Day 133 of international places giving smiles – Remembering Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
August 2012…it was a mother-daughter bonding trip, me from Mumbai and she from Nottingham. We decided to meet for 10 days midway at Egypt. After the initial thrill of seeing each other at the hotel room, we both jumped out of our beds to the ring of the phone. Our guide was waiting at the lobby to take us out for our first escorted tour-the Sound and Light show at the famous Pyramids of Giza.
We took our chairs under the vast expanse of the open sky. And then out of nowhere a voice seemed to call afar from the darkness. And the giant manmade structures were lit up in all their glory. It felt as if each of the pyramids were talking about themselves from five thousand years ago.
How the royal pharaoh Khufu decided to prepare for his journey after his death! How he appointed thousands of workmen, artists, architects to begin the construction of this monumental triangular structure. And how these huge stone blocks were lifted, dragged or rolled using skilled or unskilled manual labour, because the wheel wasn’t even invented! The huge blocks of stone were transported on boats across the river Nile. Ramps were placed on sloping sands on which the heavy stones were physically carried by the sturdy laborers.
The first layer of stones were placed on the ground that covered a distance of 230 square meters. This painstaking hard labour continued for layer after layer. The perfect straight lines had to be maintained. The level of the pyramid rose higher and higher. The inner chambers and corridors were simultaneously constructed as per a well-planned design. The artisans expressed their creativity with their drawings. The ancient strong men of Egypt (or were they from outer space?) continued with their intense manual labour. What kept them going was their belief in the vision of their kings! The voice told us- don’t pity these workmen who toiled so hard…instead admire them for their faith and belief in what they were about to create!
And then beautiful pictorial representations about the rich ancient Egyptian history kept unfolding on the expansive landscape before us. In the darkness of the night, the river Nile seemed to flow serenely, the boats came with the workmen, the kings and the queens kept addressing us, their funeral and mummification procedures was shown, the treasures inside the pyramids were spoken about, the love letters described….it felt as if we were transported to another world of more than four thousand years ago!
The experience ended with a grand show of all the three lit up great pyramids, the sphinx, and also of the subsidiary Queens pyramids which were in ruins in front of us. We were jerked back into the present and slowly made our way out. And took our pictures with two locals who were dressed like ancient Egyptian guards.
Next afternoon was a moment that we had waited for years….and it was about to happen. We were just going to see, feel and touch one of the seven wonders of the ancient world….probably the oldest standing man-made structure on this planet… Something that was built right in the beginning of human civilization….something that was around even before the birth of Christ…a living relic of the manual labour done more than 4600 years…YES…we found ourselves in front of the great Pyramids of Giza!
One look at each of the massive stones made me wonder at the human effort required to carry just one of them! More than 25000 workers were involved in building this structure. These stones were quarried from as far as Luxor and Aswan. More than 8000 workers died when these were built.
The biggest pyramid is the burial tomb of Pharoah Khufu(powerful one) the middle sized one belongs to his son Khafra, (meaning son of God) and the smallest one belongs to his grandson Mnkawra (meaning protector). We tried to look up to the tallest pyramid. It used to be 146 metres, but now is 139 metros….the tip was lost due to earthquake or strong winds. The Egyptian government has erected steel rods upto the original height just to give an idea of the older height of the biggest pyramid in the world. The base of the pyramid covers 230 square metrers
We climbed up the external walls of the oldest man made structure in the world and marveled at the immense manual labour involved. The heat of the mid-day sun was strongly felt at this juncture. We rushed back to the comfort of our air-conditioned car. We were told that along with the 3 bigger pyramids of the first dynasty of the Pharoahs, there were also six smaller pyramids of their relatives, which are now in different states of ruin.
We drove to another panoramic point from where we could get a clear view of all the 3 big pyramids. We had fun clicking many photos with the pyramids at unusual angles…as if we were lifting the tip, or holding it in our palms or pushing it with all our might! We even got a taste of what it felt to ride a camel in the middle of the dry, hot, sandy desert. I spent some time talking to the local camel riders and they asked me if we similarly ride elephants in India!
We then entered the third pyramid which was made up of both granite and sandstone and comparatively in better condition. We had to get down a long corridor and actually bend our heads because of the low rocky ceiling. We went still down to a lower chamber and I noticed the huge blocks of rocks placed in a line to make up the ceiling. These chambers would have initially been filled with treasures, yet now they are bare cold hollow places with no inscriptions even on the walls. At least I got a feel of what it was to walk like an Egyptian inside an Egyptian tomb!
Every pyramid had its own funeral temple in front of it, and this would be used only once – to perform the long funeral ceremonies and the process of mummification of the body of the king. Just imagine the place smelling of incenses, and all the organs of the king being removed. The kings heart would be weighed against a feather, if it was lighter, it would mean that he was good and would proceed straight to heaven! Even the curved part of the temple was made out of one solid block of granite.
As a proud Leo I was waiting to go close to see the next majestic monument – the Sphinx! With the body of a seated lion and the head of a human, this giant structure was constructed out of one solid block of stone. It was then covered with smaller stones to give a good finish and it symbolized being the protector of the tombs. In fact for many years it was mostly buried under the sand, so the lower part is in a better condition than the upper part. There are still no proper explanations as to why the nose of the Sphinx was cut off from the face.
We made our way back to the car amidst rows of vendors selling cold drinks, souvenirs, artificial jewelry, but in spite of the obvious shortage of tourists they did not bother to reduce their inflated prices.
So which place made you smile today?
Be grateful for the places that make you smile!
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