The Pyramids
Sunday 6 July
Four hours sleep didn't feel enough, but an exciting day ahead of us, so 6.15 into the shower after admiring the view from the window and down to breakfast.
We met Mohamed and our Egyptologist, Fouad, in the lobby and we realised that we were the only people on the tour! Steve was waiting for us and Fouad, David and I climbed into the van. Of course the first thing you do is look for the seat belts, especially in this sort of chaotic driving.
I saw that they were locked behind the head rest and impossible to release, besides which neither Steve nor Fouad were wearing theirs. So I went with that, didn't want to insult Steve's driving ability, and we were off to Giza to see the Pyramids, about an hour away, depending on the traffic.
Did I say traffic, it's a jungle out there, the only speed limit is fast and faster, I did see the odd faded line on the road which when new would have indicated the lanes, but Cairo driving is all about getting close and personal with the other cars, so the aim is to get where you are going in the shortest time and if that means five cars wide on the road, so be it. The winner is the guy who can find the gap between cars and win the game of dare to see who fills it first.
What makes it really exciting is that that there are no zebra crossings, and people walk across this highway of weaving cars willy nilly, kids, women, grannies, old men with sticks, and how the traffic misses them I do not know - it certainly doesn't slow down, and apart from constant horn blowing, it seems to be expected that the traffic will miss them, and it does!
My first impression of Cairo is that everything is covered on a fine film of sand, this makes the roads, the buildings and vehicles all one colour - sand coloured.
The way to the Pyramids crosses the River Nile to the area of Giza and on the way there there are massive areas of tall apartment blocks derelict and broken down, these areas used to be fertile farmlands, and there are still some areas of farmland, but few and far between. Successive governments have made poor decisions about housing and years later the city looks pretty run down. It was interesting that both Mohammed and Fouad held strong views about the current government and were not afraid to air them, some good and some bad, but they both thought the change in government was a good thing and hoped it would be the end of unrest here.
Second impression is of dirt and mess, being in the middle of the desert isn't easy, but all along the roads and alleyways there are mounds of rubbish piled up, even paving stones from road works, bricks, and debris of all sorts gather up around the cities and it's surrounds.
From the motorway we spotted our first pyramid, so exciting, totally out in the desert of course, and as the road wound it's way up to the first Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu, there were plenty of hawkers there to greet us!
Steve parked the van and as I got out it was like stepping into an oven, a few steps and I was trying to avoid buying a plastic pyramid - gold plated of course, tacky camel, scarves, jewels, and of course the inevitable 10-postcard deal, plus stamps to anywhere! These guys have to make a living, there is no such thing as the dole in Egypt!
So I stood there looking up, a bit awestruck, Fouad explained how the pyramids had been made, huge blocks of limestone brought in from local quarries, pulled up ramps around the pyramid and placed one on the other in an exact measurement so that they would not fall down or tumble in. He showed us huge slabs of 'better quality' limestone that had fallen off the facade over the thousands of years (over 4000 years ago - I still find it hard to believe), that lie around the base.
He explained that there were tomb raiders even in those days, depending on how strongly the Pharoah at that time ruled his people, some theories are that the workers on the tombs knew how valuable the artefacts were that had been buried inside, and would raid the tomb shortly after it had been sealed.
We moved up the road to the next one, again avoiding the hawkers,and particularly the camel riders wanting to give you a ride on the camel, tempting though it was (yeah right), Fouad gave the guy a couple of Egyption pounds to stay away as the camel was covered in flies! And so we reached the top of the hill and had the perspective of all three in a row.
Wikipedia: "The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.
Based on a mark in an interior chamber naming the work gang and a reference to fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu, Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb over a 10 to 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC. Initially at 146.5 metres, the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.
Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface; what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories about the Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place.
