufu pyramid. They only sell 150 tickets to get into the pyramid in the morning, so we knew we had to be quick. Nick and I ended up being the first two people there. With our tickets in hand we
A Camel Train
Tourist riding through the desert. finally turned our attention towards the giant structures that were rising up out of the bedrock of the Giza Plateau behind us.
The pyramid of Khufu is one of the largest structures ever built by humans. It has been standing on the Giza Plateau for more than 4500 years, though some amusing theories suggest that they could predate ancient Egypt, as we know it, by five thousand years or more. The pyramid was already more than two thousand years old when it was included as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and it has outlasted all of the other wonders by more than five hundred years. The huge pyramids could even be called the most famous structures in the world, having been firmly on the tourist circuit when Herodotus explored the area in the fifth century BC. Like most adventurous children, it had been one of my biggest childhood dreams to explore the mysteries of the pyramids. I was finally standing there at the foot of the ancient structures, so I was excited as I turned from the ticket booth and faced the great pyramid. I wasn’t prepared for the feelings that came next. I had
Nick on the Causway
Nick and I toured the whole site together. He is up on the giant blocks of stone. expected to have a case of jaw-dropping amazement sweep over me when I look up at the huge pyramid, but instead I looked up at the mysterious stone structure as if I had seen it every day of my life. I knew that I should be looking up dumbfounded, shouting, “WOW!” at the top of my lungs, but I wasn’t. It was then that I realized that I had been traveling for too long. It sounds crazy to say, but my life had been an endless stream of amazing wonders since the summer of 2004 when I quit my job to travel.
I took a moment to think about what I was feelings. It became clear to me that the pyramids had become a check mark on a big traveling ‘to do’ list. It was a horrifying thought, since I had always thought of my traveling as an itinerary-less exploration of the world, not a list of must see attractions. Once I recognized where my blasé feelings were coming from I was able to adjust my perception a bit. I still had two months worth of exploring to do and I didn’t want to see all that I was
Khufu's Funerary Temple
This impressive structure uses some of the largest stones in the area for its construction. going to see through jaded, bored eyes. I knew that there was no better way to get my excitement up than to climb up the side of the pyramid to the small robbers’ tunnel about a quarter of the way up and enter the ancient Egyptian tomb like the explorers of old. We walked to the base of the big pyramid and started our climb.
“What do you mean by I can’t take my camera inside?” “It is forbidden inside.” “What am I supposed to do with it then?” The man smiled a big, toothy smile and said, “You can leave it with me, I will watch over it and be sure you get it back.” It was clear that I had no choice, but I had heard about the ‘left gear’ situation in Egypt and I was told to avoid it like the plague. One person I had met in Antarctica told me about leaving a big, sturdy tripod with one of the men only to get a small wobbly one back in return - I suppose that was more the fault of the dishonest tourist that had taken this person’s sturdy tripod, but it was still a
The Sphinx
Beautiful, but tiny. little scary. I reluctantly handed the man my camera and walked into the pyramid cursing the annoying rule. There were no flash-sensitive paintings inside to be ruined, not that I would have even used a flash. The official brochures say the camera ban is out of respect for the dead, but if that was true I wouldn’t be able to purchase pictures of the inside of the pyramid in any tourist shop in Egypt, besides, they never found a burial inside and it doesn’t look like there ever was one. I shrugged the camera rules off, trying to maintain my excitement. When I reached the tunnel that headed down into the chamber that was built into the bedrock below the pyramid I was greeted with another shock, a locked gate - I thought I had paid to see the inside of the pyramid, not just the grand gallery and the upper chamber. I was hugely disappointed, but I continued on. I got another big disappointment when I came to another locked gate at the tunnel that led to the ‘Queen’s Chamber’. I took a deep breath and then shrugged off all of the locked gates and silly rules and turned
my attention towards the massive ascending passage that climbed up into the pyramid.
