Day 4: "i love egypt"

After two great days with the Briers and Mohammed, I didn't know what we would do on Thursday when the Far Horizons group was traveling to Luxor. Luckily, Mohammed had a friend that was also a tour guide. Mohammed set everything up for Mother and me and almost jumped off of the bus on Wednesday afternoon without telling us his friend's name. "I made it easy for you. His name is Mohammed -- you're in Egypt, what did you expect?"

Mohammed (Mohammed I's friend) and Mohammed's friend, Moudi, picked us up at our hotel on Thursday morning. Both Mohammeds (okay, honestly, this is turning into an Abbott and Costello routine) arranged a half day of touring Islamic, Coptic, and Old Cairo. As Mother and I set off for the Citadel, we had no idea how much we would see on our last day in Egypt.

Our first stop was the Citadel to see the Mosque of Muhammad Ali sometimes referred to as the Alabaster Mosque.

This building has been the icon of the Cairo skyline since it was built in 1830.

Muhammad Ali was the self-proclaimed leader of Egypt during the nineteenth century. He built the mosque to honor himself and his accomplishments. Now, don't jump down Muhammad Ali's throat just yet. He's actually responsible for the birth of modern Egypt, a real reformer. Take his mosque for example. He built it at the Citadel on top of the ruins of Mamaluk palaces. The mosque became one of the most recognizable features of the Cairo skyline.

Let's talk architecture. The mosque may be the most recognizable feature on the skyline, but it is the least Egyptian. The courtyard's colors and architecture are decidedly more European than Arabian. Muhammad Ali departed from traditional Ottoman styling because he intended to break away from Istanbul and build a bigger, more modern city.

The interior courtyard of Muhammad Ali Mosque.

This clock tower was donated by France after Egypt gave Paris an obelisk from Luxor. Muhammad Ali got the short end of the stick-- the clock has never worked.

Our Mohammed took a page from Professor Brier, walking us out of the mosque and towards the Citadel gates. We had a full day still to come.

The Citadel has defended Cairo from its foreign enemies for hundreds of years.

We left the Citadel and drove a short distance to the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun. This mosque is significant because the original structure was built with mudbricks just like the mastabas. The Mosque of Ahmad ibin Tulun is one of Egypt's oldest that is still standing, and it is a popular destination for tourists.

The fountain of absolution from the Ibn Tulun mosque.

A Cairo street view from the top of the original minaret from the Ibn Tulun mosque.

Mohammed and Moudi then drove us through the "back" way to Coptic Cairo. At one point we entered a three-way intersection, stopped, reversed, and parked. I wasn't quite sure what was going on because I could tell that we hadn't reached Coptic Cairo.

"Falafel!" Mohammed had spotted a falafel shop as we were entering the intersection. He explained that falafel balls started in Egypt as a meat substitute for the Copts during Lent. Today falafels are a ubiquitous Middle Eastern street food. Mohammed order some of the fried fava bean balls, and we jumped back in the car for Coptic Cairo. As we drove, we snacked on the falafels. They were surprisingly light and quite tasty. I don't expect to find falafel that good on the streets of New York!

Our first stop in Coptic Cairo... wait, who are those people? Is that Bob Brier's shopping group?? Yes, it is. We ran into the Briers, Mohammed I, and the Far Horizons gang as they were leaving Coptic Cairo. Judy gave me a heads up that I would want to take pictures. (Thanks, Judy!)

Our first stop in Coptic Cairo was the Hanging Church, so called because it was built over an old Babylonian fortress. The church dates back to 690 AD and may have been the first church in Egypt to have been built in the Basilican style. In later times, travelers referred to it as the staircase church because of the 29 steps that lead up to the entrance.

The remains of the Babylonian fort that became the foundation for the Hanging Church.

The Hanging Church was an important stop for the Holy Family on their trip through Egypt.

After the Hanging Church, we visited the Church of Saint George (10th century) and the Ben Ezra Synagogue (9th century). "We have more falafel to fry." (Ok... Mohammed didn't actually say that, but I bet he thought it.)

We drove down to the Nile and had lunch on a (touristy) buffet barge. The lunch was so-so, but the view was spectacular.

When Mohammed I arranged the tour, he told us that we would finish by 3:30pm. As we left the buffet barge, I glanced at my phone; it was already 2:00pm. Our next stop was the Bazar in Old Cairo, and I knew that stop would take a while because Mother wanted to buy spices for people back home. I shrugged, put my phone away, and got back to the action.

