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Visiting the Louvre in Paris
is incomplete without having seen the famous Mona Lisa
painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Likewise, a visit to the
Egyptian Museum is not complete without visiting the
Tutankhamun chamber where you find some of the finest
masterpieces of the ruler of the 18th Dynasty. Probably
one of the reason for its growing popularity is that it
has been one of the recent excavations when his tomb was
found in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor as recently as
1922. In fact, the tomb which was excavated was found in
excellent condition and although it was partially robbed
after its excavation, you still find some of the greatest
masterpieces on display at the Egyptian Museum. |
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The most outstanding of them
all is the Gold Mask made of semi-precious stone and
coloured glass. This magnificent mask was fitted directly
on the face and shoulders of the mummy in the innermost
coffin. Another striking masterpiece is the coffin of Tut
Ank Amun's internal organs. The internal organs of the
pharaoh were laid in 4 coffins each accommodating one of
the internal organs i.e. the lungs, the liver, the stomach
and the intestines which were removed from his body during
mummification. One of the most popular
statues of which the replica was also in a souvenir shop
of the Hotel Le Meridien Pyramids is the Ka Statue of the
Tutankamun. This statue was found on both sides of the
entrance of the burial chamber as if to
guard the chamber and was made of wood and
bitumen. |
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The pharaoh is standing
with his left leg advancing forward, holding a mace with
his right hand and a long staff in his left hand. The
black colour on the statue signifies the colour of Egypt's
fertile soil and it also symbolizes rebirth and life.
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It was indeed interesting to
find out from our Egyptologist guide as to how Howard
Carter and his financer Theodore Davis found this tomb.
They had carried out the excavation for almost 10 years
when one fine day somewhere in 1922 a stone fell and they
found one step, they removed the sand on top of it and
found a second step and they realized that they were
digging on the other side for almost 10 years in vain and
on finding the two steps and digging even further they
found 15 steps leading to an area where there were 3 tombs
and a burial chamber. The first tomb they discovered most
of the stuff and they discovered the third tomb much later
where they found the internal organs of Tut Ank Amun kept
in a burial chamber. The first thing that they discovered
was this huge big shrine which is the canopic shrine on
display at the Egyptian Museum. It is made of sheets of
gold directly stuck on the wood. This was the outermost
shrine. She also told us about why the mummification was
done in those days as the pharaohs believed that they
could resurrect after the body unites with the soul. |
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After
having spent the major part of the morning and afternoon
at the Egyptian museum, we drove to Giza and after
grabbing a quick bite at a Pizza Hut close by, our guide
gave us a brief history and background about how the
first pyramid was built in Sakkara before taking us to
one of the most photographed places in Egypt - The Great
Pyramids of Giza comprising of the Pyramids of Cheops,
Chephren and Mycerinos. We were told that the first city
of the dead was Sakkara where the first ever Pyramid was
built also known as the Step Pyramid of King Zoser which
dates back to 2700 BC and is one of the oldest stone
structures in the world. |
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As mentioned earlier the body
was kept in a burial chamber under the ground and it was
taken underground by a deep shaft. Above that there would
be a platform made of mud brick. So there was a burial
chamber, a shaft and mud brick. However, in Sakkara, they
used stones instead of mud brick. They placed the first
step, followed by the second step and then the third step
and it took them almost 4 to 5 years to lay the first few
steps and eventually the step pyramid in Sakkara became
the only Pyramid in Egypt which was constructed with
limestone. All the other kings decided to copy the
structure and style of the necropolis or city of the dead
tomb which was built in Sakkara. It was interesting to find out
why this concept of slanting slopes were created which
eventually formed the pyramid. The purpose was to make the
king unite its body and soul from his deep burial chamber
to rise from the deep shaft below and reach the highest
point in the sky so that it could unite with the sun god
Ra. Similarly, whilst descending down from the heaven to
the earth, the king would come down to the burial shaft
from the top end of the pyramid and hence this peculiar
angle of the pyramid which would act like a staircase.
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As the
interesting facts were being narrated to us, we arrived
at the first Pyramid which belonged to King Cheops which
comprises of 2300000 (two million three thousand) stones
which was counted down by soldiers of Napolean. Each
stone at the foundation or base weighs between 8 and 10
tons- no surprise why it is one of the wonders of the
world! As the pyramid rises, each stone weighs from 2 to
3 tons. The Pyramid of Cheops is supposed to have four
entrances out of which two entrances have been
discovered and the excavators have still not figured out
where the remaining two entrances to the pyramid are.
This Pyramid is amazing as it is the only pyramid which
is constructed in such a way that in order to go down
you have to go up first as it is hollow from the inside.
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When you
go inside the pyramids you will find three chambers and
the third chamber is where the remains of the King were
found. From within the pyramid, there is a passage which
takes you 30 metres below ground level where the
cartouche of the King was found. Till date, no one has
been able to figure out how the stones were transported
from the top to the bottom. It still remains a mystery.
The original height of the pyramid was 147 metres.
However today it is 136 metres in height as over the
years 11 metres were lost from the top because of the
erosion. That is why there is a flat peak to
the pyramid. The second entrance is where
one can go inside the Pyramid.
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However, limited people are allowed to go inside each
day and you have to book a day in advance to go inside
the Pyramid. Near the pyramid, there were three small
pyramids discovered-one for his mother, the second one
for his wife and the third one for his son.