The Fourth Dynasty heralded the height of the pyramid-building age. The relative peace of the Third Dynasty allowed the Fourth Dynasty rulers the leisure to explore more artistic and cultural pursuits. Sneferu’s building experiments led to the evolution from the mastaba styled step pyramids to the smooth sided “true” pyramids, such as those on the Giza plateau. No other period in Egypt’s history equaled Dynasty IV’s architectural accomplishments. Each of the rulers of this dynasty commissioned at least one pyramid to serve as a tomb or cenotaph.
Khufu, his son Khafre and his grandson Menkaure achieved lasting fame in the construction of their pyramids at Giza.
Organizing and feeding the workforce needed to create these pyramids required a centralized government with extensive powers, and Egyptologists believe that at this time the Old Kingdom demonstrated this level of sophistication and the long period of prosperity required to accomplish such projects. In fact, recent excavations outside the Wall of the Crow by Dr. Mark Lehner have uncovered a large city which seems to have housed, fed, and supplied the pyramid workers of Khafre and Menkaure."
There is always a job there for a Camel dung sweeper!
Then we went back to the van and drove a short distance to the Cheops Boat Museum. In 1954 Kamal al-Mailakh discovered two rectangular pits cut into the rock on the south side of the Great Pyramid, close to the base. Each was covered with 41 large blocks of fine limestone weighing about 18 tonnes, they rested on a lip about a metre wide above the pit which is 3.5 metres deep.
A layer of thick mortar covered the stone bricks helping to protect the contents against the elements. The boat had been there for 4500 years, it was in small pieces which were catalogued and stored. It has now been restored and reconstructed and is protected on site on its own museum.
Boats were important to the Egyptians as a means of getting to the afterworld and all the pyramids have a vessel of some kind. There is so much more to tell, but 'Google' and Wikipedia do it so much better than me.
We had one more visit to make, the Sphynx. It's majestic, it stands out proudly protecting its Pharoes. After 4000 years I guess you would expect a bit of wear and tear?
Wikipedia: "The Great Sphinx of Giza commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head) that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx is generally believed to represent the face of the Pharaoh Khafra.
It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 73.5 metres long, 19.3 metres wide, and 20.22 m high. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of the Pharaoh Khafra (c. 2558–2532 BC)."
Lunch was obviously going to be late, this tour was supposed to be a half day and we still had some shopping to do. We had arranged to visit the Souk (traditional Egyptian market) tomorrow, but Fouad wanted to take us somewhere special to finish off. There is a market which is government controlled which makes genuine goods for a genuine price, so no barter goes on. We called in at a shop which specialises in making real papyrus pictures. A nice young woman who spoke good English took us through the steps of making papyrus, from slicing the papyrus stalk to weaving it, to drying and putting it in a press. It was really interesting, and of course we then bought a picture - but a small one.
Then we went to a jewellers next door and met an older craftsman who showed us some beautiful jewellery, and told us how Egypt is rich in beautiful stones, and of course gold. Well, I'm always interested in gold of course, but mindful that we were running out of money pretty quickly I tried to move on. Then he showed me his range of Cartouches, and how he would make one for me, brings good luck and health to the ones you love. The Pharoes and noblemen and women wore them for protection (I think I needed one right then to protect me from him!). They had their names written in hieroglyphs, hers on one side and his on the other! And he could do ours right then and there, showed me the hieroglyphs for DAVID, but got a little stuck over SUE because it's too short, so after some thought he suggested adding the hieroglyph 'ankh' which means powerful and strong and diplomatic (!), and would I like to see it made.
Well of,course I would - so off we went down a little alley way into a tiny room where obviously his goldsmiths work.
I was so impressed with these guys the finest of work, no mistakes allowed gold is too expensive, and working with a flame about a zillion degrees.
I just love my cartouche.
Wikipedia: "In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouch is an oval with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu."
And so back to the hotel. By this time David was looking pretty pale, he rushed to the toilet just in time, and when he came out...... not sure how he picked up this diarrhoea but it sure got a hold.
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