Tours to the Pyramids of Egypt

Tours to the Pyramids of Egypt

There exists, for Egypt, very standard tours that are offered by practically every tour operator. These are the antiquity tours that last anywhere between about five and fourteen days, and make their way up and down the Nile River, visiting pyramids and other tombs, temples, museums and various other "standard" sites. They are the type of tour that most first time, classical tourists take when they visit Egypt.



Depending on their length, they make their way to most of the important antiquity sites, but whether long or short, all of them include the Giza Plateau, which is understandable. It would be rare indeed for a first time tourist to Egypt not wish to see the Great Pyramids located on the Giza Plateau. After all, they are the most famous man made structures in the world, and have been for thousands of years.

Visitors should be aware that, on any one visit to Egypt, one will not be allowed to go inside all of the Giza Pyramids. Though they may all be easily seen, at any one time, the internal structure of one of the three major pyramids at Giza will be closed to the public for preservation. Furthermore, when it is open, the number of people that can enter the Great Pyramid of Khufu, will be limited to 150 visitors in the morning and an additional 150 in the afternoon (at this point in time). Also, tour operators can no longer purchase the tickets for their group. Each individual tourist who wishes to enter the pyramids at Giza must go to the ticket office and purchase their own, and to be safe, they should go early. The ticket office for the Giza Pyramids opens at 8:30. Furthermore, one should also realize that climbing about inside of the pyramids can be difficult for some. Many of them are not exactly visitor friendly



The amount of time that these tourists spend at Giza, and how many other pyramids they visit in Egypt is a matter of balance between the length of the tour and the other important sites located in Egypt. Relatively short tours will only stay for a very brief time at the Giza Plateau, making a relatively cursory examination of the most major monuments and then they may not visit any other pyramids in Egypt. Slightly longer tours may spend a little more time at the Giza Plateau, but will also make a stop at Saqqara (Sakkara), mainly for a tour of the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser.

Certainly the priorities are probably correct. Everyone who visits Egypt should indeed see the Great Pyramids at the Giza Plateau, and secondly, the Great Step Pyramid of Djoser, since it was the first pyramid built in Egypt and thus the grandfather of them all. In fact, for many casual tourists to Egypt, this may be enough, but for others who have a solid interest in these great monuments, there is more that should be seen.

We would not encourage even enthusiasts to visit all of the pyramids. Many are little more than mounds that look more like small hills than anything made by man. On the other hand, there are also a few other fine examples of pyramids that are very important and even well preserved. The obvious example is another pyramid field, very near Cairo, known as Dahshur. Some of the longer tours do include Dahshur in their itineraries, but for many years this one was not open to the public and many tour operators are only now making it a part of their tours.



Dahshur is important as a link between the first Step Pyramids at Saqqara and the Great, true, smooth sided Pyramids on the Giza Plateau. Of particular importance at Dahshur is the Bent Pyramid and the Red, or North Pyramid. The Bent Pyramid was an early attempt at a smooth sided pyramid that had to be modified because its sides were initially too steep. The Red Pyramid was one of the earliest examples of a true, monumental pyramid. It is almost as large as those on the Giza Plateau, and while it may not have the honor of being the first successful, true pyramid (that honor may belong to Snofru's Pyramid at Meidum), it is by far the better preserved. The Meidum Pyramid was possibly the first true, smooth sided Egyptian pyramid, but its outer casing long ago collapsed, while that of the Red Pyramid is in good condition. Furthermore, the Pyramid at Meidum is relatively out-of-the-way for most tours, while Dahshure is much closer to Cairo, not difficult to visit, and there is more to see in a small area. Dahshur is also not as crowded with tourists as the Giza Plateau or Saqqara, which makes the experience even better, and there is also one additional advantage that makes a visit very worthwhile. The interior of the Red Pyramid is open to tourists, free to visit, and there are no long lines to do so.

But short visits to Giza, and particularly Saqqara, also leave much to be seen. If all one is interested in is pyramids, it is much easier to see all there is to see at Giza in a fairly short period of time, but there are also a number of important early tombs and other structures at Giza that are almost always bypassed. However, there are more pyramids located in a restricted area at Saqqara than at any other place in Egypt. Most of them will not interest many tourists, as they are almost completely ruined, but others beside the Step Pyramid of Djoser have their own particular importance, and are worth seeing. Of particular interest are those of Unas and Teti, dating to the end of the 5th and the very beginning of the 6th Dynasty. Though these pyramids are not as grand as earlier ones, nor are their superstructures as well preserved, they represent another milestone in the development of Egyptian pyramids. Prior to them, the interior walls of the pyramids were uninscribed, but for the first time, we find in these the Pyramid Texts that give us a more complete idea of why Egyptians built pyramids in the first place.

For the true pyramid enthusiasts who really do wish to see more of them, just about every pyramid Egypt has to offer is within a fairly short distance from Cairo. With a tour extension of a few extra days, one could fairly easily visit just about all of the pyramids Egypt has to offer, with the exception of some small step pyramids spread along the Nile and the one lonely royal pyramid of Ahmose at Abydos. There are also several interesting private pyramids in the necropolis of Deir el-Medina which are well worth a visit, but they could easily be seen during most normal tours to the West Bank at Luxor, which is a usual stop on most standard itineraries. In fact, there is no specific charge for visiting these small pyramids.

