Memphis, the city of pyramids 🇪🇬 Egypt

The fertile land, the river and the sea were the source of life for ancient Egypt. The fundamental occupation for most of the population was undoubtedly agriculture. And power, both in politics and religion, was based on the ownership of land. The first pharaohs were tillers of the soil. The essence of Egyptian ethics and of its highest spiritual thought, to be found in the myth of death and resurrection of Osiris, springs from the world of agriculture. The exceptional intellectual potential of the Egyptian people emerged with the fertility of the fields, the annual flooding of the Nile. By August, all the land was covered with water, and only the cities and towns emerged like islands from the immense boundless swamp. With the winter solstice, the immense lagoon withdrew and disappeared. Life was reborn in the wake of desolation. In the past, navigation on the Nile was particularly favoured by nature. The ships plying the river from south to north, and thus towards the sea, were aided by the current. Those going upstream from lower to upper Egypt had an almost constant north-south breeze to help them along. The Nile not only fertilised the land, but also became the lifeline and the communications network for all Egypt. Knowledge of the astronomical calendar was the result of ancient observations and study of the sun's course in relationship with the fixed stars. Every year was divided into three seasons. The flood season, Akhet. The sowing season, Peret. The harvesting season, Shemu. The Egyptian was familiar with operations, some type of fractions, the calculation of surfaces and volumes, which permitted them to develop great networks of canals and lots. Much more complex and demanding was the work concerned with regulating the flooding of the fields and which involved skills that were unique at that time, requiring knowledge in the variety of fields, astronomy, land surveying, hydraulics, construction, as well as the capacity to programme and organise exceptional operations to be carried out over thousands and thousands of hectares of land. It meant an acquaintance with the astrological calendar and understanding of instruments for measuring and levelling, of how to escalate canals, dams, bridges and regulate and lift water. In 2000 BC, a large region around Lake Meoris was made arable by canalising and reclaiming thousands of hectares of marshy, sterile land. This great work also included the construction of villages and the construction of cooperatives. Each village had workers of the land who had a house of their own with a garden. They belonged to a team of five workers who formed a responsible community which annually discussed the programmes with the delegates of the State of Property for the consignment of the products and regulation of remuneration. There are no forests in Egypt, so wood is scarce and is not used for house building. The earliest inhabitants of Egypt lived in huts made from papyrus reeds. However, it was soon discovered that the mud left behind after the annual flooding of the Nile could be made into bricks which could be used for building. Bricks were made by mixing mud and straw and leaving them to dry in the sun. In ancient Egyptian society, as well as today, farming was very important. The farmer had to provide food for tradesmen, leaders and slaves. He worked very hard along the fertile Nile River valley. This valley provided fine soil for raising grain, vegetables and fruits. None of the achievements of the remarkable ancient Egyptian civilisation would have been possible without the Nile River. There's always a connection between landscape and how a people develop. There are days when the sand blows ceaselessly, blanketing the remains of a powerful dynasty that ruled Egypt 5,000 years ago. When the wind dies down and the sands are still, a long shadow casts a wedge of darkness across the Sahara, creeping ever longer as the North African sun sinks beyond the horizon. This is where our history of Egypt begins, in the shadow of the Great Pyramid of Giza, where stone meets sky as a testament to one of the greatest civilisations on earth. The World of the Pyramids is an apt name for the series of cemeteries which lie along the western bank of the Nile, stretching from the ancient city of Leopolis almost as far as Heracleopolis. Egypt rouses a level of mystique and awe in travellers that few nations in the world can match. The most prevalent colour of the desert, however, is a decidedly reddish-yellow ochre. Just a few minutes south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile, the Pyramids of Giza rise out of the desert expanse, a tribute thousands of years old to an ancient culture. The peoples of ancient Egypt seem like bearers of some higher civilisation whose sources lay in another world. While populations elsewhere were groping their way out of the Stone Age, generating cultures that were on more or less the same level in all the religions of the world, the Egyptians seem to have been born adult. They soon broke through the barriers of human possibility 6,000 years ago, almost in virtue of experiences sustained in some other extraordinarily civilised world. With its soaring pyramids, sacred tombs, complex hieroglyphs, ancient temple walls, legends of exotic pharaohs and colourful pantheon of gods, ancient Egypt is easy to be captivated by the landscape of a culture that fills the imagination with its richness and depth. Giza is the name currently given to the gigantic burial grounds of the ancient Leopolis, which cover an area of 2,000 square metres on a plateau. The great