The Pyramids of Giza

Yes, this is the Sahara Desert.

     

First stop was the Great Pyramid, completed as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu, also known as Cheops, in 2650 BC. It's the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World (I guess the internet doesn't count), and the only one remaining. We climbed/crawled up a narrow passage into the burial chamber, a huge granite-lined vault with a sarcophagus at one end. Coming early paid off, as we had the silence to ourselves for a while until a gaggle of US tourists arrived.

Though it's very safe where we were, tourism in Egypt is only 15-20% of what it was before the revolution.  Most of the visitors were locals, like these teenagers. Cell phones and baseball caps seem to be universal. 

Around the Great Pyramid are five huge pits. In 1953, a 143-foot long solar barge, which is believed to have been built as a ritual vessel to carry Khufu across the heavens with the sun god Ra, was found. The ship was painstakingly reconstructed, and a museum built above the pit to house it. A Japanese archeological team is excavating another boat in a pit next to this one.

Amro's a great guy; he treated us as brethren. Turns out he'd been to Santa Fe.

Second of the three main pyramids is that of pharaoh Khefren (or Khafre), son of Khufu. The kid did alright. This is the only one of the three with its stone casing intact at the top.

Where did the stone to build the pyramids come from? This cut in the bedrock next to the Khefren pyramid shows how the limestone was quarried from around the pyramids. 

Each pyramid had a "valley temple" where the king was mummified, and a mortuary temple next to the  pyramid where final and continued offerings were made by the priests. Khufu's grandson, Menkaure, wasn't to be outdone and had a fine pyramid and temple.

Finally, the Sphinx. That's actually a Greek name; the Egyptians called it "sesheb-ankh," the "living image," and saw it as a guardian. There are many sphinxes of all sizes. Before the Nile changed its course, this one was at the water's edge and a causeway led up to Khefren's mortuary temple.

Sometimes getting out of the parking lot is half the adventure. I wasn't sure if this guy was supervising or just there for entertainment.