Exploring Egypt the Compact Travels Way...by VINI MOTWANI... Director Compact Travels

Vini has been one of the Faculty Members for the IATA/UFTAA and IATA/FIATA qualifications offered by IHCTM for over 10 years and she is also Director of COMPACT TRAVELS and part of the research team in planning unique itineraries for various clients. Here she narrates her first hand experience of Egypt as a family destination.

Visiting the Louvre in Paris is incomplete without having seen the famous Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Likewise, a visit to the Egyptian Museum is not complete without visiting the Tutankhamun chamber where you find some of the finest masterpieces of the ruler of the 18th Dynasty. Probably one of the reason for its growing popularity is that it has been one of the recent excavations when his tomb was found in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor as recently as 1922. In fact, the tomb which was excavated was found in excellent condition and although it was partially robbed after its excavation, you still find some of the greatest masterpieces on display at the Egyptian Museum.

The most outstanding of them all is the Gold Mask made of semi-precious stone and coloured glass. This magnificent mask was fitted directly on the face and shoulders of the mummy in the innermost coffin. Another striking masterpiece is the coffin of Tut Ank Amun's internal organs. The internal organs of the pharaoh were laid in 4 coffins each accommodating one of the internal organs i.e. the lungs, the liver, the stomach and the intestines which were removed from his body during mummification. One of the most popular statues of which the replica was also in a souvenir shop of the Hotel Le Meridien Pyramids is the Ka Statue of the Tutankamun. This statue was found on both sides of the entrance of the burial chamber as if to guard the chamber and was made of wood and bitumen.

The pharaoh is standing with his left leg advancing forward, holding a mace with his right hand and a long staff in his left hand. The black colour on the statue signifies the colour of Egypt's fertile soil and it also symbolizes rebirth and life.

It was indeed interesting to find out from our Egyptologist guide as to how Howard Carter and his financer Theodore Davis found this tomb. They had carried out the excavation for almost 10 years when one fine day somewhere in 1922 a stone fell and they found one step, they removed the sand on top of it and found a second step and they realized that they were digging on the other side for almost 10 years in vain and on finding the two steps and digging even further they found 15

steps leading to an area where there were 3 tombs and a burial chamber. The first tomb they discovered most of the stuff and they discovered the third tomb much later where they found the internal organs of Tut Ank Amun kept in a burial chamber. The first thing that they discovered was this huge big shrine which is the canopic shrine on display at the Egyptian Museum. It is made of sheets of gold directly stuck on the wood. This was the outermost shrine. She also told us about why the mummification was done in those days as the pharaohs believed that they could resurrect after the body unites with the soul.

After having spent the major part of the morning and afternoon at the Egyptian museum, we drove to Giza and after grabbing a quick bite at a Pizza Hut close by, our guide gave us a brief history and background about how the first pyramid was built in Sakkara before taking us to one of the most photographed places in Egypt - The Great Pyramids of Giza comprising of the Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinos. We were told that the first city of the dead was Sakkara where the first ever Pyramid was built also known as the Step Pyramid of King Zoser which dates back to 2700 BC and is one of the oldest stone structures in the world.

As mentioned earlier the body was kept in a burial chamber under the ground and it was taken underground by a deep shaft. Above that there would be a platform made of mud brick. So there was a burial chamber, a shaft and mud brick. However, in Sakkara, they used stones instead of mud brick.

They placed the first step, followed by the second step and then the third step and it took them almost 4 to 5 years to lay the first few steps and eventually the step pyramid in Sakkara became the only Pyramid in Egypt which was constructed with limestone.All the other kings decided to copy the structure and style of the necropolis or city of the dead tomb which was built in Sakkara. It was interesting to find out why this concept of slanting slopes were created which eventually formed the pyramid. The purpose was to make the king unite its body and soul from his deep burial chamber to rise from the deep shaft below and reach the highest point in the sky so that it could unite with the sun god Ra. Similarly, whilst descending down from the heaven to the earth, the king would come down to the burial shaft from the top end of the pyramid and hence this peculiar angle of the pyramid which would act like a staircase.

As the interesting facts were being narrated to us, we arrived at the first Pyramid which belonged to King Cheops which comprises of 2300000 (two million three thousand) stones which was counted down by soldiers of Napolean. Each stone at the foundation or base weighs between 8 and 10 tons- no surprise why it is one of the wonders of the world! As the pyramid rises, each stone weighs from 2 to 3 tons. The Pyramid of Cheops is supposed to have four entrances out of which two entrances have been discovered and the excavators have still not figured out where the remaining two entrances to the pyramid are. This Pyramid is amazing as it is the only pyramid which is constructed in such a way that in order to go down you have to go up first as it is hollow from the inside.

When you go inside the pyramids you will find three chambers and the third chamber is where the remains of the King were found. From within the pyramid, there is a passage which takes you 30 metres below ground level where the cartouche of the King was found.

Till date, no one has been able to figure out how the stones were transported from the top to the bottom. It still remains a mystery. The original height of the pyramid was 147 metres. However today it is 136 metres in height as over the years 11 metres were lost from the top because of the erosion. That is why there is a flat peak to the pyramid. The second entrance is where one can go inside the Pyramid. However, limited people are allowed to go inside each day and you have to book a day in advance to go inside the Pyramid. Near the pyramid, there were three small pyramids discovered-one for his mother, the second one for his wife and the third one for his son.