architectural achievements of the past are built of stone. Stone quarries supplied the large blocks of granite, limestone and sandstone that were used for building temples and tombs. Architects planned carefully, as building was done without mortar, so the stones had to fit precisely together. Only pillars were used to sustain short stone supports. The art of the Egyptians reflects every aspect of their lives. Depicted in tomb and temple drawings are scenes of everyday life, models of people and animals, glass figures and containers. The physical geography of ancient Egypt has remained in the form of pyramids and temples, and the wealth of knowledge that this civilisation was able to develop leaves many visitors feeling inspired. One of the most notable and lasting achievements of the ancient Egyptians are their pyramids. The size, design and structure of the pyramids reveal the skill of these ancient builders. The pyramids were great monuments and tombs for the kings. The Egyptians believed that a king's soul continued to guide affairs of the kingdom even after his death. To ensure that they would continue to enjoy the blessings of the gods, they preserved the pharaoh's body through the mummification process. They built the pyramids to protect the body, and it was a symbol of hope, because it would ensure the pharaoh's union with the gods. The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest single building ever constructed. On the Giza plateau, Khufu's builders oriented his pyramid almost perfectly north. Surrounded by a myriad of matabas, or oblong-shaped flat-topped tombs with sloping sides, a great many of the pyramids are smooth-faced, while a few are stepped. Almost at their head stand the monumental pyramids of Giza. The golden period of the stepped pyramids lasted not much more than 100 years, while that of the geometric pyramid lasted 500 years. The pyramid gives the impression of an immense flight of stairs which leads to infinity. The impression is heightened by the total absence of the facing, so that the internal blocks, arranged like a giant staircase, are revealed. Originally 146 metres high, it now measures 137 metres, and a plaza 10 metres wide lies where the summit once was. Of the original 2,500,000 cubic metres of stone blocks, weighing from 2 to 15 tonnes each, there are now only 2,350,000, which means that by the early 19th century, 150,000 cubic metres of fine-cut stone had been removed for the construction of Cairo. The materials used in particular for the Great Pyramid of Khufu fall into two distinct categories, granite monoliths and blocks of limestone. The differences in number and weight resulted in two types of construction yards, monolith construction yards and block construction yards. It should be kept in mind that the technique was dry-joint masonry, without mortar or blinder of any sort, in which the blocks were simply set or mounted on top of each other. When the Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza in about 450 BC, he was told by Egyptian priests that the Great Pyramid had been built for the pharaoh Khufu, Cheops to the Greeks, who was the second king of the fourth dynasty. In addition to these three monuments, small pyramids were built for three of Khufu's wives and a series of flat-topped pyramids for the remains of his favourite children. There were three satellite pyramids on the north side of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which are often referred to as the Queen's Pyramids. The northernmost pyramid is now considered to be the secondary burial of Queen Hetephares I. The second pyramid is now ascribed to Queen Merititis, and the southernmost of the three pyramids was built for Queen Henoutzen. The Great Pyramid was the centrepiece of an elaborate complex which included several small pyramids, five boat pits, a mortuary temple, a causeway, a valley temple, and many flat-roofed tombs for officials and some members of the royal family. Dignitaries and nobles were also commonly buried in tombs set around the pyramid, and known now as mastabas. They were rectangular in plan, with slightly sloping walls, a cornice moulding around, and a single entrance door. Soon after its construction, Khufu's son and grandson built the other two pyramids, completing what visitors commonly recognise as the Pyramids of Giza. While the three largest structures are the most attention-grabbing, the Giza Plateau is a complex including many other ancient buildings, among them the Great Sphinx, a colossal stone statue. Fashioned from an outcrop of limestone, left behind from the quarrying of stone for the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx crouches in a rectangular ditch bounded by Khafre's causeway to the south, a modern road to the north, and Old Kingdom's Sphinx Temple to the east. A small reconstructed New Kingdom religious structure, probably dating from Amenhotep II, lies to the northeast. The colossal figure is oriented east to west, and the Sphinx Temple, with its huge courtyard, has been called a solar temple. The Sphinx can be identified with the god Re, who rises and sets on the horizon, and also with Horus, the son of Re. The head of the Sphinx represents an Egyptian ruler wearing a Nemer's headdress and once had a Uraeus serpent on its forehead and a royal beard. The human head is small in proportion to the lion's body and it's suggested that the body may have been elongated to take into account a natural fissure in the rock which would have prevented the workmen. The colossal statue takes the form of a crouching lion with a human head, thought to be carved with the