Mustafa (from the Canadian Hostel), arranged for a taxi driver to take us around to all of the pyramids and near-by places that we wanted to see for 100 pounds (about $18)! We had to get up really early (because it gets hot and we wanted to beat the other tourists there), so we left around 7:15am. We arrived in Giza, and decided that it just wouldn't be a trip to the pyramids without riding camels!! Between Egypt (and in the future-Petra (Jordan)), this area can really get the Indiana Jones blood going in you.
Anyways, renting two camels and a horse for over 3 hours was the most expensive thing we did the whole trip (about 1/10 of the total cost of the trip...which was around $700 for two people). It was really fun though. I'm glad we did it. They took us on up on the sand dunes beyond the pyramids first, where we were able to get a great view of almost all of the pyramids at once. We all rotated between the camels and the horse, so someone was always on the short horse :) Our guide was a Bedoin who had learned English (quite well) from being around tourists for years. He seemed nice and rather quiet. He also had a boy who walked in front of the camel and horse, pulling them along with ropes. He walked through the sand in front of us the whole time!
As for a little history on the pyramids, there are three main Pyramids in Giza, "which were built in the 4th Dynasty (circa 4650 B.C). The pyramids of ancient Egypt were built as tombs for kings (and queens), and it was an exclusive privilege to have a pyramid tomb. However, this tradition only applied in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Today there are more than 100 pyramids in Egypt; the most famous ones are those at Giza."
[At Giza, there are actually nine pyramids, as well as the Sphinx, but the other six are very small in comparison to the largest three.]
"The Great Pyramid of Khufu is by far the most famous Pyramid in Egypt, the biggest, tallest, and most intact. After its construction it became one of the “Seven Wonders Of The World”, and today, it is the only one of them remaining. For a period of 4300 years, the Pyramid was also the tallest building on earth."
"Khufu’s Pyramid is built entirely of limestone, and is considered an architectural masterpiece. It contains around 1,300,000 blocks ranging in weight from 2.5 tons to 15 tons and is built on a square base with sides measuring about 230m (755ft), covering 13 acres! Its four sides face the four cardinal points precisely and it has an angle of 52 degrees. The original height of the Pyramid was 146.5m (488ft), but today it is only 137m (455ft) high."
"Khafre’s Pyramid, or the 2nd Pyramid, is easily recognisable by the layers of its original casing stones that still remain near its summit and this, along with the fact that it actually stands on a higher part of the plateau, gives the impression that it is taller than the Great Pyramid. An optical illusion, as it is only 136m (446 ft) tall, with sides of 214.5m (704ft), a surface area of 11 acres and an angle of 53 degrees. It also has lost some of its original height through the years, once being 143.5m (471ft) tall."
"Khafre’s son, Menkaure, built the smallest of the 3 main Pyramids on the Giza Plateau. This one was only a mere 65.5m (215ft) tall, nowadays 62m (203ft), with sides of only 105m (344ft) and an angle of 51.3 degrees. It is thought that this Pyramid was altered during its construction, and made a lot bigger than originally planned."
"The Great Sphinx, or as the ancients knew it, “Shesib Ankh” or “the living image”, has to be one of the most recognizable constructions in history. Sculpted from soft sandstone, many believe that it would have disappeared long ago had it not been buried in the sand for so many long periods in its lifetime. The body is 60m (200ft) long and 20m (65ft) tall. Its face is 4m (13ft) wide with eyes measuring 2m (6 ft) high. It faces the rising sun, and was revered so much by the ancients, that they built a temple in front of it."
www.ask-aladdin.com There is a lot of work currently being done in the area of mapping the pyramids using 3-D computer programs. Some of the most significant advances have been made by the Giza Plateau Mapping Project. I visited their website, where you are able to view a large number of 3-D computer images, of the whole area (from every direction) as well as individual pyramids. It is well worth a look. Below, I have listed a summary of the project as well as the links to the main pages:
"The Giza Plateau Mapping Project, under the direction of Mark Lehner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Egyptian archaeology at the Oriental Institute, is dedicated to research on the geology and topography of the Giza plateau, the construction and function of the Sphinx, the Great Pyrimids, the associated tombs and temples, and the Old Kingdom town in the vicinity. Lehner is a pioneer in the use of state-of-the-art computer graphics and remote sensing technology to model the ancient configuration of the Giza Plateau. In addition he has collaborated with an architectural firm to produce a detailed computer model of the Sphnix which is of exceptional value both as a research tool and to guide current conservation efforts."
