DAY 3 – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17: MEMPHIS, SAKKARA, GIZA PYRAMIDS & SPHINX, EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
Today was our first full day here in Cairo. The weather was pleasant, with temps in the mid 60s, with hazy skies. We left the hotel at 7:30. As we headed to our first stop, we read from Genesis 47 about Joseph.
Memphis
Driving to the Giza area of the city our first stop was Memphis. Among the few ruins displayed, we saw a well-preserved statue of Ramses II, a small sphinx, and a Stele of Apries (Hophna in the Bible). Incidentally, one new Stele of Apries was found by a farmer last year further north. We read from Jeremiah 44 and Isaiah 11. Memphis served as the capital of the Old Kingdom.
Sakkara
Closely was the necropolis of Memphis, the impressive Stepped Pyramid of Djoser (or Zoser) is here. It dates to around 2,650 BC, predating Abraham by almost 700 years! There are multiple other pyramids (mastabas) here as well, most in the group walked into the Unas Pyramid. To date, 114 pyramids have been found throughout all of Egypt.
“Today was our first full day here in Cairo. This large city (22 million) is the home to so many archaeological discoveries of the ancient Egyptians. The pyramids of Sakkara and Giza were most impressive. No words can describe the size and magnificence of the Great Pyramid.”
Great Pyramids of Giza / Great Sphinx
Leaving Sakkara, we made a brief stop at a local carpet school en route to the Pyramids of Giza. We enjoyed a quick lunch at the bast of the pyramids before walking up to it. The Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructe d around 2,600 BC), with the Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) and the Pyramid of Menkaure built shortly after. Two of them are just shy of 500 feet high. Most likely it took 200,000 men 10 years to build. The Great Pyramid was built with 2.3 million stones, with the average weight of each stone around 2 tons. Here we also enjoyed a panoramic view of the pyramids as well as a short camel ride. We also saw the Great Sphinx, some 240 feet in length and 66 feet high.
National Egyptian Museum
We ended the day by battling the heavy crazy traffic of Cairo to get to the National Egyptian Museum. While the new Grand Museum is still not complete yet, we saw many artifacts here. This included some of there King Tut collections, a few mummies, statutes of Ramses II, Amenhotep II (the likely pharaoh of the Exodus), and Thutmose III, the Merneptah Stele, the Amarna Letters, and the sphinx of Hatshepsut, to name a few.
We returned to our hotel for dinner and a restful evening. We wake early tomorrow for our flight to Aswan and the area of Upper Egypt.
DAY 4 – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18: CAIRO, FLIGHT TO ASWAN: ASWAN DAM, GRANITE OBSELISKS, PHILAE TEMPLE OF ISIS
