Day 113 - The Great Pyramids Of Giza, The Sphinx, Sakkarra & Travelling To Luxor
We woke up early, knowing that our first day on tour would be one of the biggest days we will have in Egypt. Before 7am we had packed, checked out of our room & were quickly hoovering down a buffet breakfast.
We were soon on the bus and travelling to Sakkarra, also known as Saqqara, an Arabic word for the ancient burial ground of the Egyptian's capital at the time, known as Memphis. It is here we would touch our first pyramid & enter underneath the sand to stand inside a tomb. The area is very famous for the oldest known, well preserved complex, the step pyramid of Djoser, also known as the step tomb. The first pyramid design is very different to the shape the world knows as the pyramid, which evolved later. Sam our tour guide, explains the evolution and design changes by drawing relatable diagrams in the sand. The Step pyramid was built in the 3rd dynasty of the old kingdom, it is crazy that it is still standing for us to learn from & appreciate now.
Sakkarra holds the remains of another 16 pharaoh's pyramids & tombs, as well as the tombs & funeral monuments of high officials, all in various states of dilapidation, none as well preserved as the Pyramid of Djoser. Memphis was the capital during the old kingdom era & it was a thriving town of trade, religion and held a prominent strategic position along the nile. Its importance continued on for some time until the coastal capital of Alexandria was established & Memphis lost it's economic power & influence. Sakkarra remained an important burial ground for approximately 3000 years, well into the era's of the Ptolemaic & Roman.
After Sam gave us our education on the relevance of Sakkarra, Memphis, the step pyramid and the different dynasty's and conquerers of Egypt, we walked towards what looked like a moderate sized sandy mound in the ground. It didn't really look significant, but it was the tomb & complex of King Unas, the 9th and final pharaoh in the 5th dynasty. Its original size was said to be around 43 metres in height, sadly it is now completely ruined from the outside but the tomb on the inside is spectacularly preserved. We walked under a rail and climbed down a wooden ramp, ducking the whole way, until we reached the burial chambers.
The importance of this tomb is the funerary texts that are on the walls & the roof. Sadly, we couldn't take any photos inside the tomb, but it is something we will always remember. The hieroglyphs & spells for the afterlife were fascinating and incredible!
After we had finished exploring Sakkarra we hopped back on the bus and drove the 20km's back to Giza to see the Pyramid complex of Giza, including The Great Pyramid. Also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu, the oldest & largest Pyramid in the complex & our 3rd world wonder of the trip. It is the oldest of the 7 wonders of the ancient world & one of he best preserved. It is incredibly complete & massive. At 138 metres tall, standing in front of it and looking up, it's nearly impossible to see the top or get a good photo with the whole thing in the frame. The Egyptians were incredible engineers and this is explained to us by the minimal margin of errors on such huge projects. The 4 sides of the pyramid have an average error of 58 millimetres in length!
Our entry fee granted us access to the complex but Tom & I purchased an extra ticket to go inside of the pyramid! We walked up approximately 5 level's of stones to gain access through a crude entry hole in the side of the pyramid. Sam told me later that this entry way was made by an Arabian king who wanted to have access to the pyramid.
The initial walkway continued to look very rough and crude with lots of cement, uneven surfaces and rocks protruding into the walkway, we then stepped into a smooth and elevated passageway that started ascending on a wooden ramp. The walls of this passageway were polished smooth, shiny & showed how symmetrical & intentional each massive slab of rock was placed. The rock was black and the passageway was very tall making it extremely hard to see the roof & judge how big the space is inside the passage. This passageway is known as the grand gallery is 8.6metres high and 46.6 metres long, it was a sweaty time walking up.
The air was very stale and hot, the temperature increased as we continued to walk up the passageway towards the burial chamber that holds the kings sarcophagus. The passageway & kings chamber are completely bare, the absence of the hieroglyphs and spells we had seen in the previous burial chamber a stark contrast to the shiny black rock. The Kings chamber is entirely made from granite, is 10 metres from East to West, 5.2 metres from North to South, it has a flat roof 6 metres above the floor & the weight of the stones above the chamber is 5 smaller compartments & 4 tonnes of rock.
Unfortunately again, we weren't allowed to photograph inside the pyramid, however Wikipedia has some good pictures & diagrams. I wish we could of spent more time inside the tomb but the heat was unbearable.
Once we had explored inside & outside the pyramid and taken photos we headed back to the bus where I had a million questions for Sam! I was very interested to know why such a grand complex would have no internal carvings or drawings. Sam said that in 2017 scientists scanned the pyramid using 3 different types of technology and discovered a new, large cavity above the grand gallery that is 30 metres in length and is not accessible. Some scientists theorised this large cavity is a construction gap and is intentional, however there is a lot of reason to dispute this with the other cavities previously discovered looking completely different. We just don't know what the purpose of this room is for and what secrets it could hold!
There are 5 other pyramids in the Giza complex, the other 2 big ones are known as the Pyramid of Khafre & the Pyramid of Menkaure, while the 3 dramatically smaller ones are called the Queens pyramids, but we didn't get close to the others or go inside of them.
After exploring the pyramid complex we drove down to the sphinx and entered the complex surrounding it. The Sphinx was absolutely breath taking, measuring 73 metres from paw to tail, although it's face is very damaged, you can appreciate the craftsmanship that went into carving this giant mythical beast from one slab of rock. The purpose of the Sphinx, it's creator and its Egyptian name are still unknown, however it is theorised that it was created by the same Pharaoh Khufu who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. It doesn't appear to be referenced in any old writings from the old Kingdom, maybe the hidden cavity inside the Great Pyramid will hold this information.
