EGYPT'S CULTURAL HERITAGE GIZA PYRAMIDS: Egypt's Money-Maker. (Part 1/2)

Egypt’s Cultural Heritage

The Giza Pyramids:

Egypt’s Money-Maker

(Part 1 of 2)

The Govt. Sponsored

Rip-Off Tourism Is Designed

To Rob Foreign Tourists

(M. Javed Naseem)

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Pyramids are empty now as almost all

artifacts are moved to the museums, but

you still pay to go inside to see empty

chambers. Taking pictures inside the

pyramids is not allowed. Historic ruins

are deteriorating for lack of maintenance

and professional care, although US-AID

and UNESCO are helping.

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Egypt was the land of the Pharaohs, Nefertitis and Cleopatras. Beneath the sand and under the huge monuments is buried the history of mankind beyond the time imaginable. Visiting these tombs and pyramids is a fascinating experience, a wonderful adventure and unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience. Both private agents and govt. officials bother you, even frustrate you, in their personal efforts to make money from you. Sometimes it is very discouraging and annoying but you live with it. Normally all prices are paid in advance at the time of booking the package (there are dozens of different packages), still there is a lot to pay – like entry fees, tips/Bakhsheesh for the guides, drivers, officials and beggars. There is an entry fee for every site or monument. Even the uniformed police don’t miss a chance to make a buck as ‘Bakhsheesh’. It is entirely up to you how much you take but they won’t stop insisting and pushing.

Here’s an example! You book a tour but entry fees are not included. For every single pyramid, you pay extra despite the fact that you paid for the package. The package includes entry fee to the Giza monuments area which is fenced at the entrance. You pay extra for the camel, horse or the jeep. The irony is that you cannot do the tour on foot. If you book a car with a guide (and a driver, always 2 people, not one), at the end of the trip you pay obligatory tip to both. If you book a dinner on a Nile river cruise, they – driver and the guide – (always 2 people) come to pick you up from your hotel and the package includes the drop back to the hotel too, but you pay big tip to both people. You book a dinner, the drinks (both soft and alcoholic) are not included. Even water is not included, you have to buy extra. Dinner is buffet style and is good but does not include dessert (sweet dish); you have to buy it extra!

For the entry fees to the sites, monuments or events, you must pay many times more than the locals. There’s clear discrimination between the locals and the foreigners – the foreigners pay 4 to 10 times more money for the same visit/attraction.

(Entry fee for adult foreigners is 80-Gini (about $5) while for locals it is 10-Gini (60-cents). For foreign students, it is 40Gini ($2.50) while for local students it is 5-Gini (30-cents).

Since I get upset easily by cheating, deception and rip-off, I had a lot of arguments with the organizers everywhere. It started from home when I applied for Egyptian visa. They tell you to get it from their website on the internet for $25 visa fee. But it does not work. When I called the Embassy in the capital Rabat, I was told to come personally to get visa. I went with my wife (round trip 3-hours driving). It was very unorganized, like a fish market. We spent whole day but they were kind enough to give us visa the same afternoon as we drove from another city. The only shock was the visa fee: $100 for two ($50 each). When I pointed out $25 mentioned on the website, they said it was old information. But who’ll update it? Right there and then, I told my wife to be prepared for more shocks. And we were not disappointed.

(Giza Plateau ticket for foreigners costs 160-E.Pounds (Gini) - about $10 - but for locals only 20-E.Gini ($1.25). Ticket to Memphis site costs 80-E.Gini ($5) for foreigners but only 10-E.Gini (60-Cents approx.) for locals.)

Memphis Necropolis: The Giza Pyramid Fields

Memphis, the capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, has some extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate Mastabas, temples and Pyramids. In ancient times, the site was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today, the tour of the site is conducted in different price packages, half-day or full-day. It surrounds about 12km and takes more than 2 hours. Foreigners are required to pay for the hotel, for the Nile river cruise, and Giza Pyramids in foreign currencies (Dollar, Euro, Sterling, Saudi or Emirates Rials, etc.

The tourism part of your trip in Egypt would be very expensive – more expensive than Europe and America, but the food is cheap. Cost of living is very low due to poverty but the Europeans or Americans can hardly profit from it because they buy packages in advance. The backpackers/tourists enjoy it better as they use local transport, eat local food, walk a lot and window-shop a lot before actual shopping. I live in Morocco which is many times cheaper ($1=9Dirhams) than US/EU, but I found Egypt even cheaper than Morocco both in accommodation, food, clothing and transportation. I only booked the hotel in Cairo on the internet thru Booking.com; the rest of the things I booked after our arrival in Cairo hotel.

I wanted to visit Memphis and Theba from Islamic perspective. Prophet Yusuf (a.s.) or Joseph was dumped in a well by his 10 jealous brothers {sons of Prophet Yaqoob (a.s.) or Jacob} in Canaan and was later brought by the traders caravan to Egypt. He was sold as a slave child to Potiphar, the governor of Egypt. Yusuf (Joseph) is also an important figure in the Bible's Book of Genesis. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, he rose to become Vizier (chief minister), the second most powerful man in Egypt next to the Pharaoh, where his presence and office helped the family of Yaqoob (Jacob or Israel) to leave Canaan and settle in Memphis (now Cairo). The composition of the story can be dated to the period between the 7th century BCE and the third quarter of the 5th century BCE, which is roughly the period to which scholars date the Book of Genesis.

