sightseeing and excursions cairo
The Great Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx
The ancient Greeks considered the Great Pyramids to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They are Egypt’s most visited monuments and among the greatest tourist attractions. For centuries the Great Pyramids of Giza have intrigued and puzzled visitors and, eve in the 20th century, it is difficult to stand before them and not to be overwhelmed. For 4.5 millennia, surviving the rise and fall of great dynasties and outlasting Egypt’s many conquerors, they have shared the desert plateau of Giza with other monuments: smaller attendant pyramids, some for royal wives; rows of mastabas, the tombs of 4th and 5th dynasty princes and nobles; and the imposing figure of the Sphinx.
It was not an obsession with death, or a fear of it, on the part of the ancient Egyptians that led to the construction of these incredible mausoleums; it was their belief in eternal life and their desire to be one with the cosmos. A Pharaoh was the son of a god, and the sole receiver of the Ka, or life force, that emanated from the god. The Pharaoh in turn conducted this vital force to his people, so in life and death he was worshipped as a god.
The mortuary complexes of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus, who were father, son and grandson, including the following: a pyramid, which was the Pharaoh’s tomb as well as repository for all his household goods, clothes and treasure; a funerary temple of the east side of the pyramid; pits for the storage of the Pharaoh’s solar barques, which were his means of transport in the afterlife; a valley temple on the banks of the Nile; and a causeway from the river to Pyramid. The entrance passageways, as with all 80 royal pyramids found in Egypt, face north towards the Pole Star; the tomb chambers inside face west, towards the Kingdom of the Dead; and the mortuary temples outside face east, towards the rising sun.
The pyramids and temples at Giza were built from stone quarried locally and from the Moqattam Hills. Napoleon estimated that there would be enough stones in the three pyramids alone to build a wall, three meters high all around France.
The Pyramid Of Cheops
This great pyramid, the oldest at Giza and the largest in Egypt, stood 146.5 meters high when it was completed around 2600 BC. After 46 centuries its high has been reduced by only nine meters. Approximately 2.5 million limestone blocks, weighing around six million tones, were used in the construction. It supposedly took 10 years to build the causeway and the massive earth ramps used as a form of scaffolding, and 20 years to raise the pyramid itself.
The Pyramid Of Chephren
South-west of the Great Pyramid, and with almost the same dimensions, is the Pyramid of Chephren. At first it seems larger than his father’s, because it stands on higher ground and its peak still has part of the original limestone casing which once covered the whole structure. It is 136.5 meters high (originally 143.5 meters).
The Pyramid Of Mycherinos
At a height of 62 meters (originally 66.5 meters), this is the smallest pyramid of the three. Extensive had done to the exterior by a 16th century caliph who decided he wanted to demolish all the pyramids.
The Sphinx
Legend and Superstitions abound about this relic of antiquity, and the mystery surrounding its long-forgotten purpose is almost as intriguing as the sight of the structure itself. Know in Arabic as Abu Hol, which means ‘the father of terror’, the feline man was called the Sphinx by the ancient Greeks, because it resembled the mythical winged monster with a woman’s head and lion’s body who proposed a riddle to the Thebans and killed all who could not guess the answer. The Sphinx is about 50 meters long and 22 meters high. During the period of the Ottoman Empire the Turks used the Sphinx for target practice, and its nose and beard, which are now in the Britain Museum, fell off. A team of American and Egyptian archaeologists is restoring parts of the Sphinx, and negotiations are underway to have his nose and beard returned
Memphis
Memphis, one the glorious Old Kingdom capital of Egypt, has almost completely vanished. It is believed that the city was founded around 3100 BC, probably by King Menes, when Upper and Lower Egypt were first united. It had many splendid palaces and gardens, and was one of the most renowned and populous cities of the ancient world. Like most Egyptians cities with any degrees of importance, Memphis also had it own deity, the all-powerful creator-god Ptah, who formed the world with words from his tongue and heart.
Even as late as the 5th century BC, long after Thebes had taken over as capital of Egypt, Memphis was described by the Greek historian Herodotus as a ‘prosperous city and cosmopolitan center’. Its enduring importance, even then, was reflected in the size of its cemetery of the west bank of the Nile, an area replete with royal pyramids, private tombs and sacred animal necropolises. This city of the dead, centered at Saqqara, covers 30 km along the edge of the desert, Dahshur to Giza.
Today there are few signs of the grandeur of Memphis: in fact, it’s extremely difficult to imagine that a city once stood where there is now only a small museum and some statues in a garden. The museum contains a colossal limestone statue of Ramses II, similar to the one which stands at the center of Midan Ramses in Cairo.
In the Garden there are more statues of Ramses II, an eight tone alabaster sphinx, the sarcophagus of Amenhotep and the alabaster beds on which the sacred Apis bulls were mummified before being placed in the Separeum at Saqqara.
