April 5th- Sheila's Version

Today we took the school van and met Dr. Joyce and her son and daughter to go to Cairo. We will be going on the Nile cruise with them. Upon arrival at the pyramids the sky was very hazy but cleared by the time we went back down to the base of the pyramids. We toured the Sun boat which Seth and Kristal had not been to before. Seth, Jim and I went into the queen's pyramid but Kristal having had such a bad experience in the Red pyramid chose not to go. When we got out we told her that it was much shorter, not as stuffy and wider entrance so she agreed to try it again and was pleased that she had tried it. Jim got accosted by a vendor and was "forced to by a headdress". The vendors are very pushy and know enough English to continue harassing you after you say "no". School children all want you to say Hello to them. It was very crowded at the pyramids of Giza with many tour buses but was not as crowded at the step pyramid.

There are about 80 pyramids along the edge of the Nile. The pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the world. The largest pyramid is the great pyramid in Giza built for king Khufu. The three great pyramids at Giza were built about 4,500 years ago as tombs for the kings, Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Khafre succeeded Khufu after the short reign of Khufu's son Ra'djedef It was 482 feet high and contains 2.3 million limestone blocks each weighing at least 2.5 tons. Granite blocks weighing over 15 tons were floated down the Nile from Aswan, about 500 miles away. Masons laid a core of solid masonry and then chambers and passages were tunneled deep into it. As the pyramid rose, stone blocks were drug up ramps of sand. Finally the pyramid was faced with polished limestone or granite, and the halls inside were decorated with scenes of the pharaoh's life. Years of sand erosion has left jus the top of the limestone intact. The pyramids required a great deal of planning. First the base was marked out to form a perfect square. Step like terraces were then built, onto which stone blocks were later laid. The accuracy of pyramid angles may have been achieved by counting the revolutions of a rolling drum. Everything they would need for the afterlife was buried with them. Most valuables have been stolen from the tombs.
In the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh had the ability to live beyond death. He was a living god on earth and was the connection between the divine and the mortal. The pharaoh's duty on earth was to uphold Ma'at, the principle or order and truth. Upon the pharaoh's death he was to become the sun. However the journey was dangerous and the funerary texts was to provide instructions for a safe journey to the afterlife.
The funerary texts consist of about 800 prayers which are carved into the walls. The earliest text is thought to be at the pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara. None of the pyramids contain all of the utterances, nor are the in a particular order.
Since the Pharaoh's destination was the sky, the pyramid in it's original stepped form, provided him with a staircase to the sky. Later the pyramid symbolized the sun's rays, which was another way by which the king could ascend to the heavens.

The sphinx is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man. It is 69 feet tall and 243 feet long.
King Zoser built the step pyramid of stone. Prior to the step pyramid tombs had been made of mud brick. The step pyramid had stepped sides so that the king's soul could climb up them to reach heaven. They were later built with straight sides to represent the sun's rays. The king could walk up the rays to the sun god.

We had a late lunch at a restaurant at the base of the pyramids. I ordered fish and I got fish - including the head and tail. When the driver picked us up after lunch, he stopped and loaded us in the middle of the street. That's were I took the picture of the basket hanging from the balcony. I'm told that since it is a hassle for a woman to cover herself to go out into public that she will lower a basket with her shopping list and money and whoever is passing by also going to the store will take the money and list and go to the store for her, returning the items to the basket saving her the hassle of going out. Our driver asked a taxi driver where our hotel was but was given faulty information, so he backed down the street for a half block.


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