The name Sphinx is actually a Greek name for the shape of the mythical beast.
After the Sphinx we all piled back onto the bus and went to have a late buffet lunch, a theme for the trip & a good way to accommodate the dietary needs of such a big group & feed us all quickly.
After lunch we went to a local essence gallery, feeling very sleepy from the heat & lunch, where we got an education on how they make the perfumed oil & a chance to purchase them.
Once we got back to the hotel we had about an hour of free time to freshen up, which means have a swim in the pool, before we all piled back onto the bus & started the 9 hour journey from Cairo to Luxor, we would arrive around 1.30am, check into another 5 star hotel & collapse onto our beds.
- Alli
We woke up early, knowing that our first day on tour would be one of the biggest days we will have in Egypt. Before 7am we had packed, checked out of our room & were quickly hoovering down a buffet breakfast.
We were soon on the bus and travelling to Sakkarra, also known as Saqqara, an Arabic word for the ancient burial ground of the Egyptian's capital at the time, known as Memphis. It is here we would touch our first pyramid & enter underneath the sand to stand inside a tomb. The area is very famous for the oldest known, well preserved complex, the step pyramid of Djoser, also known as the step tomb. The first pyramid design is very different to the shape the world knows as the pyramid, which evolved later. Sam our tour guide, explains the evolution and design changes by drawing relatable diagrams in the sand. The Step pyramid was built in the 3rd dynasty of the old kingdom, it is crazy that it is still standing for us to learn from & appreciate now.
Sakkarra holds the remains of another 16 pharaoh's pyramids & tombs, as well as the tombs & funeral monuments of high officials, all in various states of dilapidation, none as well preserved as the Pyramid of Djoser. Memphis was the capital during the old kingdom era & it was a thriving town of trade, religion and held a prominent strategic position along the nile. Its importance continued on for some time until the coastal capital of Alexandria was established & Memphis lost it's economic power & influence. Sakkarra remained an important burial ground for approximately 3000 years, well into the era's of the Ptolemaic & Roman.
After Sam gave us our education on the relevance of Sakkarra, Memphis, the step pyramid and the different dynasty's and conquerers of Egypt, we walked towards what looked like a moderate sized sandy mound in the ground. It didn't really look significant, but it was the tomb & complex of King Unas, the 9th and final pharaoh in the 5th dynasty. Its original size was said to be around 43 metres in height, sadly it is now completely ruined from the outside but the tomb on the inside is spectacularly preserved. We walked under a rail and climbed down a wooden ramp, ducking the whole way, until we reached the burial chambers.
The importance of this tomb is the funerary texts that are on the walls & the roof. Sadly, we couldn't take any photos inside the tomb, but it is something we will always remember. The hieroglyphs & spells for the afterlife were fascinating and incredible!
Our entry fee granted us access to the complex but Tom & I purchased an extra ticket to go inside of the pyramid! We walked up approximately 5 level's of stones to gain access through a crude entry hole in the side of the pyramid. Sam told me later that this entry way was made by an Arabian king who wanted to have access to the pyramid.
The initial walkway continued to look very rough and crude with lots of cement, uneven surfaces and rocks protruding into the walkway, we then stepped into a smooth and elevated passageway that started ascending on a wooden ramp. The walls of this passageway were polished smooth, shiny & showed how symmetrical & intentional each massive slab of rock was placed. The rock was black and the passageway was very tall making it extremely hard to see the roof & judge how big the space is inside the passage. This passageway is known as the grand gallery is 8.6metres high and 46.6 metres long, it was a sweaty time walking up.
The air was very stale and hot, the temperature increased as we continued to walk up the passageway towards the burial chamber that holds the kings sarcophagus. The passageway & kings chamber are completely bare, the absence of the hieroglyphs and spells we had seen in the previous burial chamber a stark contrast to the shiny black rock. The Kings chamber is entirely made from granite, is 10 metres from East to West, 5.2 metres from North to South, it has a flat roof 6 metres above the floor & the weight of the stones above the chamber is 5 smaller compartments & 4 tonnes of rock.
Unfortunately again, we weren't allowed to photograph inside the pyramid, however Wikipedia has some good pictures & diagrams. I wish we could of spent more time inside the tomb but the heat was unbearable.
Once we had explored inside & outside the pyramid and taken photos we headed back to the bus where I had a million questions for Sam! I was very interested to know why such a grand complex would have no internal carvings or drawings. Sam said that in 2017 scientists scanned the pyramid using 3 different types of technology and discovered a new, large cavity above the grand gallery that is 30 metres in length and is not accessible. Some scientists theorised this large cavity is a construction gap and is intentional, however there is a lot of reason to dispute this with the other cavities previously discovered looking completely different. We just don't know what the purpose of this room is for and what secrets it could hold!
After exploring the pyramid complex we drove down to the sphinx and entered the complex surrounding it. The Sphinx was absolutely breath taking, measuring 73 metres from paw to tail, although it's face is very damaged, you can appreciate the craftsmanship that went into carving this giant mythical beast from one slab of rock. The purpose of the Sphinx, it's creator and its Egyptian name are still unknown, however it is theorised that it was created by the same Pharaoh Khufu who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. It doesn't appear to be referenced in any old writings from the old Kingdom, maybe the hidden cavity inside the Great Pyramid will hold this information.
The name Sphinx is actually a Greek name for the shape of the mythical beast.
After lunch we went to a local essence gallery, feeling very sleepy from the heat & lunch, where we got an education on how they make the perfumed oil & a chance to purchase them.
- Alli
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