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Over 100000 workers stayed to built the
pyramid and as a dedication to them, they
were allowed to be buried next to the Great
Pyramid where they were given rectangular
tombs where their bodies were buried.
Another interesting fact was that the
Pyramids were built on a higher ground
whereas the city is at a lower level. This
was done to avoid the Nile flooding during
those days which used to happen during
summer. It is said that the Great Pyramid
took almost 30 years to build and the size
is so enormous that within the Pyramid you
have enough room to fit the St Peter's
Basilica of Rome, the St. Paul's and
Westminster Abbey of London as well as the
cathedrals of Florence and Milan, all at the
same time. |
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The Great Pyramid is indeed an architectural marvel
which has survived the passage of time. It is said that
the first pyramid was built with a spiral staircase and
we stayed close to the first pyramid to admire its
magnificence before moving in a south westerly direction
to see the second largest pyramid- the Pyramid of Chephren.
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The
Pyramid of Chephren, though second largest as it is
almost 100 metres shorter than the Great Pyramid,
appears bigger as it is built on a higher ground.
Chephren in fact was the son of the Pharoah Cheops and
was the oldest surviving male descent of Cheops. It was
at the time when the second Pyramid of Chephren was
built which is around 2500 BC that the famous Sphinx was
also carved and the Sphinx is known to be the largest
piece of sculpture ever carved by man. The Ancient
Egyptians recognized the Sphinx to be the sun-god and is
called so as it represents Horus on the Horizon. This
unique sculpture with the body of a lion and face of a
man is 20 metres in length and 73 metres in height.
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We soon moved to the Third
Pyramid- the smallest of the three which is the Pyramid of
Mycerinos - the successor of Chephren. This area is called
the Pyramids complex as all the three pyramids are in the
same manner. The entire area is said to have belonged to
King Chephren which comprises of all the three pyramids as
well as the Sphinx. The Sphinx was built here to be the
guardian of the necropolis or the city of the dead.
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The name Sphinx is derived
from a greek name “shesep-ankh” which means
the living image. The Arab later called the
Sphinx Abu-Al Hol which means the one who
terrifies. The Sphinx itself has its own
interesting history. When the necropolis was
abandoned, the Sphinx got buried in sand
until it was excavated around 1400 BC by
Tutmosis IV - the Eight Pharaoh of the 18th
Dynasty, who fell asleep beneath the giant
head and he dreamt that he would be crowned
King only if he unburied the Sphinx.
However, it was only in 1817 that the
Sphinx's chest was uncovered completely and
the Sphinx was eventually dug out in 1925 |
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Thereafter the restoration work continued intermittently
till 1997 after which the restoration stopped completely
as there was a legend at that time that anyone getting
close to the Sphinx would be totally destroyed. They were
archaeologists who said that and therefore half the Sphinx
is covered in limestone and the remaining half is a solid
block.
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Between
the legs of the lion, there is a red granite which is
roundish shaped which narrates this. The facial
expression of the Sphinx has changed and the long beard
is missing and you will find it in the British Museum in
London. One of the most intriguing questions is that
there were no lions in Egypt. However, the body of the
Sphinx is that of a lion as it signifies strength and
power that a lion possesses and this connects with the
head of the human being which signifies intelligence and
wisdom. So if you put these together - strength, power,
wisdom and intelligence it signifies that you are at the
levels of perfection of humanity and that's what the
Pharaohs thought themselves to be.
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The other
interesting part of the Sphinx is the story of the
missing nose, although you see an adhesive advertisement
here in Mumbai shows the nose is stuck with Fevicol.
However, the nose is missing and there are many stories
to it including one where it was told that the nose was
fired off by a canon ball shot by Napolean's soldiers.
However, it was one of the Islamic fundamentalist who
destroyed the nose and intended to destroy the whole
statue as he wanted to get rid of paganism in Egypt.
There is another interesting mystery about the Sphinx -
if you stand close enough to the Sphinx and stare at the
lips for a few minutes, you will feel the lips of the
Sphinx moving up and down and that is what inspired the
sound and light show at the Pyramids.
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The
highlight for my children was to take a camel ride
around the pyramids and also to enter the Pyramid of
Mycerinos which I wouldn't really advise for those who
are not that energetic. It was my son who had a great
time getting in and out of the Mycerinos pyramids as the
steps which descend into the pyramid and
come out were ideally tailor made for his
height. Most of us had to sweat it out to
enter in and get out of the pyramid as we
had to almost bend nearly 90 degrees and
pass through the narrow passage way. |
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No wonder everyone envied my 3 ½
year old son and to some extent my 7 year old daughter
wishing to be of their height to enjoy the short descend
and ascend into and out of the pyramid. Though frankly,
there isin't much to see except the little adventure
especially for our kids who were wondering and intrigued
to find out what was within these magnanimous
structures. The camel ride thereafter was a great
experience for not only the kids but for me and my
husband too as the saying goes that never let the child
die within you and we all got our last close view of the
pyramids on the camel back. It was one of the enjoyable
highlights of our Pyramid tour that afternoon.
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After
unraveling the mystery of the Pyramids and Sphinx we
headed to a shop called Ani Papyrus which is in Giza to
look at how the famous Papyrus paintings are made. To
tell you more about the Papyrus paintings and our visit
to Aswan you would have to wait for the March issue of
Opportunities Today.
(to be continued…) |
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