Yusuf (Joseph) was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. Later, Yusuf (Joseph) became Potiphar's personal servant, and subsequently his household's superintendent. Here, Potiphar's wife Zuleikha tried to seduce Yusuf, which he refused. Angered by his running away from her, she made a false accusation of rape, and thus assured his imprisonment. – (Genesis 39:1-20).

The Pharaoh dreamt for a couple of nights some dreadful events and wanted his dreams interpreted. Yusuf (a.s.) provided him with the interpretation and thus got his freedom from the prison. The Pharoah was impressed and made him the Governor (Aziz of Misr) of Egypt. Years later, he sent for his father, Prophet Yaqoob (Jacob) and other family members to relocate from Canaan to Memphis (today’s Cairo) in Egypt. A fascinating Biblical as well Quranic story!

(The Sphinx of Memphis, excavated from another site and installed here to financially benefit the village by tourist traffic.)

Memphis is located in the center of the floodplain of the western side of the Nile. Its fame comes from its being the first Capital of Ancient Egypt. The unrivaled geographic location of Memphis, both commanding the entrance to the Delta while being at the confluence of important trade routes, means that there was no possible alternative capital for any ruler with serious ambition to govern both Upper and Lower Egypt. Traditionally believed to have been founded in 3000 BC as the capital of a politically unified Egypt, Memphis served as the effective administrative capital of the country during the Old Kingdom, then during at least part of the Middle and New Kingdoms (besides Itjtawy and Thebes), the Late Period and again in the Ptolemaic Period (along with the city of Alexandria), until it was eclipsed by the foundation of the Islamic garrison city of Fustat on the Nile and its later development, Al Qahira. As well as the home of kings, and the centre of state administration, Memphis was considered to be a site sacred to the gods.

The site contains many archaeological remains, reflecting what life was like in the ancient Egyptian city. The palaces and temples were surrounded by craftsmen’s workshops, dockyards and arsenals, as well as residential neighborhoods, traces of which survive.

The Necropolis of Memphis, to the north and south of the capital, extends southwards from the Giza plateau, through Zawyet Elarian, Abu Ghurab, Abusir, Mit Rahina and Saqqara, and northwards as far as Dahshur. It contains the first complex monumental stone buildings in Egyptian history, as well as evidence of the development of the royal tombs from the early shape called "mastaba" until it reaches the pyramid shape. More than thirty-eight pyramids include the three pyramids of Giza, of which the Great Pyramid of Khufu is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world and one of the most important monuments in the history of humankind, the pyramids of Abusir, Saqqara and Dahshur and the Great Sphinx. Besides these monumental creations, there are more than nine thousand rock-cut tombs, from different historic periods, ranging from the First to the Thirtieth Dynasty, and extending to the Greco-Roman Period.

In Memphis was founded one of the most important monuments of the world, and the only surviving wonder of the ancient world, namely, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Its architectural design remains unparalleled and scientists continue to conduct research on how it was constructed. The Pyramid Complex of Sakkara is also a great masterpiece of architectural design, for it contains the first monumental stone building ever constructed and the first pyramid ever built (the Pyramid of Djoser, or the Step Pyramid). The great statue of Ramses II at Mit Rahina and the pyramids of Dahshur are also outstanding structures.

(Courtesy: UNESCO-World Heritage Centre). https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/86

 

All three of Giza's famed pyramids and their elaborate burial complexes were built during a frenetic period of construction, from roughly 2550 to 2490 B.C. The pyramids were built by Pharaohs Khufu (tallest), Khafre (medium) and Menkaure (smaller). In addition to these three main pyramids, there are six more on the same site, three small ones on the left and three on the right.

The Giza Pyramids are monumental tombs relics and were constructed some 4,500 years ago. Pharoahs believed in the next life and they prepared for it. When they died, they were buried in those tombs with all amenities and things they could possible need in the next world.

Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and towers some 481 feet (147 meters) above the plateau. Its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons.

Khufu's son, Pharaoh Khafre, built the second pyramid at Giza, circa 2520 B.C. His necropolis also included the Sphinx, a mysterious limestone monument with the body of a lion and a pharaoh's head. The Sphinx may stand sentinel for the Pharaoh's entire tomb complex. The most amazing thing about the Sphinx is that it was carved out of a limestone mountain as one gigantic piece.

It's amazing and awesome! If you forget your current situation and stand in front of them, it takes you to another dimension. In front of those gigantic and colossal monuments, you feel humbled and then you remember what Allah said in the Quran: 

"Many were the Ways of Life that have 

passed away before you. Travel through 

the earth, and see what was the end of 

those who rejected Truth!"

(al-Quran 3:137)

(The Great Sphinx of Giza)

The third of the Giza Pyramids is considerably smaller than the first two. Built by Pharaoh Menkaure circa 2490 B.C., it featured a much more complex mortuary temple.