features of Khafre, though this is the subject of some debate. Sphinxes are typical elements of Egyptian statuary, but the unique architecture of the Great Sphinx has long fired the imaginations of archaeologists, who assert that the sculpture is the work of a civilization far more ancient than the builders of the pyramids. While the enigmatic history of the Sphinx is undeniable, recent intensive excavations and restorations have revealed no secret subterranean chambers or evidence of vanished civilizations. The body of the Sphinx, almost 60 metres long and 20 metres high, was carved from alternate soft and hard layers of sediments of Marley limestone laid down during the formation of the Giza Plateau in the geological Eocene period. The harder layers were quarried blocks extracted for Old Kingdom building projects, and it's now possible to identify the stone used in each of the nearby structures, providing evidence of the sequence of quarrying. The walls of Khafre's valley temple were probably composed of massive blocks from the upper part of the Sphinx's body, while some of the limestone blocks of the Sphinx temple came from an area around the Sphinx's chest. The ancient Egyptian pyramids are often thought of as the quintessential symbol of the high level of achievement and skilled engineering. In eastern North Africa, ancient Egypt has a long history, with periods of success and decline spread over 3,000 years. The greatest pyramids symbolise a time in ancient Egyptian history when pharaohs ruled absolutely and in turn were buried in grand ways. Ancient Egypt was a sophisticated society that laid the groundwork for modern civilisation. Today, the artefacts of the Egyptians are on display all over the world and make up some of the most popular exhibits in contemporary museums. They participated in trade, spreading their papyrus to different regions of the world in exchange for rare goods. Today, ancient Egypt is remembered for the complex hieroglyphics, awe-inspiring architecture, civilised society and intricate art. With the abundance of ruins around the country, Egypt has the remnants of one of the greatest civilisations in history. The second largest pyramid of Giza was built for Khufu's son, Khafre, Chephren, who became the fourth king of the fourth dynasty after the death of his short-lived elder brother and died around 2532 BC. Although many of his relatives were hastily buried in cheap tombs, the Pyramid of Khafre is almost as vast as the Great Pyramid of his father. The estimated weight of all the stones in the pyramid is 4,880,000 tonnes. Because it's built higher on the plateau, it looks taller from most angles than Khufu's pyramid. The top of the pyramid still has some of the limestone casing that once covered the entire pyramid. Pyramids today stand as a reminder of the ancient Egyptian glorification of life after death. And in fact, the pyramids were built as monuments to house the tombs of the pharaohs. Death was seen as merely the beginning of a journey to the other world. In this society, each individual's eternal life was dependent on the continued existence of their king, a belief that made the pharaoh's tomb the concern of the entire kingdom. The function of the pyramids was clearly indicated as a burial of pharaohs. The entire complex began functioning as soon as the funeral of the deceased began. When the pharaoh died, the long rites of his embalming and burial began at the temple dwelling of the pharaoh. Once the body had arrived with the procession of the sacred barks, the purification ceremonies began at the valley of the temple, and the preparation of the mummy was also completed. The principal ceremony was the purifying washing, comparable to that of the sun, which is reborn every morning. Purified, covered with perpetuatory amulets, the mummy passed to the guardian of the threshold, then began his journey of ascent, hidden from profane eyes in the gallery, and reached the temple further up for the consecration. As the body proceeded from one columned hall to the next, the number of initiates and purified who accompanied him dwindled. When it reached the great central court, only the great initiated and the pharaoh heir continued into the sancta sanatorium of the mortuary temple, where the fundamental ceremony of the opening of the mouth and eyes took place. The royal heir presided over this rite, which opened the communication of the deceased with the afterworld, before the five chapels in the otherworld, the five statues of the god-king, one for each attribute given to the pharaoh when he'd received his royal consecration. Officially reunited with the gods, the deceased was taken through secret ways to the subterranean chapel, once sealed, the precious sarcophagus was set in the midst of his dearest possessions and treasures, after which the worker priests retraced their steps, closed the marble portcullises, and obstructed every passage so that no one might disturb the pharaoh as he waited for his final ascent to the sun. The pyramid is a symbol of the sun, the great god Re, whose cult became preeminent from the fourth dynasty. The pyramid texts, found in the funerary chambers of the tombs, dating from the end of the old kingdom, speak of the transformation of the dead king into the sun. Like all great religions, that of the ancient Egyptians was basically monotheistic, as was that of their ancestors in prehistoric times, with the cult of mother goddess, the generating force of all things, of gods and man. The religion born with the planet Egypt, when the great turning opine in the history of civilization was achieved, was