Saqqara
When Memphis was the capital of Egypt, during the Old Kingdom period, Saqqara was its necropolis. Deceased Pharaohs, family members and sacred animals were ceremoniously transported from Memphis to be permanently enshrined in one of the myriad temples, pyramids and tombs at Saqqara.
In the 3000 years between the foundation of Memphis and the end of the Greek rule under the Ptolemies, the necropolis grew till it covered a seven km stretch of the Western Desert. The Step Pyramid, possibly Egypt’s first and the oldest stone structure of its size in the world, was just one of the many funerary monuments and temples built in the area. In terms of the value of what has been and has yet to be uncovered, there are few archaeological sites in the world that compare with Saqqara; yet apart from the Step Pyramid, the necropolis was virtually ignored by archaeologists until mid 19th century, when Auguste Mariette found the Serapeum. Even the massive mortuary complex surrounding Zoser’s Step Pyramid wasn’t discovered and reclaimed from the sand until 1924, and it still being restored.
The Step Pyramid
When it was constructed by Imhoteb, the Pharaoh’s chief architect, in the 27th century BC, the Step Pyramid of King Zoser was the largest stone structure ever built. It is still the most noticeable feature of Saqqara. Imhotep’s brilliant use of stone, and his daring break with the tradition of building royal tombs as underground rooms with the occasional mud-brick mastaba was the inspiration for Egypt’s future architectural achievements.
The pyramid began as a simple mastaba, the flat tomb superstructure common at the time, but Imhotep added to it five times. With each level of stone he gained confidence in his use of the new medium and mastered the techniques required to move, place and secure the huge blocks. This first pyramid rose over 62 meters, in six steps, before it was sheathed in fine limestone.
The Step Pyramid dominates Zoser’s mortuary complex, which is 544 meters long and 277 meters wide and was once surrounded by a magnificent bastioned and paneled limestone wall.
Dahshour
This southern extension of the necropolis of Memphis is a field of royal tombs, about 3.5 km long, just west of the village of Dahshur. The Bent and Red pyramids were both built by Pharaoh Sneferu, the father of Cheops and founder of the 4th dynasty. Why Sneferu had two pyramids, and possibly a third at Meidum, is a mystery that has not been altogether solved by Egyptologists. If the purpose of the pyramid was to be a container for the Pharaoh’s Ka, then why would one Pharaoh with one Ka need more than one tomb.
The other two dilapidated pyramids at Dahshur, which belong to 12th dynasty Pharaohs Amenemhet III and Sesostris III, are less interesting and really only for those with pyramid fever. Around all those pyramids there are also the customary tombs of the royal families, court officials and priests.
The Egyptian Museum
The Museum is in a huge building a little north of Midan Tahrir. Also called the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. More than 100,000 relics and antiquities from almost every period of ancient Egyptian history are housed in the museum. This vast collection was first gathered under one roof in 1858 by Auguste Mariette, a French archaeologist who excavated the temples of Edfu, Dendara, Dei El Bahri, Amun (at Karnak in Luxor) and a few others.
The exhibits are arranged chronologically from the Old Kingdom to the Roman Empire. Each room could easily be a museum in its own rights.
Tutankhamoun
Without doubt, the exhibit that outshines everything else in the museum is the treasure of the comparatively insignificant New Kingdom Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
The tomb and treasures of this young King, who ruled for only nine years during the 14th century BC, were discovered in 1922 by English archaeologist Howard Carter. Its well-hidden location in the Valley of the Kings, below the much grander but ransacked tomb of Ramses VI, had prevented tomb robbers and, later, archaeologists from finding it any earlier. The incredible contents of his rather modest tomb can only make one wonder about the fabulous wealth looted from the tombs of Pharaohs far greater than Tutankhamen.
The King’s decaying mummified body, the outer of three mummiform coffins, and the huge stone sarcophagus are all that remain in his tomb. The rest of his funerary treasures, about 1700 items, are spread through out 12 rooms on the 1st floor of the museum.
The Mummies Room
Mummies are usually second in popularity to the treasures of Tutankhamen. Room 52 on the 1st floor contains the mummies of Amenophis III, Seti I, Ramses II and other Pharaohs and Pharaonic officials. In 1981, however, President Sadat closed the mummy room to visitors as a gesture to Islam, because he felt it was disrespectful to the deceased to have their corpses on display.
There other mummies in room 53, on the 1st floor. Before the rise of Pharaonic dynasties in Egypt, animal cults proliferated. A few of these results can be seen here in the mummies of dogs, cats, monkeys, fish and other animals. Room 46 & 47 in the 1st floor contains the royal coffins of several New Kingdom Pharaohs.
