Cairo attractions – Hurghada Reisen

February 9, 2020February 26, 2020

Sphinx Giza Egypt | Chephren between 2520 and 2494 BC

The purpose for which the Great Sphinx in Giza was built is still unknown nor is it known who the statue is supposed to represent or who is its builder. What is certain, however, is that it is by far the largest and most famous sphinx in the world.

What can also be proven beyond any doubt: their appearance is modelled on the body of a lion.

The body consists of the trunk, front and rear legs and a tail. The human head sits on the trunk of the Sphinx.

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The whole monument is about 73.5 meters long and around 20 meters high. The Great Sphinx is made of limestone, which could be found on site.

It was most likely carved out of a limestone hill and is therefore located in a hole that got filled up with flying sand.

Most of the time, the Sphinx was therefore probably covered in sand, which ultimately contributed to its conservation over the thousands of years.

Although the head covered by a Nemes headscarf was the part that stuck out of the sand most of the time, it is better preserved. Some researchers therefore conclude that the head was originally significantly larger and was changed over time.

This would also explain the disproportion between head and body. However, this theory could never be proven. Since the Sphinx has undergone several restorations, it is quite possible that these were applied to the head, too.

Sphinx:

But who does the monument represent? Scientists have speculated that the statue may impersonate Pharaoh Cheops, represented as Horus. Even who built the Sphinx lies in the dark.

Some ascribe the monument to Cheops as “his” building, others assume Chephren as the builder. By using modern methods, other statues or images of the two pharaohs were compared to the look of the head of the Great Sphinx, but this has not led to a clear result.

It was probably built during the reign of Chephren between 2520 and 2494 BC. Right next to the Sphinx, a temple was set up from the same stone. It is also in line with the valley temple of the Chephren pyramid and is very similar in its structure. This suggests that the two temples were created around the same time as the Great Sphinx.

The cause of the broken nose was not Obelix, however, but a devout sheikh of a Sufi order from Cairo. In order to enforce the religious ban on images, he cut off the sphinx’s nose.

According to conveyed stories, the angry crowd then killed him. Abd al-Lateef al Baghdad, a historian and doctor from Baghdad, described the Great Sphinx with a nose, which indirectly confirmed the story about the Sufi sheikh. In addition to the nose, the goatee has broken off.

Parts of it are now exhibited in the British Museum in London,

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February 9, 2020February 26, 2020

Sphinx Valley Temple Egypt | The lying lion body with the human head

In addition to the Sphinx Valley Temple, another contemporary witness joins below the Giza plateau: the Great Sphinx, which sits majestically in front of the graves of its alleged builders.

The Sphinx in Giza is therefore not only the most prominent, but also the largest Sphinx in Egypt. The proximity to Cairo makes a visit to the Sphinx and the pyramids almost a must when visiting Egypt.

The Sphinx was uncovered mostly by Giovanni Battista Caviglia in 1818. Fragments of the beard of the huge monument were found, but the remains of the chipped nose are missing till today.

There are various theories existing as to how the nose got lost. One of these theories states that a fanatic sheikh suffering from iconophobia is said to have cut off his nose.

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Sphinx Valley Temple:

But this could never be proven. According to rumours, soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte destroyed their noses during target practice, but this turned out to be wrong because Napoleon Bonaparte himself had a great affinity for Egypt; he described the country as the “cradle of science and the arts of all mankind” (l’Égypte – le berceau de la science et des arts de toute l’humanité). In addition, scientists were already drawing the Great Sphinx without a nose at that time.

Due to the rainier climate in Egypt in the past, there were increased signs of erosion on the Sphinx. Another cause is believed to be a drainage channel that led down from the Chephren pyramid and led into the area of the Sphinx. However, this channel was later closed.

The importance of the sphinx and the purpose for which it was built still remains a mystery till today. It is obvious, however, that the construction of the Great Sphinx was ordered by Cheops himself and should therefore also represent the pharaoh in Horus form.

