Egypt tourist sites

Pyramids of Giza

Near Cairo lies the most famous of all ancient Egyptian sites: the pyramids of Giza. These three towering structures were built in ancient Egypt as tombs for powerful kings and queens. Today, travelers can visit the pyramids by taking a bus or taxi from Cairo.
The Sphinx

The Sphinx, a great stone carving of a lion with a human head, rests near the Giza Pyramids. It is carved out of a huge block of sandstone, and represents Re-Horakhty, an ancient Egyptian sun god. Visitors can go near the Sphinx, but not close enough to climb on it or touch its sides.
The Nile River

The Nile played an important role in ancient Egyptian society, serving as a transportation and trade route and a source of food. With companies like Nile River Cruise, travelers can take a narrated cruise on the Nile for a unique perspective on ancient life in Egypt.
Luxor

Luxor was built around Thebes, an ancient Egyptian capital and the birthplace of Hercules and Dionysos. The most spectacular attractions are the Temple of Luxor and the Temple of Karnak, and the city is home to a host of other ancient monuments.
Temple of Horus

The Temple of Horus is the second largest temple in Egypt and one of the best-preserved. Located in Edfu, about 115 km from Luxor, it is a remarkable example of ancient Egyptian architecture. Because it lay buried in sand until excavation in the late 1800s, visitors today can see the towering columns and pylon in excellent form.
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

The temple of ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most dramatic sites in Egypt. Situated at the base of a sheer cliff near Luxor, the temple was designed in terraces that seem to be an extension of the rocks.
Valley of the Kings

Located behind the Theban hills near Luxor is the Valley of the Kings, the burial site for 62 ancient pharaohs. Some famous burial sites in the valley include the tombs of Ramses I, Tutankhamen, and Amenhetep. Visitors to the area can hire guides to explain the local legends and mysterious curses that plagued early grave robbers.

Cairo Travel

The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza

is the largest single building ever constructed. Originally 479 ft (146 m) in height, it still stands at an awe-inspiring 449 ft (137 m). Most of its height loss is due to the stripping of its original smooth limestone casing.

When the Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza in about 450 BC, he was told by Egyptian priests that the Great Pyramid had been built for the pharaoh Khufu (Cheops to the Greeks), who was the second king of the Fourth Dynasty (c.2575–c. 2465 BC).

The priests told Herodotus that the Great Pyramid had taken 400,000 men 20 years to build, working in three-month shifts of 100,000 men at a time. This is not implausible, but archaeologists now tend to believe a more limited workforce may have occupied the site without the need for shifts. Perhaps as few as 20,000 workers, with an accompanying support staff (bakers, physicians, priests, etc.), would have been adequate to the task.

The Great Pyramid was made of 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing from 2 to 15 tons each. When completed, the Great Pyramid of Khufu weighed 6 million tons, the weight of all Europe's cathedrals put together! The pyramid was also the tallest structure in the world for thousands of years, until it was surpassed by the spires of England's Lincoln Cathedral around 1300 AD.

The second-largest pyramid of Giza was built for Khufu's son Khafre (Chephren), who became the fourth king of the Fourth Dynasty after the death of his short-lived elder brother and died c.2532 BC. Although many of his relatives were hastily buried in cheap tombs, the Pyramid of Khafre is almost as vast as the Great Pyramid of his father.

Khafre's pyramid actually looks taller than the Great Pyramid of Khufu because it stands on a slightly higher part of the plateau, it has a steeper angle, and it is the only one with a smooth limestone cap. Khafre's pyramid measures 707 ft (216 m) on each side and was originally 471 ft (143 m) high; its limestone and granite blocks weigh about 2.5 tons each.

Like the Great Pyramid, Khafre's Pyramid included five boat pits (with no boats), together with mortuary and valley temples and a connecting causeway some 430 yards long carved out of the living rock. The burial chamber, which is underground, contains a red granite sarcophagus with its lid. Next to this is a square cavity that presumably once held the chest containing the pharaoh's insides. The Great Sphinx, near Khafre's pyramid, is believed to be a royal portrait of Khafre.

