Day 13 – Friday, March 3: Memphis, Sakkara, Giza Pyramids
Today was our last full day here in Cairo, this city of 25 million (with a total population in Egypt of 104 million). The weather was again perfect, with full sun and highs in the 80s. We’ve been blessed to have a rain-free tour throughout Israel and now Egypt. We left at 7:25 this morning following a wonderful buffet breakfast. We read from prophetic passages from the OT about Memphis, our first stop of the day.
Memphis
Driving to the Giza area of the city our first stop was Memphis. Among the few ruins displayed, we saw a well-preserved massive statue of Ramses II, a small sphinx, and a Stele of Apries (Hophna in the Bible, see Jeremiah 44). 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. There were 40 temples here at the city’s peak, but only one has been uncovered so far.
Sakkara
Close by was the necropolis of Memphis, the impressive Stepped Pyramid of Djoser (or Zoser) is here. It dates to around 2,700 BC (or 2,650), predating Abraham by almost 700 years! There are multiple other pyramids (mastabas) here as well, and we visited three of the 105 found here so far.
We visited the tomb of Kagemni (2,345-2323 BC), Ptahhotep, and Ty. All the human figures inside these tombs of the nobility are to the exact symmetrical proportion as a result of preparing vertical and horizontal lines before carving 114 blocks (60-70 lines for animals). Most went into the Teti Pyramid (2330 BC). To date, 123 pyramids have been found throughout all of Egypt.
“Today was the last day here in Cairo. We drove to Memphis, Sakkara and Giza. We saw amazing pyramids and tombs of noblemen that still displayed full color! Standing next to the Great Pyramid was beyond words! it is massive. The camel rides were fun too!”
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 base of the pyramids before walking up to it. The Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed 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 20 years to build. The Great Pyramid was built with 2.3 million stones, with the average weight of each stone around two-three tons (the stones weigh between one and 40 tons). Four of us went into this pyramid. 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.
On the way back to our hotel, we made a stop at a papyri and cartouche store. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel, followed by a departure at 11 p.m. for the airport. We all fly home tonight.
Day 14 – Saturday, March 4: Flight Home, Arrival back in the U.S.
