Giza, Oyramids, and Camels, 4 October 2018

We awake early, which I think is the everyday plan for this trip … I will adjust. Trying some new things for breakfast: ful with different toppings, the tomato salad, the delicious Greek-style thick yogurt with honey. Then off to the bus for a 7:00am sharp departure. It looks clear again today with a light breeze, and we can see Jazeera Island (jazeera means island in Arabic) across the Nile. Jazeera was once a place of palaces and spacious homes on the water, but they began to be torn down in the 60s and replaced by high rises, so what was once bucolic is now quite crowded. Everywhere as we drive from Cairo into Giza, it seems that the buildings are either under construction or crumbling.

Hassan begins a history talk on en route to Giza. Around 3,000 Egypt was united and writing was codified. After 300 BC Alexander conquered Egypt, beginning the Greco-Roman period. The Romans 5en ruled Egypt for centuries, from 100BC to 800AD, until the Islamic Arabs took over, then later the Turks. Egypt is a unique mixture of ethnicities.

In 3000BC, King Narmer from Upper Egypt tried six times to conquer Lower Egypt, and after that, the new capital was established at Memphis, halfway between the two states. The early royal tombs were flat bench- like rectangles, called mastabas, built of mud bricks. In 2700 BC, King Djoser had the genius architect Imhotep was the first to decide to use limestone and add three more benches to the flat mastabas, then a few more, thus the Step Pyramid with six steps Sakkara. Then King Senefru’s architect decided to flatten the sides and he built the first what we now call a pyramid about 2,500BC, and halfway through he realized he had the wrong angle and the pyramid would collapse outward, as they used no mortar, only the pressure of stone. He decided to minimize the angle and thus became the Bent Pyramid. The king was not pleased, so he ordered a new pyramid nearby. The architect made a wide bottom and the pyramid was very short but stable. Senefru (father of Khufu) then wanted a taller pyramid , so they built farther north of Memphis with a heavier stone, in the area of Giza. Here the Great Pyramid was built. Khefren (Khufu’s son) built another pyramid nearby, a smaller pyramid but at a higher elevation, so it looks bigger than his father’s pyramid. Photos of the three pyramids make the smaller pyramid look larger. Over time, the pyramids became smaller and they moved back toward Memphis. The Giza pyramids were covered with smooth limestone from the mountain near the Citadel, massive blocks that were fit together tightly to look like a single piece of stone. This also helped to hide the entrance to the pyramid to foil tomb robbers. As the pyramids were constructed, they left three gaps in the ceiling, and as they buried the king, they pulled out the wooden beams that held the final blocks so they would block access. Sadly this did not work long term. Tomb robbers heated the stone so it would shatter, allowing them to dig away, but they did not get in right away. There is a maze of corridors to confuse robbers once inside, but finally it was actually an inside job, the builders knew how to rob them. By the 18th dynasty, the kings decided to forget about the pyramidal shape, and put their tombs hidden in the Valley of the Kings.

We suddenly get our first glimpse of the pyramids, behind some large apartment blocks, it is breathtaking. Immediately next to it is the massive construction of the new Great Egyptian Museum, faced with white limestone or marble, which will be huge. Nothing larger than the pyramids can now be allowed to be built nearby. Much of the stone from the pyramids was taken to build various things in the nearby Citadel. Then in 1830, Muhammad Ali was going to have a dam built by a French architect. After calculating the cost of using pyramid stones vs. a nearby quarry, the architect convinced Ali that the other quarry would be cheaper, this the Pyramids were saved.

The Great Pyramid’s original entrance is the Chevron shaped area. A 10th century sultan was trying various ways to enter the tomb including this way, but by then  the tomb had been robbed long ago. In the 2830s and 1840s, many artifacts were taken - really stolen – and sold to European collectors.

The Great Pyramid is truly enormous, hard to really comprehend until you look at the very tiny people near the base. Most of what we know comes from Herodotus’ book written in 500BC, more than 1,000 years after they stopped building pyramids. The priests  of the Great Pyramids who were his guides had to make up answers at times as the knowledge had long ago disappeared, so it it’s not always accurate. For example:  the pyramid is 223 square meters, about 13 acres, 147 meters high. It was the highest building in in Middle East until 1961 AD, when the Nasser Tower was built. It is estimated to be 2.3 million stones, each averaging 2.5tons, thus 6 million tons of stone. The first question Herodotus asked was show long it took to build? The priests told Herodotus it took 30 years to build, but it was probably 10 years of preparation and 10 years of building. The builders were in groups of 10 whose leader reported up in groups of ten and one hundred then to 1,000, and in charge was the brother of Khufu. This project required complex planning to build housing, secure food, hospitals, supplies, and work areas, but Khufu ruled for only 23 years, so the building had to take less than 30 years, as kings usually did not start their tombs until they became king. This plateau was also a cemetery for all kinds of people and the quarry was below toward the Nile. The huge stones were ferried by water which flooded for months of the year, and at this time villages were built on mounds for protection from the floods. Next question: how any people did it take to build this? They told Herodotus 100,000 people, but that would have been 10% of population, not feasible, but it could have been 100,000 over 10 years. Probably people would be working for a period, like national military service. During the flood, farmers have nothing to do, so then they work on the projects for the king, also during the four dry months after harvest. The word pyramid is Greek, although they did not have them. The hieroglyph for pyramid is: per house, ra god mid avenue. Thus, this is the avenue to the house of the sun god. So when the king is buried there the king becomes divine.