Moudi was a great driver. We darted around the traffic with grace, not clumsily like the Cairo cab drivers. The traffic on the way out to the Bazar was starting to build, and I knew from the past three days that getting back to Giza in the afternoon can take forever.

Moudi dropped us off at the entrance to Khan el-Khalili aka The Khan or just the Bazar. We walked ahead while Moudi parked the car. Mohammed pointed out the giant gates that allowed ancient Cairo to tightly control immigration and to defend itself. Moudi approached with two glasses of a green-ish liquid. A wide grin appeared on Mohammed's face. "Drink this. It's an Egyptian favorite." Mother took the first sip and immediately gagged. Mohammed and Moudi laughed, and I decided to try it for myself. As I slowly drank from the glass, Mohammed explained that it was sugarcane juice or kasab. Moudi finished his in record time while Mohammed answered Mother's question about the ingredient list. "Sugarcane... that's it." Mother and I both drank our full glass of sugarcane.

Moudi delivers the super sweet kasab, a pure sugarcane juice.

We walked deeper into Old Cairo passing the House of as-Suhaymi. The house dates back to 1648, and it is a prime example of an affluent man's home in Ottoman Cairo. The rooms wrap around a central courtyard like a maze. Each room seems to be on a different level with stairs guiding you from place to place.

The streets of the Khan are always filled with children running and playing games.

A stained glass window inside the house of as-Suhaymi provided colorful light.

One of the many courtyards

Mother explored the market a bit, and then Mohammed guided us toward Fishawi's cafe in the heart of the bazar. The afternoon had definitely transformed from sightseeing to just hanging out with Mohammed and Moudi. We sat at the cafe watching the people bustle around the market and talking about life in general. I explained that I was visiting Cairo as a visa run while working in the UAE. As I talked more about the internship and Webb's winter work program, Mohammed and Moudi switched to Arabic for a moment. It turned out that Moudi was a industrial engineering student at Cairo University. His four year program also had internships or training periods. In contrast to the Webb (and American) system, Moudi had to pay his employers for the internship. Moudi told me that there is no charge for Egyptians to go to college. I explained that I was getting paid to work and live in Sharjah and that my college had a full-tuition scholarship for each student. "I love Egypt," he sarcastically declared.

Mother contemplates her next purchase while sipping tea in Fishawi's cafe.

We finished our tea, and Mohammed proposed that we go to Downtown Cairo and then to a real spice shop in Giza near our hotel. We skipped the market's spice stores and walked back towards the car.

Mother, Mohammed (black vest), and Moudi (brown jacket) explore the Bazar at Khan el-Khalili.

As the sun started to sink on the horizon, we time traveled (through a tunnel!!) back to modern Cairo. This time traveling marked the end of the sightseeing and the beginning of what could only be called the "Walk Like an Egyptian Tour." I really enjoyed the local perspective of walking the streets and seeing what the afternoon rush is like for people living in the greater Cairo area. Downtown Cairo is as big and crowded as any Western city. The streets are lined with shop after shop, with like goods generally grouped together. Moudi negotiated the car into a tight parallel parking spot. Mohammed got out and directed us towards a bakery.

Not just any bakery -- El Abd Bakery, Cairo's most well known and busiest. The aroma of fresh sweets and breads filled the air as we shoved our way into the crowded shop. We followed closely behind Mohammed as he searched for the perfect Egyptian pastry. He finally settled on some nuts and a "bird's nest" cake.

Moudi parted the crowd so that we could easily exit the bakery tightly clutching our tasty goods, and then we walked around the streets. Mother found Egyptian cotton towels (I wonder if Egyptians covet Sea Island cotton like we covet Egyptian cotton?) to take back to school. (Seriously. The people taking her college class are so lucky. They're getting bookmarks, postcards, food, and who knows what else.) I was impressed by the orderly chaos on the streets. Walking teaches Egyptians to be fearless. Pedestrians will walk anywhere and cross anywhere, particularly if there is an onslaught of cars approaching. The roads rarely have marked lanes, and local drivers -never- follow them if the roads are marked.

After walking around a bit, we loaded up in the car. Cairo has these neat parking meters that are connected with a steel bar on the ground that "locks in" your car until you pay. This is a great concept to avoid people cheating the meter and cut down on enforcement costs. Of course... the system only works with the steel bar actually retracts when you feed it money. Right. With some finagling, the meter started working and the bar went back into the ground. We were off for our next adventure.

