Wolfgang Praegler & Gudrun Mirbach-Praegler
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23 years ago: The pyramids of Giza and Sakkara
In
1999,
we
were
travelling
through
Egypt,
and
marvelling
at
the
ancient
monuments,
the
pyramids
of
Giza,
just
like
Napoleon did, when he conquered Egypt in 1789 and told his army: „5 millennia are looking down at us“
Pyramids
that
were
meant
to
be
tombs
were
built
on
the
west
side
of
river
Nile.
West
was
the
side
of
the
dead,
because
the
sun
went
down
here.
In
the
East,
there
was
the
settlement
of
the
living
people.
The
most
famous
and
biggest
pyramid
is
the
one
of
pharaoh
Cheops,
reigning
around
2,600
B.C.
One
of
his
sons
was
Pharaoh
Chephren
around
2,550
B.C.
Mykerinos,
I
turn, was the son of Chephren and grandson of Cheops, ruling around 2,520 B.C. Simply put, this is a kind of family grave.
Pyramid of Cheops: The biggest one ever, 230m wide at the base and with a height of 147m
Pyramid of Chephren: 215m at the base and with a height of 143m
Pyramid of Mykerinos: The smallest one, measuring 103m at the base with a height of 66m
Originally,
the
pyramids
had
a
smooth
cladding.
At
the
upper
part
of
the
Chephren
pyramid,
this
is
still
visible.
Most
of
these
smooth stones were stolen in the course of time and used for house construction.
A
bit
south
of
Giza,
at
Sakkara,
we
can
see
the
oldest
pyramids.
Around
2,700
B.C.
pharaoh
Djoser
had
a
step
pyramid
built
by
his
master
builder
Imhotep.
Stepless
sides
of
a
pyramid
were
instable
during
this
period.
The
step
pyramid
has
6
steps
with
a
base
length
of
118m
and
a
height
of
62m.
It
was
a
very
common
custom
for
high
ranked
officials
and
priests
to
build
their
own
rock
cuttombs
near
the
graves
of
the
pharaohs.
Near
Sakkara,
we
entered
such
grave,
the
Tomb
of
Master
Ti,
from
around 2,400 B.C.
A
Sphinx
is
a
mystical
creature
with
a
beastly
body
and
a
human
head.
Mostly
a
lion,
but
sometimes
a
ram.
In
Egypt,
a
sphinx is male, whereas a Greek sphinx is female.