The ancient engineering feats at Giza were so impressive that even today scientists can't be sure how the pyramids were built. Yet they have learned much about the people who built them and the political power necessary to make it happen.

The builders were skilled, well-fed Egyptian workers who lived in a nearby temporary city. Archaeological digs on the fascinating site have revealed a highly organized community, rich with resources that must have been backed by strong central authority.

It's likely that communities across Egypt contributed workers, as well as food and other essentials, for what became in some ways a national project to display the wealth and control of the ancient pharaohs.

(Courtesy: National Geographic)

The Great Pyramids of Giza

No pyramids are more celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza, located on a plateau on the west bank of the Nile River, on the outskirts of modern-day Cairo. The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the famed seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built for Khufu (Cheops, in Greek), Sneferu’s successor and the second of the eight kings of the fourth dynasty. Though Khufu reigned for 23 years (2589-2566 B.C.), relatively little is known of his reign beyond the grandeur of his pyramid. The sides of the pyramid’s base average 755.75 feet (230 meters), and its original height was 481.4 feet (147 meters), making it the largest pyramid in the world. Three small pyramids built for Khufu’s queens are lined up next to the Great Pyramid, and a tomb was found nearby containing the empty sarcophagus of his mother, Queen Hetepheres. Like other pyramids, Khufu’s is surrounded by rows of mastabas, where relatives or officials of the king were buried to accompany and support him in the afterlife.

The middle pyramid at Giza was built for Khufu’s son Khafre (2558-2532 B.C). A unique feature built inside Khafre’s pyramid complex was the Great Sphinx, a guardian statue carved in limestone with the head of a man and the body of a lion. It was the largest statue in the ancient world, measuring 240 feet long and 66 feet high. In the 18th dynasty (c. 1500 B.C.) the Great Sphinx would come to be worshiped itself, as the image of a local form of the god Horus. The southernmost pyramid at Giza was built for Khafre’s son Menkaure (2532-2503 B.C.). It is the shortest of the three pyramids (218 feet) and is a precursor of the smaller pyramids that would be constructed during the fifth and sixth dynasties.

Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone (averaging about 2.5 tons each) had to be cut, transported and assembled to build Khufu’s Great Pyramid. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that it took 20 years to build and required the labor of 100,000 men, but later archaeological evidence suggests that the workforce might actually have been around 20,000. Though some popular versions of history held that the pyramids were built by slaves or foreigners forced into labor, skeletons excavated from the area show that the workers were probably native Egyptian agricultural laborers who worked on the pyramids during the time of year when the Nile River flooded much of the land nearby.

The Pyramids Today

Tomb robbers and other vandals in both ancient and modern times removed most of the bodies and funeral goods from Egypt’s pyramids and plundered their exteriors as well. Stripped of most of their smooth white limestone coverings, the Great Pyramids no longer reach their original heights; Khufu’s, for example, measures only 451 feet high. Nonetheless, millions of people continue to visit the pyramids each year, drawn by their towering grandeur and the enduring allure of Egypt’s rich and glorious past.

(Courtesy: History.com)

The Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a giant 4,500-year-old limestone statue situated near the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt. Measuring 240 feet (73 meters) long and 66 feet (20 meters) high, the Great Sphinx is one of the world’s largest monuments. It is also one of the most recognizable relics of the ancient Egyptians, though the origins and history of the colossal structure are still debated.

Researchers estimate that it would have taken 100 people 3 years to carve the Great Sphinx out of a single mass of limestone. But there’s some evidence that these workers may have suddenly quit before fully finishing the sphinx and temple complex, such as partially quarried bedrock and remnants of a workman’s lunch and tool kit.

(The Great Sphinx standing guard at the Giza pyramids.)

Great Sphinx Restoration

The Great Sphinx’s body suffered from erosion and its face became damaged by time as well. Though some stories claim Napoleon’s troops shot off the statue’s nose with a cannon when they arrived in Egypt in 1798, 18th-century drawings suggest the nose went missing long before then. More likely, the nose was purposely destroyed by a Sufi Muslim in the 15th century to protest idolatry. Part of the Sphinx’s royal cobra emblem from its headdress and sacred beard have also broken off, the latter of which is now displayed in the British Museum.

Khafre

Several lines of evidence exist that tie the Great Sphinx to Pharaoh Khafre and his temple complex. For one thing, the head and face of the Sphinx are strikingly similar to a life-size statue of Khafre that French archaeologist Auguste Mariette found in the Valley Temple — the ruins of a building situated adjacent to the Great Sphinx — in the mid-1800s. The Sphinx was actually buried in sand up to its shoulders until the early 1800s, when a Genoese adventurer named Capt. Giovanni Battista Caviglia attempted (and ultimately failed) to dig out the statue with a team of 160 men.

Mariette managed to clear some of the sand from around the sculpture and Baraize made another large excavation push in the 19th and 20th centuries. But it wasn’t until the late 1930s that Egyptian archaeologist Selim Hassan was able to finally free the creature from its sandy tomb.

(Courtesy: History.com)

In the second part of this article, I’ll throw light on some famous mosques of Cairo as the city is also called the “City of Mosques”.

(To be continued…)

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