However, many people, even though they may consider themselves pyramid enthusiasts, may find themselves growing tired of pyramids. There are over one hundred pyramids in Egypt, and while each of them have some importance, for all but an experienced Egyptologist, many of the pyramids will seem very repetitive. We would highly recommend visiting the main fields at the Giza Plateau, Saqqara and Dahshur, but a careful study of which ones to visit at Saqqara and elsewhere should be made prior to arranging a tour.

The Pyramids of Egypt

The Pyramids of Egypt
There are no more famous ancient sites within Egypt, or for that matter elsewhere in the world, than the Great Pyramids at Giza. They are, without question, the icon most associated with the Egypt. They have been both the main destination for tourists, and a source of imaginative thought to the world for over three thousand years.





However, there are actually over 100 pyramids in Egypt, many of which are relatively unknown to anyone who is not an ancient Egypt enthusiast. All but a very few are grouped around and near the City of Cairo, just south of the Nile Delta. Otherwise, only one royal pyramid is known in southern Egypt (at Abydos), that being the one built by Ahmose, founder of the 18th Dynasty and Egypt's New Kingdom.It may have also been the last royal pyramid built in Egypt.





Hence, major pyramids were not built throughout Egypt's ancient history. The Pyramid Age began with a burst of building, starting with the 3rd Dynasty reign of Djoser. Some of the early kings, most specifically Snefru, built more than one pyramid. Almost all of the kings added to their number through the end of the Middle Kingdom, with the possible exception of the First Intermediate Period between the Old and Middle Kingdoms. After the first Pharaoh of Egypt's New Kingdom, Ahmose, royal pyramid building by Egyptians ceased entirely. Somewhat abruptly the kings of the New Kingdom chose, rather than making their tombs completely obvious, to hide them in the hills of the West Bank of Thebes (modern Luxor).





However, smaller pyramids were constructed, for example in the Deir el-Medina necropolis, by private individuals. The Late Period Nubians who ruled Egypt also built relatively small pyramids with much steeper sides, though these were in fact constructed in Nubia itself. This tradition was carried on in Nubia after these southern rulers lost control of Egypt, and eventually, more pyramids were actually built in Nubia than Egypt, though on a much smaller scale.





Other pyramids in the world certainly exist, but their purpose, for the most part, was different than those of ancient Egypt. The most famous outside Egypt are probably those located in Mexico and to the south of Mexico, but these appear to have been built more as temples. In Egypt, all but a select few of the pyramids were built as tombs, sometimes to hold the physical body of a pharaoh (as well as other individuals), or to hold the soul of the deceased (as in the case of the small cult pyramids built next to the larger ones). Otherwise, the purpose of only a few small, regional stepped pyramids remains elusive.





While pyramids were, for the most part, tombs for the Pharaohs of Egypt, one must nevertheless question the reason that Egyptian rulers chose this particular shape, and for that matter, why they built them so large. Today, we believe that they chose the shape in order to mimic the Benben, a pyramid shaped stone found in the earliest of temples, which itself is thought to symbolize the primeval mound from which the Egyptians believed life emerged. This also connected the pyramid to Re, the Sun God, as it was he, according to some of the ancient Egypt mythology, who rose from the primeval mound to create life.





As far the great size of many of the pyramids in Egypt, we can really only surmise that the Pharaohs were making a statement about their own power and perhaps, about the glory and strength of their country. However, it should also be remembered that many of the latter pyramids were not nearly as large as the Great Pyramids at Giza (and elsewhere).





Pyramids evolved. The first of them was not a perfectly formed pyramid. In fact, the first Pyramid we believe that was built in Egypt, that of Djoser, was not a true pyramid at all with smooth sides and a point at the top. Rather, its sides were stepped, and the top of the pyramid truncated with a flat surface (as best we know). As the Egyptian pyramids evolved, there were failures as well glorious failures until finally, they got it right with what was probably the first smooth sided true pyramid built at Meidum. In fact, pyramids continued to evolve throughout their history, perhaps not always in outward appearances, but in the way that they were built and in the theology surrounding their construction. For example, towards the latter part of Egypt's Pyramid Age, Osirian beliefs seem to have had more and more impact on the arrangement and layout of the subterranean chambers.





However, soon after the first pyramids were built, their form became somewhat standardized. Royal pyramid complexes included the main pyramid, a courtyard surrounding the main pyramid, a much smaller cult pyramid for the king's soul, a mortuary temple situated next to the main pyramid, an enclosure wall and a causeway that led down to a valley temple. Some pyramid complexes included subsidiary, smaller pyramids for family members, and most were surrounded by some sort of tombs for family members.





Our thinking on pyramids has evolved considerably over the years. Many of us who are a bit older were taught that the pyramids were built using Jewish slave labor, which is a fabrication of immense proportions. Most of the pyramids were built long before the Jews made their appearance historically and currently, many if not most scholars believe they were not built using slave labor at all (or perhaps a nominal number of slaves).





Otherwise, we can also dismiss offhand alternative theories related to aliens or some lost culture being responsible for pyramid building. There is just far too much evidence, including tools, drawings, evolutionary changes, and even worker villages that rule these farfetched ideas obsolete.





However, some mysteries remain, even in some of the best well known Pyramids. The most famous of them all, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, continues, year after year, to give up a few more secrets, and there doubtless remains much to learn from these Egyptian treasures. There may even be one or more pyramids yet to be discovered.