Day 2 Saturday Nov 25 Giza pyramids, Egyptian museum

UBER TRAVAILS

we called an Uber to Giza pyramids, put in the north entrance opp Marriot hotel as destination. Cairo pass is only avalable there, not at the sphinx entrance.

Our driver was an older guy, talked in Arabic, we showed our translation app re where we wanted to be dropped. He started arguing, said we are changing our destination, he'll put us at the hotel entrance. Now he was speaking fluent English and he stopped for camel/ horse touts. We patiently said No to them, insisted he should drop us near the ticket counter opp Marriot. He was aggressive and demanded another 100 egp... our Uber commitment 185 egp was through credit card as originally programmed. We said OK, gave him the cash and at least got dropped at the correct entrance.

CAIRO PASS

we went to the kiosks, asked for the Cairo pass. We had a folder with the original passports, copies, passport pics, crisp USDs.

The counter guy pointed at some one and asked us to go with him... we had previously declined that guy's offer of 'help'. We had to go with him, he took us to an adjacent counter, with 3 people in line. I stood behind them. Our tout went to the side cutting the line, beckoned me to come near him for doing the procedures. I cringed but had to comply.

He passed the money, got the pass stubs, filled it with our name, passport number, stapled our pics.

Me and son were thinking we'll offer him 20egp for the service and add another 10 if he's belligerent. Son kept the money ready. The guy handed over our passes and the originals, nodded at us and walked off!!!

GIZA PYRAMIDS

Located on the Giza Plateau, just 15 km from central Cairo, The complex consist of the pyramids and funerary complexes of the pharaohs Menkaure, Khafre, and Khufu.

Dating back over 4,500 years, these tombs were built by kings of Egypt's Old Kingdom. the site sees over 14 million visitors each year,

We went in to the grounds, bracing ourselves for an onslaught from the guides, touts, camel, horse carriage guys. Just a few made an offer, easily fended off with a smiley shake of the head.

The iconic pyramids towered in silent majesty in front of us and we were awestruck.

The Great Pyramid [4500 years old] is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact. It was built for Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek).

Originally 481 feet (147 meters) tall, with each side about 755 feet (230 meters) wide, this structure took twenty years to build. It is the largest pyramid ever built and is made of over 2.3 million limestone blocks – each weighing from 2.5 to 15 tons! At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced with white casing stones made of highly polished white limestone, which would have produced impressive reflections of the Egyptian sunlight. Through earthquakes and pillaging, most of the casing stones are missing today.

[Khufu’s son, Khafre, had his own, smaller, pyramid built during his reign, as did Menkaure. Together they created the famous Pyramids of Giza.]

We are allowed to climb a little bit on to the pyramid as you can see below.... you pay 5000usd with a prior special permit if you want to climb up to the top

A bunch of school kids approached, said 'Fotho?' extending their phone. I initially thought they wanted me to take their photo but no, they wanted a pic with me. I was a mini celebrity, taking several selfies where ever I walked. It had happened in China and this repeat was SUPER fun .

On the eastern side of the Pyramid of Cheops are three smaller pyramids, made as tombs for queens and a daughter of the Pharaoh, and a large cemetery for other relatives.

WALKING PATH

Our walking path was according to this map... ie not to walk on the roads but cut across. In the link we can hover and see the names Khufu, Khafre , sphinx etc marked. We went to the western cemetery for hemiyunu's tomb but could not find it. It had great views of pyramids without any crowd though. [in the uber guy ruckus and cairo pass stress we had forgotten to buy the separate ticket for Meresankh tomb in eastern cemetery]

https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?l=0&x=31.1335259&y=29.9765075&z=16

Pyramid of Khafre

sits 160 meters to the southwest from the Great Pyramid.

Built by Khufu's son Khafre, it at first appears to be larger than his father's earlier pyramid as it stands on a higher piece of land.

A considerable section of the original limestone casing has managed to be preserved on the apex of the pyramid, and the layout of the mortuary temple on the east side can be clearly distinguished.

The pyramid has a height of 135.5 meters and a base measurement of 210.5 meters

Pyramid of Menkaure

The smallest of the three main Giza pyramids is the Pyramid of Mycerinus (Pyramid of Menkaure), made of unusually large limestone blocks.

It has a vertical height of 65 meters over a large base of 108.5 meters made of limestone.

The lower sixteen layers of the exterior part of this pyramid were made of red granite, while its upper part was made of white Tura limestone.

Pyramid of Menkaure was open to enter for pass holders

HAHA, The camels are impressed to see the sphinx getting touched!!

