The Pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza, Cairo, Egypt

The two largest (of the three) pyramids of Giza, dating back to c. 2,500 B.C., were built on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River south of today’s major city of Cairo; with the camel in the foreground, this is an image that hasn’t changed much in 4,500 years (except that today the city of Cairo is barely visible in the distance); Egypt

This is the first of a series of blog posts featuring a recent trip in Egypt on the Nile River, visiting many historic sites that told fascinating stories of the Egyptian Kingdoms.  We started in Cairo, then our small group flew to Luxor for touring; afterwards, we boarded a Nile River boat that slept 16 in very nice comfort.  We sailed south (technically, upriver) from Luxor to Aswan, just above the Aswan Dam, spending 5 days on the Nile River before flying out of Aswan to the Mediterranean Sea where we caught up with our ship to continue our travels onboard.

“The Giza Pyramids, built to endure an eternity, have done just that. The monumental tombs are relics of Egypt’s Old Kingdom era and were constructed some 4,500 years ago.

“Egypt’s pharaohs expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they erected temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves—filled with all the things each ruler would need to guide and sustain himself in the next world.

“Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and towers some 481 feet (147 meters) above the plateau. Its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weigh an average of 2.5 to 15 tons.

“Khufu’s son, Pharaoh Khafre, built the second pyramid at Giza, circa 2520 B.C. His necropolis also included the Sphinx, a mysterious limestone monument with the body of a lion and a pharaoh’s head. The Sphinx may stand sentinel for the pharaoh’s entire tomb complex.

“The third of the Giza Pyramids is considerably smaller than the first two. Built by Pharaoh Menkaure circa 2490 B.C., it featured a much more complex mortuary temple.

“Each massive pyramid is but one part of a larger complex, including a palace, temples, solar boat pits, and other features.” — www.nationalgeographic.com

The three kings’ pyramids (from left to right, built by Khufu (Greek: Cheops) – the so called “Great Pyramid”, his son Khafre, and Menkaure) and the three, smaller so called “Queens’ pyramids”, Giza, Cairo, Egypt; in ancient times, the pyramids were among the Seven Wonders of the (Old) World and today they are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (encompassing the ancient ruins of the Memphis area of Egypt, including the Pyramids of Giza

Because it was built on higher ground, the right-hand Khafre Pyramid (with the smooth limestone top decoration still intact), although smaller than the earlier Khufu (Great) Pyramid, appears to be larger (an optical illusion); Giza, Cairo, Egypt

The smaller of the three Kings’ Pyramids, the Pyramid of Menkaure (the fifth king of the 4th Egyptian dynasty) and the three much smaller “Queens’ Pyramids”, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

Details showing some of the 2.3 million limestone blocks used in the construction of the most colossal single building ever erected – the Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu’s (Cheops) Pyramid), Giza, Cairo, Egypt

“Khufu’s pyramid is perhaps the most colossal single building ever erected on the planet. Its sides rise at an angle of 51°52′ and are accurately oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass. The Great Pyramid’s core is made of yellowish limestone blocks, the outer casing (now almost completely gone) and the inner passages are of finer light-coloured limestone, and the interior burial chamber is built of huge blocks of granite. Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone were cut, transported, and assembled to create the 5.75-million-ton structure, which is a masterpiece of technical skill and engineering ability. The internal walls as well as those few outer-casing stones that still remain in place show finer joints than any other masonry constructed in ancient Egypt.” — www.britannica.com/topic/Pyramids-of-Giza

We waited in the queue to enter the Great pyramid for about 30 minutes, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

“The entrance to the Great Pyramid is on the north side, about 59 feet (18 metres) above ground level. A sloping corridor descends from it through the pyramid’s interior masonry, penetrates the rocky soil on which the structure rests, and ends in an unfinished underground chamber. From the descending corridor branches an ascending passageway that leads to a room known as the Queen’s Chamber and to a great slanting gallery that is 151 feet (46 metres) long. At the upper end of this gallery, a long and narrow passage gives access to the burial room proper, usually termed the King’s Chamber. This room is entirely lined and roofed with granite.”

The long passageways from the entrance UP to the mid-level of the pyramid, where the King’s Chamber is located are quite low ceilinged and claustrophobic, so this picture (taken heading down the “Grand Gallery” from the King’s Chamber, is very misleading of the hot and challenging climbs — up and down), Giza, Cairo, Egypt; we advised friends who were headed to the Great Pyramid to skip the interior and, days later when we caught up, they said “we wish we had taken your advice – it was hot and claustrophobic and definitely not worth seeing a small, dark, undecorated room with an empty sarcophagus with no lid [King Khufu’s mummy has been long removed]”

