Dahshur

Last weekend a group of us rented a van with a driver and took a trip to Dahshur. Dahshur is a little bit south of Cairo and is where the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid are. These are believed to be some of the first pyramids constructed in Egypt. They were build almost 5,000 years ago by pharaoh Senfru who ruled during the 4th dynasty. These are two very unique pyramids due to the fact that the Bent pyramid sharply changes angles half way up in it's construction and the Red pyramid has a subtle sheen of red in the sun light due to the limestone that was quarried for it's construction. Egyptologists are not sure if the Bent pyramid changed shape due to the fact of the inexperience of the engineers and they were afraid is was going to cave in or due to the lack of time and needing to finish quickly.

The Bent Pyramid is actually on Egyptian military ground and you can not get very close to it, however, we were able to climb up and go inside the Red Pyramid. This was not as great of an experience as it sounds though. The entrance is about half way up the pyramid and is about 1 meter by 1 meter wide. It has about a 60 degree incline down with no stairs but only little metal poles going across every so often to help you down. So you are very cramped and hunched over and squatting going at a very steep uncomfortable incline. Did I mention that people were trying to come up at the same time. There is only one light about halfway down which doesn't provide much light so it is very dark most of the way and you can't see the bottom at all and we had no clue how far down it was. The further you went the hotter and stuffier the air got, not to mention the very bad smell of ammonia that made you gag. At the bottom there are three rooms that you can view and also got a very good look at the stacking of blocks on the ceiling. Here is a link that has a very good picture of the entrance.

After our pyramid excursion we went back to Cairo and to the CityStars mall which is a huge 7 story mall with tons of restaurants, theater, and entertainment.

By the way, our legs hurt so bad for several days after that steep incline down and back up the pyramid all hunched over and squatting like that.




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