KHAFRE'S VALLEY TEMPLE

Located to the left of the Sphinx we need to meander through the valley temple in order to view the Sphinx. Pay attention to the massive blocks on the outer wall and inside the complex. The stonework is so fine that one cannot insert a piece of paper between the blocks which use no mortar.

The purpose of these valley temples has been debated: they could have been used for the mummification process or perhaps for the "opening of the mouth" ceremony, when the "ka" entered the deceased person's body.

This temple is an excellent state of preservation, having been buried by desert sand until the 19th century. Built with limestone and base is built with red granite. The flooring is white marble.

THE SPHINX

the enigmatic Sphinx is a finely built granite structure shaped like a recumbent lion that sits immediately east of the pyramids. The lion was a symbol of the sun as well as power and kingship.

it has the head of a pharaoh (commonly thought to be Khafre) and wears the royal head-cloth and cobra.

The total length of the figure is 73.5 meters, and its height is 20 meters.

Weathering and deliberate mutilation have wrought much damage over the course of the centuries,

Despite what some tour guides still insist on telling visitors, Napoleon is not responsible for the missing nose on the Sphinx's face.

According to Arab historians, the nose is thought to have been destroyed at some stage in the Islamic Empires era.

One 14th-century story tells of a pious Muslim, being so upset that locals still made offerings to the Sphinx in the hope that this practice would control the annual Nile flood and hence bring a good harvest, that he hammered off the Sphinx's nose.

The Sphinx has been restored often in both ancient and modern times. The first and possibly most famous restoration occurred in the New Kingdom under Thutmose IV. He cleared the sand from around the base, repaired damage to the body, and commemorated his work with a small chapel and a stele (plaque) placed between the Sphinx’s paws. Thutmose IV, in his “Dream Stele,” relates that as a young prince, the Sphinx appeared to him in a dream, promising that if he would clear away the sand and restore the Sphinx, he would become the next pharaoh. This eventually happened [probably after the murder of the crown prince].

Further repairs were carried out in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and the Greco-Roman Period. Modern restoration work under the Egyptian Antiquities Service began in the 1940s and continued until recently.

Features common to all the pyramids

are their situation on the edge of the desert to the west of the Nile and their structure, which was built up from huge blocks of the local limestone and enclosed in a casing, originally polished, of fine-grained white limestone or granite.

The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to the north–south and east–west within a small fraction of a degree

Also common to all pyramids were the entrance on the north side and the mortuary temple on the east side, with a causeway (originally open, later frequently covered) leading up to it from a valley temple on the edge of the Nile Depression.

Concealed within the great bulk of the pyramid (in the later period) or underground beneath its base (in the earlier period) were the relatively small tomb chamber, a chamber for the cult of the dead pharaoh, and other chambers for the grave goods.

we walked out of the complex through the sphinx entrance.

the village has interesting souvenir shops, inns, horse stables [with the inevitable stench]. We had booked an apartment in Pyramids View inn before we flew back home. Though the view of lit up pyramids would be great I was having serious doubts about the stench. [we later cancelled that booking and stayed again at the downtown apartments. good decision.]

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

We took an uber to apartment, had our food, then walked over to the Egyptian museum... 1st of our 3 visits there. Cairo pass allows multiple entries to same attraction!!

This is New Kingdom [1550-1070]famous pharaoh, Akhnaton, he set up a short-lived new religion worshiping a single god called the Aten. [Akhnaton’s son, King Tutankamun, lived to rule for only a few short years, his intact tomb with 5000 objects was a sensational discovery in 1920s.]

Akhnaton's exquisite glass coffin case embellished with gold, enamel

pharaoh Akhnaton

staircase to 1st floor. This is the Statue of Ramesses II as a child protected by the God Horun. Ramesses II as a child (mes), naked, with his finger on his lips, wearing a lock of hair (known as the side-lock of youth) to the right side of his head, surmounted by a sun disk (ra) and his left-hand grasps a rush (su). The King is under the protection of a falcon god called Horus

1st floor... guards were not allowing access to many areas by 4.15pm.

We entered the Tut Ankh Amun room. these are ushabtis buried with him

This is the gold sheet amulet with Horus eye covering the incision made to remove organs... they felt gold will ward off evil spirits trying to enter the body and ;possess it

Tut Ankh Amun statue found guarding the entrance of his burial chamber

Tut Ankh Amun's gold chair. It is made of wood and covered with gold and silver. It is ornamented with semi-precious stones and colored glass.

Golden Throne of Tutankhamun

Two projecting lions’ heads protect the seat of the throne while the arms take the form of winged uraei or rearing cobras wearing the double Pschent crown of Egypt and guarding the cartouche names of the king