Yesterday, on a hazy morning, I took a 45 minute cab ride from Cairo city center to the Giza Plateau. Its only about 15 miles but the notorious Cairo traffic gets in the way. The Giza Pyramid complex (or necropolis, if you prefer the morbid!) consists mainly of three Pyramids (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure - named after the three Pharaohs from Old Kingdom - 2686 BC to 2025 BC), a Sphinx and a ship housed in a museum. Except for the Ship, I visited all of these and few other adjoining structures - funerary complexes, smaller temples, tombs for the King's mother, wife, architect/engineer, etc.
Once you get to the Pyramids, the only surviving Ancient Wonders of the World , the awe-factor completely overwhelms you, until you run into some other modern realities of visiting a "tourist" site in Egypt - hagglers, vendors, dust, camel & horse dung, heat...
As with Taj Mahal, I found the stories of the people (architects, designers, workers) who build these great structures much more interesting then the story of the Pharaohs themselves and their henchmen (aka noblemen) etc.
The largest Pyramid, Khufu, was build using nearly 2.3 million limestone pieces (approximately weighing 2.5 tonnes each). The symmetry and the mathematical precision required to construct these massive structures is pretty impressive by our modern standards (what with malfunctioning solar panels in the International Space Station!), let alone more than 40 centuries ago.
The Pyramids are not just a beautiful sight to behold but also a salute to the incredible human ingenuity that led to their construction. The biggest and most pleasant surprise of the trip to Giza Pyramids, for me, was to see the insides of these pyramids (especially inside the Khufu Pyramid) with their narrow passageways and chambers - simple, fully ventilated and designed with incredible care in red granite. I lucked out to be in the King's chamber, an empty 3o feet by 15 ft by 20 feet hollow space in the heart of the Khufu Pyramid in relative darkness, without any other tourists for few minutes - it was quite surreal!! Here are some highlights from this extraordinary experience -
(FYI: 1 US $ = approximately 5.5 Egyptian Pound)
4 comments:
I think the Sphinx would be the most mesmerizing of the structures. Your video did not demonstrate much 'impression' from it? How so?
Liked the shots of you inside the 'chamber'! -~ Leslie
this is awesome, its like being right there.... thanks for the incredible voice over pics.
I think someone should revoke Dr. Photo's medical license! ;)
That said, incredible pictures. I can only imagine what it must have been like up close. Man, what am I doing in this office at 12:05 in the morning? I belong on that rickety old plane with the pentatholetes on my way to someplace like this!
Such a great video....makes me feel like I'm back there.
Plus the information provided is more informative than what the tour guide gave us!
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