Each of us has heard the legends of the famous Egyptian pyramids. And everyone has seen them in some form – in a photo, in a movie, or simply read something about them. I included! And luckily, I had the chance to see them in person – from the sky, at night, and during the day.
As we descended in the plane, preparing to land at Cairo airport, suddenly a unique view unfolded through the window that literally made my hair stand on end! In front of me, like small pearls, appeared the famous Egyptian pyramids. It almost felt unreal! These majestic and ancient creations suddenly came to life before my eyes, and the idea of them became real and visible. The contrast between the pyramids in the desert and the sprawling metropolis starting just next to them offered a vivid palette of yellow, green, and gray colors. It’s incredibly difficult to describe this view in words!
If you’re traveling independently in Egypt, I recommend looking for organized tours of the pyramids. Even if you’re on a guided tour, it will still be much cheaper to use the services of a local agency that offers tours to the pyramids. These tours usually also include a visit to the Sphinx.
Here are the options for this:
- If you’re staying in Cairo, I recommend checking out the tours available here:
- If you are staying in Hurghada, you can check out the tour options here:
We all know that among the famous Seven Wonders of the World are the Egyptian pyramids, with only them surviving to this day. Every person, whether they’ve seen them in person or not, finds them more exciting and mysterious than the ancient people did.
And they are even more exciting and mysterious when you see them at night! On a large observation platform, we are greeted by rows of chairs, as if you’re in an open-air theater. Before you, there’s a dark backdrop. You look to the left and right to see where the pyramids are, wondering what you will see. Then, suddenly, in the darkness, you notice black triangles standing out against the dark blue evening sky! Slowly, you begin to adjust to the darkness and start to see the three majestic pyramids more clearly.
The observation deck we were on quickly filled up with curious tourists. Each person was holding their breath, eagerly waiting for the light show to begin. And at the scheduled time – around 8:00 PM, all the lights around us turned off, and majestic and ceremonial music echoed, similar to the opening of Star Wars films! One by one, the three pyramids in front of us were illuminated – first, the pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), then Khafre’s and finally Menkaure’s. One was lit in blue light, the next in green, and the last one in red. Suddenly, a yellow light illuminated the Sphinx, which majestically sat in front of them, as if guarding them!
For about an hour, different light effects alternated, the music would stop and then start again, and throughout, a mysterious voice narrated the history of Ancient Egypt, explaining which pyramid belonged to whom and when it was built. It’s incredibly hard to remember all the information against the backdrop of what you’re seeing in front of you! The oldest and most majestic creations stand before you, wrapped in a mysterious light, with the darkness behind them adding even more mystery. The sight alone gives you goosebumps!
You can find tickets for the evening light show here:
The next day, we once again headed towards the pyramids, but this time, instead of simply observing them from afar, we were going to walk among them, immersing ourselves in the unique atmosphere of the ancient pharaohs and kings!
Much has been written and said about the pyramids, but if I had to summarize, here’s what I can conclude – they are massive and ancient! They are so old that even during the time of Jesus Christ’s birth, they were already considered ancient. We can confidently say that the time when Jesus was born is closer to us than to the time when the pyramids were built. While we may have celebrated the arrival of the second millennium in 2000 with grand ceremonies and a lot of noise, the pyramids quietly and peacefully marked their fifth millennium of existence!
After passing the ticket booths, the first thing that confronted us was the Pyramid of Khufu, also known as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Your breath catches for a moment, and your eyes can hardly believe what they’re seeing. The closer you get to the pyramid, the more you realize just how small you are in comparison and how majestic it truly is. Once standing at around 150 meters tall, the pyramid is now a little shorter because the stones from the top and the outer layer of stone blocks have been removed.
The pyramid is made up of over 2.3 million limestone blocks, with each one weighing about 1.5 tons, and some of the base stones weighing as much as 15 tons. When you look up at it, it’s hard to fathom the amount of human effort and ingenuity that went into its construction, standing as a testament to the ancient Egyptians’ remarkable engineering skills.
According to archaeologists, the Great Pyramid, which houses the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, was built in about 20 years. The secret of how the pyramid was constructed has always amazed and captivated scholars and archaeologists throughout history, and to this day, there is no official answer to this question! The history of this ancient structure continues to excite humanity. The pyramid itself holds many secrets, some of which may never be revealed.
There’s also an option to enter the pyramid, but you have to go through a narrow corridor, and you might reach the “Queen’s Chamber” – an unfinished room with nothing in it. Another thing you can see is the Grand Gallery leading to the main burial chamber, which is located right in the center of the pyramid. In this room, there is an empty sarcophagus made of red granite, and that’s all they have ever found there. Interestingly, the sarcophagus is too large to fit through the corridors, and many Egyptologists suggest that the pyramid was built around it after it was placed there. Whether the body of Khufu ever lay in that sarcophagus – no one can say, and we can only speculate! What’s also curious is that the body of Khafre still hasn’t been found to this day.
The other two pyramids – those of Khafre and Menkaure – are also quite impressive and interesting. The pyramid of Khafre is slightly smaller than that of his father Khufu, but it appears taller because it was built at a higher elevation. The pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest in the group. Some archaeologists believe that the ancient Egyptians didn’t have enough space to construct this pyramid. According to another theory, this is evidence that the power of the pharaoh was weakening, and it became impossible to support the workforce that was meant to build this grand monument. This pyramid is surrounded by three small pyramids for the queens, two of which are unfinished and left in the form of steps.
When it comes to the origins of the pyramids, there are many more theories than facts. Whether the truth will ever be revealed and whether we will ever understand what secrets and mysteries they hold is unclear, and all answers will likely remain just the product of our imagination. Or maybe these mysteries have already been uncovered…
At the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza lies the most mysterious figure in the pyramid complex – the Father of Terror, also known as the Sphinx! What secrets does it hold?