The southernmost and last of the pyramids to be built was the Pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus), son of Khafre and the fifth king of the Fourth Dynasty. Each side measures 356 ft (109 m), and the structure's completed height was 218 ft (66 m).

In addition to these three monuments, small pyramids were built for three of Khufu's wives and a series of flat-topped pyramids for the remains of his favorite children. At the end of a long causeway lined with minor tombs of court officials, a mortuary temple was built just to mummify the pharoah's body.

Like all pharonic tombs, the burial chambers of the pyramids were packed with all the necessities for the next life: furniture, statues of servants (to be enlivened by an incantation when needed), and boats.

The question of how the pyramids were built has not yet found a definitive answer. Herodotus reported that the base was laid, then the great blocks (each weighing about seven tons) were levered into place, a step at a time up all 203 steps. But this cannot be done, as demonstrated by a Japanese attempt at a duplicate in the 1980s. The most plausible explanation is that the Egyptians employed a sloping and encircling embankment of brick, earth, and sand, which was increased in height and in length as the pyramid rose; stone blocks were hauled up the ramp by means of sledges, rollers, and levers.

The pyramids have impressively withstood the ravages of time, but not of grave robbers. They emptied the pyramids of their valuables in ancient times. In 1818 an Italian entered the burial chamber of Khafre with a hydraulic ram, but the gold and other treasures were long gone.

Visiting Cairo Giza pyramids

Giza pyramids

 

There are three pyramids at Giza, each of which once had an adjoining mortuary temple. Attached to this temple would have been a covered causeway descending down to a valley temple, near the Nile. The 'great' pyramid itself is truly an astonishing work of engineering skill - for over four thousands years, until the modern era, it was the tallest building in the world.

The age of the first ancient wonders of the world began with the pyramids of Sneferu, he built three pyramids and may have had a hand in others. His pyramid at Medum began as a step pyramid and was then modified to form the first true pyramid. He built two pyramids at Dahshur one called the Bent Pyramid because its upper part has a shallower angle of inclination than the lower part.

Seneferu's Bent pyramid at Dahshur was originally planned as a true pyramid, but its geometry was altered at a point just above half its height. The angle of incline was decreased from 54º 31' 13'' to 43º 21'.

 When Khufu, also known as Cheops, became pharaoh one of his first acts was to curtail the growing power of the priesthood. He "shut up all the temples and forbade sacrifices". As a priest’s living came from performing these rituals it is not surprising that Khufu was unpopular with the religious orders.

 Khufu's pyramid at Giza showing the plan of passages and burial chamber.

Some believe that his pyramid at Giza was built by slaves but this is not true. One hundred thousand people worked on it for three months of each year. This was the time of the Nile's annual flood which made it impossible to farm the land and most of the population was unemployed. He provided good food and clothing for his workers and was kindly remembered in folk tales for many centuries.

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Visit Alexandria Egypt

Alexandria

Alexandria was the Egyptian gate to Europe and the Mediterranean countries, and the forefront of Pharaonic , Coptic and Islamic civilization as revealed in its monuments. Thus it has been and still is a cultural center of learning.

when Alexander the Macedonian , son of Greek king Philip arrived in Egypt in hot pursuit of the Persians , the traditional enemy of the Greeks , he succeeded in beating them with the help of Egyptians who responded favorably to him because he respected their religion and did not obligate them to abandon it . When the war was over , Egypt 's priests crowned Alexander as a pharaoh. In 331 B.C. Alexandria named after its founder, Alexander the great , was completed.

The city was first considered as a capital of Egypt, which could secure stable government and an invulnerable fortress to fend off any impending threat against Egypt from the Mediterranean. However ,the city later developed as "the chief entrance for thriving trade between the Mediterranean world and the East"

The original site was close to the ancient finishing hamlet called Rhachotis (Raqoodah) , lying between the present site of Qait Bey Citadel and Ras el Teen Palace , taking advantage of the shelter provided by Pharos Island

 Alexandria was a model walled city , built according to the Hellenistic Gridiron plan of the architect Dinocrates (Chessboard plan) . One century after its creation, Alexandria become the largest city in the ancient world.

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