The Grand Gallery was every bit as impressive as I had read. In contrast to the small tunnels that I had climbed through to that point, the Grand Gallery was built on a massive scale. It rose up into the pyramid at a steep angle. Its ceiling was twenty-eight feet tall and its huge walls tapered in slightly in a sort of corbelled arch. The gallery was one hundred and fifty-three feet long and dimly lit, which gave it a mysterious feel. We started climbing towards the chamber we knew was at the top. The going was a bit exhausting due to the extreme heat and the oppressive, jungle-like humidity. I was dripping in sweat by the time I reached the far wall at the top of the gallery. I paused for a moment and took in the view back down the passage and then I ducked down and entered the King’s Chamber, passing beneath several massive blocks of granite that were resting in slots in the walls of the antechamber. The blocks were portcullises that were meant to slide down and block the entrance to
The Red Pyramid
This was my favorite pyramid to explore, because it was deserted. the burial chamber. The King’s Chamber was a rectangular room with finely finished walls built with giant blocks of red granite that were brought down the Nile from the quarries near Aswan. The only thing in the room was a large roughly finished sarcophagus with a broken corner - The giant block of hollowed out red granite was larger than all of the passages leading to the chamber, so it had to be moved into the room prior to the completion of the pyramid.
We stayed up in the King’s Chamber for as long as we could. The acoustics in the room filled the chamber with haunting reverberations every time somebody said something, which was mesmerizing. Eventually the heat and humidity reached painful levels, so we turned and headed back out into the Grand Gallery. We had to pause for a moment while a few tourists took their pictures at the top of the gallery - It seemed that only the large SLRs were discriminated against! When I emerged back into the light at the end of the robber’s tunnel I asked the man for my camera and he looked at me with a blank, I don’t know what
Dhashur
The red pyramid was huge and beautifully red in color. you are talking about expression on his face. I pointed to my camera and he smiled and said, “Baksheesh!” To make sure I understood, he held out his hand. I had expected that, so I handed him a few Egyptian pounds. He frowned and shook his head. It was clear that since my camera was an expensive one I was expected to pay more than everyone else, but I wasn’t going to play that game. I offered to go get the tourist police - A very handy threat in Egypt, as it turned out - and then he relented and handed the camera over.
Over the next several hours Nick and I wandered around the Giza Plateau taking in all of the ancient sites we could. We peered down into the large pits at the base of the great pyramid that once contained large boats. We explored several mysterious tombs, each one an adventure in patience. My favorite was the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, which, unlike the great pyramid, still retained a huge air of mystery. Its tiny square passage descended steeply deep into the darkness of the bedrock bellow the small pyramid. At the bottom we squeezed through
At the Base of the Pyramid
This structure was at the base of the red pyramid. a tiny hole that had been smashed through a wall and entered the small chamber, squeezing past several tourists going in the opposite direction as we went. The chamber was considerably rougher than the one in the great pyramid, but it had been hewn out of solid rock.
After we left the queen’s pyramid we walked around the base of the great pyramid and walked over to the solar barque museum and a much-needed reprieve from the heat. The solar barque is one of the ancient boats found in pits at the base of the great pyramid. It is believed that the boat was meant to transport the pharaoh and his belongings in the afterlife. At first glance, the museum seemed poorly located in a large modern structure at the base of the great pyramid. Once inside I quickly fell in love with the structure, partly for its air conditioning, but mostly for the wonderful treasure it contained. The tastefully done modern building definitely conflicted with the ancient landscape of stone and sand, but the builders of the pyramids dictated its location. Inside the climate-controlled building the massive, ancient boat, fully restored and seemingly seaworthy, sits suspended above the huge
Up the Pyramid
Another view of the Red Pyramid. stone pit it was found in. The photos in the exhibits take you through the discovery, excavation and restoration of what may be the oldest boat in existence. I found it very helpful to be able to look at the pictures and then turn around and look down into the pit that the photo was taken in. The museum’s design allowed close observation of the barque from three different levels and its huge walls of windows allowed us to remain in the impressive landscape of the pyramids, as well as providing natural lighting.
After the solar barque, we toured the inside of the Pyramid of Khafre, which was decidedly less impressive than the interior of the great pyramid, but still a lot of fun. At the third of the large pyramids, the Pyramid of Menkaure, a group of machinegun-toting guards in their stately, white uniform stopped us and told us that the pyramid was closed. We joked with them for a while, posing for pictures with them - Including one humorous one where Nick and I were pretending to be doing something wrong as the guards pointed their machineguns at us with angry faces (don’t worry mom, the guns
The Pyramid of Teti
This boring mound of rubble contained some the amazing Pyramid Texts inside. were pointing off into the desert and not directly at us!) Sadly, the photos were on Nick’s camera and I was never able to get in touch with him again, so I don’t have them.