Mohammed had promised to take Mother to a real spice store so that she could avoid paying the tourist price. We hopped out on a busy Giza intersection and ran to the spice store. Mohammed worked as interpreter for Mother and the Yemeni shopkeepers. I had never stopped to think that spice names weren't universal. As Mother looked around Mohammed sometimes had trouble translating the spices. We walked out with quarter kilos of cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, dried red chilies, and dukkah. Dukkah is an Egyptian meat spice that typically goes on chicken and similar meats. It can also be used for dipping breads with olive oil.

With that final acquisition, we crawled back to the hotel in the evening Giza traffic. Our time in Egypt was nearly finished, and today had been the best day of the trip. Mohammed and Moudi were fantastic guides and very generous. What was supposed to be a half-day tour turned into a full day adventure! If you're traveling to Cairo, consider using Mohammed's company, Egypt Fun Tours. (Ok... yes, the name needs work, but the service is spectacular and reasonably priced.)

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Posted in: cairo,coptic cairo,egypt,giza,islamic cairo,leisure photos,old cairo,walk like an egyptian

Day 3: "and behind this pyramid..."

Let's get this out in the open now: I misspelled the name of one of the largest and oldest necropoli on my Egyptology midterm. There. From this day forward, you can "wake me up in the middle of the night," ask me to spell Saqqara, and I will respond with S-A-Q-Q-A-R-A. Thank you. We can now go fry bigger fish.

Our second day with Professor Brier and Pat started a wee bit earlier to accomodate the long drive out to Memphis, the oldest capital of Upper and Lower Egypt. Memphis is in the valley near the Saqqara and Dashur plateaus. Almost everything that remains of the city has been damaged by thousands of years of mud and water. The high water table that allowed Memphis to thrive now jeopardizes the integrity of the artifacts.

We visited the open air museum in Memphis to see the second largest sphinx and several Ramses colossi. The sun, still low on the horizon, provided excellent lighting for interesting pictures.

Ramses the Great (Ramses II) may not have built a pyramid, but he certainly erected his likeness everywhere.

This is the second largest sphinx known to Egyptologists. Extensive water damage has ruined the alabaster stone.

Here's a yummy mummy question: What is the name of this Egyptian god?

Calling all shoppers! Pat Remler, a fantastic art historian and Professor Brier's wife, guided the group to a roadside stand just outside of the museum. The Memphis-area has some of the best handicraft prices around Lower Egypt. Several people from the group, including my mother, purchased baskets.

I kept my distance from the shoppers, but there were "great deals."

Professor Brier and I were both in grief over the number of baskets that seemed to be making their way home with us. "Guys, if you keep buying stuff you're going to ruin my reputation... 'Oh, there's Professor Brier's shopping group...' "

The road between Memphis and Saqqara bisected several villages where the bus had to slow down. The villages were a nice change of pace from the chaos of Cairo and Giza. I was able to take several pictures as we drove along.

Camels, while not native to Egypt, have become ubiquitous in the Egypt iconography.

The greater Cairo area is home to more than 20 million people making it the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. It is the 2nd largest in the Islamic world, following Jakarta.

These men are all awaiting carpool vans to commute into Cairo.

I don't know what this says in Arabic, but the banner got my attention. Any translators following the blog?

The bus picked up speed as Professor Brier reminded us that we had "bigger fish to fry."

We quickly arrived at the Saqqara necropolis. While the Great Pyramids and the Giza Plateau are embedded in Egypt's iconography, the Saqqara necropolis is much larger and spans more dynasties. We picked up an inspector for a special entrance into the Tomb of Unas.

We entered the causeway up to the Unas tomb. The pharoanic tombs usually had a causeway that joined the valley temple and mortuary temple. The Unas causeway is in surprisingly good condition.

Professor Brier points out a boat ala Ben Fisher. This carving appeared on the walls lining the causeway to the Pyramid of Unas and depicts the transportation of tall columns.

These sand-filled holes are the remnants of an ancient Egyptian game that the priests used to pass the time.

Michael, a Far Horizons tour member, reads out the hieroglyphs for the group. For an emergency room physician and software developer, he really knows his Egyptology.

The Tomb of Unas is one of those places that often is overlooked by travel guides and solo tourists. It sits in the shadow of Djoser's step pyramid concealed by several mastabas. Make no mistake. This tomb is very important for the history of Egypt and the world.

