Necropolis of Saqqara

We awoke a little before our 6 am alarm and prepared for breakfast and the visits of the day. We met Cindy and Mark in the dining room of the Steigenberger Hotel. I enjoyed the assortment of middle eastern breads and condiments as well as the fresh local citrus and melon.

Entering the Pyramid of Teti

We boarded the bus at 8 am and drove to Dahshur, a major necropolis of the Old Kingdom. This area holds some of the oldest pyramids going back as far as 2600 BC. We first visited the Pyramid of Teti which is in the necropolis of Saqqara. The pyramid is believed to have been constructed in the 6^th Dynasty and was about 172 feet tall. However, there has been a great deal of erosion giving the pyramid the appearance of a pile of rocks in the desert. We entered the pyramid by walking down a steep and narrow ramp that was less than four feet high. The ramp was about 70 feet long and was sharply sloped downward to the floor of the pyramid. 

Stars on the tomb ceiling

After entering we were in a small chamber that opened into the burial chamber that had a much higher ceiling with hundreds of stars. The empty sarcophagus was still in the room, but this solid stone box had been opened by grave robbers many years ago.  Although the exterior of the pyramid is in poor condition, the paintings and hieroglyphics are in excellent condition.

Well preserved hieroglyphs 

From there we went the short distance to a mastaba tomb that was a bench tomb mostly above ground.  This type of burial predated pyramids and was used in the Old Kingdom around 3000 BC.  There were many panels on the walls that depicted daily life in the area at that time. We were amazed at the number and quality of carvings on the walls; some of those panels were carved into the plaster that was coated on the rock walls. Especially impressive to us were the depictions of Nile animals. There were carvings of all manner of fish, hippos, crocodiles, birds and other life forms on the anime valley. We learned that the ancient Egyptians always made people look more perfect than in actual life. Stylized figures were all slim, muscular and fair featured. The carved figures in this tomb were so detailed that the muscles in the legs, detailed nails on hands and feet and hair or wigs. Many of the figures still had a great deal of the pigments that were originally applied when the tomb was constructed about 5000 years ago.

Step pyramid of Djoser

We then went to the nearby Pyramid of Djoser, a step pyramid which predated the traditional pyramids. Prior to the step pyramids, rulers were buried in simple above ground bench structures. Pharaoh Djoser instructed his architect, Imhotep to build a tomb that was unique and greater than the bench tombs. Imhotep proposed a series of six steps that would be a stairway to heaven for his spirit. This pyramid was constructed in 27^th Century BC during the Old Kingdom, 3^rd Dynasty.

Bent Pyramid of Sneferu

From there we went to the Bent Pyramid which, in 2600 BC, was the first attempt in constructing a pyramid with smooth sides in which the steps were covered. Pharaoh Sneferu wanted the sides of the pyramid to be at a 54-degree angle but when the pyramid was about half completed, the instability and developing structure damage was noticed. At that time, the rest of the pyramid was built at 44 degrees giving the structure a bent appearance. Because the pyramid wasn’t perfect, the king ordered another pyramid, the red pyramid, to be built nearby that has 44-degree sides throughout.

We had time to walk around these pyramids and take photos. Since there was nothing to see in any of these pyramids, we chose to not go into either pyramid. We had seen the interior and burial chambers of other pyramids with well-preserved arts and sarcophagus. There were not many tourists here since we were not at the height of the tourist season.

Road Scholars at Pyramid of Djoser

We finished the day by touring the Imhotep Museum which has only been open since 2006 showing artifacts that Imhotep influenced. We were so impressed with the state of preservation of the wooden and plaster items. Since there is so little rain and groundwater, things don’t tend to degrade like in most areas of the US. Imhotep was very skilled in many areas but is best known for his architecture and engineering.

Necropolis of Saqqara

We went to the Saqqara Necropolis which was built perfectly symmetrically. We walked down the entrance with 11 columns on each side to a large courtyard. The legend was that a new ruler had to enter the courtyard with a bull and run the bull down and capture it to prove his strength.

Photobombed

While in the courtyard Mary was taking my photograph when a flock of Egyptian men in traditional clothing jumped into the photo then insisted on a tip for having their picture taken. These people are very skilled at getting money from tourists.

We drove back toward the Steigenberger Hotel in Cairo and stopped for lunch at a small local restaurant, El Ezba. When we entered, we walked passed women making pita breads and singing in the traditional ululation style. The pita breads were inflated to the size of footballs and nicely toasted.

At the restaurant we had an appetizer of pita bread with tahini, baba ganoush and eggplant salad. The main course was a small charcoal grill with beef and chicken all nicely seasoned. There was also rice and small bowls of very good stewed vegetables. We had an assortment of traditional Egyptian confections for dessert.

Ululation and making pitas

A number of cats were around the restaurant that were looking for scraps of food. They looked pretty rough, like they seldom get a decent meal. There was also a small boy with a pony who was offering tourists to ride or take a photo with the pony for a tip. Like many public places, a child was in the restroom area offering toilet paper for a tip.

We got back to the hotel by about 3 pm so we went out for our usual afternoon walk. The main road was very noisy with auto traffic and motorists blowing horns. We decided to get off the main road and walk through the residential area which was a lot more pleasant. We saw a few people out walking or working in the yard. There were still a lot of feral dogs out in the streets. These dogs are not very friendly and often carry diseases. We didn’t approach any of the dogs, but when I pointed to one, he assumed a hostile posture and began barking.

After our walk, we cleaned up for the evening speaker and dinner. We went to a nice meeting room in the adjacent hotel and heard a teacher from one of the Cairo International Schools educating us on Islam. She did a nice job of explaining the origin of Islam and the fundamental beliefs. She closed by discussing the beliefs held by most Christians that Muslims do not respect women and are terrorists.

She said that the Quran dictates the equal rights of women and the ability of own and inherit property, to choose a mate and to become educated and employed. She said that some Muslim cultures take measures that go beyond the stipulations of church law. For example, the Quran instructs women to dress modestly. The women who wear the veils are trying to exceed the requirements of the church law and to hopefully get a better place in heaven. Like many religions, women are required to wear a head covering when entering a mosque or other holy place.

She cited verses in the Quran that run counter to many preconceptions about terrorism indicating that ISIS and other extremists are not following the Quran’s commands to treat all cultures as valuable and to not kill another human. It was all very informative. The Q & A following the talk started to drag, so we excused ourselves to dinner and had a nice meal from the buffet consisting of Egyptian meals. We wanted to get to bed early since we needed to have our luggage our for the porters before 6:30 am. We will be leaving the Steigenberger Hotel in Cairo and heading toward Alexandria.