Elsewhere, it is believed that the sphinx serves as the guardian of the pyramids. However, its dimensions alone suggest an important role. The lying lion body with the human head has a length of 73.5 meters, is six meters wide and twenty meters high and was made out of a limestone hill,

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February 9, 2020February 26, 2020

Sakkara pyramid Egypt burial site during the Old Kingdom

The ancient Egyptian necropolis Sakkara is located 20 kilometres south of Cairo at the west bank of the Nile.

Almost 20 pyramids and monumental tombs are located there. It houses numerous graves of high officials, which are covered with amazingly well-preserved inscriptions and hieroglyphs.

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The painted walls tell the life story of the deceased. But the central monument of Saqqara is the step pyramid of Djoser, which has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

It is probably the oldest pyramid in ancient Egypt and is considered the oldest monumental building in the world. With it, the monumentalization of the royal tombs began.

Sakkara pyramid:

Sakkara was already known as a burial site during the Old Kingdom. The death god Sokar was probably the godfather for the name given to the necropolis.

The oldest tombs, which are several Mastabas, have been found in Sakkara-Nord. Mastabas resemble the shape of a truncated pyramid, but only have a relatively low height and sloping side walls with a flat roof.

During the later second dynasty, the burial of the first kings took place south of Saqqara. Of these only the underground burial chambers can be seen today.

Already towards the end of the second dynasty, countless mastabas were found in the necropolis. King Djoser, who is assigned to the third dynasty, basically founded the construction of pyramids with his step pyramid around 2650 BC.

As the necropolis of the residential city of Memphis, many prominent officials are buried there, but the kings of the fifth and sixth dynasties also had their pyramids built in Saqqara.

architectural:

The architectural tradition of the Old Kingdom was continued during the first period, during the Middle Kingdom rather small mastabas were scattered around the pyramid of Teti II and in the very south of Sakkara.

The New Kingdom brought an uplift for Saqqara; the necropolis was of particular importance. Especially during the reign of Amenophis II, many officials were buried in Saqqara.

The grave complexes differ from the mastabas in their construction, they rather resemble small temples and are largely in poor condition. Only a few graves can be assigned to the third period, whereas in the late period many officials were buried in impressive grave.

Sakkara was significant as a necropolis until the Ptolemaic period, because temple complexes were still being built at that time. Even animals found their final resting place in Saqqara in the form of extensive graves.

With that saying the construction of pyramids has its roots in Sakkara with the step pyramid of Djoser, has been refined and perfected over the centuries and finally led to the pyramids of Giza, which are still considered an architectural marvel and a masterpiece of craftsmanship,

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February 8, 2020February 26, 2020

Pyramids originated around 2500 BC & located 15 kilometres from Cairo

Pyramids, It’s not too much to say that everyone knows them. They are the topic of countless documentaries, appear in films and are a – if not the – symbol of Egypt.

The Giza pyramids. They take one’s breath away and are visible from afar, as if being from another world. The mere thought of their age has the ability to cause intense goosebumps.

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They are much more impressive and larger than what could ever be shown in a documentary or in a photo. Being among the wonders of the ancient world is for a reason – and they are the last existing monument of this size.

They originated around 2500 BC and are located 15 kilometres from the center of Cairo.

The mighty limestone plateau on which the monuments were built, measures around two square kilometres and offers a great view of Cairo.

Although the wheel was probably already known to the Egyptians back then, apparently no vehicles were used to build the pyramids.

The transport was most likely carried out on wooden sledges, however the way the tons of stones were ultimately put into their place cannot be said validated till today. There are different explanatory approaches, but none of them can be proven.

Pyramids:

The largest and certainly best known pyramid is the Cheops pyramid. Its former golden tip disappeared irretrievably in the turmoil of history. It used to measure 146 meters, but is now only 137 meters.

Around 3 million stone blocks were used for the pyramid, with a single stone block alone weighing 2.5 tons.

Inside the pyramid there are even blocks that weigh around 40 tons, which were were carved out of the rock with primitive tools.

The pyramid consists mainly of limestone, the cladding was made of white Tura limestone, but this was almost completely removed during the Middle Ages. Cheops had the pyramid aligned in four directions.