Over 100000 workers stayed to built the pyramid and as a dedication to them, they were allowed to be buried next to the Great Pyramid where they were given rectangular tombs where their bodies were buried. Another interesting fact was that the Pyramids were built on a higher ground whereas the city is at a lower level.

This was done to avoid the Nile flooding during those days which used to happen during summer. It is said that the Great Pyramid took almost 30 years to build and the size is so enormous that within the Pyramid you have enough room to fit the St Peter's Basilica of Rome, the St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey of London as well as the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, all at the same time.

The Great Pyramid is indeed an architectural marvel which has survived the passage of time. It is said that the first pyramid was built with a spiral staircase and we stayed close to the first pyramid to admire its magnificence before moving in a south westerly direction to see the second largest pyramid- the Pyramid of Chephren.

The Pyramid of Chephren, though second largest as it is almost 100 metres shorter than the Great Pyramid, appears bigger as it is built on a higher ground. Chephren in fact was the son of the Pharoah Cheops and was the oldest surviving male descent of Cheops.

It was at the time when the second Pyramid of Chephren was built which is around 2500 BC that the famous Sphinx was also carved and the Sphinx is known to be the largest piece of sculpture ever carved by man. The Ancient Egyptians recognized the Sphinx to be the sun-god and is called so as it represents Horus on the Horizon. This unique sculpture with the body of a lion and face of a man is 20 metres in length and 73 metres in height.

We soon moved to the Third Pyramid- the smallest of the three which is the Pyramid of Mycerinos - the successor of Chephren. This area is called the Pyramids complex as all the three pyramids are in the same manner. The entire area is said to have belonged to King Chephren which comprises of all the three pyramids as well as the Sphinx. The Sphinx was built here to be the guardian of the necropolis or the city of the dead.

The name Sphinx is derived from a greek name “shesep-ankh” which means the living image. The Arab later called the Sphinx Abu-Al Hol which means the one who terrifies. The Sphinx itself has its own interesting history. When the necropolis was abandoned, the Sphinx got buried in sand until it was excavated around 1400 BC by Tutmosis IV - the Eight Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, who fell asleep beneath the giant head and he dreamt that he would be crowned King only if he unburied the Sphinx. However, it was only in 1817 that the Sphinx's chest was uncovered completely and the Sphinx was eventually dug out in 1925

Thereafter the restoration work continued intermittently till 1997 after which the restoration stopped completely as there was a legend at that time that anyone getting close to the Sphinx would be totally destroyed. They were archaeologists who said that and therefore half the Sphinx is covered in limestone and the remaining half is a solid block.

Between the legs of the lion, there is a red granite which is roundish shaped which narrates this. The facial expression of the Sphinx has changed and the long beard is missing and you will find it in the British Museum in London. One of the most intriguing questions is that there were no lions in Egypt. However, the body of the Sphinx is that of a lion as it signifies strength and power that a lion possesses and this connects with the head of the human being which signifies intelligence and wisdom. So if you put these together - strength, power, wisdom and intelligence it signifies that you are at the levels of perfection of humanity and that's what the Pharaohs thought themselves to be.

The other interesting part of the Sphinx is the story of the missing nose, although you see an adhesive advertisement here in Mumbai shows the nose is stuck with Fevicol. However, the nose is missing and there are many stories to it including one where it was told that the nose was fired off by a canon ball shot by Napolean's soldiers. However, it was one of the Islamic fundamentalist who destroyed the nose and intended to destroy the whole statue as he wanted to get rid of paganism in Egypt. There is another interesting mystery about the Sphinx - if you stand close enough to the Sphinx and stare at the lips for a few minutes, you will feel the lips of the Sphinx moving up and down and that is what inspired the sound and light show at the Pyramids.

The highlight for my children was to take a camel ride around the pyramids and also to enter the Pyramid of Mycerinos which I wouldn't really advise for those who are not that energetic. It was my son who had a great time getting in and out of the Mycerinos pyramids as the steps which descend into the pyramid and come out were ideally tailor made for his height. Most of us had to sweat it out to enter in and get out of the pyramid as we had to almost bend nearly 90 degrees and pass through the narrow passage way.

No wonder everyone envied my 3 ½ year old son and to some extent my 7 year old daughter wishing to be of their height to enjoy the short descend and ascend into and out of the pyramid. Though frankly, there isin't much to see except the little adventure especially for our kids who were wondering and intrigued to find out what was within these magnanimous structures. The camel ride thereafter was a great experience for not only the kids but for me and my husband too as the saying goes that never let the child die within you and we all got our last close view of the pyramids on the camel back. It was one of the enjoyable highlights of our Pyramid tour that afternoon.

After unraveling the mystery of the Pyramids and Sphinx we headed to a shop called Ani Papyrus which is in Giza to look at how the famous Papyrus paintings are made. To tell you more about the Papyrus paintings and our visit to Aswan you would have to wait for the March issue of Opportunities Today.

(to be continued…)

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