Second Day Cairo

6-Sep

First stop today with the complete tour group is back to the Giza Pyramids, perfect opportunity for me to shoot a few more pictures as you can never have enough 😊 We are in total with 36 people, and it looks like we will be having a lot of fun. Helen and I wondered a bit around when a security guard signalled us to come his way, he would show us a few amazing spots to take great photographs. So we stepped over the fence and followed him around, and indeed we had some perfect spots to shoot a few great images. So here are a few more shots of the pyramids and Cairo.

On our way to Saqqarah we stopped at a papyrus paper factory where they still make papyrus paper in the old fashion way (so we were told 😉) Very interesting and amazing how strong this stuff actually is. A great invention by the Egyptians and here they had many printed papyri for sale. It would have been great if the Egyptians used it back in their time to document how they did all these things like mummification and building pyramids, would have saved scientist a lot of time!

Next stop was Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt to visit the open air museum, famous for a limestone colossus of king Ramsis II and a giant alabaster sphinx. Lots of other artifacts that they dug up around this area were on display as well. I suspect if you dig anywhere in this area you will find something interesting.

Memphis was the ancient Egypt’s capital from its founding by King Menes around 3100 BC until its decline after the Old Kingdom, while modern Cairo began as Fustat in the 10th century, establishing its own importance as a centre of trade and learning.

After this very interesting visit we took our bus to Saqqarah to have lunch. We were welcomed by musicians and ladies doing their typical Arabian Zaghrouta (high pitched trilling vocal) while making flatbread. We had a real Egyptian lunch with chicken and koftas.

Next stop was (for me) the highlight of the day, visiting the Step Pyramid of Djoser. This is one of Egypt’s most iconic monument, and rightfully so. It constitutes a significant historical turning point in ancient Egyptian funerary monuments, revolutionising stone architecture and royal burials. In addition to its beauty and monumental scale, it is not only the very first pyramid that the ancient Egyptians ever built, but also the oldest known ancient Egyptian stone structure. That also means its the oldest stone structure on earth!

The actual burial chamber is 45 meters under the structure and not accessible for us mere mortals. However there are a few tombs in the same area that we could visit. It is unbelievable that after thousands of years the colours of the hieroglyphs are till vivid. Just judge for yourself. You will also see some tombs that were not build or used by the Egyptians but by the Roman empire when they ruled Egypt.