Egypt Travels

By Eddie Tobey

A tour to Egypt can be a good experience with the variety of delights that the country has to offer. A large number of tourists flank the world-famous Sahara desert and the Giza pyramids. One would wonder how a country with its hot and dry climate, plays such a gracious host to so many people. However, every day there is an increasing number of people visiting Egypt. The main tourist attractions in Egypt are the Sahara desert, the Giza pyramids and the Karnak temple.

The Sahara desert is the largest in the world, encompassing approximately 3,320,000 square miles. Geographically, on the west of the desert lies the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north are the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. To the east lies Red Sea, and to the South, a zone of ancient, immobile sand dunes. The desert is a beautiful sight when the golden rays of the sun glisten on the sand dunes.

The Giza Pyramids in Egypt are in Greater Cairo and are one of the wonders of the world. The Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty built this monument around the year 2560 BC, to serve as a tomb when he died. The tradition of pyramid building began in Ancient Egypt, so as to serve as a ""platform"" covering the royal tomb. Today, the Great Pyramid is enclosed with the other pyramids and the Sphinx, in the tourist region of the Giza Plateau. The structure consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. These are popularly referred to as either “The Granaries of Joseph” or ""The Mountains of Pharaoh"".

The Karnak Temple is in El-Karnak, a small village on the banks of the river Nile. The temple consists of an open-air museum that has four main parts namely, the precincts of Amon-Re, Montu, Mut and the temple of Amenhotep IV. This temple was constructed around the 18th century B.C. The Karnak temple is the most-visited site in Egypt after the Giza pyramids and is the largest ancient site in the world.

The Valley of the Kings and the modern Opera house are other popular attractions in Egypt.

Conspiracies: The Pyramid and the Sphinx

By Steven N. Ng

Egypt has long been the source of countless conspiracies, ranging from ancient lost civilizations to extraterrestrial markers. The reason for this focus is likely because Egypt is the most romanticized ancient civilization, and also because it is home to the mystical Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World. This article will describe some of the conspiracies surrounding the Sphinx and the Pyramid.

The Riddle of the Sphinx

Most of the conspiracy theories revolving around the Sphinx usually involve its age. The Sphinx is generally accepted to have been built along with the Pyramids of Giza around 2500 BC. It is even accepted that the face of the Sphinx bears the likeness of Khafre (Chephren), the Pharaoh during that time.

However, there was no written record from that era regarding the Sphinx or its construction. In addition, the human head of the Sphinx is small in relation to the rest of the body, indicating that the head bearing Pharaoh Khafre's likeness could have been carved out of a larger lion's head. These points led some researchers to believe that the Sphinx could have been built much earlier by a more ancient civilization, thus starting a whole host of conspiracy theories.

Geologist Dr. Robert Schoch and author John Anthony West made a case that the erosion marks on the Sphinx appears not to be made by wind or sand, but by water, such as falling rain. They used evidence of other structures in the Giza area to prove their point. If this were true, the construction of the Sphinx could then be dated back to at least 5000 BC, when the area still received substantial rainfall, in contrast to desert conditions later on.

In his official website, Director of the Giza Monuments Dr. Zahi Hawass provides various points suggesting that the evidence used in proving Dr. Schoch's theory is flawed.

Adding to the conspiracies surrounding the age of the Sphinx, writers Graham Hancock and Robert Buvaul provide evidence in their book Message of the Sphinx that the creation of the Sphinx and Pyramids can be pushed back as far as 10,500 BC using astronomical data.

Secret of the Pyramids

The Pyramids of Giza have been the objects of many conspiracies over the years. Many people believe that the Pyramids are a link to an ancient lost civilization, and may still contain evidence to prove it. Many conspiracy theories regarding secret chambers and passageways within the pyramids exist to this day.

These conspiracy theories became even more widespread in 1993, when Dr. Zahi Hawass announced that the Great Pyramid of Khufu was to be closed to the public for a year. The reason given for the closure was to facilitate cleaning, conservation and restoration of the interior chambers in the Great Pyramid.

However, conspiracy theorists believe that the Egyptian authorities had uncovered evidence of a lost civilization in the Pyramid, and were secretly excavating it to reveal more information.

During the conservation process in 1993, robots were used to explore the small ventilation shafts leading from the "King's Chamber" and the lower "Queen's Chamber" in the Great Pyramid. An intriguing discovery was made: partway through the shafts of the "Queen's Chamber" were "doors" with handles.

