Gateways to the Afterlife

The pyramids have to be one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Egypt. Who wouldn’t want to look at the only remaining survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World! They were definitely one of the highlights of the trip and I feel really privileged to have been able to see them. Still have to keep pinching myself!
We also went to the sound and light show that goes on at night. It was very touristy but it did gave us time to sit and take it all in...ponder the meaning of live and think about the enormity of these monuments!
Saqqara is the massive cemetery complex of Memphis which was the capital of Egypt for much of the Pharaonic period. It was actively used by Pharaohs and other important people for more than 3500 years. The Step Pyramid (photo above) is the earliest stone monument in the world, built in 2650 BC. Before this tombs were underground rooms covered in a mudbrick slab or 'mastaba'.
This pyramid belongs to Zoser and was designed and build by his chief architect, Imhotep, who developed the mastaba style tombs upwards and built them out of stone to deter grave robbers.
So this is basically the forerunner to the pyramids. Perhaps that’s a bit too much info for a blog but I thought it was worth sharing.

Although there are many other pyramids in Egypt the ones at Giza are the most well known and live up to the hype that surrounds them. They are Massive and awe inspiring and amazing and unbelievable and very surreal. Although there is a bit of space around them the city is quite close and that does add a touch of the strange to it all.

The oldest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (above) which used to stand 146m high (now shorter by 9m) and it’s reckoned that it was built with 2.3million limestone blocks…weighing on average 2.5 tonnes each.

The Great Pyramid in front with the Pyramid of Khafre behind. Near the right corner you can see a person which gives some perspective on the size of the blocks used.

The Pyramid of Khafre stands at 136m high and is still capped with the limestone casing that all the pyramids would have been covered in. It gives you an idea of what they would have actually looked like when first completed.
We actually went into this one and it was not really a fun thing. Very hot inside and loads of people in a very small space. The tunnel in is very steep and even I had to bend double so as not to hit my head. The sarcophagus is still there but there is little decoration on the walls. I would not recommend going inside to those who even think that maybe one day they might be claustrophobic.

And this is a camel that was camera shy. I waited for ages but it wouldn’t turn around!!