I awoke a little late on Friday morning after falling asleep on Thursday night, a bit later than usual because Nadia and I were talking with the kids. I was excited to run in Miles for Meaning 7-kilometer Race. This was advertised on Instagram and a local ticket entertainment website as taking place September 18 at 8:00 AM inside the pyramid complex at Giza. When we arrived, there were no runners anywhere and no course set up. They took my $18 but offered no race.
We made the best out of a disappointing situation by being tourists at the last intact Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I don’t mind tourist places, Nadia definitely doesn’t like tourist places like this, however, seeing the huge pyramids is a breath-taking, awe-inspiring experience. The pyramids are huge and to think they were build over 5,000 years ago is crazy to contemplate. Humans started in Africa and the Nile River Valley was one of the cradles of civilization.
Local officials set up the site well, with plenty of desert between the pyramids and the massive city of Cairo. They have a hop-on, hop-off bus that does a loop to a panoramic viewing site, each of the three pyramids, and at the far side, the Sphinx. There are also camel and buggy rides, souvenirs, interpretive centers, and tourists can go inside the largest of the pyramids as well. It is well worth seeing and considering they are only a 40-minute drive away, Nadia and I will be visiting them several times as we show family and friends who come to visit.
I guess without Netflix and legal marijuana, the ancient Egyptians had more time on their hands to do stuff. Why would they go to the effort of putting massive stones over 150 meters high in the shape of a perfect pyramid? I wonder if they thought that in 5,000 years, millions of people annually would visit their legacy. They truly are a global icon with the Great Wall of China. The three pyramids at the complex are as follows:
- Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) Built c. 2560 BCE for the pharaoh Khufu, it is the largest (146.6 meters – 481 ft tall) and oldest of the three.
- Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren) Built for Khufu’s son, Khafre later in the same century with the Great Sphinx built as part of that complex.
- Pyramid of Menkaure Built for Khafre’s successor, the smallest of the three (65 meters – 215 feet) and pink granite instead of limestone.
The Sphinx was carved out of limestone and the human head is believed to be a likeness of Khafre. 73 meters long and 20 meters high, for millenia is was buried in sand until excavated in the early 1900s.
These structures are so old that by the time the Jews were in Egypt and the Biblical story of Moses, they were ancient to them.