even more so. All Egyptian cosmogenies are deeply permeated by the feeling of one unique absolute god, of an eternal creation, where the gods have a thousand faces and are the thousand manifestations of the same god, as are all his creatures and all of mankind. From any angle, Giza's pyramids inspire awe. The pyramids have risen above the desert outside Cairo for more than 4,000 years. Saqqara is one section of the great necropolis of Memphis, the old kingdom capital, and the kings of the first dynasty, as well as those of the second dynasty, are mostly buried in this section of the necropolis. It's been of constant interest to Egyptologists. Saqqara took the name of Soqar, the old kingdom god of orientation, the measurement of location, and there are theories that the ancient surveys of all Egypt took this as their starting point. On a clear day, its most prominent monument, Joseph's Step Pyramid, can be seen from Giza, which lies some 17km to the north, and from Dashur, about 10km to the south. From Egypt's modern-day capital, Cairo, Saqqara is some 40km away. Three major discoveries have recently been made at Saqqara, including a prime minister's tomb, a queen's pyramid, and the tomb of the son of a dynasty-founding king. Each discovery has a fascinating story, with many adventures for the archaeologists as they reveal the secrets of the past. Thousands of tombs are spread across an important area, and covering more than 3,000 years of complex Egyptian history. The ruins at Saqqara have long attracted the interest of explorers, grave robbers, and local people. Travellers first reported evidence of antiquities at Saqqara in the 16th century. It wasn't until Napoleon marched into Egypt in 1798 with his conquering forces that a scientific study of the area began. One of Napoleon's aims in liberating Egypt was to bring modern scientific inquiry to the study of its monuments. The General established the Institut de l'Egypte and dispatched hundreds of scientists to document Egypt's antiquities in depth. The resulting publication, The Description of Egypt, was a lavishly produced catalogue of ancient Egyptian sites, including Saqqara. Saqqara represents the first complete model of the typical pyramid complex, including enclosure walls and a causeway. It offers a myriad of sites to visit, aside from the Pyramid of Joseph. Covering a few kilometres square, its dusty expanse is dotted with various pyramids built for the rich and famous of an era long gone by. Next to the pyramid texts, the causeway is the most impressive part of Unas' funerary complex. With its 750 metres in length, it must have been one of the longest pyramid causeways ever constructed, equalled only by the Causeway of Cheops at Giza. The causeway connects the mortuary temple to the valley temple. It was built in a long wadi that opened onto a lake east of the pyramid. Some of the blocks used to fill gaps in the embankment came from the enclosure of Joseph's complex, which suggests that by the end of the Fifth Dynasty, Joseph's complex had already fallen into decay. Only bits and pieces of the original decoration of the inner walls of the roofed causeway have been found. They can merely hint at the diversity of scenes that covered the causeway. Part of the decoration appears to have been dedicated to the representation of the building of the funerary complex. The transport by boat of the granite palm columns for the mortuary temple and craftsmen working gold or copper. In order to connect the valley temple to the mortuary temple and in order to follow the natural wadi, the causeway shows bends twice to the south. At the uppermost bend, two boat pits, each 45 meters long, have been found immediately to the south of the causeway. The causeway has recently undergone restoration and one can now walk from the valley temple along the causeway to the pyramid. The remains of the doorway indicate the entrance of Unas's mortuary temple. The right door jamb of the entrance to the mortuary temple has been inscribed with fine hieroglyphs. The pyramid of Unas, even though the smallest of the old kingdom royal pyramids, is considerably more famous and better known than the king who built it. This is because, for the first time that we know of, the 128 magical spells of the pyramid text appear on the walls of its subterranean chambers. It was once called beautiful are the cult places of Unas. The Heb Sed court is located on the east side of the courtyard between the entrance corridor and the house of the south. There are no inscriptions to confirm the purpose of the buildings in this courtyard, but it's considered likely that it related to the Heb Sed festival. Within the courtyard, there are three types of chapel, each preceded by a small court. Each shrine has a doorway which penetrates the outer wall but goes no further. The southernmost shrine incorporates the podium with round fronted steps which formed the base of the tents which would be set up during the festival. This form emulates the hieroglyph which stands for the festival. The step pyramid is the first known monumental structure made of stone anywhere in the world. As its name suggests, it's a series of six levels of stone decreasing in size as they ascend to about 60 meters in height. Until this time, mastabas had been the principal form of tomb architecture. A mastaba, Arabic for bench, is a low rectangular structure which was built over a shaft which descended to the burial location. Saqqara is best known for the step pyramid, the oldest known of Egypt's 97 pyramids. It was built for King Djoser of the third dynasty by the architect and genius