We turned our attention to a rocky knoll way out in the desert and we started walking. We were searching for the perfect landscape photo of the pyramids and we knew that we would have to walk a long way to find it. Distances in the desert were deceiving and it ended up being a fairly long, but enjoyable walk. From our vantage point in the desert the whole of the Giza Plateau spread out before us. There were camel trains crossing the shifting sand in front of us, eliciting images of ancient times. The lush greenery of modern Giza was off to the right rising up out of the sand like a gleaming emerald in a brown landscape. A strange feeling of peace came over me as the scorching, but strangely soothing breeze flowed out of the desert, buffeting my mane of hair. The noise and the oppressive mountains of trash and the constant harassment from the famously persistent touts and camel drivers
The Mestaba of Mereruka
This tomb contained some amazing carvings and paintings. that plague the plateau seemed distant. All I needed was an umbrella, a chair and a cold, refreshing drink and I could have spent the rest of the day there. Sadly, I had already taken the last sip of tepid, gritty water from my water bottle and there wasn’t a refreshment cart in sight! We took our photos and headed back across the sea of sand toward the last of the famous sites at Giza.
The Sphinx was a lot smaller than I had expected. In fact it was so small in comparison to the pyramids that I had forgotten all about it as we walked around the plateau. Luckily Nick remembered it and mentioned that there was a nice refreshment stand next to it. The sphinx impressed me, though I couldn’t help but notice the tiny proportions of its human head as compared to its lion body. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some truth to the ‘crazy’ theories that the sphinx had originally been carved as a lion and then changed to honor Khufu - All of the other sphinxes and representations of the pharaohs that I had seen (and would see after that) in
Egypt were all proportionally correct; they were capable of building massive pyramids, so why did they ‘fail’ with the proportions of this one carving? I suppose we will never know unless, perhaps, we find an ancient painting showing the sphinx as a lion. We walked over to a deserted refreshment stand near the rows of seats for the nightly light show. We sat under a white awning and sipped ice-cold soft drinks as we looked out over the Sphinx to the pyramids and the desert beyond - It was definitely a mysterious and amazing place.
Nick and I shared a cab back into town. I had it drop me off at the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel, which is considered to be one of the nicest hotels in Cairo. I brushed the dust off of my clothes and walked inside like I was supposed to be there. I found a restroom and cleaned myself up as best as I could and then I found my way to the Bird Cage, Cairo’s, and possibly Africa’s, best Thai restaurant. I was starving and I didn’t feel like going through the hassles of finding street food on Cairo’s Ramadan-quieted streets. I knew that a
Saqqara
Saqqara, the necropolis for Memphis, is known for the wonderful step pyramid of Zoser. hotel catering to foreign tourists would have no problem serving me. I sat by myself in the lovely restaurant eating one of the best bowls of Thai green curry that I had ever enjoyed. After lunch I found a secluded seating area in the hotel and I took advantage of the cool air conditioning and the luxurious atmosphere and I recorded the day’s adventures in my journal and relaxed. When I left the Semiramis I headed down into the metro and started another adventure in Arabic translation. I needed to go to Ramses Train Station to purchase my ticket south to Aswan. All of the signs in the metro were in Arabic characters, which didn’t surprise me all that much. My English got me nowhere at the ticket booth, so I ignored the line forming behind me and I turned to plan B, my phrase book. I said, “a-na ‘aiz ma-Hat-tat al-‘atr” and she seemed to understand me, despite the noise. I left the ticket booth and went to the map to try and find which train I needed. After about ten minutes with the Arabic characters I thought I had it figured out. I carefully burned the words into
Zoser's Funerary Complex
This is the entrance to the Hypostyle Hall. my memory and followed the signs to the train they led to - I was on my way. I took the train to the stop I wanted, got off and climbed the stairs into the Midan Ramses, a large plaza surrounded by busy traffic. It wasn’t hard to find the train station from there, but my ‘Frogger Wizard’ status wasn’t good enough to get me across the traffic - I reluctantly picked a human shield and followed him across the street. With my ticket in hand and my departure from Cairo set, I headed back down into the metro and made my way back to the hostel. That evening I celebrated the Iftar with the owners of the hostel and a few guests. We talked about the different sites in the area as we enjoyed wonderful, home-cooked food. I mentioned that I was trying to find a way to the red pyramid and Saqqara the following day and they helped me get everything set up. It had been a long and exhausting day, so I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I was up early the next morning. I quickly ate the breakfast that the
The Hypostyle Hall
