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Egypt

Goldenmaggot
2005-09-06 18:47:52

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of less than 3.5 million. Today 80 per cent of Egyptians live in an urban setting; one out of every three lives in Cairo, and the population is doubling every 10 years.

Our first morning we left the hotel and in a few minutes were at the pyramids. There is an opportunity to go inside one of the pyramids. I tried this once but it frightened me going into a dark narrow passageway and I came out. Ralph has been in a couple of times and says it is very dark, very hot, and very steep, but well worth while seeing.

Medhat told us all about the pyramids. The entrance to the Pyramid was always on the north side, and the opening was closed by an immense stone. The builders were so clever that the stone could not be easily recognised. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was originally 480 feet high and incorporates 2.3 million stone blocks averaging more than 2.5 tons in weight. East of the Great Pyramid is the site of Khufu's mortuary temple, identified by the remains of a basalt pavement, north and south of which are two boat pits. One of the boats was excavated in 1954, when a complete dismanted river barge was found. Clustered around the three great pyramids are lots of lesser tombs, some of them small pyramids, originally laid out in orderly rows along the same north-south axis as the tombs of the pharaohs. These tombs were mostly wives of the pharaohs.
After driving to a viewing point where you get a view view of all the pyramids we drove to see the Sphinx which is just south of the pyramids. It is as beautiful as ever.

For a thousand years, the desert sands drifted over it, obliterating it from sight. Then Thutmosis 1V in about 1423 records a dream he had while still a prince. While he was resting under its shade, the Sphinx spoke to him, promising Thutmosis the kingdom if he would clear away the accumulated sand. He did so, and became a Pharaoh. In front of the Sphinx, in between its paws, stands a granite ...