 |
|
|
The city of Giza is home to
ancient Muslim districts, an area of luxury apartment houses
bordering the river, and several foreign embassies and state
offices. Educational institutions include the University of
Cairo (1908), relocated here in 1924. The Academy of the
Arabic Language built in 1932 is also found here as well as
an ophthalmic research institute, and a music institute.
Since the 4th Dynasty, circa 2575-2467 BC, an important city
has always been on or near this site of the ancient
pharaohs.
Famous landmarks situated here are the Great Sphinx (about
2500 BC) and some of Egypt's most well known pyramids—the
Great Pyramid of Khufu, or Cheops, and the Khafre and
Menkaure pyramids.
|
|
The most famous pyamid in Egypt, and the one that
appears on almost every tour package, the Great
Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest and largest of the
pyramids on the Giza Plateau.
Built around 2570 B.C.
by the IV Dynasty pharaoh Khufu (better known as
Cheops), this 140-meter-high monument contains
approximately 2.3 million blocks, with an average
weight of 2.5 tons.
The reason for building it is a matter of debate.
Several scholars think it was the ancient burial
chamber of the pharaoh and his queen, while others
think it had astronomical purposes.
As no
inscriptions or corpses were found inside, the
debate continues. |
|
Today, no one is allowed to climb the pyramid, but you can
go inside. After a descent at a crouch, a steep upward
passage leads to the Grand Gallery and two chambers. The
King's Chamber has a lidless granite sarcophagus while the
so-called Queen’s Chamber had nothing in it. A separate
ticket is bought to enter each pyramid and the Solar Boat
Museum.
You won't want to pass on one of Egypt's most famous
attractions, the last surviving monument of the Seven
Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramid of Giza. There are
actually three main pyramids in Giza; the Great Pyramid of
Khufu (or Cheops), The Pyramid of Kafhre and the smaller
Pyramid of Menkaura.
 |
Each Pyramid is a
final resting place to a different Pharaoh of Egypt.
In front of the pyramids is found the Sphinx, or Abu
al-Hol in Arabic, "Father of Terror". Carved out of
a single block of stone, this gigantic cat-like
structure has amazed millions of visitors.
Giza's three great pyramids and the Sphinx were
believed to have been built in the 4th dynasty of
Egypt's Old Kingdom, debated to be the first great
civilization on earth. For most of us it means it
happened about 5000 years ago. Even though there is
still debate about the methods employed in building
the pyramids at Giza, most are unanimous in the
belief that it wasn't by aliens.
|
Though the theory that
beings from outer space had built the pyramids would more
than double the considerable number of tourists visiting
Egypt nowadays, scholars have ruled out the possibility
completely.
It is thought that approximately 20,000 laborers were
employed and approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each
weighing 2.5 tons, were used just to build the Pyramid of
Khufu.
|
|