These beautiful columns led the way into pyramid. hostel owner had waiting for me. I was excited. I was bound for the grand and somewhat isolated pyramids at Dahshur and Saqqara, sites that every traveler I had talked to about Egypt told me to see over Giza. Instead of joining a huge group of rich tourists on a fast paced, air conditioned bus-tour of the sites, I decided to live like a king and I hired a car and driver for the day. Akmed, the man that would be my personal chauffeur, showed up just as I was finishing my plate of food and I followed him out into the deserted streets of Cairo, accompanied by another friend from the hostel that was getting dropped off at the Giza pyramids on the way. Akmed led us to his tiny Peugeot a few blocks away. It was a junkyard queen, much like the first cab I had hired, but it ran well and the seat was fairly comfortable - It would serve its purpose well! We quickly headed out of town towards Giza and before long the familiar structures were rising up out of the urban sprawl. We dropped my friend off and made arrangements to meet him there
The Giant Mystery Pit
There were no signs that said what this was, but it was huge and deep. six hours later.
We headed south out of Giza on a small, palm-lined road. The rural scenery was stunning. Huge groves of date palms spread out in every direction, broken by an occasional road or mud-brick home. The road followed the western bank of a lovely canal of still water. Its dark brown water and thick green reeds were picturesque and lovely despite the depressing amount of garbage that floated on its surface and littered its banks. From time to time we would pass mule drawn carts filled with yellow dates. The landscape’s timeless beauty and slow pace seemed to clash with modern Cairo making it seem like we had traveled hundreds of years back in time in our Peugeot time machine. Akmed pointed at a road sign for Memphis, which was the ancient capital of Egypt. I had read that there was not enough left of the ancient city to hint at its former importance and grandeur, so I had decided to skip it, though I felt a little sad as we flew past the sign and continued south. A while later Akmed slowed and turned right into one of the large palm groves. An ancient town of
Cobras in a Row
Cobras are a common theme in Egypt. rundown mud-brick buildings lined the road on both sides. Adults dressed in their traditional clothing briefly turned their attention away from their business as they glanced up to watch us drive by. Screaming, laughing children ran barefoot through large piles of garbage as they chased our car. Had it not been for us and another truck it would have been difficult to tell what century it was. Akmed waved at a few of the men as we passed and said something to one of them that led me to believe that they knew each other. The small town was gone as quickly as it appeared and then the palm grove abruptly ended at the edge of the desert next to a sign that said ‘Dahshur’. We stopped at a small building and paid the guard our admission fee (one for me and one for the taxi) and then we drove on into the desert.
Quite suddenly off to my left the huge and immensely beautiful Bent Pyramid rose up out of the desert in the hazy distance. A moment later the stone bulk of the Red Pyramid appeared in front of us. We came to a stop at the
The Steps of the Pyramid
Zoser's ancient pyramid. nearly empty parking area and then I set off to explore as Akmed stretched out under a blanket in the back seat. I walked a short distance out into the desert so I could get a good view of the Bent Pyramid. I knew there was no hope of actually getting to there, since it is located in a militarized zone, but I wanted to get as close as I could. As it turned out, the guard was calling to me before I reached the back corner of the red pyramid, but the view from there was nice. It is a pity that the Bent Pyramid, which I think is the loveliest of all of Egypt’s pyramids (that I saw) is closed to the public, but all of Dahshur was closed until recently, so there is hope that it will be open next time I go to Egypt. I stood there for about ten minutes looking out across the desert to the smooth walls of the odd pyramid. Even through the wavy haze that made the pyramid look like a ghostly apparition I could clearly see its mostly intact limestone facing blocks. The Bent Pyramid was the first attempt at
building a true smooth-sided pyramid in Egypt. The builders had tried to use the inwardly sloping wall angle that they used for the common mastaba and for step pyramids, but about half way up its 105-meter height they discovered instability in the pyramid’s structure and lessened the angle from a very steep 54 degrees to the now common 43 degrees. The resulting change in angle forms a noticeable ‘bend’ in the slope, which gives the pyramid its name and makes it look something like a squat, fat obelisk, or maybe a small pyramid on a pedestal. I turned away from the pyramid and walked around the corner of the Red Pyramid and headed over to the guards near the entrance. There the guard didn’t want my camera, despite the big sign that said, “NO PHOTOS INSIDE TOMB”. He actually gave me a flashlight and requested a bit of baksheesh for it and then he said, “Photos are OK inside” - I was confused about Egypt, but it was becoming apparent that the guards were the ones who decided who could and couldn’t take pictures inside the structures.
