One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
By Andy Yemma (with Eileen Ogintz)
CAIRO, Egypt — I’m walking, stooping, and crawling up some 75 feet into a structure that is about 480 feet tall, is constructed of more than 2.3 large stone blocks and weighs about six million tons. Where am I?
That’s right. I took the dare to enter the Great Pyramid of Cheops, one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was built about 5,500 years ago to serve as the tomb of Pharoh Khufu (aka: Cheops). It took about 22 years to complete and, until about 100 years ago, was the largest man-made building in the world. Nearby are four much smaller pyramids for his mother and three wives.
We are on a week-long tour of Egypt with Abercrombie & Kent and today we focused on the pyramids and the great Sphinx along with the history of the ancient pharohs, who the ancients Egyptians regarded as gods. After death, the royals were mummified and laid to rest in these elaborate structures to enjoy the “afterlife” along with their worldly possessions (including their internal organs stored in “canopic jars” made of alabaster).
Only a handful of our 17 tour members took the dare to go inside. Our guides told us it would be fairly strenuous, and they weren’t wrong. First, we had to maneuver through a throng of tourists from all over the planet, some very pushy, some stopping abruptly to take selfies every few steps, some wearing backpacks that would get stuck in tight spaces, and a few who physically had no business being inside a pyramid in the first place.
Pro tip for families: DO NOT TAKE SMALL CHILDREN INSIDE AN EGYPTIAN PYRAMID. Several that I saw were screaming to be taken back outside, which further stalled those trying to navigate the narrow, crowded, dark footpath.
Once inside it was a steep climb of about 75 feet up very narrow stairs and ramps. In a few spots we had to get down on hands and knees (and I’m only 5-5 so that’s something). The air grew increasingly warm and humid. Upon arrival in the dank, dark burial chamber there wasn’t much to see except an empty sarcophagus. Then it was a battle to get back out again.
Whew! Scratch that experience off my bucket list.
But there were plenty of opportunities for photos outside. What would the two teens from New York City in our group tell their friends? “What is so impressive is to know all the work behind it so long ago,” the 17-year-old opined.
“I don’t think I can describe it,” added her 15-year-old sister. “You really have to see it in person.”
Our guide, Egyptologist Essam Zeid, explained that Kings in Ancient Egypt started working on their funeral temples and monuments as soon as they became king. “They weren’t afraid of death,” he explained. “They lived all of their life for the afterlife.”
That meant besides working on where they would be buried after mummification and before traveling to eternity, they would store everything they thought they would need. In this King’s case, this included two huge boats—one found just a few years ago—that measured some 70 feet in length. The first one has now been taken apart and is in the process of being reassembled in the Grand Egyptian Museum where it will be displayed. The museum is set to open finally after many years of delays in July.
The Great Pyramids of Giza in ancient times were included among the Seven Wonders of the world. Three were built for Khufu, his son Khafre, and his grandson-in-law Menkaure. There were also smaller pyramids for his three wives and his mother. (Kings were permitted to have multiple wives at one time.
Consider that it took 9,000 workers more than 20 years to build the Great Pyramid for Khufu. The stone blocks had to be cut from the mountain and transported to the site; The workers had to follow the engineers’ plans. While the stone cutters worked all year, the workers were only on site three months at a time when the Nile flooded and they couldn’t farm, Zeid explained.
Contrary to urban myth, no slaves worked on the Great Pyramid. The Jews who were enslaved (think Moses) didn’t arrive in Egypt until hundreds of years later. That’s not to say the workers were well paid. They worked for the honor of being employed by the king, whom they considered a god, and for food and shelter.
Much of what we know about the project and how the workers were treated, Zeid noted, comes from a diary of sorts that they wrote on the walls of their tombs nearby.
Fun fact: Khafre’s pyramid looks to be the same size as his father’s but that is only because he had it built on a higher plateau so it would look larger.
He was also the one who came up with the idea for the famous Sphinx when his engineers and workers couldn’t figure out what to do with such a large piece of rock. He decided they should create a creature with his face and a lion’s body to guard the pyramids. Egyptologists believe it is about 4500 years old. It is massive—measuring some 240 feet long and 66 feet high. The original beard and nose are missing.
No, contrary to urban myth, Napoleon’s soldiers didn’t use the nose for target practice. It likely sloughed off through the centuries as a result of frequent sandstorms here.
It got its modern name much later when the ancient Greeks arrived.
All that was visible was the head out of the sand, Zeid explained, and they found it frightening. In Greek tradition, a sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being thus the name that has lasted.
“It was amazing,” the teen sisters agreed. “But seeing the pyramids were much more impressive.”
I think so too.