Egypt - Part I
Cairo
Dec 29th 2024 - Jan 2nd, 2025
This was my first ever trip to Egypt. It had become a bit embarrassing, that I had visited well over 100 country, but never been to one of the major tourist destinations in the world. So it was about time to visit this ancient cradle of civilization, and Egypt certainly did not disappoint.
Cairo
Rosie and I arrived on a direct flight from Larnaca in Cyprus and were picked up by a car from the hotel. We had decided to not spare any cost and stay at the spectacular Mena House Hotel right underneath the pyramids. The hotel itself is nice, but a bit aged, so you really pay just for the location. We had four nights in Cairo, including a lovely New Year's eve dinner and party in the shadow of the Great Pyramid.
We met up with Lara, Gary and Max here, who had already done the Nile river cruise and were finishing their trip here in Cairo. We joined their private guide the following day, which started with a visit to the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum, located within view of the Pyramids. The museum is a stunning building both from the inside and the outside. The huge entrance hall is dominated by this massive statue of Ramses II.
Max was more focused on his word-search book than Ramses II though.
The Museum was still in its soft opening phase, as it is scheduled to be officially opened in July 2025. They were planning to eventually move the treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb to this museum as well. Even though the collection is not complete yet, they already had some of the most stunning pieces here. These are sculptures of two of the most important pharaohs from the New Kingdom. The elongated face on the left is Akhenaten, who is maybe the most controversial pharaoh of them all, as he tried to get rid of all of the Egyptian gods and make Egypt a monotheistic religion worshipping only the sun god Aten. This was swiftly reversed during the reign of his son Tutankhamun. The seated figure on the right is Queen Hatshepsuit, a powerful and rare female ruler of Ancient Egypt.
I asked our guide if all of these amazing sculptures were transferred from the other museums, but he said most of them were probably kept in storage before, since they just don't have enough museum space to display all of the treasures, which are still being excavated.
Following the museum visit, we headed for the highlight of our visit - the pyramids. The three pyramids were built by successive kings in the Fourth Dynasty. The oldest of the three, King Khufu's great pyramid is also the largest. In this picture the pyramid in the middle, which is Khafre's pyramid actually looks larger, than the Great Pyramid in the back, but that is only due to the fact that it was built on slightly higher ground.
King Khufu's great pyramid, the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, also known as the great pyramid of Giza is a truly awe-inspiring monument. The pyramid remained the tallest building in the world for almost 4,000 years, only surpassed in the 14th century by Lincoln cathedral.
We did the obligatory camel ride with photo shoot. I decided to be the photographer and not get on one of those uncomfortable animals.
The most mind-boggling stat I learned about the Great Pyramid is this: The pyramid contains 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing around 1 ton. Assuming a 10 hour work-day, with no rest days over the 20 years of Khufu's reign, this means, they had to lay one block every 2 minutes (!). It is not surprising that this building has inspired many conspiracy theories. But the fact is, that it didn't need aliens and super-natural forces, but an incredibly well planned and organized work force of more than 10,000 men to accomplish this unbelievable feat.
Gary, Max, Rosie and I also decided to climb into the interior of the Great Pyramid. We had to wait about half an hour in line, and then it was a very hot and tight climb. I had to crawl on all fours at some stage, but it was definitely worth for the experience of being in the center of this huge structure, and seeing the small room of the tomb of Khufu.
We finished the day with a visit to one of the most recognisable and iconic monuments in the world, the Great Sphinx of Giza. Situated just below the pyramids, the colossal limestone statue is over 70 meters long and 20 meters high, and was built during the Old Kingdom around 2,500 BC, probably under the reign of pharaoh Khafre. It was carved directly out of the bedrock here, and is oriented exactly to the east facing the rising sun.
The next day we had a Cairo city tour, which started in the Coptic Christian Quarter of the old town. The Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church is also known as the "Hanging Church", because it was built above the ruins of an ancient Roman fortress and supported by wooden beams, which give it the impression of being "suspended" over the ground. It is also one of the oldest Coptic churches in Cairo as it dates back to the 3rd century AD.
We also visited the nearby Ben Ezra Synagogue, which dates back to the 9th century, although has been rebuilt several times since then. The synagogue is famous for the discovery (in an attic behind a locked door) of the Geniza manuscripts, which is a collection of over 300,000 Jewish manuscript dating from the 9th to the 19th centuries. These documents, which are now housed in Cambridge, provided detailed insights into the life of the Jewish community in an Islamic country over centuries.
Cairo was founded in 969 AD under the Fatimids, and quickly rose to become an important Islamic center of learning, culture, and trade. The city was located just across the Nile from the pyramids and the ancient ruins of Memphis, which was Egypt’s first capital. Today, Cairo is a huge and sprawling metropolis and home to more than 20 million people. Traffic is often insane, which is one of the reasons the government has started building a new Administrative Capital, located east of the city.
After lunch we went on a walking tour through the old town. We entered through one of the remaining city gates which dates back to the 11th century.
Historic Cairo with its medieval architecture, narrow alleys, numerous mosques and madrasas is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The architecture reflects the many dynasties that ruled Egypt, since the foundin of the city, such as the Fatimids, Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans.
Among the major sites in the city is the Al-Azhar Mosque, which was founded in 970 CE and is one of the oldest and most important mosques in the Islamic world. It also is the seat of the Al-Azhar University, which is the oldest continuously operating degree-granting university in the world. The building on the right is the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq built in the 14th century.
We also visited the labyrinth of the famous Khan El Khalili Bazaar, which has been operating since the 14th century. You can buy a huge range for things here, such as spices, handcrafted jewelry, perfumes, textiles, and antiques. After returning to the hotel, we ended the year 2024 with a wonderful New Year's eve dinner and party right under the Great Pyramid.
The next day, after we said our goodbyes to Lara, Gary and Max, we continued to explore the city ourselves with a visit of the citadel. Known as the Citadel of Saladin, it is a massive medieval fortress built in the 12th century on a hill overlooking the city. From up here you have great views of this vast and sprawling city and its skyline dominated by minarets.
The Citadel served as the seat of Egyptian rulers for nearly 700 years until the 19th century. The main landmark inside the citadel is the huge Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Built between 1830 and 1848, it was designed in the Ottoman architectural style, heavily influenced by the great mosques of Istanbul. The interior of the mosque is richly decorated with intricate chandeliers and colorful stained glass windows.
From here we took an Uber down to visit the Egyptian Museum, which houses the largest collection of Egyptian Antiquities in the world. In particular this is the museum where all of the incredible treasures found in the tomb of Tutanchamun are kept. These are all displayed in one small room, which usually has a long line to enter and you are shuffled through the items quite quickly. You are not allowed to take any photo inside, but even standing very briefly in front of the golden mask, which is probably the most famous archeological artifact in the world, is an unforgettable experience.
We ended our stay in Cairo with a lovely and very interesting dinner on a floating restaurant with a friend of Rosie's from Harvard, who is currently a member of the Egyptian parliament. The next morning we flew from Cairo to Aswan to continue our trip with a cruise on the Nile.
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