I followed a sandy path about half way up the pyramid to
The Funerary Complex
More of the buildings surrounding Zoser's Pyramid. the entrance. Down, down, down I went in what seemed like the longest passage into a tomb that I had experienced. At the bottom it leveled off and opened up into a large room with a corbelled arch roof. The stench of stale urine and ammonia was strong and it was steaming hot inside, but exciting just the same. The lighting was done in a way that shed an amazing green light through the room in a way that mimicked the tomb lighting in my dreams - It was amazing! There was another small passage through the opposite wall, so I knelt down and went through. On the other side of the thick wall I found a second room similar to the first in all aspects except that the passage through the back wall was two stories off the ground! I climbed up a set of modern scaffolding to the elevated passage and I climbed in. Scribbled on the ceiling of the passage in soot was the name ‘Burton’ in large letters - I paused for a moment to wonder if it had been scrawled there by the famous traveler and explorer Sir Richard Burton? At the end of the
passage I found a third room similar to the other two except that it was perpendicular to them. Its floor was covered in huge angular blocks of broken stone that seemed out of place so far down in the tomb. I had had the tomb to myself for about half an hour. Eventually the haunting sounds of an approaching terror filled my mind with horror and shocked me out of my excitement and contemplation. It wasn’t a vengeful mummy or the ghost of an angry pharaoh, despite the sound it made - A tour group was approaching! I quickly retraced my steps back through the passages and rooms. I met the wave of people in the first chamber and there I waited as a seemingly endless stream of people ducked through the passage and entered the room. An explosion of flashes erased the mysterious green lighting. They didn’t seem to realize or care that the use of flashes was the reason cameras were banned in the tombs - The flash destroys the pigments in the works of art! At least there were no pigments to be destroyed in there. When it seemed like the last of the people had emerged from the entrance passage I crawled through and started my long climb out. Up, up, up I went. The smell of ammonia lessened with each step, the humidity dried up and the air became more breathable. Finally, I emerged into the cool pleasantness of the mighty desert - I know, it sounds contradictory, but after the jungle-like interior of the pyramid the desert was wonderful! I walked down to the car and I gently woke Akmed. A few minutes later we were back in the lush palm groves with Dahshur behind us. All of the stories I had heard about Dahshur were dead on. I liked the peacefulness of the site and the lack of crowds. I would not go as far as telling people to go to Dahshur instead of Giza, but I would say that Dahshur was my favorite of the two.
Akmed stopped the car next to a shop in the dusty little town of Dahshur and told me in a series of hand signals and simple Arabic to stay with the car and then he disappeared into the shop. The horde of laughing children that had run after the car on the way in descended on me and started asking all kinds of questions. Most I didn’t understand, but I managed to understand a bit. My command of Arabic had the children (and some of the adults that were in earshot) rolling with laughter every time I spoke, but I did manage to tell them where I was from and that I didn’t have any candy. Akmed showed up just as I exhausted the last of my Arabic and I said farewell to the kids. We headed back the way we came along the palm-lined road toward our next stop in Saqqara. It was proving to be a great day - I could only pity the people on the air-conditioned tour buses.