Imhotep who designed it and its surrounding complex to be as grand as it was unique and revolutionary. Imhotep was the first to build stone tombs in honor of the king's majesty. His many titles included treasurer of the king of lower Egypt, administrator of the great palace and Imhotep the builder, the sculptor, the maker of stone vessels. Imhotep may also have designed the pyramid of Djoser's successor, Sekemket. Extensive use of stone here and there carved to resemble wood, reeds or other softer materials made the tomb more durable than its mud brick forebears. The step pyramid complex was enclosed by a 10 meter wall and included courtyards, temples and chapels covering nearly 16 hectares, the size of a large town in the third millennium BC. Various missions have been active in Saqqara. After World War II, archaeological research at Saqqara became an international affair. Among the numerous expeditions, only a few can be singled out here. Much fieldwork has been done by Egyptian archaeologists working for the Antiquities Service. Most famous was the discovery of the unfinished step pyramid of Sekemket by Zakaria Gonaim. The escarpment rises about 30 meters above the valley. It consists of limestone cliffs alternating with sandy slopes and interrupted by a number of wadis, dry riverbeds. In the west, the Saqqara plateau is cut off from the high desert by another less conspicuous wadi. The total dimensions of the plateau from east to west are about one and a half kilometers. From north to south, about six kilometers. The steep cliffs of the eastern desert, a mountainous area stretching all the way to the Red Sea. Like their modern descendants, the ancient Egyptians lived in the fertile valley. The deserts were only visited to obtain building stone, ores and minerals. From the edge of the Saqqara plateau, one can gaze down over the Nile Valley, a narrow strip of green fields and date palms. Located to the southwest of Memphis, some 10 kilometers to the south of Saqqara and some 40 kilometers north of Meydam, Dashur is the most southern site of the Memphite necrophilis, which stretches to Abu Rawash in the north. Dashur owes its modern-day name to the nearby villages Dashur and Minset-Dashur. This name may perhaps come from the Coptic name Tasur or Tacorus in Greek, the ancient Egyptian name for this area may well be mentioned in the story of Sinuhe. This southernmost part of the Memphite necropolis stretches over an area of approximately 3 to 3.5 kilometers from north to south and 2 to 2.5 kilometers east to west. It starts at about 1.5 kilometers to the west of the fertile ground. Although at the time the area was used as a necropolis, this may well have been different. Sneferu was one of the most prolific builders of ancient Egypt. Not content with building a step pyramid at Meydam and the bent pyramid at Dashur, Sneferu also built the red pyramid at Dashur. It's often suggested that he was very keen to build a true pyramid and that he was displeased when he was forced to change the angle of the bent pyramid as the weight of the masonry threatened to cause that pyramid to collapse. Whether this is the case the angle of the red pyramid is close to the top section of the bent pyramid, around 43 degrees. Stripped from its limestone casing, this new pyramid has a reddish color, hence its modern-day name the red pyramid. When it was first built it was clad with fine white limestone and was named Sneferu Shines, Sneferu Rises, or Sneferu Appears. The pyramid gets its common name from the reddish limestone used to build most of its core, but it's also sometimes referred to as the Shining or Northern Pyramid. Learning from prior mistakes, several layers of fine white limestone were used to lay the pyramid's foundation, thus eliminating the structural problems of earlier pyramids. Tura limestone was used as casing stone to cover the pyramid. Though some casing still remains, most has been removed. East of the pyramid is what remains of a mortuary temple. As well as the first capstone, called a pyramidion, ever found, belonging to an old kingdom pyramid. It was recovered in fragments and reconstructed. The Bent Pyramid is unique for two reasons. The first is the angle change. There are two theories for this change. The first is that the builders may have become tired and wanted to reduce the volume and finish faster. Another is that when the pyramid at Maidum collapsed, the architect lost his nerve and changed the angle. The angle at Maidum was 52 degrees, as is the base of the Bent Pyramid. At the bend, the angle is changed to 43.5 degrees up to its peak. The Bent Pyramid was built out of limestone, which was quarried locally. The casing was of polished Tura limestone. This pyramid is also known as the Southern Shining Pyramid. The casing blocks are very stable and very difficult to remove because they slope inwards. The base of the pyramid is 188.6 metres and is 105 metres high. Because of the bend in construction, the original angle would have made it 128.5 metres high. The Bent Pyramid of Sneferu is the oldest monument at Dacia. It also represents the first attempt to build a true pyramid. The Ensemble at Memphis embraces a number of exceptional monuments of great antiquity. At Giza, one of the oldest boats preserved today, the Solar Barge, was discovered intact in the complex around the Pyramid of Cheops. The archaic necropolis of Saqqara dates back to the period of the formation of the Pharaonic civilization. The exceptional historic, artistic and sociological interest of these monuments bears witness to one of the most brilliant civilizations of this planet.