The Pyramids of Giza

 

We are docked at Ain Sokhna, the closest port to Cairo, built in 2008, as Egypt’s primary container ship port. This whole area was just desert, now industries like steel and chemical plants are being built here.

The Pyramids of Giza

Modern Egyptian History and Rehab’s story

After the Ottomans left in the late 19^th century, Egypt became a kingdom until the revolution of 1952. Gamal Abdel Nasser became the second president after the revolution. He nationalized the Suez Canal to finance the building of the Aswan Dam. The dam provided protection from flooding each spring for many farmers but buried ancient monuments and many Nubian villages. After Nassar was assassinated, Hosni Mubarak became President for 30 years. The Arab Spring occurred in 2011. After 18 days Mubarak resigned. The first elections occurred, but members of the opposition parties had been eliminated earlier. The only alternative to the Nationalist Party was the Moslem Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi was elected in 2012. The economy plummeted and within a year a military coup made Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the President.

Our guide, Rehab, participated in Egypt’s Arab Spring. Here is her story: Beforehand, there had been a call on Facebook to protest the police beating of a man. On January 25^th, Police Day, I joined the protests against police violence and government corruption. My family thought I was crazy, but we had had 30 years of Mubarak. We went to Tahrir Square and were shouting and praying. The police surrounded us and began shooting. We ran to a nearby mosque, but the police fired teargas through the windows. I managed to phone my family to discover that a curfew was being imposed. We slept the night in the mosque. We lost internet and phone service. I joined the protests for the next 18 days. A CNN camera caught me in tears, and this was televised worldwide. That is how are mother who was visiting Spain discovered that I was protesting.

There are 127 million people in Egypt, 25 million live near Cairo. Only 4% of Egypt’s land is occupied. 90% are Muslim and 10% Coptic Christian. The education system consists of public schools which are poorly funded and with large (60) class sizes and the private language schools, where children are taught in English, French, or German.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Our activities today

We passed the New Administrative Capital of Egypt which is being built out in the desert, south of Cairo. There are 18 administrative buildings being built, the largest mosque and cathedral in the world, parks and neighborhoods. It’s still under construction.

Heading to the burial chamber

There are some 90 pyramids, built near the old capital of Memphis. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built about 2600 BC with 2.3 million limestone blocks of 2.5 to 5 tons. 148 meters tall, it faces true north. It took 27 years to build with both permanent workers and farmers working seasonally. Nearby are the two other major pyramids (Khafre and Menkaure) as well as several smaller ones built for family members. Char and Ann were our adventurous party members, visiting the burial chamber inside as well as riding a camel. We concluded our visit at the Sphinx and its nearby temple with red granite walls (from Aswan). Then we had a delicious buffet lunch at the Mena House Hotel overlooking the Pyramids.

View from Mena House Hotel