The accuracy with which work was carried out at that time is till today simply astonishing. Little is known about Cheops himself, and his fame is mostly due to his building – the pyramid. He was the second pharaoh of the ancient Egyptian fourth dynasty of the Old Kingdom and his reign is dated around 2620 to 2580 BC.

It is not entirely clear whether Snofru, whom Cheops succeeded, was his father or stepfather. The only existing representation of Cheops is a 7.5 cm figure made of ivory.

The Chephren

pyramid is the middle one of the three pyramids. It appears higher than the Great Pyramid of Cheops, which is due to its steeper angle of inclination and its somewhat higher position.

It is though considered the second highest of all pyramids within Egypt and was built around 2550 BC. The slope of the terrace was balanced out by digging the steps of the base into the existing rock and elevating the opposite side.

With looking closer, it quickly becomes clear that the construction of the Chephren pyramid was less precise than that of the Cheops pyramid.

The exterior of the pyramid also suggests poorer craftsmanship; the joints are very wide, the mortar is often missing. However, the remains of the cladding can still be seen at the top.

Ramses II used parts of the limestone cladding to build a temple in Heliopolis, and other parts were used in the 14th century to build the Sultan Hassan Mosque.

When studying the pyramid, Italian experts also noticed a sharp shift in the corner edges, which probably can be ascribed to an earthquake.

Chephren himself was the son of Cheops and fourth pharaoh of the 4th dynasty of the old empire. He succeeded his half-brother Radjedef and ruled from 2570 to 2530 BC.

As with Cheops, little information exists about Chephren. A double mastaba in Giza on the east cemetery proves his existence.

The Mykerinos pyramid

is the smallest of the three pyramids in Giza. It measures only 65 meters and is therefore not even half as high as the other two pyramids.

This was due either to space problems on the Giza plateau, to too much construction work or to the increased focus on the sun cult which resulted in more temple building for the sun god.

The Mykerinos pyramid consists of limestone, which was found on site, but only a little has been preserved from its cladding aside from the top.

The granite slabs used in the lower 16 meters are largely unfinished, which is probably related to the death of the pharaoh before its completion.

Mykerinos Pyramids

is the son of Chephren and was the throne successor, but probably only after his cousin Bicheris reigned in between.

Mykerinos was the sixth king of the fourth dynasty in the Old Kingdom and held the throne from 2530 to 2510 BC. Like his father and grandfather, he is mainly known for his building, other than that there is not much reference about him,

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February 8, 2020February 26, 2020

Old Cairo Even mausoleums in cemeteries are used as housing

Because Cairo is about to burst; illegal settlements and slums have always been part of the city.

Even mausoleums in cemeteries are used as housing. The city of the dead, which is just right below the Mokattam Mountains, is home to around 300,000 people and part of the Islamic old town of Cairo. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 as well as the Coptic Quarter since the 1990s.

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The Babylon military fortress, used in Roman and Byzantine times, is the center of Old Cairo. Because of its location directly on the Nile, it was of great strategic importance.

A legion was already stationed there after the Roman seizure of power, and towers and walls have been preserved till today.

Old Cairo has an important Jewish and Christian tradition. A Jewish community is said to have existed in the area of today’s Ben Esra Synagogue since many centuries.

According to a legend, Moses was found here as an infant during the reign of Merenptah and is said to have prayed here one last time before leaving Egypt. It is also reported that the prophet Jeremiah and his followers discovered the traces of Moses here and then built a synagogue in the name of Jeremiah.

Old Cairo:

The Coptic Museum of Old Cairo houses a large collection of Coptic works of art and is dedicated exclusively to Egyptian Orthodox Christianity.

It is located on the site of the Babylon Fortress near the Hanging Church. In 2006 the museum was reopened after a restoration and reorganization by Hosni Mubarak.

Church buildings have existed in this district since the fourth or fifth century. The Hanging Church is one of the oldest Christian churches in Egypt.

The church got its name because its nave is located above the southern gatehouse of the Babylon fortress. Patriarchs were chosen and enthroned in the church for centuries, and it also was as a residence and burial site.