Constructing The Giza Plateau Computer Model (1990-1995)
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/giz/comp_model.html RECENT WORK ON THE GIZA PLATEAU COMPUTER MODEL (1997-1998)
http://oi.uchicago.edu/researcah/projects/giz/comp_model2.html In addition, there has always been debate over how the pyramids were constructed. In summary, the main two theories were that stones were moved by means of some sort of a pedulum or "crane-like" device, OR that after each level, more sand was pushed up against the sides of the pyramid, creating a ramp or ramps by which stones could be pushed or pulled up to the next level (or perhaps a combo of both methods). However, the most recent work in this area has offered a new (possibly more plausible) theory: an external ramp was used for the first few levels, and afterwards, an internal ramp was built (inside the pyramid) to reach the majority of the levels above these. The newest edition of "Archaeology" magazine has an interesting article on this topic that I have listed below.
NEW!! How to Build a Pyramid Article by Bob Brier from "Archaeology" magazine (Volume 60 Number 3, May/June 2007)
Published by the Archaeological Institute of America
http://www.archaeology.org/0705/etc/pyramid.html Moving on to our stories...after looking at the pyramids from the sand dunes, we headed in for a closer look. You aren't allowed to take cameras inside the pyramids, so I don't have any pictures of the inside. We went into Khafre's Pyramid. It was a litte claustrophobic getting in and out. You go down this wooden ramp for a LOONNGGGGG time bent over because it is only about 3.5-4 feet tall; there is a big line of people right behind you and right in front of you and a steady line passing you (uphill) - with just enough room for small to medium-small people to brush shoulders with you at each passing. I was wondering how many people have gotten into the tunnel and freaked out because of this. I really couldn't imagine it during the summer time, because it was still relatively hot by the time we went inside, and the air is thick and hot and heavy. People must pass out during the summer - don't visit hot places in the summer!!! Especially the desert!
I was kind of surprised at how small the room was once you got inside. I guess I expected some kind of vaulted ceiling and chamber of sorts, but it was about the size of a large living room and the ceiiling wasn't very high either. Once you get down, you look around the room and walk back up the long ramp (going up is better than coming down). Then we rode on to the Sphinx, which is rather impressive. You can't go into the "pit" area around it and actually touch the sculpture, but you can walk along a wall next to it. I decided to take a picture that you don't see very often of the Sphinx (from behind) :)
By this time, the tourists were starting to pour in and we were essentially done, so we dropped our camels and horse off, and decided to eat lunch at Pizza Hut. It was very good - I haven't had good pepperoni pizza in a while. The best (and funniest thing) was that our window was directly overlooking the Sphinx and pyramids. It was a fun picture for me to take :)
Afterwards, our taxi driver took us to Saqqara, where the Step Pyramid is located. "Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, featuring the world's oldest standing step pyramid. During the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (27th century BC), the architect Imhotep built Egypt's first step pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser, by building a series of six successively smaller mastabas (an earlier form of tomb structure), one atop of another." (Wikipedia)
The Pyramid of Djoser has been deemed too dangerous to enter, so you just walk around it. There were a number of other enclosures, tombs, and temples that you can see on the map above that we walked around as well. That was probably our fastest stop though. We decided to head back into town to spend our last evening in Cairo. We paid our taxi driver more than the original price, because he was very nice, not pushy, and didn't ask for more - which is the kind of thing you come to love and want to reward in the end. He even gave me this really funny, cheap, plastic "Barbie" of Egypt kind of doll. We took pictures with it.
When we got back into town, we checked in for our bus, walked back to the area near our hostel, and found a cool coffee shop that we hung out in for a while. There was quite a dust storm in Cairo by this time, so it was really gross and hard to walk around outside (especially with contacts). After coffee, we took a taxi back to the Khan el-Khalili market and found a little restaurant to eat at (pizza, sodas, and apple sheesha). We did a little shopping - We bought a few scarves, little ornate wooden boxes, a papyrus painting/wall hanging, a cool set of carved wooden coasters, etc. We really walked around more than anything else and enjoyed our last evening out in Cairo.
As you can tell from some of the "car/truck" pictures above, Cairo is very colorful - it has a lot of character, and I really enjoyed that. I loved all of the bright, crazy colors and the different personalities. We really enjoyed our time there and had a very positive experience - thanks many of you for all of the advice that you gave us beforehand!