The Pyramid of Unas as seen today at the Saqqara necropolis.

Inside of this crumbling tomb, Professor Brier began to explain the evolution of the funeral ceremony. In the early dynasties, priests would cast spells over the body of the deceased to ensure its passage to the next life. As time progressed, the list of spells became longer and more complex. An innovation is preserved inside of Unas's tomb: the first known example of ancient religious texts. The walls of the burial chamber are carefully inscribed with the Pyramid Texts, the priests' spells to protect and guide Unas to the afterlife.

Photography is not permitted inside of the tomb, but today was an exception. The lighting is very poor, but you can clearly see the blue paint that still remains inside of the heiroglyphs. Stop and think. These are the oldest religious writings in the world.

Professor Brier points out one of the spells used to guide Unas west to the afterlife.

The walls of the antechamber and burial room were completely covered with spells. Professor Brier believes that the pyramid was finished in a hurry because not all of the carvings have the same craftsmanship.

After hiding our cameras and exiting the tomb, we walked towards the Step Pyramid complex. Along the way we passed several Egyptian Cadillacs.

Mohammed warned, "It may be free to ride the camel, but it's going to cost you to get off."

We descended down to Djoser's Great Court. Imhotep, the Step Pyramid's architect, originally designed a mastaba for King Djoser of Dynasty 3. When the mastaba was finished, Djoser was still kicking. Imhotep decided to embellish the mastaba by adding a second level. He widened the existing mastaba and continued upwards. Again, Djoser was drinking the right Koolaid and still hadn't died. Imhotep added a third level. a fourth level. a fifth level. a sixth level. Each new level required the preceeding levels to be widened. The result is the world's first pyramid.

This is it. The pyramid evolution starts here.

Imhotep has claim to another world's first: stone construction.

Notice the size and quality of the stones in contrast to the ones from the Giza Plateau. It's no wonder that the small, uneven stones caused structural problems for Imhotep.

As a result of building the world's first (take heed, Dubai), the structure was not very sound. Cedar beams were used to keep the walls from collapsing, and Uncle Zahi is directing an extensive restoration and soil management plan in order to preserve the Step Pyramid.

Uncle Zahi's restoration scaffolding obscured much of our view of the Step Pyramid.

Hey! These guys are cheating. Shouldn't they have to restore the Step Pyramid using ancient techniques...

"We've only scratched the surface, boys and girls."

We exited the Step Pyramid complex through the priests' hidden entrance, boarded the bus, and drove towards Dashur. From the Step Pyramid to the Great Pyramid there were less than 100 years. In fact, Egypt's pyramids can be placed on a 100-year timeline. Mind you, the pyramids are an Old Kingdom thing. Egyptian civilization did not evolve to pyramids over thousands of years. The pyramids are early in Egyptian history, and they came and went like a blip on the Egyptological timeline.

"I wonder if we'll see another pyramid?"

Yes, indeed! Dashur is home to the Bent and Red Pyramids of Snefru. While Snefru's son may have built the Great Pyramid, father still wins. During Snefru's reign not one but three pyramids were constructed for the pharoah. Whoa. Three pyramids? Snefru had terrible luck with his first two pyramids. His first pyramid in Meidum crumbled horrifically, leaving a tower-like mess.

His second attempt, the Bent Pyramid, will soon be opened to the public, as a letter from Uncle Zahi in the Egyptair magazine stated. The Bent Pyramid was another failure for the Snefru construction company. Remember, these are early pyramids, and construction techniques were no where near perfect. As the pyramid rose, a corner settled and the entire structure began to implode. In order to finish it, the angle was decreased. "So, Pharoah, it's almost like we planned this neat architectural design..." The Bent Pyramid is one of Professor Brier's favorites.

The Bent Pyramd's settling corner can be seen in the lower right of the picture.

"This way, boys and girls, I have a surprise for you."

Behind the Bent Pyramid is a small, crude pyramid that doesn't seem to have a purpose. "It may have been a trial for the Great Pyramid. I've been inside of it, and it has a miniature grand gallery." Professor Brier's previous tour inside of the small unknown pyramid took place before Houdin's theory was announced, so he didn't pay attention to the details about the miniature gallery. Could it be that this often overlooked pyramid could unlock the secret of its greater cousin? The entry was locked, so we'll have to wait for another day. Besides, Professor Brier had one final pyramid treat before we returned to Zamalek.

