Gizeh Pyramids, Cairo

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The 3 most famous Pyramids,namely the Great Pyramid of Khufu(Cheops),the largest among the 3.It stands 137m and it was the tallest man made structure in the world until the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris in 1889.There's a small chamber inside the pyramid which can be visited from 8am til 4pm.Then the Pyramid of Khafre(Chephren) is smaller than Khufu 'tho its location on slightly higher ground makes it appear taller.Finally the Pyramid of Menkaure(Mycerinus) the smallest pyramid and thought to be for the family of Menkaure.These pyramids are located right at the edge of the city,so expect traffic while heading to the pyramids.Unfortunately,I couldn't get clear photos because of the thick smog due to heavy pollution in Cairo.

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The Great Sphinx or "Abu Hol as he is sometimes called. is one of the most recognizable monuments in the world. He and the three pyramids he guards are considered to be one of the "Seven Wonders of the World". Abu Hol acts as a protector of The Pyramids. The Sphinx is made of natural stone, the Sphinx is the largest monolithic statue in the world. Abu Hol is 260 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 66 ft tall, he stands taller than a 6-story building. His paws alone are 50 ft long, his head, 30 ft long and 14 ft wide.

He was discovered by Tuthmosis IV he unearthed the Sphinx after being buried in sand. The last time he was cleared of sand was in 1925. The Sphinx has had many restore him throughout the years. His breast and paws were restored by the Ptolemys and the Caesars. the latest restoration was of his tail which wraps around his right side.

Other facts about the Sphinx:

He is oriented due east to face the rising sun.

There is a chapel located between his paws which was discovered in 1816.

There is a small temple located behind the Sphinx made up of large blocks of Red Granite from Aswan.

The body of the Sphinx has suffered water damage, which is a mystery since he and the location of the pyramids borders on the Sahara Desert.

Open daily
Price: 60.00 L.E. (10.39 USD)

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Visiting Pyramids and not enjoying Camel ride? Yes, it also an experience though a bit expensive at 100 Egyptian Pounds ( USD$20) per person, but thoroughly enjoyable the half an hour ride.There are about 100 or 200 cames, horse carts waiting for the tourists. We had no time for bargaining but one can always bargain asbargaining is way of life in Egypt.

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Built around 4500 years ago, the Sphinx is still going strong but with some damage on the face!
A sphinx is a mythological creature that is depicted as a recumbent feline with a human head. It has its origins in sculpted figures of lionesses with female human heads (unless the pharaoh was depicted as the son of the deity[clarification needed]) of Old Kingdom Egypt in association with their solar deities, Bast or Sekhmet. The sphinx is also used to represent some gods with the use of heads other than human (Karnak with a ram's head and Horus with a falcon's head).The ancient Greeks adapted this image and applied their own name for a male monster, the "strangler", an archaic figure of Greek mythology. Similar creatures of either gender appear throughout South and South-East Asia. In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival during the Renaissance. Later, the sphinx image, something very similar to the original Ancient Egyptian concept, was exported into many other cultures, albeit often interpreted quite differently due to translations of descriptions of the originals and the evolution of the concept in relation to other cultural traditions.

Generally the role of sphinxes is associated with architectural structures such as royal tombs or religious temples. The oldest known sphinx was found in Gobekli Tepe, Turkey and was dated to 9,500 B.C.[1] Perhaps the first sphinx in Egypt was one depicting Queen Hetepheres II, of the fourth dynasty that lasted from 2723 to 2563 BC. She was one of the longest-lived members of the royal family of that dynasty.

The largest and most famous is the Great Sphinx of Giza, Arabic: أبو الهول, sited at the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River and facing due east (29°58′31″N 31°08′15″E / 29.97528°N 31.1375°E / 29.97528; 31.1375). It is also from the same dynasty. Although the date of its construction is uncertain, the head of the Great Sphinx now is believed to be that of the pharaoh Khafra.

What names their builders gave to these statues is not known. At the Great Sphinx site, the inscription on a stele erected a thousand years later, by Thutmose IV in 1400 BCE, lists the names of three aspects of the local sun deity of that period, Khepera - Rê - Atum. The inclusion of these figures in tomb and temple complexes quickly became traditional and many pharaohs had their heads carved atop the guardian statues for their tombs to show their close relationship with the powerful solar deity, Sekhmet, a lioness. Other famous Egyptian sphinxes include one bearing the head of the pharaoh Hatshepsut, with her likeness carved in granite, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the alabaster sphinx of Memphis, currently located within the open-air museum at that site. The theme was expanded to form great avenues of guardian sphinxes lining the approaches to tombs and temples as well as serving as details atop the posts of flights of stairs to very grand complexes. Nine hundred with ram heads, representing Amon, were built in Thebes, where his cult was strongest.( History courtsey: Wikipidia)

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The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC. Initially at 146.5 metres (480.6 ft), the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, the longest period of time ever held for such a record. Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface; what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories about the Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place.

