Vacation Week AKA Week of the Pyramids

Warning! This post is long and possibly too educational. ;)

We had this past week off from school because this week was Eid al Adha, a Muslim holiday during which Muslims remember Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael on Mt. Moriah, and God's provision when He provided the ram instead. The story is the same as the Genesis story, the son in the story is different.

The celebration involves sacrificing a sheep, camel, cow, or similar animal and then feasting afterward. One of the important parts of Islam is providing for the poor, so half of the meat is usually given away.

We know friends and neighbors who have been to watch the actual sacrifices, but we chose to hole up in the apartment, instead.

Sacrifice Day was Monday, and the feasting and celebrating was supposed to conclude on Wednesday. We figured it was safe to go out again on Tuesday - when I say safe, I just mean we probably would be spared the gore and blood - so we hired a driver to take us to the lesser-known pyramids near Cairo.

We went to the Great Pyramid last September, and I was appropriately amazed, but for some reason these lesser pyramids intrigue me more. (Maybe I sympathize with them because they must be insecure, right Mom?) Anyway, the first one we visited was the Step Pyramid at Sakkara.

This type of pyramid was the earliest type of pyramid, and this is the first one in Egypt. It's basically six tombs built one on top of the other. It was supposed to have been covered (like all the pyramids were) with white limestone, and the appearance would have been smooth. The limestone was later stripped and melted down for lime.


This pyramid complex is surrounded by tombs and the mortuary temple. You can go in the tombs, which are little rooms with hieroglyphs on the walls, like these, which show different offerings brought to the noble who was entombed there:


This is the hypostyle hall (big columned area) inside the mortuary temple. The columns were different than any I've seen so far in Egypt. They are very smooth, and they are supposed to resemble bundles of papyrus.


After the Step Pyramid, we left and drove to Dahshur, where there are several more pyramids. The first one we went to is called the Red Pyramid, though it's not very red....
This pyramid was built by the same pharoah who built the next one we saw (stay tuned), and that guy experimented a lot, trying to build a smooth sided pyramid with good construction. This was the first truly successful smooth pyramid. (Again, it would've appeared smoother when it had its limestone covering. Some of that covering is actually still intact on one corner of this pyramid.)

Anyway, this pyramid is cool because it's not crowded and you can get in and see everything without anyone hassling you for tips or trying to sell you souvenirs. Do you see that hole in the pyramid about halfway up? That's where you go in.
Once you get to the entrance, this guy takes your tickets and tells you when to go in.
You can see the size of the entrance there--that's how big the opening is the whole way down into the pyramid. It's a long, steeply slanted walkway with metal ribs that keep your feet from sliding down, down, down.
Jason went first, followed by Luke, and then me. As we descended, the smell of ammonia strengthened, and by the time we reached the bottom it smelled like a cat box that had not been cleaned out for a week or two. With multiple cats. And your face hovering inches above the litter. Pretty nasty. Apparently bats live in the pyramid.

Jason's editorial note: he doesn't think the smell is nearly as bad as I do. But this is my blog. ;)

Being inside the pyramid is a creepy experience to me. Never mind the bats. I get a little panicky in the closed passageway and do better once I reach the bottom and can stand up in the chambers down below. However, Jason kept saying to Luke, "Luke! Can you BELIEVE we're INSIDE a PYRAMID!?!" and then I began thinking about all the rock on top of us... I had to ask him to quit saying that. As long as I don't think about it, I don't freak out. But I could easily get over-anxious. Anyway, this pyramid was neater inside than the Great Pyramid, because there were several chambers we could visit. Here we are inside the first one, about to go through the passage to the second chamber.


And here is my honest reaction to being in a pyramid:
(It's hot, humid, no moving air, and again, a litter box, I tell you!) This picture was in the second chamber. Then we climbed those stairs to get to this third area, which I think was the actual tomb where human remains were found.

Thankfully, after that, it was time to get out of there. Jason took this picture as we were climbing back out of the pyramid. I normally don't allow pictures of me to be taken at this angle, but I had little choice.

When we got out of the red pyramid, we all cooled off and had some water before climbing down the stairs to the ground. When we got to our taxi, a guy and a girl from Russia were waiting for us. They asked if they could share our taxi back to Cairo. They explained that they are archaeologists at Giza and had walked from Sakkara to Dahshur (!!! a long walk in the desert!!!), where they wandered too near a military base and were escorted to the Red Pyramid by the military guys. We explained that we weren't going back to the city yet, and told them they could go with us to the next pyramid and then accompany us home. It was weird, but we had some interesting conversations with them.

The last pyramid we visited that day was the Bent Pyramid.

The same pharoah who built the red pyramid started this one at an angle that was too steep. The pyramid began to collapse, so they finished the pyramid at a gentler angle. This pyramid has a lot of its smooth covering intact, so you can imagine better what the pyramids looked like thousands of years ago.

Our first order of business here was to stop and have lunch. PB&J hits the spot every time. It's what real explorers eat.

Then, Luke declared he had to go to the bathroom. Jason took him to find a place in the desert... when you gotta go, you gotta go... and I, thankful for the lack of crowds, was hoping they would be discreet. Not Luke. He finished and came running across the sand, shouting, "MOMMY!! I WET THE SAND!! I WET THE SAND!! COME LOOK!!"

Business done, Luke and Jason went to check out the pyramid. Here's George Bailey and son:


Apparently I gave birth to a mountain goat, because all Luke wanted to do was climb on things. Jason let him climb on the bent pyramid a little. You can see Luke's little red shirt, but not much of the rest of him.

Luke and his Daddy are good climbing buddies.

I'm including this picture because in the background you can see a French family with their Santa hats on taking their Christmas card picture! The kids are all sitting on the camel.
Later in the week we went with Noel and Rachella to check out a restaurant overlooking the "real" pyramids. We couldn't pass up a chance to run in and say hi to the Sphinx, though. It's my favorite Egypty thing, and Luke loves it too. I also love how Egyptians say it: Sphink-us.





Here's the view from the restaurant we will take you to when you come visit us in Egypt, Mom. :)


And one last great pyramids shot to wrap up with.


On a day like that, it's great to be in Egypt.