Category: Cairo Attractions

Step Pyramid of Zoser in Saqqara

Step Pyramid of Zoser: There are many things to see and learn about in Egypt’s Pharaonic era. Religion was very important to the ancient Egyptians, so they spent a lot of time and money building temples, pyramids, and tombs. There are more than 100 pyramids in Egypt. The pharaohs had the pyramids built as their tombs, and they put their treasures, furniture, food, and everything else they would need in the afterlife inside with them.

The most well-known pyramids in Cairo are the Pyramids of Giza, but the Step Pyramid of Zoser in Saqqara is also very important. The most important thing in Memphis is the Saqqara Complex (the ancient capital of Egypt).

The History of Zoser’s Pyramid

During the third dynasty, in the 27th century BC, King Zoser ordered its construction. It was built by Imhotep (the first architect in ancient Egypt). “Dyeser Deyeseru” was the name people used for the Pyramid of Zoser. It is thought to be the model for the Pyramids of Giza and the other pyramids. Before King Zoser, royal tombs were underground chambers covered by mastabas, which are rectangular adobe buildings. King Zoser’s tomb, on the other hand, was made up of six huge mastabas stacked on top of each other.

King Zoser chose a spot on the west bank of the Nile River, south of the city of Memphis. Cairo is 30 km away. In the complex, there are also the tombs of Kagemni, Mereruka, Ankhmahor, and Ti, who were all cloud and ruler gods.

Putting together the Step Pyramid

Imhotep planned to build the pyramid in this way so that the King’s soul would rise to heaven. At the bottom of the pyramid was a 63-meter-square mastaba. Then it was made bigger twice. First, it was a 71-m-square, and then one side was made longer toward the east, making it a 71-m-by-79-m rectangle.

When the three mastabas were added, the pyramid had a total of four levels. It was made bigger again, and this time the base was a square 85 m by 77 m. Then it was made bigger and got two more mastabas. So, there was a pyramid with 6 mastabas that stacked on top of each other. It was 60 m tall and had a base that was 140 m long and 118 m wide. The limestone was used to build the pyramid.

A 10-meter-high wall made of Tura limestone surrounds the pyramid. There are 14 bastions and 14 false gates around the wall. The only way to get in is close to the south end of the east side.

The Step Pyramid’s Interior

The Step Pyramid was built in several steps. More than 200,000 tonnes of stone were used to build the last two levels of the Pyramid. From the east side of the Pyramid, you can see it best. It used to be covered by limestone, but erosion took care of that. In some places on the east side, you can see through to it. Eleven 32-meter-deep wells lead to horizontal passageways with two sarcophagi and more than 48,000 ceramic and stone vessels from the I and II dynasties. The King’s chamber is at the end of a 28-meter-deep well in the middle of the Pyramid. The room was made of red granite, and it was closed off by big blocks of granite.

Complexe of Saqqara

The Step Pyramid of Zoser isn’t just in Saqqara. In the south-east corner of the pyramid, there is a Temple with three grooved columns. There is also the Serdab, which is a room for the king where there is a statue of the pharaoh. Some buildings, like chapels, have nothing inside. There are two stands in front of these buildings.

There are also grooved columns in the South House and the North House. There is a temple for the dead to the north of the Pyramid. Inside the southern wall, there is a Great Pit that is 6 m wide and 39 m deep. It leads to a room and a granite chamber.

Egypt via travel will help you plan your trip to Egypt.

Don’t miss the chance to learn about the mysteries of the land of the Pharaohs. Cairo is a very interesting place to visit because it has a mix of the old, the new, the Christian, and the Islamic. Also, the cruise on the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and many other interesting places in Egypt. Check out our Egypt vacation packages to find the best trip for you.

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.

Egypt via travel can help you find things to do in Cairo.

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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There are many interesting places in Cairo. Do not pass up the chance to see a great view of Cairo from the top of the Citadel and to visit other places in Cairo. Check out our Egypt vacation packages or Nile cruises to see which one is right for you.

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.”

Egypt via travel has more information.

Do not miss the chance to see the most important pharaonic sites in Cairo, such as Memphis, Saqqara, and the three Pyramids of Giza. A tour is a great way to learn about the history of “the land of the pharaohs,” Egypt. Choose the Egypt travel package or Nile cruise that works best for you.

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.

Egypt via travel can help you have a great trip to Egypt.

Check out our Egypt travel packages if you want to see the “cradle of civilization” up close. Also, check out the deals on Nile cruises and enjoy your time in the land of the Pharaohs.