Egypt day 7: Giza and Dahshur Pyramids

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What a treat we had in store today!

Today we got on the bus to visit the Pyramids! These are from the 4th dynasty. Whilst in the bus we learned some old Egyptian. The area we passed through is called Memphis which is a Greek name. The original name of Memphis was Menefer - Men = harbour and nefer = beautiful.

To get to the pyramids we crossed to the east side of the Nile and passed the tomb for a minister from the 6th dynasty. At this time many vizirs were stronger than the kings. As we approached the Pyramids of Giza we were aware of these large edifices standing in the middle of the desert. The shape of them relates to the creation story. The world was flooded and as the flood subsided the mountains rose up and looked like the back of a turtle. (Is this where Terry Pratchett got his idea of Disc World being balanced on the back of a turtle?) Also the pyramid shape resembles the rays shining down at angles from the sun.



The first and oldest pyramid was Saqqara. Others are Dahshur, Aby Rawaysh and Abu Sir. Another Egyptian lesson - the word desert comes from the Egyptian word dshrt = red desert.

There are six elements to (Wo)Man; body, name, soul, ka & ba (mind/intellect) shadow and horizon (Ach = future). The tomb (pyramid) is a superstructure to preserve the body. The Pharaohs took with them the treasures that they would need in the world to come. The body was preserved by mumification. Mumification takes about 40 – 90 days. Rabbi Berman pointed out that Yaakov Avinu’s body was mummified which took 40 days in preparation for the amount of time needed to transport him to Israel. As a child I was taught at school that the slaves who mummified the bodies were buried inside the tombs with the Pharaohs but no bodies were found other than the mummy inside the tomb. Also various papyri documents show that people caught breaking into the tombs were sent to trial and were executed.



The northernmost and oldest pyramid of the group was built for Khufu (Greek: Cheops), the second king of the 4th dynasty. Called the Great Pyramid, it is the largest of the three. What struck Don most was the truly massive size of the pyramids when approached in person, compared to expectations of 'big' based on popular pictures.



We started our tour of the pyramids at the Bent Pyramid (Dahshur). It has a total height of 104.71 meters (344 feet) with its distinctive bend located at a height of 47.04 meters (154 feet). The apparent bend is where blocks slipped and fell from one side. We were invited to enter the pyramid but were warned that there was nothing inside. Don and I decided that we wouldn’t go in as we were also warned that it was not an easy entry and that in parts it was not possible to walk - crawling would be required, so we chose to conserve our energy. Instead we walked around the base of the pyramid which was quite a walk. The base of the pyramid has a length of 189.43 meters (621 feet), which is almost the length of 2 football fields. It would seem that there was a change of angle at the base (55 degrees to 43 degrees). Engineers have said that if the pyramid had continued to have been built at this angle it would have fallen down. We found this information incredulous bearing in mind that they didn’t have all the modern equipment we have today!

The pyramids were built for the Pharaohs but close to this pyramid was a smaller one. The Pharaoh built that one for his wife or his daughter or his mother.



Back on the bus we drove to see the other two pyramids. We were allowed to climb up to the entrance of the Great Pyramid. A spot beyond the Great Pyramid is designated for a panoramic view of all three large pyramids and the Sphinx.

Then back on the bus again to visit the Sphynx. What a colossus! An amazing sight! The Sphinx has its back to the pyramids. It is carved out of one piece of rock. The original shape of the Sphinx has been restored with layers of limestone blocks. Its nose is broken. It measures 73 m (240 ft) long from paw to tail, 20 m (66 ft) high from the base to the top of the head and 19 m (62 ft) wide at its rear haunches. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and one of the most recognisable statues in the world. The archaeological evidence suggests that it was created by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BC).

It is illegal for any religious group to pray together in public in Egypt. However, as it was time for mincha it was decided to daven under the watchful eyes of the Sphinx. The police were all around and our guides were getting a bit antsy but nothing happened and we were left alone.



A young man approached us and showed us his identification badge, explaining that he was available to help at tourist sites. He seemed a knowledgeable American and offered to take amusing photographs of us using our own camera phone. He said if we liked them we could give him some money. We agreed and he took several fun shots. After we reviewed the pictures he asked for $20 but Don only had 20 Egyptian pounds (less than $1.50) and a single US dollar in his pocket. That was mainly for our toilet funds and the guy was not impressed.

Some camel drivers were conducting tourist business at the site. For a fee a person could sit on the camel, ride it, or simply take a picture. Don spied one approaching with his camel on a path which would cross between us and the pyramids. He didn’t want to pay for a posed photo, so he acted like he was texting on his phone. As the camel passed what seemed a good spot, Don tilted his phone sideways and hit the button a few times. Fortunately when he looked later, one of the shots was framed almost perfectly - camel humps between the pyramid bumps!



Back on the bus and back to the hotel for our last night in Cairo.

We had a very nice dinner followed by an interesting talk by Amira Oron, the Israeli Ambassador to Egypt. She was pleased to tell us that we were the first openly kosher group to visit Egypt, at least in recent memory. We learned about the work that Israel is doing with Egypt in respect with security, agriculture and high tech.

Then an early night as we were to get up at the crack of dawn to fly to Luxor.

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Photos

deep descent into pyramid
(photo by other group member)

Pyramids seen from Panorama
(photo taken for the group)