The age of the church can be determined relatively precisely by an entry into a wooden lintel: a depiction of the entrance of Christ dates the church to the fifth or sixth century.

Next to the Hanging Church is the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which also serves as the burial ground for Greek patriarchs.

Theodosius probably mentioned the church for the first time in the 6th century, it was definitely mentioned in the chronicle of Eutychius in the 10th century.

The church of St. Barbara was dedicated to the daughter of the Roman governor Markaian, who had her murdered after her conversion to Christianity. The church was built at the end of the 7th century and was originally dedicated to St. Cyrus and St. John.

The Ben Esra Synagogue:

which is also located in the old town, is known as a Jewish church, primarily because of its spectacular Genisafound, which is dated to the year 800.

It is the oldest synagogue in Egypt and was extensively restored in the 1980s. The original church was converted into a synagogue under Ben Esra.

The mosque of Amr ibn el-As is the oldest mosque in Africa north of the fortress.

However, their current appearance no longer corresponds to their actual appearance; the mosque was demolished and rebuilt in the 18th century,

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February 6, 2020February 26, 2020

Islamic Cairo historic city center is home to numerous sightseeing places

Islamic Cairo, The city of the dead, which is just right below the Mokattam Mountains, is home to around 300,000 people and part of the Islamic old town of Cairo. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

The historic city center is home to numerous sightseeing places, including the Saladin Citadel with its integrated alabaster mosque (Muhammad Ali Mosque) as well as the famous Khan el-Khalili Bazaar.

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The Alabaster Mosque is one of the biggest mosques in Cairo and was built under Pasha Muhammad Ali.

After a powder explosion in 1824, part of the destroyed Citadel of Saladin was replaced by the Alabaster Mosque.

The colloquial name was derived from the magnificent alabaster-clad walls inside the Muhammad Ali Mosque. The citadel itself is located on a hill, at the foot of it is the Islamic old town with the Sultan Hassan and Ibn Tulun mosques.

The latter is considered to be the oldest mosque in Cairo, which has been preserved in its original form. It is not only the oldest, but also the largest mosque with over 26,000 square meters.

Islamic Cairo:

The namesake Ibn Tulun built the place of worship in the 9th century, which was also the center of the Tulun dynasty. Ahmad Ibn Tulun was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt and ruled from 868 to 884.

The extraordinary building and its surroundings can be perfectly seen from the spiral minaret. Another great mosque in Cairo’s Islamic Old Town is the Al Azhar Mosque.

It is not only of great spiritual importance, it is also still considered as one of the central institutions of Sunni Islam. It was the second mosque to be built in Cairo. Al Azhar University, under which the mosque is subordinate, is the spiritual seat of Sunni Islam and Islamic law.

From here, verdicts or judgments are mostly adopted throughout the Muslim world. The mosque is therefore like no other a symbol of islamic Egypt.

One of the highlights of the old town is certainly the Khan al Khalili bazaar.

The name of the bazaar goes back to its founder Emir Jarkas al Khalili, whose hometown was Hebron (Arabic: al Khalili). With its winding streets, the souk from the late 14th century is one of the attractions of Cairo and has not lost its oriental charm.

The spirit of the Orient is still alive in it, the shopkeepers are reminiscent of the former traders from 1001 nights,

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February 5, 2020February 26, 2020

Giza pyramids being among the wonders of the ancient Egypt

Giza pyramids, It’s not too much to say that everyone knows them. They are the topic of countless documentaries, appear in films and are one – if not the – symbol of Egypt.

The Giza pyramids. They take the breath away, the mighty colossi, visible from afar, as if being from another world.

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The mere thought of their age has the ability to cause intense goosebumps. They are much more impressive and larger than what could ever be shown in a documentary or in a photo.

The Giza pyramids being among the wonders of the ancient world is for a reason – and are the last existing monument of this size. They originated around 2500 BC.