“All three pyramids were plundered both internally and externally in ancient and medieval times.  Thus, the grave goods originally deposited in the burial chambers are missing, and the pyramids no longer reach their original heights because they have been almost entirely stripped of their outer casings of smooth white limestone; the Great Pyramid, for example, is now only 451.4 feet (138 metres) high.  That of Khafre retains the outer limestone casing only at its topmost portion. Constructed near each pyramid was a mortuary temple,  which was linked via a sloping causeway to a valley temple on the edge of the Nile floodplain.  Also nearby were subsidiary pyramids used for the burials of other members of the royal family.” — www.britannica.com/topic/Pyramids-of-Giza

The Great Pyramids today are missing the cladding of light-colored limestone from 4,500 years ago, so visitors now see the underlying darker colored limestone blocks that make up the structures, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

“The question of how the pyramids were built has not received a wholly satisfactory answer.  The most plausible one is that the Egyptians employed a sloping and encircling embankment of brick, earth, and sand, which was increased in height and in length as the pyramid rose; stone blocks were hauled up the ramp by means of sledges, rollers, and levers.  According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the Great Pyramid took 20 years to construct and demanded the labour of 100,000 men.  This figure is believable given the assumption that these men, who were agricultural labourers, worked on the pyramids only (or primarily) while there was little work to be done in the fields—i.e., when the Nile River was in flood.  By the late 20th century, however, archaeologists found evidence that a more limited workforce may have occupied the site on a permanent rather than a seasonal basis.  It was suggested that as few as 20,000 workers, with accompanying support personnel (bakers, physicians, priests, etc.), would have been adequate for the task.” — www.britannica.com/topic/Pyramids-of-Giza

The Great Sphinx (a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion) was built by King Khafre at the same time – about 2,603-2,578 B.C.) — as the Khafre Pyramid (on the left side of the photo; the Khufu (Great) Pyramid is on the right), Giza, Cairo, Egypt

Hieroglyphic texts suggest Khafre’s father, Pharaoh Khufu, built the Great Pyramid, the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in Giza; when he became Pharaoh, Khafre constructed his own pyramid next to his father’s; though Khafre’s pyramid is 10 feet shorter than the Great Pyramid, it is surrounded by a more elaborate complex that includes the Great Sphinx and other statues; Cairo, Egypt

In ancient Egypt the sphinx was a spiritual guardian and most often depicted as a male with a pharaoh headdress — as is the Great Sphinx — and figures of the creatures were often included in tomb and temple complexes, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

“Though some stories claim Napoleon’s troops shot off the statue’s nose with a cannon when they arrived in Egypt in 1798, 18th-century drawings suggest the nose went missing long before then.  More likely, the nose was purposely destroyed by a Sufi Muslim in the 15th century to protest idolatry.  Part of the Sphinx’s royal cobra emblem from its headdress and sacred beard have also broken off, the latter of which is now displayed in the British Museum.

The Sphinx was actually buried in sand up to its shoulders until the early 1800s, when a Genoese adventurer named Capt. Giovanni Battista Caviglia attempted (and ultimately failed) to dig out the statue with a team of 160 men.

Mariette managed to clear some of the sand from around the sculpture and Baraize made another large excavation push in the 19th and 20th centuries.  But it wasn’t until the late 1930s that Egyptian archaeologist Selim Hassan was able to finally free the creature from its sandy tomb.

Today, the Sphinx is continuing to deteriorate thanks to wind, humidity, and pollution.  Restoration efforts have been ongoing since the mid-1900s, some of which failed and ultimately caused more damage to the Sphinx.

In 2007, authorities learned that the local water table under the statue was rising due to sewage being dumped in a nearby canal.  The moisture ultimately spread through the porous limestone of the structure, causing the rock to crumble and break away in large flakes in some cases.  Authorities installed pumps close to the Great Sphinx, diverting the groundwater and saving the relic from further destruction.” — www.history.com/topics/ancient-egypt/the-sphinx

A close-up of the Great Sphinx, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

“Several lines of evidence exist that tie the Great Sphinx to Pharaoh Khafre and his temple complex.

“For one thing, the head and face of the Sphinx are strikingly similar to a life-size statue of Khafre that French archaeologist Auguste Mariette found in the Valley Temple — the ruins of a building situated adjacent to the Great Sphinx — in the mid-1800s.

“Additionally, Mariette discovered remnants of a causeway (processional road) that connect the Valley Temple to a mortuary temple next to Khafre’s pyramid.  In the early 1900s, French archaeologist Emile Baraize dug up another building (the Sphinx Temple) directly in front of the Sphinx that’s similar in design to the Valley Temple.

“In the 1980s, researchers uncovered evidence that the limestone blocks used in the walls of the Sphinx Temple came from the ditch surrounding the great statue, suggesting workmen hauled away quarry blocks for the Sphinx Temple as they were being chipped off the Great Sphinx during its construction.

“Researchers estimate that it would have taken 100 people 3 years to carve the Great Sphinx out of a single mass of limestone.  But there’s some evidence that these workers may have suddenly quit before fully finishing the sphinx and temple complex, such as partially quarried bedrock and remnants of a workman’s lunch and tool kit.” — www.history.com/topics/ancient-egypt/the-sphinx

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