We Meet The Man

"See the pyramids along the Nile

Watch a sunset from a tropic isle

Just remember darling all the while

You belong to me"...Pee Wee King, 1952

So today was the day we met the Main Man; Dr. Zahi Hawaas. Now some of you, probably most of you, have no idea who he is. But if you've ever seen a documentary on ancient Egypt, you've seen Dr Hawass. During the Mubarak years, he was the director of the government archaeological department, so he was the guy who,headed up all of the ancient sites and what went on there. He is both an archaeologist and an Egyptologist, so he knows his stuff. This morning at 7, he met us in front of the Sphinx for an hour lecture on the Giza Plateau site. 

But first, we went in the Great Pyramid. By special permission, we were able to get into the site at 6am, two hours before the public shows up. We all went inside the Great Oyramid, straight to the burial place of the Pharoah. To get there, you go through a narrow shaft, less than 4 feet high. Then you come into the Grand Gallery, a huge hall that is about 50 feet high. It is one of the most amazing structures in the ancient world and simply awe inspiring. The hall is corbelled, meaning as it goes up, it gets narrower and narrower. This made it much stronger and helps support the huge weight of the pyramid so it won't collapse. 

From here you go into the King's Chamber, made of black granite and over 30 feet high. It's lined with black granite that is so smooth you have to wonder how they did it (which, of course, is true of the entire pyramid). There are huge granite stones that comprise the ceiling, weighing hundreds of tons each. Above this are fIve smaller chambers. The top one has a sloped ceiling, which again helps support the enormous weight of the pyramid. At one end is a sarcophagus, made out of Aswan granite. It is one solid block and is all hollowed out. It is estimated that to have hollowed out this block would have taken about 17,000 man hours of carving. 

From here, we went to two other chambers that are usually closed to the public, the Queen's Chamber and another room that you have to go, through another very narrow shaft and basically crawl for over 100 meters. You go way, way down, below the actual bedrock that the pyramid is sitting on. When you finally get to the bottom chamber, it is much bigger than the actual burial chamber further up the pyramid. It is thought that this room was built first, for the Pharoah died as the pyramid was buying built, they would have buried him here. 

Queen's Chamber...

Lowest chamber...

“After years of waiting, the Sphinx was before me at last.  The great face was so sad, so earnest, so longing, so patient.  There was a dignity not of earth in its mien, and in its countenance a benignity such as never any thing human wore.  It was stone, but it seemed sentient.  If ever image of stone thought, it was thinking.  It was looking toward the verge of landscape, yet looking at nothing - nothing but distance and vacancy.  It was looking over and beyond everything of the present, and far into the past.  It was gazing over the ocean of Time - over lines of century-waves which, further an further receding, closed nearer and nearer together, and blended at last into one unbroken tide, away toward the horizon of remote antiquity.  It was thinking of the wars of departed ages; of the empires it had seen created and destroyed, of the nations whose birth it had witnessed, whose progress it had watched, whose annihilation it had noted; of the joy and sorrow, the life and death, the grandeur and decay, of five thousand slow revolving years.  It was the type of an attribute of man - of a faculty of his heart and brain.” - Mark Twain, ‘The Innocents Abroad’ - 1875

Now it was time to go down to the Sphinx to see Dr Hawaas. He is the reason most of us chose Archaeological Paths for our tour company, as he is with us for 4 of the days we are here. He is the most famous of all Egyptologists and never has met a camera he didn't like. He's on many, many documentaries and you always see him on the Travel  Channel, the History Channel, Discovery, etc. he gave an hour lecture about the pyramids, the Sphinx, and other sites around Egypt. He is very passionate about ancient Egyptian history and doesn't have nice things to say about  people who think the Pyramid was built by aliens. 

“The Sphinx is grand in its loneliness; it is imposing in its magnitude; it is impressive in the mystery that hangs over its story. And there is that in the overshadowing majesty of this eternal figure of stone, with its accusing memory of the deeds of all ages, which reveals to one something of what he shall feel when he shall stand at last in the awful presence of God.” - Mark Twain, ‘The Innocents Abroad’ - 1875

After the lecture, he took us around Sphinx and told us how it was built and  research he has done there. He showed us places where he made several drills, exploring underneath the Sphinx, showing that there are no hidden tunnels or chambers.  It was a very interested talk. 

“After years of waiting, the Sphinx was before me at last.  The great face was so sad, so earnest, so longing, so patient.  There was a dignity not of earth in its mien, and in its countenance a benignity such as never any thing human wore.  It was stone, but it seemed sentient.  If ever image of stone thought, it was thinking.  It was looking toward the verge of landscape, yet looking at nothing - nothing but distance and vacancy.  It was looking over and beyond everything of the present, and far into the past.  It was gazing over the ocean of Time - over lines of century-waves which, further an further receding, closed nearer and nearer together, and blended at last into one unbroken tide, away toward the horizon of remote antiquity.  It was thinking of the wars of departed ages; of the empires it had seen created and destroyed, of the nations whose birth it had witnessed, whose progress it had watched, whose annihilation it had noted; of the joy and sorrow, the life and death, the grandeur and decay, of five thousand slow revolving years.  It was the type of an attribute of man - of a faculty of his heart and brain.” - Mark Twain, ‘The Innocents Abroad’ - 1875

We had another three hours on the Giza Plateau, where our guide Mohamed took us around going to many places, including the fantastic Boat Museum. This houses a HUGE boat, found in a pit beside the Great Pyramid and was King Khufu's funerary boat. When found in 1954, it was separated into 1200 pieces. It took many years to figure out how to put it together. The ancient Egyptians didn't use nails, so the tied all the pieces together with rope. This is the boat, probably used only once to bring Pharoah Khufu's mummy to the pyramid. 

Other scenes around the Giza Plateau...

After lunch, we went to Old Cairo, where we visited a 1500 year old Coptic Church and an old synagogue. But the highlight was going to the Khan El Kalili bazaar, where you can buy just about anything. Lots of merchants who are hawking and saying about anything to get you into their shop. We didn't buy anything, but our group ended up in a coffee shop, where I got to enjoy a hookah. 

Our group at the pyramids...