I am breaking this into three posts because they will be too long. They are already long! The first two pertain to what we did on Nov. 30. We already shared the Egyptian Museum experience with you in part 1 of this blog. After that, we saw the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx. That, and pictures of the Nile River dinner cruise make up part 2.
The Giza pyramids, as you know, were built by aliens. Okay, not really. They are, of course, amazing, but I am more amazed now than I was before. When you look closely at the stones, you see that they are perfectly shaped. The angles are 90 degrees. Because they are perfectly shaped, there is no adhesive substance between them. It is just stone on stone. (Wikipedia mentions mortar, but I don’t know where it was used.) It was initially 146.6 meters tall and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3,800 years! Due to the smooth limestone casing being worn away, it is currently 138.5 (some sources say 138.8) meters. You can see some of the smooth casing on the pyramid next to it, but you will not see any in pictures of the Great Pyramid. The stones (primarily limestone) used to build it weighed about six million tons in total. There are three chambers inside the Great Pyramid. We did not go into any of them.
Remember the tiny “statue” we saw in the Egyptian Museum? That was Khufu, the dude who built the Great Pyramid. And that is the only statue they have of him. The irony is not lost on anyone. I should mention that Khufu’s wives, children, grandchildren, and mother were also buried nearby, as were various courtiers. This was standard practice and in accordance with their belief in the Afterlife.
Another super interesting fact is that in 1954 (just 1954!!) two huge boat pits were discovered buried at the south foot of the pyramid. Why? The area right next to where the Giza pyramids were built was completely covered with water. That was true until 150 years ago. So they used boats to deliver the stones. Again, how amazing they were!!
The second largest pyramid at Giza was built by Khafre. We posted a picture of his statue in the Egyptian Museum in part 1 of this blog. Khafre is Khufu’s son. He built this pyramid around 2570 BC. He built his pyramid on a hill that is 10 meters higher than Khufu’s pyramid, so it appears to be taller. A little father-son rivalry there. Khafre’s pyramid still has a bit of the smooth limestone casing at the top. It is 136.4 meters tall. It is also made of limestone blocks weighing more than two tons each, just as the Great Pyramid. Two entrances lead to the burial chamber in the second pyramid. We did not go inside.
The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three main pyramids at Giza. It was originally 65.5 meters tall and is 62 (some sources say 61) meters tall now. Because many of the blocks of stone are visibly unfinished, it is believed that work on the pyramid stopped because Menkaure (Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh) died before the pyramid was completed. The three smaller pyramids next to his were for his queens.
Our last stop of the day was to visit the Great Sphinx. The Great Sphinx was carved from a single piece of limestone. (!) It was likely built during the reign of King Khafre (c. 2575-c.2465 BCE) and depicts (or depicted, since there isn’t a lot left of it) his face. It is 240 feet long and 66 feet high.
Our day ended with a dinner cruise on the Nile River. Here are some pics of our views:
