Author: Mohammed Eldeeb

Information about Giza’s Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza: Egypt has a lot of interesting historical places to see. Ancient Egypt has a lot of mysteries and secrets that archaeologists don’t fully understand. The most well-known and interesting place in Cairo is the Giza Complex.

You can’t go to Cairo without seeing the Great Sphinx of Giza and the Three Pyramids. You can highlight the “Great Pyramid of Cheops” (one of the seven ancient wonders of the world) and the “Great Sphinx” in the Giza Complex because they have many secrets that most people don’t know.

Ancient Egyptians made sphinxes as signs of strength and intelligence. This is why it was important to give them a lion’s body and a human head, which represent the power and strength of the King.

The Pharaohs thought of the lion as a sign of strength and protection, so it was often found on their amulets, furniture, and temple doors. The Great Sphinx of Giza is the most well-known sphinx. The Great Sphinx is the world’s oldest and biggest.

There are a lot of questions about when it was built and why it doesn’t have a nose. It is called “Abu Al Houl,” which means “the father of terror” in Egyptian Arabic. It is on the Giza Plateau, 20 km from the centre of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile River.

How the Name Came to Be

The Greek word “sphinxes,” from which the English word “sphinx” comes, means to squeeze. In the myth, a “sphinx” was a creature with the wings of an eagle, the head of a woman, and the body of a lion. The Great Sphinx has the head of a man and no wings.

The old people of the New Empire called it “Shesep-anj,” which means “the living image.” The Copts gave it the name “Bel-hit,” which in Egyptian means “hu or ju,” which means “guardian.” But he now goes by the name “Abu Al Houl” (father of terror).

How the Sphinx Came to Be

Archaeologists aren’t sure when the Sphinx was built. It was said to have been built in the fourth dynasty by King Cheops. It was also thought to have been built before the Giza Pyramids because the water damage on the Sphinx dates back to the Ice Age.

It was said that the temple in front of the Sphinx represents the sun god “Hor-em-Ajet,” which means “Horus on the horizon.” But they agreed that it was built by King Kephren, who was the king of the second pyramid of Giza, as a guardian of his pyramid in 2500 BC, during the fourth dynasty, because the face of the Sphinx looks like that of Kephren.

For a long time, the Sphinx was buried in the sand. On the front legs of the Sphinx is a piece of granite called “the wake of dreams.” It is 144 cm high, 40 cm wide, and 70 cm thick. This stele tells the story of a dream that King Tutomsis IV had when he was a young prince. In the dream, a man promised to make Tutomsis IV king if he brought the Sphinx back from the sand. The Sphinx was buried over the next few hundred years, but the sand was taken away until it was finished in the 1920s.

How the Sphinx was Put Together

In the limestone quarry that used to be here, the Sphinx was carved with its back to the east. It is 20 metres tall and 70 metres long. The front legs are 15 m long and the face is 5 m long. It looks different without colours than it did when it had colours. It had a red body with yellow and blue stripes on the face and nemes.

The Sphinx has a big tail at the end. Her head is better kept than her body because the headstone is harder and the body was buried in sand for a long time. The Sphinx used to have a beard, but Tutomisis IV took it off when he fixed it up in the 14th century b.c. What’s left of the beard is in the British Museum in London.

The Missing Nose

No one knows for sure why the Sphinx doesn’t have a nose. People said that Napoleon destroyed the nose during the French campaign, but drawings by Frederic Louis Norden that came out in 1738 show that the Sphinx didn’t have a nose 31 years before Napoleon was born.

Some people think it was because of the Mamluks or the British troops. People said that when the peasants were giving gifts to the Sphinx, a Sufi Muslim decided to destroy it, starting with the nose. He was hanged, so he didn’t destroy any more of it.

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The Giza Complex is one of the most-visited places in Cairo. It is full of mysteries that make for a very interesting trip. Don’t miss the chance to visit the land of the Pharaohs. Check out our vacation packages to Egypt or take a cruise on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan to plan your trip.

Saladin’s Castle

The Citadel of Saladin: Egypt has more to offer tourists than just pharaohs. Especially in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, there are many pharaonic, Islamic, Coptic, modern, and Christian elements. In the Middle Ages, Islamic Arabs moved to Egypt and started to build their civilization there. Cairo is called “The City of a Thousand Minarets” because there are so many Islamic places, especially mosques, there.

The Citadel of Saladin is one of the most well-known Islamic places in the world (it is also known by the name The Citadel of Cairo). The Citadel is one of the most interesting places to visit in Cairo because of how important it is in history and how beautiful it looks. People thought of the Citadel as a city inside another city. It was built by the Ayub dynasty on the top of Mount Moqatam in the 12th century AD.

How The Citadel of Saladin Came to Be

Saladin was the first person to be in charge of the Ayub dynasty. He was in Cairo for almost 8 years and ruled Egypt from 1171 to 1193. Saladin told his Vizier Bahaa El-Din Karakosh to build a citadel on Mount Moqatam to protect the city from the Crusaders, give the king a place to live if enemies took over Cairo, and defend the city from the Crusaders.

The buildings and tombs that were here were destroyed by the Vizier Bahaa El-Din, who then started building the Citadel. Saladin died in 1193, before he could finish building the Citadel. His Vizier finished building it until the year 1204 AD. Saladin’s brother, El-Malek El-Adel, was the first person to live in the citadel.

When the French came to the Citadel in 1798, they destroyed a lot of it. In 1830, Muhammad Ali put his name on a mosque (the most famous place in the Citadel). For 700 years, until Khedive Ishmael built Abdin Palace in the 1860s, it was the centre of government. In 1882, it was where the British army was based. Since 1983, the Egyptian Antiquities Authority has been in charge of it.

Putting together the citadel

The Citadel was built between Cairo, which was the capital of the Fatimids, and Fustat, which was the ancient capital for 500 years. It was meant to be a safe place for people to go when enemies took over the city. It was built high on Mount Moqatam so that everyone in Old Cairo could see it. There are great views of Cairo from the south of the Citadel.

The Citadel is split into two main parts: the southern part, where the king lives and has a large palace, and the northern part (as a military fort with great walls guarded north and east sides).

Walls and towers: The Citadel was surrounded by several walls and towers. Every 100 m, a tower with openings to keep out attacks was built. Borg Al-Rama (Sand Tower) and Borg Al-Hatad are the two main towers (Blacksmith Tower).

There are many entrances to the Citadel. The main gate is the Moqattam Gate, which was built during the time of the Ottoman Empire. There is also a new gate, which Muhammad Ali built in 1827.

The hole; In the Citadel, there is a large water well called Josef’s well. It goes down 90 m. It has two parts: one for the bulls (to move the Ferris wheel) and one for the water (to the soldiers).

Inside the Fortress

Since the Citadel was built, kings and other rulers have built on it.

• The most well-known place in the Citadel is the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. The Alabaster Mosque is what people call it. From 1830 to 1849, Muhammad Ali built it. It has two parts: Bait Al-Sala (the place of worship) and Al-Sahn (great courtyard of ablution).
• Qaser Al-Gawhara. It’s also called the Palace of Jewels. It was given the name of the woman who was married to Muhammad Ali (Gawhara). The home of Muhammad Ali is there. It was built in 1814 to the southeast of the Citadel in the Ottoman style.
• Inside the Palace, there is a lathe of Muhammad Ali, furniture, costumes, and a gallery of portraits of Egypt’s rulers made by Muhammad Ali. It is well-known for the Citadel massacre, in which Muhammad Ali killed the Mamluks.
• In 1318, the first building on the Citadel was the Mosque of El-Naser Muhammad. People in Cairo thought of it as the official mosque.

Other things to do inside the Citadel;

• Muhammad Ali built the Military Museum, which is where he looks at the history of Egypt’s military.
• Reya and Sekina’s pictures were in the Police Museum (the serial killers in the 20th century in Alexandria).
• Muhammad Ali went to the Museum of Carriages.
• In 1318, the first building in the Citadel was the Mosque of El-Naser Muhammad. People in Cairo thought of it as the official mosque.
• During the Ottoman era, the Soliman Pacha Mosque was built.
• The Al-Refai Mosque and the Sultan Hassan Mosque.

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Memphis is an Egyptian city.

Egypt has a lot of historical sites that draw tourists from all over the world. One of these is the ancient city of Memphis. Because they thought the pharaohs were important and religion was a big part of their lives, they used imported goods to build their civilization.

Egypt is known as “the cradle of civilization” because its civilization goes back more than 4000 years BC. Civilization began along the banks of the Nile because the land there was good for farming. This civilization happened before Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were brought together as one country. However, the history of this civilization became important after Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were brought together.

Memphis used to be the capital of Egypt in the past. Memphis is thought to have been Egypt’s first capital. Memphis was once the most populous city in the world, and its history is very important. Memphis, the necropolis of Saqqara, and the Pyramids of Giza are all important parts of the country’s history.

About Memphis’s past

King Menes was Egypt’s first ruler and started the first dynasty. When King Menes united Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, he built Memphis as the capital of Egypt. It was first built in 3200 BC. From the First Dynasty to the Eighth Dynasty, Memphis was the capital. It was found again when King Ramses II and Merenptah were in power (pharaohs of the XIX dynasty).

Their local god was Ptah, the god of creation, and people thought that Ptah would protect Memphis. In the past, there were almost 30,000 people living there, and there were many factories and warehouses. It was the most important place for business and religion.

When Thebes, Pi-Ramsis, and Tanis were built, the god Ptah thought of Memphis as the second most important city in Egypt because of its religious importance. It was left empty in 641, and its ruins were used to build the capital city of Cairo. Since Alexandria was built as the new capital, Memphis started to become less important.

How the Name Came to Be

In the old empire, Memphis was called “Ine-hedy,” which means “the white wall for the King’s palace,” because it was made of white stones. In the Middle Empire, it was called “Anj-tauy,” which means “the balance of the two lands.” It was called “Men-Nefer,” which means “steady in beauty,” back then. It was called Menphe in Coptic and Memphis in Greek.

The Building of Memphis

It was built on the west bank of the southern delta of the Nile River. Cairo is 19 km away. Ancient writings in other temples tell about the city, but it has not been kept in its original form. Some statues and other artefacts from the Temple of Ptah can be found in the city of Memphis, where the temple used to be.

The Open Air Museum is there. One thing that makes this place stand out is a big sphinx that is 4 m tall and 7 m long. The sphinx weighs about 80 tonnes. People say that the sphinx was made in honour of Queen Hatshepsut. There are many statues of King Ramses II in other museums. However, there is one colossus of Ramses II that used to be 13 m tall but is now only 10 m tall because part of one of his legs was broken off.

Regarding Memphis

Egypt’s first capital was Memphis. The three main gods of Memphis were Ptah, his wife Sekhmet, and their son Nefertem. Menes put the capital between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt because he wanted to bring the whole country together. It was the city with the most people until 2250 BC. Memphis and its cemetery were named a World Heritage Site in 1979. Today, people call Memphis “Mit-Rahina.”

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The Great New Egyptian Museum

The Grand Egyptian Museum is one of many things to do in Cairo. Cairo is one of the most popular places to visit in Egypt. The Pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum are the best places in Cairo to learn about pharaohs. The Egyptian Museum as it is now is small, and it has a lot of objects on loan from other museums. The current museum, which was built in 1902, has almost 120,000 pharaonic monuments and can’t hold any more ancient artefacts or monuments.

So, Egypt needed a second, more modern, and bigger museum to show off its treasures and monuments. They started making plans for The Grand Egyptian Museum in 1992. So, they started to build a new museum that would hold 150,000 Egyptian artefacts.

The Grand Egyptian Museum is about 2 km from the Pyramids of Giza and 20 km from Cairo’s city centre. It is thought to be one of the most beautiful buildings of the 20th century.

The Grand Egyptian Museum’s past

The Grand Egyptian Museum was started by former President Hosni Mubarak on January 5, 2002. The big statue of Ramses II was moved from Ramses Square in the centre of Cairo to the Giza Complex on August 25, 2006. In 2010, this 3200-year-old statue of Ramses II was fixed up and put on display at The Grand Egyptian Museum.

In August 2008, the engineers gave the Egyptian Ministry of Culture more than 5,000 drawings of their plans. In October 2008, he started advertising the job and then started digging at the site of The Grand Egyptian Museum.

In September 2009, it was said that the project would be done in 2013. However, the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 pushed the date back to 2020, and covid-19 will make the opening date move to 2021.

How the Grand Egyptian Museum was paid for

El GME will cost $550 million to build. Egypt will pay $100 million, Japan will pay $300 million, and a fundraising company will pay $150 million. On January 7, 2002, the GME design competition was made public. More than 1,557 applications came in from 82 different countries. In the end, the contract was made with a Dublin company called Heneghan Peng. It was worth $ 250,000.

How the Grand Egyptian Museum was Built

Modern technology was used to build the Grand Egyptian Museum. It’s 800 m long and 40 m high, and it looks like a bevelled triangle plan. It is 50 m higher than where the Nile River flows. It takes up 50 hectares of land. It is between Cairo and Giza, where there are three pyramids.

1- Stone is used for the walls and front of the building. The Cheops and Menkaure pyramids are in line with the northern and southern walls. To get to the exhibition areas, you have to go up a large staircase. There are 4 exhibition areas, each of which focuses on a different time period;
2- The first is where things from the prehistoric, predynastic, an old kingdom, and first intermediate periods are found.
3- The second is where things from the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period are kept.
4- Third, where things from the new kingdom are.
5- The fourth one has things from the third intermediate period to the Greco-Roman period.

Different places

1- There’s a 250-seat 3D theatre with a 3D screen.
2- There are 10 places to eat and 3 parks.
3- A library that is all about Egypt in the past.
4- There are three galleries where a conference centre and an educational centre are located.
5- There are virtual galleries, activities, and workshops at this children’s museum.
6- A place for restoration and preservation with specialised labs.

The Grand Egyptian Museum’s displays

Egypt has more than 155,000 monuments from different times in the past. More than 20,000 things were never shown to the public. Also from Ancient Egypt, there are 45 thousand works of art and 87 statues. The most important thing is the things that were found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. There were almost 5,000 of them.

Also, the Grand Statue of Ramses II is 11 m tall and weighs 80 tonnes. It is 3200 years old and has been there for that long. There are statues of the gods Ptah, Sekhmet, and Hathor, as well as the kings Amenophis III, Senusert III, and Queen Hatshepsut.

The Big Egyptian Museum

The New Museum is more than just a museum. It is also a place where people study history and archaeology. It can hold up to 15,000 people every day. The current museum is in a unique spot in the middle of Cairo, surrounded by high-end hotels, churches, and mosques. The new site of The Grand Egyptian Museum is close to the Pyramids of Giza, so you can also visit the rest of the Giza complex and its attractions.

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Cairo’s Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum: Cairo is the capital of Egypt and a great place to learn about the Pharaonic, Islamic, and Coptic cultures. The Saladin Citadel, the mosques, and the Islamic Quarter are all great places to see the beauty of Islamic architecture.

In the Coptic Quarter, you can find out more about how La Sagrada Familia came to be and see how the churches looked in the past. “The Pyramids of Giza of Cheops, Khafre, and Menkaure” are the first thing people see when they visit Cairo.

The Egyptian Museum is the second most-visited place in Cairo that has to do with ancient Egypt. The Cairo Museum is another name for it.

How the Egyptian Museum came to be

In 1835, the first museum was built to keep treasures and monuments from being stolen by locals or people from other countries. This museum in Esbakeya park was small. After that, he was sent to the Saladin Citadel. When the Emperor of Austria, Maximilian, went to Egypt in 1855, the governor of Egypt, Abbas Pacha, gave him a collection that is now in the museum.

Augusto Mariette built a new one in the Bolaq neighbourhood in 1858, but it was destroyed by a big flood. Then he moved to Ismael Pacha’s palace. The new “Egyptian Museum” was designed by Marcel Dourgon in 1897.

In April 1897, the dynasty of Abbas Helmi II celebrated the laying of the first stone. Ismael Pacha’s palace statues were moved to the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo in 1902.

How the Egyptian Museum was made

He put up 73 designs for the Egyptian Museum, but the one that was chosen was by the French architect Marcel Dourgon. It was the first museum ever to be built with the purpose of being a museum (no building became a museum). The outside was more like a neoclassical building than an ancient Egyptian one, but the rooms inside looked like Egyptian temples.

In 2006, the Museum had its most important repair. In 2016, 267 paintings from the Museum were used to bring it back to its original shape. The Museum has 50 rooms spread out over two floors. The rooms are in order of when they were built.

When the Egyptian Museum was built

It is in downtown Cairo on Tahrir Square. The Museum has more than 120,000 items from ancient Egypt. There are two floors in the Museum;

Downstairs, there are papyrus sheets from the last 2,000 years that have writing in Greek, Latin, Arabic, and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. There are also Greek, Roman, and Islamic gold, bronze, and silver coins from different times. Many things from the new, middle, and old empires can be found here (found in the tombs of pharaohs).

More than 5,000 items were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. On the second floor, there is a room with Tutankhamun’s things and his gold mask. There is also a room for the new empire’s mummies and things found in the Valley of the Kings.

The Egyptian Museum’s Displays

1- The Mask of Tutankhamun and his Sarcophagus are two of the most important pieces of ancient Egyptian art. Gold, glass, and valuable stones are used to make the mask. Gold is used to make the sarcophagus. They were among the things that were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

2- The statues of Amenhotep II and his wife are connected. They are 36 m tall and come from the XVIIth dynasty. In the first room, they are in the middle of the room. Along with them are three small statues that look like their daughters.

2- Narmer paddle: This is a small plate with many symbols that show how Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were brought together.
3- Statue of Pharaoh Jasejemuy. He was the last pharaoh of the second dynasty of Egypt’s unified empire.
4- The King Cheops statue was made during Dynasty IV. The back of the statue’s head and the fact that she is sitting on a throne are signs of the god Horus.

How the Museum Works

The mausoleum of Auguste Mariette was moved to the garden of the Egyptian Museum, which has a lot of Egyptian artefacts. At the time the Egyptian Museum was built, there were 12,000 ancient Egyptian artefacts. However, as more artefacts were found, the number grew to 120,000.

It is found in the basement of the Egyptian Museum with 600 artefacts that haven’t been properly logged. At the moment, there are more than 150,000 ancient monuments, so the Great Egyptian Museum is being built to hold all of the monuments that are currently on display and in warehouses.

Egypt is a great place to visit.

Check out our trips in Cairo if you want to see the sights in Cairo. If you want a magical vacation, you can look at our Egypt travel packages. If you want to see Upper Egypt, you can choose your dream trip from our Nile cruises.