Egypt 2009: Day 2, Part 2

Just outside the Tomb of Hemon

Just arrived and ready to tackle the Pyramids.

Notice the little graves. Over to the left is the Pyramid of Khafre and to the right is Khufu. The Tomb of Hemon is to out right, off picture.

So just off the Khufu pyramid are these little, what I presume are, tombs and graves and just outside the door of a much larger building called the Tomb of Hemon, stands a guard. So we take a look around and follow some people in, the guard gives me the stern "no photography" and I make a mental note to make sure no one is around me when I do. I get the no-photography of paintings, light damages them... but stone? Their photography rules are draconian around the Giza pyramids, no tripods either... which I'll get to later.

Anyway, there they are. The real deal. Hieroglyphics carded into the walls, none of which I understand but wished I did. I snapped a few photos, knowing that it would probably look like crap with the flash. But still, I mean, Hieroglyphics, you gotta get a picture of them, right?

I really have no idea what's going on in this picture, but it was the biggest drawing so it seemed best for photographing. A tour guide later told us they would put pictures of animals to be eaten in the after life on the walls, I presume this is what's going on here.

There was a little wooden ramp off to the side and it looked like it was meant to be climbed on, so naturally, we did. It took us up onto a platform, dimly lit by electric lights tied to extension cords. There's a 3-4 foot wall jut ahead, and poking out of the top were the two poles of a ladder.

"Wow... you can go down there?" I said and looked over the edge and down the rickety ladder at a good 8 foot drop. "I'm going."

I later found out that this particular shape of the stone was the sign that someone was buried behind this part of the wall. It was designed this way to allow the movement of the person's ka or spirit.

And there you get a sense of the color of the tomb... and James.

So I climbed down this ladder into a reasonably large room, lots of Hieroglyphics from the floor to the ceiling. I started taking pictures and checking the place out, James got his eye full and headed back up the ladder. Then he gave me the warning that the guard was coming. I wasn't entirely sure what would happen if I got busted taking pictures where I shouldn't but I didn't really want to find out. So I stashed the camera back int he bag and started the ascent out of the room. The guard pointed some stuff out, nothing of real consequence, and showed us the matching hieroglyphic symbols to some letters. Then, not surprisingly, asked us for a tip on our way out. For our money, he let me take a photo of the room. Yippee.

So then, upon exit, we found our driver and he took us over to the distant hill where you get a nice view of all three pyramids. I casually avoided the Bedouins and took to the wall which seemed the best place to take photos and also the most desolate. I had my tripod with me and it made me nervous to leave it standing there while I posed for a photo. I snapped a few and took an adventurous pose, one foot on the wall with my backpack slung over my shoulders and the pyramids of Egypt in the distance. It's one of my favorites from the trip.

From left to right: Khufu's Pyramid or the Great Pyramid, Khafre Pyramid and Menkaures Pyramid (the red granite one).

From the hill in the far back, we had started on the opposite side of Khufu's Pyramid (the one without the stonework on top)... good thing we took the car.

Love this photo.

After that, we hit the small pyramid of Menkaure. Though it was tiny in comparison with the two giants next to it, when it originally stood it gleamed red from the red granite that provided the finish layer of stone. Upon seeing the red stones (which my pictures don't convey so well), tumbled and on their sides at the base of the pyramid, I recalled the what I had read in Paul Johnson's The Civilization of Ancient Egypt; mentioning its uniqueness in contrast with the other Pyramids of Egypt.

Not surprisingly, the armed guard at the base of the pyramid offered to take our photo for us.. for an unmentioned fee. I counteroffered to take his picture with James at the pyramid, you know, cause he had that awesome assault rifle in his hands. Despite my continued requests, he politely declined.

The stone in the foreground is red granite, though the photos don't show it so well. Beyond it you can see the underlying stone structure that the red granite would have been positioned on.