We had two days in Cairo between the Alexandria and Egypt/Jordan tours. So we booked a private tour to visit Saqqara, Memphis, and Dahshur.
First view of the Saqqara and Dahshur pyramids.
First we visited the pyramid of Djoser, the Saqqara stepped pyramid. It is claimed to be the oldest building in the world, but it doesn’t actually come close.
Locals dressed for photos in exchange for some Baksheesh
View showing the block construction.
Next we visited the Dahshur pyramids: Red, Bent, and Black.
The Bent pyramid was the first attempt at creating a smooth-sided, rather than a stepped, pyramid. There are various reasons given as to why there is a change in the angle from 54 to 43 degrees. The pyramids are built from the inside out, so I believe that they just decided to cut corners to reduce the amount of work, perhaps after the king died.
The Bent pyramid has a 65m staircase inside, Ronnie went down the very steep ladder for about 10m before wimping out.
The Red pyramid…
The Black pyramid is a poor cousin of the other “small” pyramids. It is badly deteriorated as it was built using mud blocks rather than stone, even though it was built later.
Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom when Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were united. Upper Egypt is actually to the South of Lower Egypt. This is due to the fact that the river Nile flows South to North. This is unusual among major river systems.
Carved stone figure of Rameses II.
Lots of Sphinx
Memphis is mostly an outdoor museum of pieces of destroyed buildings.
Figures carrying the Ankh symbol which means the key of (eternal) life.
On the way back to Cairo, we stopped for lunch. We were greeted by some traditional entertainers.
