Three delightful old Gizas (Egypt)

Member Name: garymarsh6

Product:	Egypt
Date:	22/09/09 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The only remaining ancient seven wonders of the world

Disadvantages: The unscrupulous camel owners and salesmen.

The great Pyramids of Giza.


Before heading off to Egypt on my holiday I did a little bit of reading to prepare myself for my trip and I was really surprised to learn there are in fact 93 pyramids found throughout Eygpt. When you speak to people about the pyramids most people think of the three great Pyramids at Giza visualising them on the outskirts of Cairo.

I was aware that there were other pyramids and had heard about the first pyramid at Saqqara which really did not look like the pyramids that we think about but were rather step pyramids or burial mounds. It was also true that the Pharaoh would have been buried under the ground and the pyramid built over the top of his tomb. There would have been a myriad of tunnels under the pyramid to protect the Pharaoh from grave robbers. There may also have been a couple of burial chambers for the Pharaohs wife.

The other pyramid of note is the red pyramid at Dashur which was built after the first pyramid at Saqqara taking the form of the pyramids we know now today but became bent during its construction so it was abandoned. A third attempt at building a pyramid was made which was more successful which paved the way for the building of the great pyramids at Giza.


The Great Pyramids.

These are on the outskirts of Cairo and the pictures one sees of them give the impression that they are in the middle of the dessert. However nothing could be further from the truth. As the Cairo grew the city sprawl had brought buildings right up close to the pyramids and it is rather clever photography that makes it look as if they are in isolation.

The pyramids were built over 4000 years before the birth of Christ and were for many years the biggest man mad buildings in the world both in terms of height and area. They are still an awesome sight after all these thousands of years.

The three great pyramids are known as:

The Great Pyramid of Khufu........... Cheops

The Pyramid of Khafre.......... ........Chephren

The Pyramid of Menkaure..............Mycerinus


The largest pyramid was built for Khufu and was the tallest structure on earth until the 1900s when the Eiffel tower was built. It was one of the seven greatest wonders of the ancient world. It was built of limestone and there were 1,300,000 stone blocks used to build it weighing in at 2.5 tons to 15 tons. Today it is 33 foot shorter than originally built due to the ottomans and local people taking the smooth limestone cladding to build their own houses and mosques in the 15th century. Now you can just see the pyramid built up like big stepping stones from base to the pinnacle at the top. The entrance to this tomb is in the North Face. There are two burial chambers one for the Pharaoh and one for his Queen below his. You can pay to go into the temple but you need to be able to be able to walk up the ramped sloped steep corridor with your back bent double and crouching. You should not suffer from claustrophobia either as the space is very confined until you reach the actual burial chamber. It is also incredibly hot inside the pyramid.



The second pyramid was built for Khafre. It is similar to his father's tomb in that the entrance is on the north side of the pyramid. There is still some of the limestone cladding in place near the top but originally it would have made the whole pyramid look smooth sided. The burial chamber is unlike that of his father Khafres burial chamber is underground reached via one of two passage ways.

The smallest pyramid of the three belonged to Menkaure, the son of Khafre. His pyramid was different to his fathers and grandfather in the following ways. The burial chamber was built underground there were three corridors to reach it. The base casing of the pyramid was with pink granite to a height of 15 metres and then limestone but the last of the granite was taken to build an arsenal in Alexandria by Mohammed Ali Pasha in 1848.

There are several smaller pyramids close by for the wives and daughters of the pharaohs that can be seen in the near distance.

Unfortunately the pyramids were pillaged by grave robbers at different times throughout their history and yet they still stand in defiance as a reminder of mans building abilities. There were several dummy corridors built to deter grave robbers but each one of the pyramids were robbed of their contents. Around the perimeter there are small temples of the nobles which would have included the chief architect, the chief astrologer and important priests and others involved with the planning and building work.

The pyramids took about 15 years each to build and usually work would begin on the accession to the throne on the death of the previous Pharaoh. It took approximately 20-30,000 men to build it. There were small villages built to house the workers who by all accounts were well treated and not forced into slave labour. They were devoted followers of the pharaoh and they would have worked, played and lived in the village until they died. Stone masons and architects, people used to move the great stones from the nearby rivers and to do the donkey work.


Times of opening are as follows 08:00 to 17:00 (15:00 during Ramadan).

IT costs 50L entrance fee with extra fees to enter the burial chamber, 100L to enter Khufu's tomb and 20L to enter Kafre's tomb.


The pyramids are an awesome sight and you can walk up over a small step like ramp on of the north face of Khufu's pyramid. Years ago people were allowed to climb all over them but nowadays being ever mindful of its historical importance and to preserve them for perhaps another 4000 + years you are not allowed to do so. There are armed police on camels around the perimeter of the pyramids and they will come to your aid if they think the salesmen are hassling you. Of course this comes at a price and they will quite openly demand cash. I would thoroughly recommend a visit at least once in a life time you will not be disappointed in any way. The pyramids can be seen from all over Cairo and it does not matter what time of the day they appear to stand proudly from so many vista points around the city.


A word of warning! There are many salesmen and men with camels who are probably the worst and most unscrupulous I have come across in the whole of Egypt. Whatever you do DO NOT I repeat DO NOT get on a camel to pose for a photo because the guy will make a noise and the camel will jump up and he will race you off into the desert and will only allow you off once you have paid him. He will demand £100 and not Egyptian pounds they want British pounds. I think they managed to catch two people in our group. One man tried it on with me and got quite nasty when I refused to get on the camel. Fortunately for me one of the mounted policemen saw what was going on and raced over and chased him off with him cursing and gesticulating at me as he fled. The policeman bless his heart was brilliant and chased after him but no doubt he just moved somewhere else to abuse some other tourist. They are very clever and sneaky in doing this please be very careful of them.

The pyramids are an absolute sight to behold and one of the main reasons one goes to Egypt. It certainly wont be a let down as they are absolutely huge and an amazing feat and to think they built these thousands of years ago and yet they are still standing in all their glory.

I have realised another one of my childhood dreams of visiting the Great Pyramids at Giza. The site at Giza also contains the Great Sphinx but that merits a review on its own.

Summary: A sight that will never leave your mind. It is what Egypt is all about.