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu and constructed over a 14- to 20-year period. Khufu's vizier, Hemon, or Hemiunu, is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid. It is thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian cubits tall, 146.5 metres (480.6 ft) but with erosion and absence of its pyramidion, its present height is 138.8 metres (455.4 ft). Each base side was 440 royal cubits, 230.4 metres (755.9 ft) long. A royal cubit measures 0.524 metres. The mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes. The volume, including an internal hillock, is roughly 2,500,000 cubic metres.[6] Based on these estimates, building this in 20 years would involve installing approximately 800 tonnes of stone every day. Similarly, since it consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the building in 20 years would involve moving an average of more than 12 of the blocks into place each hour, day and night. The first precision measurements of the pyramid were done by Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie in 1880–82 and published as The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh. Almost all reports are based on his measurements. Many of the casing stones and inner chamber blocks of the Great Pyramid were fit together with extremely high precision. Based on measurements taken on the north eastern casing stones, the mean opening of the joints is only 0.5 millimetres wide (1/50th of an inch).


Great Pyramid of Giza from a 19th century stereopticon card photoThe pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, unsurpassed until the 160-metre-tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid's workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only 58 millimetres in length. The base is horizontal and flat to within 21 mm. The sides of the square base are closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within 4 minutes of arc) based on true north, not magnetic north, and the finished base was squared to a mean corner error of only 12 seconds of arc. The completed design dimensions, as suggested by Petrie's survey and subsequent studies, are estimated to have originally been 280 cubits high by 440 cubits long at each of the four sides of its base. The ratio of the perimeter to height of 1760/280 cubits equates to 2ð to an accuracy of better than 0.05% (corresponding to the well-known approximation of ð as 22/7). Some Egyptologists consider this to have been the result of deliberate design proportion. Verner wrote, "We can conclude that although the ancient Egyptians could not precisely define the value of ð, in practice they used it". Petrie, author of Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh concluded: "but these relations of areas and of circular ratio are so systematic that we should grant that they were in the builders design". Others have argued that the Ancient Egyptians had no concept of pi and would not have thought to encode it in their monuments. The creation of the pyramid may instead be based on simple ratios of the sides of right angled triangles ( History source: Wikipidia)

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We also went to see the inside of a Pyramid. We bought ticket for Pyramid no II for 30 Egyptian Pounds ( USD$6 each). It was a bit scary as the slope was tough to negotiate and air circulation was not cool. It was stuffy and hot but many people were going inside.

After walking for about 50 meters we found the place where the Mummy used to be buried . Since, they don't allow cameras inside I took the picture no 3 and others with my cell phone as no body was watching.

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There are three shows in the evening from 6.30, 7.30 & 8.30 PM at Giza Pyramids. The entrance fee is L.E.75 ( USD $15). This is one of the greatest shows we have ever seen to start your tour of Egypt. They tell you the history in detail, the life of Pharaos, how the Pyramids were built and by whom and the technology used.

It is a must for every one visiting Egypt.

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It took a while to sink in that I was actually standing in front of these ancient monuments. My vantage point was quiet and I was alone with my thoughts. All this changed once we arrived at the foot of the pyramids - tourists, merchants and police everywhere.

If you are not prepared for this it can be a bit ovewhelming but it all adds to the fun. Just beware of friendly people who are willing to take your photo or to have one taken with them even dress you up in a headress - it will cost you. Make sure you have small denomination Egyptian pounds and join in the fun - remember they have to make a living too. For purchases learn to bargain. If you don't want to, just make sure you are firm before anything starts.

What is a visit to the pyramids and sphinx without the camel ride?!

The pyramids were built in the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) is the largest, followed by Khafra (Chephren) then Menkaura with its three satellite pyramids. Khufu and Khafra were constructed from limestone while Menkaura was made from granite. all were covered with casing stanes of polished limestone or pink granite some of which remains on the apex of Khafra.

They are the last remaining members of the 'Seven Wonders of the Ancient World'.

Sphinxes are creatures that have a body of a lion and the head of a human or other animal. The great sphinx is thought to have the head of pharaoh Khafra but the evidence for this may be circumstantial because of its location in the funerary complex surrounding that pyramid.