Giza and Dahshur Pyramids

The landscape is so impressive that is hardly to realize that they are real. Everything went well the first day I was so happy to finally be able to admire something so great such as the Pyramids of Giza.
Having an original idea for a good photo has not been easy. The images and photos of the pyramids of Giza are available throughout the world as thousands. How to take a shot?

After the first day in Giza we moved to visit another famous group of pyramids in the Dashour desert .

Here something strange happened, a very strange experience and not a pleasant one inside the Red Pyramid, the pyramid smooth and not stepped, the third pyramid of Egypt, second in size only to the Pyramids of Giza.
Once out of the Red Pyramid I literally crushed, I started feeling really bad, my blood pressure dropped to a minimum, hands and nose have grown cold in the desert.
It was as if something had sucked in a few minutes all my energy.

I was barely able to leave the corridor inside the Red Pyramid when my stomach started to throw everything out, I continued to vomit all the day on the bus.
I do not suffer bus or travels, this kind of thing never happened in my previous trips, even in the jungle of Southeast Asia.
I was collapsed, and as you can see the photos are not certainly many.

After an endless journey on the bus it took me more than twelve hours at the hotel to recover, and yet I have no idea what happened.
Fortunately after this collapse the rest of the trip was great.

The Necropolis of Giza Pyramids stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 km inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km southwest of Cairo city centre.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops)the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west, and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west, along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as ‘Queens’ pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.

The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials (from the New Kingdom onwards).

Only Menkaure’s Pyramid is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing, with Khafre’s Pyramid retaining a prominent display of casing stones at its apex, while Khufu’s Pyramid maintains a more limited collection at its base.
Khafre’s Pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction, by fact is smaller in both height and volume.

The most active phase of construction here was in the 25th century B.C..

Due largely to 19th-century images, the pyramids of Giza are generally thought as lying in a remote desert location, even though they are located in what is now part of the most populous city in Africa. In fact, urban development reaches right up to the perimeter of the archaeological site.

Robert M. Schoch, associate professor of natural science at Boston University concluded from his investigation that the main type of weathering evident on the Sphinx could only have been caused by prolonged and extensive rain.
According to Schoch, the area has experienced a mean annual rainfall of approximately 2.5 cm since the Old Kingdom (2686–2134 B.C..), and since Egypt’s last period of significant rainfall ended between the late fourth and early third millennia he dates the Sphinx’s construction to the sixth or fifth millennia B.C..
Most Egyptologists do not accept Schoch’s Theory, they propose alternative explanations for the evidence like aeolian processes, acid rain, exfoliation, thermal expansion, and the poor quality limestone of the Sphinx.
The chief proponents of the Schoch’s theory have refuted these alternative explanations. They have noted for example the entrances of the tombs have weathered so lightly that original chisel marks are still clearly visible. Any of the proposed alternative causes of erosion would have also damaged the tomb entrances. Schoch points out that any alternative explanations do not explain the absence of similar weathering patterns on other rock surfaces in the complex.

The Pyramid of Djoser, built when Menfi was the Egypt’s capital more then 3000 years ago by Imhotep the famous architect. The complex includes also the Pyramid of Merykare, the Pyramid of Userkaf and the Pyramid of Teti.
Saqqara is also the location of the incomplete step pyramid of Djoser’s successor Sekhemkhet, known as the Buried Pyramid. Archaeologists believe that had this pyramid been completed it would have been larger than Djoser’s, but crashed.

The Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Shepseskaf either did not share an interest in, or have the capacity to undertake pyramid construction like his predecessors. His tomb, which is also sited at south Saqqara was instead built as an unusually large mastaba and offering temple complex. It is commonly known as the Mastaba of Pharaoh.
South of the main pyramid field at Saqqara there are smaller pyramids: Pepi I, Isesi, Merenre, Ibi and Pepi II.
Most of these are in a poor state of preservation.

Dashour area is arguably the most important pyramid field in Egypt outside Giza and Saqqara, although until 1996 the site was inaccessible due to its location within a military base, and was relatively unknown outside archaeological circles.

The Meidum Pyramid is one of three constructed during the reign of Sneferu, and is believed by some to have been started by that pharaoh’s father and predecessor, Huni. However, that attribution is uncertain, as no record of Huni’s name has been found at the site.
It was constructed as a step pyramid, and then later converted into smooth-sided pyramid when the steps were filled in, and an outer casing added. The pyramid suffered several catastrophic collapses in ancient and mediaeval times.
The hill on which the pyramid is situated is not a natural landscape feature, it is the small mountain of debris created when the lower courses and outer casing of the pyramid gave way.

The Bent Pyramid is also located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, 40 kilometres south of Cairo, and is a unique example of early pyramid development in Egypt, about 2596 B.C..
The lower part of the pyramid rises from the desert at a 55-degree inclination, but the top section is built at the shallower angle of 43 degrees, lending the pyramid its very obvious appearance.
It has been suggested that due to the steepness of the original angle of inclination the structure may have begun to show signs of instability during construction, forcing the builders to adopt a shallower angle to avert the structure’s collapse.

This theory appears to be borne out by the fact that the adjacent Red Pyramid, built immediately afterwards by the same Pharaoh, was constructed at an angle of 43 degrees from its base.

The Red Pyramid is the world’s first successfully completed smooth-sided pyramid. The structure is also the third largest pyramid in Egypt, after the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre at Giza.
The Red Pyramid, also called the North Pyramid is the largest of the three major pyramids located at the Dahshur necropolis.
At the time of its completion, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world.
The pyramid was not always red, it was covered with white Tura limestone, few of these rocks remain today at the pyramid’s base on the corner. During the Middle Ages much of white Tura limestone was taken for buildings in Cairo, revealing the reddish pinkish limestone of the blocks inside.

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