Pyramids, Pyramids, Pyramids & Pyramids.........

 Continues from Citadel of Saladin

We headed straight to the Pyramids of Geiza soon after our visit at the Citadel of Saladin. On our way to the Pyramids, our guide told us the interesting history of the Pyramids. We were very much interested with the descriptions and asked him whether these three are the only Pyramids in Egypt. He smiled and answered: ‘Let’s see!”

We were hoping to stop at the garden through which we had gone for previous night’s light and sound show. Instead, we stopped at a desert with no shade even for an ant. We realized that this is what night and day can play to you in a desert. Our guide took the tickets to the Pyramids asked us to follow. 

At first we stopped near the Great Pyramid of Giza, also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops. Built 4500 years before (Even before Jesus Christ), by the great Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu, the Pyramid still stand as the largest and oldest of the Egyptian Pyramids. 

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Standing in front of the tallest man made structure over the world, our guide told some interesting tales about it. It seems, Khufu’s adviser Hemon is the man who designed the idea of pyramids. The average estimate is that it must have taken almost twenty years to construct this Pyramid. Therefore the construction must have begun during the lifetime of Khufu itself.

The construction of Pyramids was done with the casing stones, which were quarried to the spot through the Nile. In the Stone Age, it’s unimaginable to take away such an action since each day they had to install approximately 800 tonnes of stones. I couldn’t quite understand when our guide mentioned that the construction of Pyramid happened from top to bottom than from bottom to the top.

Can you locate the two chamber doors?

There are two chambers inside the Pyramid dedicated to the King and his favorite Queen. The King’s chamber is at the center of the Pyramid and was amassed with treasures. The treasure is now put for show at the Museum and the chamber is empty now.  It seems, originally, King Khufu’s chamber was designed to be at a lower chamber. But the proud Pharaoh might have changed his mind and moved up his burial chamber higher up in the Pyramid.

The Queen’s chamber is adorned with some shafts which were explored by scientist for further treasure. However they didn’t dare to break in, since many of the shafts might be supporting the entire structure of Pyramids. However, a German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink used a crawler robot by name Upaut 2 to crawl in the shafts in 1992. The robot stopped at a limestone door. Soon, National Geographic society created a small robot and let him go through a small drill in the discovered door. The second robot found a larger door behind the first one. 

When we had visited, our guide told that the doors must also be a trap to prevent robbers from robbing the treasures. The entire structure might come down with the destruction of any of the doors. However, the project continued by Djedi team in 2011 and using a micro snake camera, they found out some hieroglyphs in red paint, ornamental structures etc.

Can you spot us in front of the Entrance?

We went near the Pyramids to be photographed. Even one stone was higher than us and had the width more than three of us standing in a row. As we climbed up and stood before the entrance to King’s Chamber, we felt at the top of the world. The ascend was quite tiring since it took a long way than looking from beneath.

Owing to this unique construction many people believed that the Gods must have aided the construction of the Pyramids. Scientists have another explanation that they must have created by some natural eruption.  However, we were convinced of its creation under the magical hands of men who were determined, hard working, dedicated and above all part of a wonderful creation that would be proudly marveled by generations to come.

Continues in Inside the Pyramids & In front of the Sphinx