Last big question, how did they build it? The priests gave hm a made up answer, that they had used wooden cranes for building. Herodotus asked was it one large crane or several but they did not know. The discovery at Karnak in Luxor in the 1880s answered this question, we will see the original mud brick ramp used to build the pyramids. Earth, sand, rubble, and gypsum were used to build the ramp, and they continued o build the ramp around the pyramid to the top. Each stone had to be dragged around the spiral, all the way around. The stones were. Bed on a sledge of legs pulled by people. As the finished the top of the pyramid, the began facing it with the limestone and polishing it, dismantling the ramp as they went down. Quite a brilliant system really.

The pyramids were built in three stages: the base and entrance, then the next level with chambers, then the grand gallery was added. At last we have a chance to go close the the pyramid, and can climb up to the first level of the entry where we peek in and we take a few photos. Up close you realize  how truly massive these stones are.  As we descend, we are approached by various vendors who a remarkably persistent. One tells Barney he has a great beard, he looks like his father, then wraps his head with a scarf and the photo taking begins. He of course wants a fee, Barney offers $1, the man says he cannot change it in order get more, then I have to pull him away to meet up with a group and a guy from the tourist police who is our escort told the vendor to accept the $1 and move on. We gather under an umbrella for some relief from the sun and it is only 9:00am!

The pyramid complex has three main pyramids plus the subsidiary structures and a causeway that leads from a funeral temple, and all is surrounded by a massive wall of enclosure. In 1954, huge parts of the pyramid were covered with sand, and the architect Kamal El-Malkh, helped clear it out. As the sand was cleared out, they found slabs sealing a chamber. They removed the slabs and found an incredible wooden boat, the front was 5 meters high, the rear was 7 meters high, but it was in thousands of pieces, it was reassembled by a local boat maker and is now displayed in a museum. We see the huge 5x10 slabs lined up near the Museum, each weighing several tons. We see the exhibit of photos of the clearing of the slabs and the boar pieces, there were a total of 5 boats, including this one, plus others who had already been discovered and dismantled. There were 41  slabs in the pit, all preserved here. We see a photo of the buried boat in its 6501 pieces in  three layers.  They used a system of triangles to have a Water level to get the slabs flat. We go upstairs to see the actual boat which is huge and spans the length of the room. In any ways it reminds me of the Viking longboats we saw n Oslo, except this boat was lashed together as it was intended to be disassembled, rather than sealed to spend its life at sea. On the upper level we see the king’s cabin up close, the rods supporting the cabin are tied to the deck and extend up through lateral and longitudinal planks that support the structure, all lashed together at the corners. The oars are immense, probably about 30 feet long. After walking the length of the boat again, we exit the museum, which was mercifully air-conditioned.

We reassemble and take the bus up to the panoramic view and camel rides. We see how the Khefren pyramid, while shorter than the Great Pyramid, is at a higher location so it appears larger, the third pyramid is even smaller, and had a red granite outer casing, and the red granite came from Aswan. Because it was not easy to use for building elsewhere, most was left near the pyramid, and they are trying to rebuild it.

Many of us want to do the camel ride, and Hassan arranges with the boss to get us camels. The boss and his men and boys bring over 18 of the huge creatures who look much bigger up close than the ones walking in the distance. The sway of their gait is so smooth, gently rocking from side to side, but the getting up and down looks awkward at best. They chose each of us to a specific camel, probably related to weight and height, we get on the saddles, lean back as the camel arose, and then right ourselves. My saddle is slipping a bit – I remember this happening once while I was riding a horse, so I compensate a bit by leaning the other way, and it seems to settle as he blew out his lungs. It was an exciting experience. The camels carefully navigate the very rocky path back to the main pyramid, most tied to one or two others and led by one of the crew. They all seem to have American names, like Charlie Brown and Batman…. mine is named Mickey Mouse. He likes to get up close to he one he was tied to, which is a little unsettling for the person riding that camel, so I start to talk to him to slow him down, as I have no reins or other way to control him. His ears rotate back and he is clearly listening to me, which was fun. After a few minutes I adjust to his gait and it is  actually quite comfortable. Quite a bit of picture taking happens, and the guy leading my camel takes photos of me and Barney holding hands, and while we do, the two camels started nuzzling each other, which was sweet.

