Tuesday, October 17, 2023 (continued)
Our included excursion continued to Giza, site of the Great Pyramid and others.
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| First sighting of the Great Pyramid and a second pyramid |
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The monstrous new Grand Egyptian Museum/GEM
(2012-?, by Róisín Heneghan and Shi-Fu Peng);
the colossal 11 m/36' tall statue (c 1274 BCE)
of Ramesses II was installed during construction |
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| View of the Pyramids of Khufu and Khafre |
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| Sleeping dogs seek shade, at least for their heads (KSS) |
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The Great Pyramid of Khufu (c 2570 BCE) is one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only
wonder that has remained mostly intact |
The Pyramid of Khufu (also known as Cheops), 138.5 m/454.4' in height, was once covered with a smooth limestone casing, making it yet taller.
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| Tourist Police presence |
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We had enough free time to walk up to the pyramid and
climb up to the entrance (our ticket did not allow us entry) |
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| View from the entrance of Khufu's pyramid |
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| Kent on the Great Pyramid |
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| Tamiko on the Great Pyramid (KSS) |
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View of the other two pyramids, the Pyramid of Khafre
(or Chephren) and the Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mycerinus);
note that Khafre's pyramid has limestone casing at the top |
Research on sites in Egypt was confusing because everything had two names, from kings to streets.
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Next we drove around the pyramid complex, still seeing
the Pyramid of Menkaure (c 2510 BCE) and the
Pyramid of Khafre (c 2570 BCE) ... |
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| ... to the camel market (okay, not exactly a market) |
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So now we see, from left to right, a greatly diminished
Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre and
then the Pyramid of Menkaure |
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| Tamiko is assisted onto a camel named Charlie Brown (KSS) |
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| Kent's camel was Casanova (KSS) |
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Kent's camel was tethered to Tamiko's
for the "camel ride" |
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The camel driver took many photos: Tamiko touches the
tip of the Pyramid of Khafre |
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| Now Kent touches the tip of the Pyramid of Khafre |
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We were told to raise our hands high;
are we holding a stone, or a giant cookie?! |
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| I guess this proves we were at the pyramids! |
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| Kent is wearing a Bedouin headscarf |
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| Kent follows behind on the camel ride |
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| Kent is preparing to disembark |
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| Final photo of Casanova, Kent & Tamiko, and Charlie Brown |
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"Artistic" photo of the Great Pyramid, and pyramids
of Khafre and Menkaure |
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| Closer-up photo of the three pyramids (KSS) |
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| Pigeons, the one delicacy we did not try in Egypt |
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| One more photo! |
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After driving to the far end of the pyramid complex,
we found the Great Sphinx (c 2558-2532 BCE) is the
oldest known monumental sculpture is Egypt,
portraying a mythical creature with the body of a
lion and the head of a human (perhaps King Khafre) |
Although given the name of Sphinx by Greeks, it does not resemble a Greek sphinx that usually has the head of a woman (or falcon or cat), the body of a lion, and wings of an eagle. It was the Greek sphinx that would strangle anyone who could not answer her riddle.
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The head of the Sphinx has had its nose vandalized,
sometime before the 15th century |
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Trying to capture the whole of the reclining Sphinx, who
wears the nemes/headdress resembling the flared hood of a cobra |
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| Tamiko & Kent with the Great Sphinx |
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Back on the motor coach, we see the weapon
carried by our undercover guard |
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| Traffic jam includes a camel, horses and donkeys |
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| Gosh, the bus depot has really cleared out, including the vendors! |
Next: Luxor: Karnak Temple.
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