Saqqara was the necropolis for ancient Memphis and because of that it is one of the oldest and most important sites in Egypt. Saqqara is famous for the Pyramid of Zoser a huge step pyramid that is considered to be the oldest known and datable stone monument in the world. Beside the step pyramid, there are ten other major pyramid structures and countless other tombs scattered throughout the area - The massive burial site was used for more than 3500 years, so there are a lot of things hidden in the desert there just waiting to be explored. Because of the site’s importance I had expected huge crowds, but they were not nearly as bad as the ones at Giza. Akmed pulled up to the main ticket booth at the site museum. I got out and purchased my ticket and then quickly ran through the museum, which showcased several of the interesting finds from Saqqara. After the museum we drove up to the top of a hill and paused for a moment. The whole of Saqqara spread out in front of us. The huge bulk of Zoser’s pyramid dominated the site. In the distance across the desert I could see a line of large pyramids partially obstructed by the haze. It was then that I realized how far off my image of Egypt was. I knew of the most important pyramids, but I had no idea how many more there actually were. We headed away from the step pyramid and pulled into a crowded parking area near a few restored buildings and a big pile of rubble. I was along for the ride at that point. In the excitement of seeing all of the wonderful pyramids, which stretched to the north like a desert mountain range, I completely forgot the list of sites I wanted to see at Saqqara. Luckily, Akmed was on top of it. He knew the most important sites so I trusted in him to show them to me.
I walked to the restored mestaba of Mereruka, paid my baksheesh and went inside. The heavily restored exterior didn’t prepare me for the wonderful interior of the tomb, which had several wonderful reliefs and hieroglyphics. I spent a while slowly taking in the lovely scenes from the life of Mereruka that were carved on every wall. Most of the carvings still retained their original paint, which was really impressive - My favorites were the maritime scenes depicting beautiful old sailing ships. Sadly, I was in a bit of a hurry, so I had to move on. Next I walked across to the rubble mound, which Akmed told me not to miss. Trusting him I walked past the sign that said, “Pyramid of Teti”, entered the descending passage and walked down into the ground. At the bottom of the passage I found a heavily restored and reinforced series of chambers. When I walked inside the main burial chamber I was greeted with the most magnificent carvings I had come across to that point. The famous Pyramid Texts flowed down the walls of the tomb in beautifully carved hieroglyphics. The gabled ceiling, which had shifted badly over the years, was carved with beautiful stars. Even the sarcophagus was carved. The room was amazing! I was by myself in the tomb when the guard came in and smiled and held out his hand and then said, “You can take pictures!”
It was a short drive over to Zoser’s Funerary Complex. Akmed told me to ignore the people standing at the entrance that were telling me that I had to buy an extra ticket to enter - He said that it was a common problem there and to not even make eye contact with them. His warning was warranted. No less than five people told me I needed an additional ticket (including one of the official guards), but I ignored every one of them and walked straight to the entrance and entered the complex. I walked through the lovely Hypostyle Hall with its huge, reverse-fluted colonnades and then I entered the huge interior courtyard. Zoser’s Pyramid was the dominant structure, but there were countless other massive buildings and walkways. I walked up a set of stairs and peered down into a massive square pit that had been hewn right out of the bedrock. It was very deep with scaffolding in it, but sadly there was no information regarding what it had been used for. I walked around Zoser’s Pyramid and fought off the urge to go inside, which was not allowed, but offered to me by a guard (for baksheesh). I spent about half an hour exploring the site. The huge pyramid was impressive. It was build with small building blocks and looked like a series of mastabas stacked on top of each other. The building looked fragile, but it had been sitting there for over 4500 years - Looks can definitely be deceiving!
I reluctantly said farewell to Saqqara and my day’s grand adventure. The time was approaching to pick up my friend at Giza, so we had to go. What an amazing day it had been though. Akmed and I talked about the other sites at Saqqara as we drove out. I was sad that I had to miss so many other amazing sites, but that gives me a reason to come back someday. We had a quick trip back to Giza where I got one last look at the great pyramids. We found my friend waiting where we had dropped him off. It was easy to tell what he had done that day, since he smelled of camel, but it sounded like he had had a great day as well. I spent the rest of the evening walking around Cairo gathering supplies for my train journey the following day. I also trekked out to the American University to buy an extremely overpriced guidebook for Egypt - I had suffered a bit from a lack of information during my day’s explorations, so I decided I needed it for the rest of Egypt. I shared Iftar dinner with my hosts at the hostel one last time and then I went back to the room, packed and went to bed. My time in Cairo had come to an end, but I had a lot to look forward to in Upper Egypt!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
wow,thanks
Great writing.