Giza pyramids:

The largest and certainly best known pyramid is the Cheops pyramid, of which its golden top disappeared irretrievably in the turmoil of history. It used to measure 146 meters, but is now only 137 meters.

Around 3 million stone blocks were used for the pyramid, with a single stone block alone weighing 2.5 tons.

Inside the pyramid there are even blocks that weigh around 40 tons – imagine that these stone colossi were carved out of the rock with primitive tools. The Chephren pyramid is the middle one of the three pyramids, the Mykerinos pyramid with a height of only 65 meters is by far the smallest of the three.

Unlike the top of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, the one of the Great Pyramid of Chephren is still there and tells the glory of ancient times.

The mighty limestone plateau on which the monuments were built, measures around two square kilometres and allows a fabulous view of Cairo. At the foot of the pyramids, they are guarded by the Great Sphinx with its mighty, 20 meter high and 73.5 meter long lion body with a human head.

A little further south of Cairo is Memphis, the former capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom.

The city’s historical past is as significant as it is final: Memphis once held a strategically important position in the Nile Delta, but with the rise of Alexandria it became increasingly less important and was eventually forgotten.

The torso of a large Ramses II statue is one of the finds that embodies the importance of this metropolis.

The ancient Egyptian

necropolis Sakkara is located 20 kilometres south of Cairo at the west bank of the Nile. Almost 20 pyramids and monumental tombs are located there.

It houses numerous graves of high officials, which are covered with amazingly well-preserved inscriptions and hieroglyphs. The painted walls tell the life story of the deceased.

But the central monument of Saqqara is the step pyramid of Djoser, which has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

It is probably the oldest pyramid in ancient Egypt and is considered the oldest monumental building in the world. With it, the monumentalization of the royal tombs began.

The pyramid building has its roots in Sakkara, has been refined and perfected over the centuries and finally culminated in the colossal buildings near Cairo – the pyramids of Giza, which are still an architectural marvel and a masterpiece of craftsmanship till today,

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February 5, 2020February 26, 2020

Egyptian Museum in cairo treasure trove of ancient Egypt

Not far from the Tahrir Square is the Egyptian Museum; it is both a treasure trove of ancient Egypt and a journey through time to a former highly developed culture.

Egypt was confronted with the large plunderings of its precious finds by local and foreign treasure hunters.

In order to defend itself against this and to prevent further plundering of this kind, the government founded the Service des Antiquités de l’Egypte in 1835.

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This was the basis of the first collection of ancient Egyptian art. In 1858 the Frenchman Auguste Mariette founded a museum to store the grave finds in Bulaq.

However, the museum was quickly overcrowded due to the mass of finds. The regular flooding from the nearby Nile also increasingly endangered the collection.

In 1897, the foundation stone was laid for a new museum. It took four years to build the 15,000-square-meter Egyptian Museum, which cost 240,000 Egyptian pounds. In 1902 the artifacts were finally brought to Cairo over the Nile river.

The official opening of the Egyptian Museum as we know it today took place on November 15, 1902. Since 2010 there is also a children’s museum in the Egyptian Museum, which teaches children the history of Egypt in a child-friendly way.

Egyptian Museum:

The walls of the neoclassical-style building are packed with over 100,000 exhibits, with even more in the inaccessible basement and on the second floor.

The highlight of this collection are most likely the objects around the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamun, which includes his impressive mask made of around ten kilograms of solid gold.

The Egyptian Museum is also the resting place for the mummies of many pharaohs from the New Kingdom, such as Amenophis, Thutmosis and Ramses for example, as well as countless other grave goods and artefacts from the Middle Kingdom.

This also includes items which were discovered during excavations in other parts of Egypt. The finds are arranged in chronological order on the ground floor of the museum.

The artefacts of the New Kingdom with the statues of Amenophis II and III. and Thutmosis III. consume most space. In the north gallery is the Amarna Hall with Akhenaten, the head of Nefertiti and paintings, in the south half finds from the Old Kingdom, which include a statue of King Cheops.

The center hall focuses on Hatshepsut and the Palace of Amarna. In the east wing of the Egyptian Museum there are monuments from the late and Greco-Roman times.