The Citadel
A spectacular medieval fortress of crenellated walls and towers perched on a hill above Midan Salah al Din, the Citadel was home to most of Egypt’s rulers for about 700 years.
Today the Citadel is a complex of three mosques and four museums. Salah al Din began building the Citadel in 1176 to fortify the city against the Crusaders, and over the centuries it has been modified and enlarged with the palaces and buildings of subsequent rulers and governments. Mohammed Ali, one of the last rulers to reside in the Citadel, actually leveled most of the buildings of the Mameluke period to build his own mosque and palace. And it was in a narrow rock-hewn passage near one of the Citadel’s front gates that he sealed his control over Egypt with the massacre of the Mamelukes.
On 1 March 1811 he treated the Mameluke leaders to a day of feasting and revelry, at the end of which they were escorted from the Citadel through a narrow lane. Mohammed Ali’s troops sealed both ends of the passage, trapping all 470 dinner guests. Only one managed to escape; the rest were massacred from the wall above.
Mohamed Ali Mosque
Also known as the Alabaster Mosque, this mosque and mausoleum was built by Mohammed Ali between 1830 and 1848. His gilt tomb is on the right as you enter. Although the interior is vast, it is badly decorated. The gingerbread clock in the central court has never worked; it was given to Mohammed Ali by King Louis-Philippe of France in return for a Pharaonic obelisk from Luxor that still stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The most spectacular features of the mosque are outside - its huge dome and half-domes and tall, slim minarets are very impressing.
Old & Coptic Cairo
Originally a Roman fortress town called Babylon, this part of Cairo was of a great importance to the early Christians. Egypt was one of the first countries to embrace the new Christian faith in the 1st century AD. The fortress was built about 900 years before the Fatimids founded Cairo, on a then-strategic point on the Nile. The river has since shifted its course about 400 meters west.
The development of Coptic Christianity, and the monastic tradition it adopted after Paul of Thebes chose a life of solitude in the Egyptian desert, greatly influenced early European Christianity. But for Egypt the Christian period was merely one of transition from Pharaonic times to Islamic era.
During the several centuries that Christianity did predominate in Egypt, this town, only five km south of where the Muslims would later built their city, and became quite a metropolis. It was considered a holy place not only by the Copts but by the Jews and later the Muslims who lived in the area. At one time there were 20 churches and a synagogue there. The Christian monuments of Old Cairo that have survived the centuries are still very important to the Copts. There are also several mosques in the area and Cairo small Jewish population still worships at the ancient synagogue. The Old Cairo terminus is north of the Coptic Museum near the Mosque of Amr.
The Coptic Museum
The fortress’s tower now marks the entrance to the tranquil courtyards and lush, verdant gardens of the Coptic Museum. The Museum building is paved with mosaics and decorated with elegant mashrabiyyah screens from old Coptic houses, and is bright and airy. Its exhibits cover Egypt’s Christian era from 300 to 1000 AD, showing the Pharaonic, Greco-Roman and Islamic influences on the artistic development of the Copts. It is the world’s finest collection of the Coptic religious and secular art. The icons and textiles are particularly interesting, and there are also splendid examples of stonework, manuscripts, woodwork, metalwork, glass, paintings and pottery.
Church of Muallaqa (Hanging Church)
Dubbed the Hanging Church, this is one of the oldest Christian places of worship in Egypt. It was built on top of one of the old fortress gatehouse with its nave suspended over the passage. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary and properly known as Sitt Mariam, or St Mary, the Church of Al Muallaqa is also one of Cairo’s most beautiful churches.
Just inside the entrance, through a doorway in the walls just south of the Coptic Museum there is an interesting 10th century icon of the Virgin and the Child. The inner courtyard is adorned with icons and the interior of the church, renovated many times over the centuries, is quite beautiful. In the center, standing on 13 slender pillars that represent Christ and his disciples, is a beautiful pulpit which is used only on Palm Sunday every year. The ancient liturgical Coptic language is still used in most of the services.
Church of St. Sergius
St. Sergius is also called Abu Serga, it is supposedly one of the places where the Holy Family rested after fleeing from King Herod. Every year, on 1 June, a special mass is held here to commemorate the event. At the turn of the century this little church, which dates from the 10th century, was the most important pilgrimage spot in Old Cairo for visiting Christian tourists. There are 24 marble columns lining the central court, and a series of 12th century icons above an iconostasis (a partition screen bearing icons) depicting the 12 apostles.
Ben Ezra Synagogue
This synagogue, one of the oldest in Egypt, is a few meters south of the Church of St. Barbara. Turn left when leaving the church and enter the first gate on your left, marked by a Star of David. Although there is no rabbi, and services are rarely held, it is used by the 42 Jewish families that reside in this area.
