The pyramids of Giza

A visit to the pyramids

This morning, another one of my dreams came true. I went to Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, to visit the pyramids. Against my wiser judgement, at the very last moment, I allowed myself to be persuaded to ride a lovely horse, Ramses, for several hours, to view the pyramids, the Sphinx, some workers' housing and workers' tombs. 

At first, as I took my first halting steps on an unfamiliar mode of transportation, there was fog in the air, giving a mysterious distance to the pyramids. It seemed like they could never be reached. The area all around the pyramids remains just desert, despite Cairo reaching right up to the precinct on one side. One has the convincing impression of being all alone in an empty place.

I went down, mostly squatting, inside the pyramid of Menkaure and was awed by the stillness, the sense of history and the beautiful simplicity of ancient stone masonry. While I can't imagine being buried in a tomb of that size, it is interesting to try and summon up a different age where Pharaohs ruled the world and were essentially worshipped as gods, and indeed were sometimes promoted to gods on their death. The pyramids, such a marvel of architecture, are conjectured to imitate the rays of the sun and therefore provide easy transit to the afterlife.

The solidity of their basic materials, the difficulty of moving such large stones and the desert climate have obviously combined to keep them in reasonable condition for 4000 years. A serious attempt was made to dismantle them stone by stone at the time of the Muslim conquest but the task turned out to be too great! 

The Sphinx is a whole other story. It is carved out of the local sandstone and time has been hard on it. There is a lot of restoration work going on around the base at the moment in harder stone. The head has endured better than the rest. However, the inscrutable nature of its gaze has diminished and it wears a neutral physiognomy now.

At this time, tourists have deserted Egypt in their millions and the industry is on its knees. There has been an accumulation of unfortunate incidents in which tourists have been hurt or worse. One feels empathy for the thousands of Egyptians who are, as a result, out of work and out of a source of income. May the tourists regain their courage soon and return in droves to this very welcoming country. 

Everyone is so easygoing and willing to assist. I have not found any hassling or unpleasantness of any kind. I feel free to wander the streets at will at any time of day. I sense that they are a people who really feel a strong urge and need to be loved. In the meantime, I wander the streets of Cairo at will, unaccompanied, free of worry and feeling very lucky!