Now we are off to the Sphinx, which means image of the king., located in front of Khefren’s pyramid, like a gravestone identifier. The Sphinx is where the quarry was for the second pyramid and most of the mound was still blocking the view, and people would remove the rocks. The Sphinx is the head of a man and the body of a lion, showing the king as the strongest animal. We descend from the plateau with the view, and the workmen’s village is on the right. We see the Sphinx first in the back, then around in the front. It is carved from one massive piece of stone. In ancient times, people would sail the water, then walk up to the Sphinx. The story about Napoleon’s cannons shooting off the nose is false. The true story, which is well documented, is that during the Middle Ages, there was a rumor that there was a god inside the Sphinx which would destroy their village. One person wanted to show people that there was no god inside, so he climbed up to break off the nose, noting that if there were a god inside it would raft. Nothing happened of course. The enclosure of the Sphinx is made of overlapping red granite blocks, even at the corners which are actually carved into opposing corners on each level. Near the entrance is a pit where the beautiful statue of Khefren was discovered. Commoners could come this far to pray at the temple. Only the king’s relatives and high officials could go up higher toward the funeral temple. This was also the place of the last stage of mummification where the public could come and say goodbye to the  king. The Sphinx itself it quite massive, and even though the nose is gone, the detail of the eyes and ears is till visible, after thousands of years.

 We depart the Sphinx for a lovely lunch  at Aboushakra, mixed grill with pita and various topping(hummus, babaganoush, yogurt), and a delicious and refreshing lemonade with mint. Our view out the window is of the Sphinx and two of the pyramids, quite stunning. As we leave the restaurant, we see hundreds of multi-story brick apartment buildings, and Hassan told us that 20 years ago this was all agricultural land. The apartment blocks all look unfinished, and because the law does not require buildings to be finished, most look not yet done. If there are frames in the windows, the building is occupied, if not, it is not occupied. Often additional stories are added but not finished for many years. Some of the area is really fairly slummy, with unfinished buildings, tiny lanes between the building filled with all kinds of waste and debris. Some of these building are 10 stories tall without an elevator.

Modern Egypt is 102 million people, but only 7% is the arable land and cities, 93% is desert. Egypt is the size of modern France plus Germany, but the cultivated area is the size of Belgium, with 1,200 people per square kilometer, but it goes up to 55,000 inhabitants per square kilometer in parts of Cairo, one of throat densely populated areas in the world. The birth rate is  not that high, around 2%, but still 2 million new people a year. Almost everyone is concentrated in the delta and in Alexandria and Cairo. The population of Cairo in the 1950s was 2 million, it is now 25 million. Birth control here is free, yet Egypt grows because the base is large. Once the Aswan high dam was built, new islands emerged in the Nile in areas that people began to settle and now they are quite built up. This was one of the places that many Iraqis fled to after 2003, and now from Yemen as well, overall 5 million immigrants. 65% of the population are under 30 years old, and more than 40% are under 18 years old, so this is a very young society. There is a plan to reclaim millions of acres from certain valleys of the desert where they can get water.

Traditionally, Egypt is Sunni, and the Fatamids who came to this area brought Shi’ism with them in the 12th century. The Fatamids were here for 200 years, and Egypt tuned back to Sunni faith after Saladin reconquered the area.

