Exploring the Great Pyramid at Giza

Finally, Pyramid day (yeom al'Ahram in Arabic) and we gather into the two, nice, big, air-conditioned buses for a quick tour of Cairo and then off to Giza. Cairo, the guide tells us, is mainly on the east bank of the Nile, while Giza is on the West bank, and a bit south. Expecting a trek through the desert (at least a small one, a trek-ette, perhaps) we were mostly surprised to find the Pyramids were, in fact, surrounded by the city of Giza. Seriously! All those movies that tell you the Pyramids are way off in the desert somewhere are LYING. The pyramids are, in fact, a mere 10 kilometers from the Nile, and from Kufu/Cheop's (the "Great" pyramid - there is only 1 by the way...great, I mean) pyramid, you could walk about five or six minutes down the hill to get a coke or some water (and some tourist chotchkies) and walk back.

You might be tempted to think that this commercialization ruins the awesomeness of the pyramids - well, for me it did not in any way, shape, or form. Just touching those 2 - 20 ton blocks of granite is enough to send chills down my spine (no mean feat in 97 degree weather). Looking at the Pyramids, and their attending temples, statues, and such, I am amazed that a) they were built so darn long ago! and b) that they were built at all! Let me put into perspective just how incredibly enduring these Pyramids are...

The first one was build roughly 3000 B.C. by Kufu (called Cheops by the Greeks) - about 1300 years before the 10 Commandments were handed down to Moses; 2700 years before the birth of Alexander the Great, 4942 year before Columbus sailed west, 4776 years before the signing of the declaration of independence, and 5000-ish years before my visit!

During that time, the pyramids have seen the rise and fall/decline of three "pharoahnic" Egyptian empires, the Greek empire, the Roman empire, the Byzantine empire, the Muslim conquests, the Mongol invasions, the Ottoman Empire, the British empire, and now our helpful hegemony is being witnessed by these massive constructions. Concrete out-buildings constructed in the 1950's and later to aid in the archaeologists and guards to preserve these monuments have become pitted and ruined by the constantly-blowing sands, the intense heat of the sun, and general decay. Yet the pyramids are not visibly damaged in 5000 years. WOW. AND they did it all without mortar to hold the blocks together, heavy machinery to lift the blocks, iron (or steel, or titanium) tools to cut the rock with [they used copper and bronze], and (most importantly) without subcontractors who under-bid and over-charge.

The official brochures say that The Great Pyramid (the one built by Kufu/Cheops) has somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.3 MILLION blocks ranging in size from 2 tons to 20. If disassembled and laid next to each other, they would extend for 1/3 the distance of the equator. It took 20 - 22 years of labor (not by slaves; Jewish or otherwise) by Egyptians during the (get this) summer months. I got dehydrated just walking around, looking at them.

You do have to pay a nominal fee (20LE - 100 Egyptian Pounds (LE), depending in time of day and your status as a student, Egyptian, foreigner, as part of a tour company's package, or just exploring on your own) to get into the preserve, and an additional very nominal fee (around 20LE) to enter the pyramid of Kafre (the middle one), or to enter the Sphinx, or the building protecting the Boat of Kufu/Cheops building. All of them are worth it, though entering the pyramids is truly a grueling trek; entering the pyramid through a 1 1/2 meter tall (about 5 feet) aperture in the side. The passageway slopes downward at about a 30 degree angle, give or take, for about 300 feet - all the while, you're making room for people leaving the pyramid. There is a point, about mid-way down the passage, where there is a little room to stand up due to the preparatory chamber that was carved during construction. The passageway continues on, leveling off a few meters in and ends in the burial chamber of Kafre. Unfortunately, cameras and cell phones are confiscated by the tourism police before entering and anyone caught smuggling one in (there are guards inside) will face stiff fines, the confiscation of the camera/cell phone, and be removed from the preserve. The reason for this is that light, particularly sudden, intense light from flashes, actually damage the paintings inside. Though going inside any of these wonders (or all of them, for that matter) are incredible, the pyramid is the most physically strenuous and perhaps can be skipped if you are not into the whole go-inside-the-pyramid thing.

Now, back to the commercialism, there are people (Egyptians) trying desperately to sell you something, anything. It's a hard job, considering you have competitors (tons and tons of them) and you're out in the hot, hot desert every day. They buy the miniature pyramids, or papyrud bookmarks, or postcards of the insides of the pyramids and then sell them to tourists for a profit. Children as young as 8, both male and female, also ply their trade here - school is only compulsory until the 3rd grade, afterward, they either get a scholarship to go on or get a job. The sun can be blazing BUT there is a respite, for not two hundred yards from the paws of the Sphinx himself, there's a Pizza Hut, KFC, and Hard Rock Cafe (Giza). Well, tourist traps are EVERYWHERE; Niagra Falls, The Eiffel Tower, The Grand Canyon...you name it, someone will try to sell tourists something, AND the corporations will often be one (or many) of those someones.

I do have to say that the whole experience was at once overwhelming and surprising. I had no idea that seeing these most ancient of buildings would be so spiritual and yet laced with the mundane; tourists, ancient craftsmanship, peddlers, the architecture, the city, and the wonder of it all are like nothing I have ever experienced before. If you do get a chance to come to Egypt, I would urge you, beyond anything else, even if you have food-poisoning from the T.G.I. Friday's on the Nile, you MUST MUST MUST go to the Pyramids.