Around the World

Got a late start at 3pm. We organized our bags and got some rest from the previous trip up Mt Sinai and bus trip to Cairo.

We took a bus from Tahrir Square to the Giza Pyramids with James, our friend from Dahab. I bought a hat as we walked to the pyramids from the bus stop. We met an American guy named Ted who was driving to the pyramid. We got a ride with him and went to the Cheops Pyramid together. It was fantastic.We climbed a narrow opening into a large great gallery and then the Kings chamber.It was so hot inside the pyramid. I was glad I brought a small battery operated fan to try and cool down. I got a weird feeling being inside the burial chamber. I took the photo to the right of Donna, Ted and James. We couldn't bear the stuffy hot air very long and exited the pyramid quickly.

While we walked between the pyramids, Donna and I got our photos taken on a camel and took a short ride to Mycerin, the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza. This pyramid was built by the IV Dynasty pharaoh Menkaure.Our camel driver wanted to take us on a ride out into the desert behind the Pyramids, but we insisted on just getting our photo and riding a short distance. It was very uncomfortable. The wool saddle was very scratchy on my bare legs (next time will wear jeans). We had dinner at Pizza Hut, directly across the parking lot of the Great Pyramids, and watched the sunset. Then we went to the sound and light show. We took a local bus back to our hostel. The driver was able to reach an apple from a passing truck while we were driving. There were many billboard signs about awareness of battered women. Some had violent images of knife yeilding men and abused women. It seemed like a strange subject to display all over town.

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt, and in a historical irony is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one that survives substantially intact.It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2551 BC.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, and 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 regarding 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. There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called[1] Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

The original entrance to the Great Pyramid is 55' vertically above ground level and 24' east of the center line of the pyramid. This was probably a measure to defeat any attempt to break into the pyramid. The efficacy of this ruse is proven by the presence of a Robbers Tunnel dug into the stonework on the center line of the pyramid. This is the work of Caliph al-Mamun, whose men would have dug all the way through the pyramid without encountering anything had it not been for the unfortunate accident described below. From this original entrance there is a Descending Passage 3'11" in height and 3'5" in width which goes down at an angle of 26° 31'23" through the masonry of the pyramid and then into the bedrock beneath it. After 345' the passage becomes level and continues for a further 29' to the lower Chamber, which appears not to have been finished. There is a continuation of the horizontal passage in the south wall of the lower chamber; there is also a pit dug in the floor of the chamber, which may represent a start at making the chamber deeper, or may have some ritual significance as a conduit to the pirmaeval waters under the earth.

The only object in the King's Chamber is a rectangular granite sarcophagus, one corner of which is broken. The sarcophagus is slightly larger than the Ascending Passage, which indicates that it must have been placed in the Chamber before the roof was put in place. Unlike the fine masonry of the walls of the Chamber, the sarcophagus is quite roughly finished, with saw marks visible in several places.This is in contrast with the finely finished and decorated sarcophagi found in other pyramids of the same period. Petrie suggested that such a sarcophagus was intended but was lost in the river on the way north from Aswan and a hurriedly made replacement was used instead. This ingenious theory does not explain why the sarcophagus could not have been finished in situ.

Today tourists enter the Great Pyramid via the Robbers' Tunnel dug by workmen employed by Caliph al-Ma'mun around AD 820. The tunnel is cut straight through the masonry of the pyramid for approximately 90', then turns sharply left to encounter the blocking stones in the Ascending Passage. Unable to remove these stones, the workmen tunneled up beside them through the softer limestone of the Pyramid until they reached the Ascending Passage. It is possible to enter the Descending Passage from this point, but access is usually forbidden. In recent years entrance to the pyramid has been restricted to groups of 100 morning and afternoon. As tickets are highly prized, those wishing to enter must queue outside the right ticket office for an hour or more before it opens. Under Zahi Hawass photography inside the pyramid is now strictly forbidden.

We spent the afternoon in The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum. It is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms. The museum's Royal Mummy Room, containing 27 royal mummies from pharaonic times, was closed on the orders of President Anwar Sadat in 1981. It was reopened, with a slightly curtailed display of New Kingdom kings and queens in 1985.

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, and many treasures of King Tutankhamen. The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Gardens. The museum soon moved to Boulaq in 1858 because the original building was getting to be too small to hold all of the artifacts. In 1855, shortly after the artifacts were moved, Duke Maximilian of Austria was given all of the artifacts. He hired a French architect to design and construct a new museum for the antiquities. The new building was to be constructed on the bank of the Nile River in Boulaq. In 1878, after the museum was completed for some time, it suffered some irreversible damage; a flood of the Nile River caused the antiquities to be relocated to another museum, in Giza. The artifacts remained there until 1902 when they were moved, for the last time to the current museum in Tahrir Square.

There are two main floors of the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor there is an extensive collection of papyrus and coins used in the Ancient world. Also on the ground floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom, the time period between 1550 BC. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries. Those items include statues, tables, and coffins. On the first floor there are artifacts from the final two dynasties of Ancient Egypt, including items from the tombs of the Pharaohs Thutmosis III, Thutmosis IV, Amenophis II, Hatshepsut, and Maherpen, and also many artifacts taken from the Valley of the Kings.

We got out of the triple room to a 4 bed dorm. James and I walked to the Hilton and Museum that day. Later we went to the Khan el-Khalili Market.

The remains of many famous Pharaohs are stored in the Egyptian Museum. One of these is Pharaoh Ramses III, who was an extremely skilled warrior. For many of the mummified pharaohs, it has been very difficult to determine when they were born. Also, historians can only estimate a time when they reigned over Egypt. For Amenhotep IV, historians have estimated that he reigned around 1372 B.C. They knew this because they found out when Amenhotep IV's father, Amenhotep III died.

I bought some souvenirs at the gift shop, one of them were color 35mm slides of King Tut's treasure. I met up with Donna and we went to the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar.

It is a major market in the Islamic district of Cairo. The bazaar district is one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. In addition to shops, there are several coffeehouses, restaurants, and street food vendors distributed throughout the market. The coffee shops are generally small and quite traditional, serving Arabic coffee and usually offering shisha. The al-Hussein Mosque is also in Khan el-Khalili. I really liked the papyrus paintings and I bought a couple at the markets. The rugs were also very nice but too big to carry.