We depart Giza, drive through the City of the dead, s earl miles of small open air mausoleums lining the road. Originally this was outside Camino but Cairo grew around it and now it is within. We head toward the Citadel. The last Shi’ia Caliph was weak, his two top  ministers ran everything, one asked the Crusaders to come, the other summoned Salahdin. Salahdin was able to defeat the Crusaders before they arrived in Egypt, where he then fought  both ministers. the.  The week Caliph hired him, a Sunni, as a prime minister. When the Caliph dies, Egypt goes back toward Sumni, and he is offered the title of sultan and built the Citadel in1176. He expected  the Crusaders to come back, so he chose this spot, next to the limestone quarry which provided limestone for the pyramids , choosing the best mound on which to build the Citadel, based on what was driest. The Citadel was built in 2 sections, the walls and defensive areas, and then the barracks and the mosque. Saladhim never moved to the citadel, but his nephew did and ruled from here, as did his successors for 700 years. The second era of building was the Memluk era, the word Memluk means slave. The family of Saladin used to bring young children to be brought up at the royal palace to be their bodyguards, these were children captured from Asia Minor, Syria, and Iraq, who were sold in the markets as slaves. They became the best fighters and the bodyguards of the royal family. They ended up taking the throne themselves within 200 years, and they then ruled for 500 years, a period of isolation until the 19th  century. When Saladhin was building the area, they dug wells and got good fresh water. They dug deeper and they got salty water, but then there was no going back, so for t 200 years the citadel had to have water delivered, and then the Memluks built aqueducts to bring fresh water. The Memluks were quite divided and fought for the throne. As each leader became king, he was often assassinated, thus the mosque had a special secret exit. By the 16th century, the Ottomans conquered Egypt. They employed the Memluks as governors, as they were good at collecting taxes. Finally, came the era of Muhammad Ali around 1803, founded the last royal family (King Farouk was the last of the dynasty in 1952). After 500 years of isolation, the French were a surprise, bringing new weapons (rifles) and the French seemed like aliens to them. The French spent 3 years here, and they were fought by everyone, Egyptians, Turks, and British.
 (Napoleon’s purpose in invading Egypt was to cut Britain’s communications lines to India. Napoleon evaded the British by sailing first to Cyprus when the British expected him in Alexandria, and then to Egypt, thus tricking the English. Then the British came back, and they crushed the French Navy in 1801 and the French had to return to France via British ships, and the had to leave everything here. This is why the Rosetta Stone discovered by Champollion is in the British Museum, not the French.

The French started a parliament and an education system in Egypt. One of the Turkish officers (from Albania) was named Muhammad Ali, and he was chosen to head the government, but the Turkish sultan thought he was too charismatic, and so he fought Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali and his grandson Ismail Ali started everything that is modern Egypt. Muhammad started a new way of farming, introduced the crop cotton (from South America), he began an Egyptian army made of Egyptians, and the Egyptian empire begins to enlarge. The British signed a treaty and kicked the Alisin the 1860s. New rules allowed girls to go to school, and bridges were built across the Nile. In 1952, there was a military coup, now seen as a revolution. Kids at school in the 60s were told that the royal family were foreigners, even though they were not.  Ismail had lots of loans from England and France but could not pay them back, so he sold the Suez Canal to the British in 1882. The British ruled with the royal family from 1882 to 1952.

For his mosque, Muhammad Ali hired the same architect as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The mosque has a four corner dome, four semi domes, and a central dome, all held by four pillars, built using freestanding blocks of stone. These are the only two mosques in the world with this design, others tried but were unsuccessful. It is an incredible design inside, and does look so much like the Blue Mosque we saw in Istanbul, though somehow a bit less shiny. This mosque was built in the 1830s. The nearby green dome is made of mosaic stone. We enter the mosque, removing our shoes, and then enter the central courtyard, decorated in detail with the late afternoon sun angling through the filigreed windows. The style of this mosque is unique as it is Turkish in style, being a copy of the Blue Mosque. We sit in the shade of the fountain, where people wash before entering the mosque to purify, every time before praying. Hassan notes that there is some water purification ceremony in every religion. There is a massive cistern to store fresh water that goes under the courtyard. The main elements of the mosque are: the minaret (someone had to climb five times a day the huge minaret, probably 100 feet or more), the courtyard, and the worship area. A mosque should have a certain number of minarets based on where it is positioned with regard to the city or suburb, if in the middle of the city they need all four, if on only one side, they only need one. The call to prayer is called the summons. They crescent symbol came from the dishes originally on the roof to fee birds, and it became a symbol of Islam. The alcove indicates the direction of Mecca. The massive pillars have an inner corner which goes up to the dome, to which is balanced the corner of the upside down triangle which tops it, thus distributing the weight of circular dome into four pillars arranged in a square. Here, Muhammad Ali is buried in the golden corner mausoleum. Outside we have a panoramic view of the city. On the parapet, we see below us the massive Hassan mosque built by the Memluks, and next to it is the mosque built by the royal family, and the late Shah of Arian is buried there (he was related to the Egyptian royal family).

By this time, we are all tired and hot, and we walk slowly toward the bus, more than a few people fall asleep on the way back. A shower and fresh clothes felt great, and we went downstairs for a talk/lecturer with a renowned archaeologist eh9 was Hassan’s teacher when he was an undergraduate. He has asked her to speak to the issues confronting modern Egypt and women, and she provided a fascinating view rather different than what we might have thought. After the lecture,  go to the mall restaurant Hassan recommended for a simple dinner, went back to the room and packed for our 1:30am alarm.