In order to prove the transparency of their work and debunk any conspiracies, Dr. Zahi Hawass decided to partner with National Geographic to explore beyond the "doors", and provide a live telecast of the exploration to the rest of the world.

After much publicity, the expedition commenced, with footage telecast live around the world. During the last minute of the show, a camera was sent in a hole made in the "door" of the shaft, revealing another "door" behind it. And that was when the show finished. Conspiracy theories started sprouting, asking the following questions: "What's behind the 2nd door? Why did the show end so abruptly? What are they hiding from us?"

The Great Pyramid Of Giza - A Monumental Structure

By Felix Koskei

Egypt is one of Africa’s richest countries in terms of history. Egypt’s history goes back to the ancient times before the Bible. The biblical and cultural history of Egypt is as diverse and intriguing as the undiscovered tombs and cities lying underneath the desert sand in Upper and Lower Egypt.

Cairo is a city full of life. One aspect I quickly noticed when I set foot in Cairo is the traffic. Cairo is home to over 16 million inhabitants of which an additional 2 million people commute into the city in the morning and depart at sunset. In spite of the city having huge multiple-lane spaghetti highways, the traffic is extremely heavy. As you approach the city centre, a highway of 3 lanes is tuned into 5. The most notorious motorists are the taxis. As one drives in the city, one of your hands will permanently remain on the horn. I thought Nairobi had the worst traffic congestion in Africa, but Egypt for sure makes Nairobi’s traffic child-play.

The pyramids at Giza can be clearly seen from most parts of the city on a clear day. The Great Pyramids of Giza is such an imposing and monumental structure. It is absolutely mind-boggling to imagine that the ancient man with limited technology and workmanship could put up such a huge structure. Of course, how the pyramids were built is a question of great global debate and may never be conclusively answered. Other theories even point to outer space aliens as the sole builders of pyramids in Egypt.

The great pyramid of Cheops, which is the largest of the pyramids in Giza stands at height of 140 metres. It is a spectacular sight to arrive at the foot of the pyramid and just gaze at its sheer size. It is estimated that each block of stone weighs about 2.5 tons and over 2.3 million of these blocks were used to build this pyramid. It is estimated that the Great Pyramid of Cheops weight over 6 million tons. One aspect that I noticed while viewing the pyramids from afar is the precise and exact structural design. Although most of the encasing marble was removed centuries ago and subsequently eroded by rain and sunshine, safe for the top most apexes, the triangular structural design is absolutely perfect.

The most intriguing aspect of the pyramid is the entry passage into its inner chambers. This is a task many people including myself found challenging. Anyone who is 6 feet tall like me will definitely run a sweat while trying to maneuver the way up the internal chambers of the pyramid. The entrance is about 1 meter square. This does not end there; I then realize that this is actually a stair case passage rising at an angle. Have you ever tried climbing up a stair case in a crouch position? Imagine climbing stairs that the whole passage is 1 meter square. To make matters worse, it is summer time and the temperatures outside is around 35 degrees Celsius. The stair case passage in the pyramid has no windows or air condition; so you can imagine how hot it is. Other passages descend as other go horizontal. Inside the pyramid are different burial chambers for the King and Queen. The tomb was of course robbed centuries ago and was found empty by archeologists. Any information about King Cheops was subsequently taken during the robberies and very little is known about him. He is thought to have been the ruler of a highly structured society and he must have been very wealthy. King Cheops was buried alone in this massive pyramid. It is estimated that his pyramid was built between 2589 - 2566 BC.

From the Pyramids, I visited the Valley of Temple where dead kings were mummified. The mysterious Sphinx kept guard at the cemetery for over 5000 years.

Egypt will not be complete without a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities housing the largest collection of Egyptian monuments in the world, 250,000 items. Here, you can also see the jewellery of the famous King Tut Ankh Amun, which dates back to 1352 B.C. A tour of the Citadel of Saladin is a must. This was built in 1176. The Alabaster mosque of Mohamed Ali which was built on 1824 AD is also worth seeing.

In the evening I went for dinner in a floating restaurant while cruising down the River Nile. On board there was a beautiful belly dancer to entertain the diners and a folkloric show. The cruise deck provides a beautiful night skyline of Cairo. The city is very well lit at night.

In the summer time, Cairo is mostly active during the night than during the day. This is due to the high temperatures experienced during the day. Stores, restaurants, malls etc remain open most of the night.

Other areas to visit in Egypt are Luxor, Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh. A 4 day luxury cruise along the River Nile is an awesome experience.