This unknown pyramid might just be a stack of leftover stones from the Bent Pyramid, but the miniature grand gallery might be a clue.

Our final stop at Dashur was Snefru's final resting place, the successful Red Pyramid. So named because of the red hue the stone assumes under the Egyptian sun, this pyramid is one of the most difficult to enter.

With the day nearing to an end, no one turned down the opportunity to climb into another pyramid with Professor Brier.

Mother carefully climbed the uneven stone stairs up to the entrance. The rest of the Far Horizons group can be seen behind her.

Once inside, you climb down 200 feet and then back up to enter an antechamber. From the antechamber you climb up a ladder to the burial chamber. At this point, you are inundated with the strong scent of ammonia. Even after many fumigations, the smell of bat guano clings tightly to the walls. Our pyramid treasure seekers began looking for stone patterns that suggested hidden rooms. No luck in the Red Pyramid... or was there?

Tomb robbers thought that there might be something under the sarcophagus and excavated below it. This picture gives you a great idea of the crude stones used to form the foundation.

All of this talk about secret rooms and different stone patterns had the Nancy Drews looking for hidden chambers. Even if we did find a room, I wouldn't tell you...

Our time with the Briers and the Far Horizons group had come to a close. Professor Brier awarded a Yummy Mummy to one of the Far Horizons travelers on our way back to Zamalek. I really enjoyed touring with the Far Horizons group, and I hope they enjoyed the rest of their time with Professor Brier and Pat. Anyone can go to Egypt. Anyone can tour Egypt. Only the Briers can show you Egypt like you've never seen before.

Professor Brier and his wife Pat have been leading tours through Egypt for Far Horizons for 30 years. They still find new and exciting things each time they make the trip.

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Posted in: bob brier,dashur,egypt,far horizons,leisure photos,saqqara,traveling

Day 2: i'm sailing away with khufu

(A warning for my dear classmate, Benjamin Fisher: This post will discuss a certain solar boat museum. There will even be pictures. Please take this opportunity to prepare yourself appropriately.)

What happens when you combine six new friends, two great guides, renowned Egyptologist Dr. Bob Brier, and art historian Patricia Remler? Two fantastic days exploring ancient Egypt! After venturing to the Egyptian Museum the previous day on our own, it was really nice to have not one but three real guides to show us around the Giza Plateau.

Mother and I met the Briers and Mohommed, the local tour guide, early Tuesday morning at the Marriott in Zamalek. We were soon introduced to the six other travelers touring with Far Horizons, a US-based tour company that specializes archeological and educational tours. Mother and I were very fortunate to tag along with the group during their time in Cairo. The Far Horizons group started their tour with us on Tuesday but continued on to Upper Egypt (southern Egypt) later in the week. Enough about Far Horizons. "We have bigger fish to fry."

We boarded our bus and trekked out to the necropolis. No combination of lectures, textbooks, and photographs could prepare one for seeing the Great Pyramid in person. I'm really hesistant to even try to describe it, because I cannot do justice to Khufu's (Cheops, if you must be Greek) great monument.

The Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau

Rather than bore you with facts that you could just as easily Google, I'll try to share some of the lesser known trivia that Professor Brier imparted on the group. (There may even be a Yummy Mummy question or two.)

Several years ago, Jean-Pierre Houdin, a French architect obsessed with unraveling the mystery of the Great Pyramid, emailed Professor Brier with a riveting new theory about how the ancient Egyptians built Khufu's final resting place. You may be aware of the existing theories: a long, single ramp built to the top, a ramp that wound around the sides, and use of minature cranes to lift the massive 3-ton blocks. These ideas can sound realistic at first, but we can say with some level of certainty that these concepts just would not work. Jean-Pierre has been inspired by his father to explore a new idea. He wagers that the Egyptians used an internal ramp that wound its way up through the pyramid. The ramp would have been integrated into the construction of each level. If the Great Pyramid was constructed with an internal ramp, it would still be there today.

Several pieces of circumstantial evidence support Houdin's theory. This picture shows a notch in the northeast corner of the pyramid where the white limestone casing stones have been removed. Professor Brier climbed to this notch with a cameraman during the filming of a National Geographic documentary on Houdin's theory. Professor Brier found a large room concealed behind the notch. Professor Brier is still awaiting permission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities to perform non-destructive infared imaging scans to the Great Pyramid to confirm Houdin's obession.