Jewellery from several eras is exhibited in the north wing, while the west wing shows coffins from different periods. In addition, around 600 sarcophagi are waiting to be processed in the basement,

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February 4, 2020February 26, 2020

Cairo Those who haven‘t seen Cairo, haven‘t seen the world

Those who haven‘t seen Cairo, haven‘t seen the world. That’s how a lot of texts, travelogues and descriptions of the Egyptian capital begin.

The quote comes from the famous stories of the Arabian Nights and tries to put the uniqueness of Cairo into words. The mega-metropolis is indeed incomparable.

An estimated 25 million people live in the city on the Nile, the city buzzes like a beehive, all day every day. This is probably why Cairo is also called “The city that never sleeps”.

It is the largest city in Africa, the female Arabic name al-Qahira means “the victorious” or “the conqueror”.

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This is why Cairo is many times referred to with a “she” or “her”. Every day, she still conquers her millions of inhabitants and the countless cars that pour through the metropolis in seemingly endless traffic jams.

Cairo:

Because Cairo is about to burst; illegal settlements and slums have always been part of the city. Even mausoleums in cemeteries are used as housing.

The city of the dead, which is just right below the Mokattam Mountains, is home to around 300,000 people and part of the Islamic old town of Cairo. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 as well as the Coptic Quarter since the 1990s.

The historic city center is home to numerous sightseeing places, including the Saladin Citadel with its integrated alabaster mosque (Muhammad Ali Mosque), the Hanging Church and the Ben Esra Synagogue as well as the famous Khan el-Khalili Bazaar.

The Alabaster Mosque is one of the biggest mosques in Cairo and was built under Pasha Muhammad Ali. After a powder explosion in 1824, part of the destroyed Citadel of Saladin was replaced by the Alabaster Mosque.

Cairo attractions:

The latter is considered to be the oldest mosque in Cairo, which has been preserved in its original form. The Hanging Church, on the other hand, is one of the oldest Christian churches in Egypt.

The church got its name because its nave is located above a gatehouse. As a representation of the Jewish faith, the Ben Esra Synagogue is especially famous because of its spectacular Genisa, which was supposed to be found around the year 800.

The synagogue is also part of the old town. Aside from the great diversity of worshipping places, one of the highlights of the old town is certainly the Khan al Khalili bazaar.

With its winding streets, the souk from the late 14th century is one of the attractions of Cairo and has not lost its oriental charm. In it the spirit of the Orient is still alive, the shopkeepers seem to be reminiscent of the former merchants from 1001 nights.

attractions:

The history of the Cairo comes to life in countless corners, especially the recent past seems almost tangible on the famous Tahrir Square.

It was the epicentre of the Arab Spring, became part of more recent historiography, and was both a joy and a theatre of war for the Egyptian people. Not far from the Tahrir Square is the Egyptian Museum; it is both a treasure trove of ancient Egypt and a journey through time to a former highly developed culture.

The walls of the neoclassical-style building are packed with over 100,000 exhibits, with even more in the inaccessible basement and on the second floor. The highlight of this collection are most likely the objects around the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamun, which includes his impressive mask made of around ten kilograms of solid gold.

This also includes items which were discovered during excavations in other parts of Egypt.

Giza:

The great past of Egypt becomes clear once again at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

Together with the Chephren and Mykerinos pyramid, it is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The walk across the forecourt becomes a gateway to the past: around 4,500 years ago, people left their foot prints in the sand.

In addition to the valley temple, another contemporary witness joins below the Giza plateau: the Great Sphinx, which sits majestically in front of the graves of its alleged builders.

The evening sound and light show illuminates the impressive monuments, while the narrators’ voices bring the pharaohs and their families to life. While historic Cairo basks in the splendour of its great past, contemporary Cairo is a young, almost fluid structure.

It does not follow any laws as it was and is the saving haven for a whole range of people: war refugees, artists and intellectuals. Cairo is neither one-dimensional, nor simple or quiet, on the contrary; it is loud, charismatic and lively – it is “the victorious”

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