Set in a shady garden, it was built on the site of a 4th century Christian church, which the Copts had to sell in the 9th century to enable them to pay taxes to Ibn Tulun for the construction of his mosque. The synagogue, named after a 12th century Rabbi of Jerusalem, Abraham ben Ezra, was severely damaged by Arabs after the 1967 war with Israel, but is has been almost completely renovated.
There are also many legends about the synagogue. It is said that the temple of the prophet Jeremiah once stood on the same spot and that Jeremiah is actually buried under a miracle rock in the grounds. There is also a spring which is supposed to mark the place where the Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses in the reeds, and where Mary drew water to wash Jesus.
Islamic Cairo
Islamic Cairo is an area replete with medieval mosques, apartment buildings, and the greatest density of the people in the country - and probably the Middle East.
Splendid mosques and imposing buildings still loom over narrow, crowded streets and bustling squares; the sweet, pungent aromas of turmeric, basil and cumin drift from open barrels, mix with the offensive odors of livestock, and grab at your nose like invisible fingers; and people go about their daily business as they have done, it seems, forever. This could medieval Cairo of Ibn Tulun or Salah El Din, except that the age-old aromas now mingle with petrol fumes as donkeys and camels compete with cars for space; and an awful lot of poverty offsets the grandeur of the architecture throughout what was once the intellectual and cultural center of the Arab world.
Sultan Hassan Mosque
The mosque was built between 1356 and 1363 AD, during the time of Mameluke rule, with stones that historians believe were taken from one of the Great Pyramids of Giza. Originally the mosque was a madrasa, or theological school, and each of the four liwan, or vaulted halls, surrounding the central court served as classrooms for each main school of Sunni Islam. The interior is typically devoid of decoration to make it easier for worshippers to concentrate on prayers. Hundreds of chains which once held oil lamps still hang from the ceiling of each liwan.
Al Rifai Mosque
Just across the Mosque of Sultan Hassan is this 19th century imitation of a Mameluke-style mosque. The Princess Duwager Khushyar, mother of the Khedive Ismail, had the mosque built in 1869 to serve as a tomb for herself, her descendents and future khedives. Members of the modern Egypt’s royal Family, including King Farouk, are buried here - as is the Shah of Iran, whose casket was paraded through the streets of Cairo from Abdin Palace to the mosque in 1980, with President Sadat, the Shah’s family and Richard Nixon leading the cortege.
Ibn Tulun Mosque
This is one of the largest mosques in the world. Ibn Tulun was sent to rule Cairo in the 9th century by the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad. He had the mosque built in 876, with an inner courtyard enough for most of his army and their horses. The 13th century fountain in the center continues to provide water for washing before prayers. After wandering around the massive courtyard, you should climb the spiral minaret. The views of Cairo from the top are magnificent and in the morning you can usually see the Great Pyramids at Giza.
Islamic Art Museum
Which the treasures of the Pharaohs being the main objective of the most tourists to Cairo, this museum, which has one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art, is rarely crowded.
Some exhibits are arranged chronologically to show the influence of various eras, such as the Fatimid, Ayyubid or Mameluke periods, on Islamic art in Egypt; other are in special displays dealing with a particular subject. The latter include collections of textiles, glassware, calligraphy, tapestries and pottery from through the Islamic world. The intricate woodwork in the collection of mashrabiyya window screens is the best you will see in Egypt. There is also one room of inlaid metalwork, another with a collection of magnificent Oriental carpets, a wonderful exhibit of medieval weapons and suits of armor and a collection of superb illuminated books and ancient Qur’anic manuscripts.
Khan El Khalili Bazaar
The Khan is one of the largest bazaars in the Middle East, if not the world. The bazaar began as a caravanserai built in 1382 by Garkas el Khalili, sultan Barquq’s Master of Horses. When the Ottomans gained control of Egypt, the caravanserai changed from a fairly simple inn where caravans rested and a little trade was carried out to a fully fledged Turkish bazaar which attracted traders and customers from throughout the world.
Today the Khan is an immense conglomeration of shops and markets. As you wander though the labyrinth of narrow streets you’ll find artisans building, dyeing, carving and sewing, as well as shop selling all manner of things from woodwork, glassware, leather goods, perfumes and fabrics to souvenirs and Pharaonic curiosities.
Some parts of the Khan are tourist traps where anxious and aggressive shopkeepers try to get as much of your money as they can. These people are some of the greatest salespeople and smooth talkers you will ever meet. Almost anything can be bought in the Khan, and if one merchant does not have what you are looking for, then he will find somebody who does.
Bargaining is the rule here - but don’t start haggling until you have an idea of the true price, and never quote a price you are not prepared to pay. Most of all, take your time, have some fun, accept the tea or coffee they offer and play along with them. You are not obliged to buy and they won’t be offended if you don’t - though no doubt they will keep up the sales pitch.