The notch that gives Jean-Pierre fuel to keep theorizing.

After walking around the base of the Great Pyramid, we continued to the Solar Boat Museum. We donned special shoe covers to keep dust out of the exhibit and followed Professor Brier into the gallery. Can you believe that the mooring lines are still intact? There's even a section of the reed-mat roof on display. The discovery of Khufu's boat was a happy accident, as is typically the case with archeological discoveries. Archeologists were excavating the base of the wall around the Great Pyramid and noted that the square-shaped wall jutted out at a point on the south side.

Braided rope that was found in the pit with Khufu's boat.

We aren't certain, but most Egyptologists believe that this reed mat was part of the roof covering.

After years of careful restoration, Dr. Zahi Hawass (henceforth, Uncle Zahi) opened "Cheop's Boat Museum." The museum was built over the pit where the pieces of the boat were found. Interestingly, the museum's storeroom contains the "leftover" pieces from the pit. I don't know about you, but my LEGO days tell me that leftover pieces tend to mean that something isn't quite right. Regardless, the boat is displayed in a large sunlit gallery with three viewing tiers that wrap around the entire vessel.

The actual pit where the boat pieces were found.

For more information about Khufu's solar boat, you can go here or contact Benjamin Fisher, Webb '11, who completed a term paper on the funerary barge. One more Webb connection: Professor Brier oversaw a thesis project's resistance test of a scale model back in 1995. The wooden oars that you see tied to the boat do not have enough surface area to provide adequate propulsion. Egyptologists (and naval architects) agree that the boat was probably ceremonial at best and possibly towed across the Nile when the pharoah died.

Cheop's Solar Boat -- a ceremonial barge that ferried him to the afterlife.

These wooden battens are mooring spikes.

"We've got bigger fish to fry"

Our next stop on the Plateau was the slightly shorter pyramid of Khufu's son, Khafre. This pyramid can be recognized by the limestone casing stones that remain, ever precariously, at the top of the pyramid. Most of the ancient monuments have had their casing stones "recycled" in slightly less ancient mosques and palaces.

Khafre's pyramid has been robbed of almost all of its gleaming white limestone casing stones.

One of the Far Horizons tour members asked if Egyptologists knew where any of the limestone quarries were located. Professor Brier responded by leading us toward Menkaure's pyramid. Just north of the base of the pyramid, there is a field with square stumps of limestone. This quarry produced the lesser quality limestone that when into building the interior of the pyramids. Ramses-era heiroglyphs identify the quarry's overseer and his successor.

This quarry produced low-grade filler limestone for the Giza Plateau.

Professor Brier demonstrates how the Egyptian work gangs would have cut the limestone.

We trekked to the stop of a bluff for a photo op.

I don't usually go for staged pictures, but this one isn't too bad.

Professor Brier denies any type of eureka moment when he discovered the hidden room in the notch. A Napoleonic "N" on a wall in the room denoted that he wasn't the first person there. The rest of the group was amazed by Professor Brier's nonchalant reaction.

The day wasn't over yet! After a great lunch, we returned to the necropolis for a special tour inside of the Great Pyramid. The pyramid is open to the public; for 100 LE you can climb up, then down, then back up again to the Grand Gallery and the Burial Chamber. With Professor Brier at your side, you can also get the Inspector to open the Queen's Burial Chamber and clear out all of the other tourists. By now, you've already wiki'd the Great Pyramid, so you know that the Queen's Burial Chamber was the second chamber built for Khufu in case he died before the chamber at the top of the Grand Gallery was completed. Despite being called the "Queen's Burial Chamber," no one was ever placed in the chamber. (Actually, the very small pyramids of several queens can be found just a stone's throw from the Great Pyramid.)

The experience we had inside of the Great Pyramid cannot be described. Photography was not allowed, so I can't even show you the amazing carvings, corbelling, and architecture.

After crawling back out of the pyramid and returning to fresh air, we found that the Tourist Police had cleared the plateau. We were alone with the Great Pyramid. As we quietly walked back to the bus, I stared back at Khufu's monument as the sun set in the distance. For 20 years, a 3-ton stone was placed every five minutes by a work gang of 10 men. These men were at the heart of something truly wonderous, and I cannot help but think that I or anyone I know will ever be involved in something that can compare with the Great Pyramid.

Man fears time, but Time fears the Sphinx.

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Posted in: bob brier,culture,egypt,far horizons,giza,leisure photos,solar boat,traveling