January 10, 2026

Giza (Cairo), Egypt and the Giza Plateau

Good morning. We have a full day of activities today. The itinerary calls for a 09:00 pickup and ride to the pyramids, and lunch at the 9 Pyramids Lounge on the Giza Plateau with views of the nine pyramids. The Giza Plateau is a large limestone plateau just outside of Giza (Cairo) which has the most recognizable iconic monuments of the ancient civilization. It is located on the west bank of the Nile.

For centuries the people in the area lived on the east bank of the Nile, while the west bank was unused. In ancient civilizations or the ancient religion, the east is where the sun rose and thus when life began, and west is where the sunset and thus where life ended and the afterlife began.

Now, an interesting fact, or set of facts. Native rule in Egypt covers the period from about 3,100 BCE to 343 BCE. This is the period from when the upper and lover Egypt were united until the Ptolemaic Dynasty ended native rule. All of this is divided into thirty dynasties.

• Early Dynastic Period (1st–2nd Dynasties): Unification of Upper & Lower Egypt.

• Old Kingdom (3rd–6th Dynasties): Era of pyramid building.

• First Intermediate Period (7th–10th Dynasties): Decentralization.

• Middle Kingdom (11th–12th Dynasties): Reunification and cultural flourishing.

• Second Intermediate Period (13th–17th Dynasties): Hyksos rule in the North.

• New Kingdom (18th–20th Dynasties): Imperial expansion (e.g., Tutankhamun, Ramesses).

• Third Intermediate Period (21st–25th Dynasties): Division and foreign rule (Libyan, Nubian).

• Late Period (26th–31st Dynasties): Saite Renaissance (26th), Persian conquests (27th, 31st), and the final native Thirtieth Dynasty (30th). 

The interesting part of all of this is that the Giza Plateau served as a royal necropolis for only the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. This isn’t therefor a good representative of ancient Egypt. However, it has become the symbol of Egypt.

Here on the Giza Plateau there are the three main pyramids. Supposedly constructed between 2600 and 2500 BC. It is supposedly because there is no tangible evidence as to when these structures were built. They were used as tombs and to house the spirits (ka) of the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty, but were they built specifically for those pharaohs or did they “repurpose” an existing structure as a tomb?

The three pyramids of the Giza Plateau are: 1) The Great Pyramid of Giza, The largest and oldest of the three, originally standing at 147 meters (481 feet). It remained the world's tallest human-made structure for over 3,800 years. 2) Pyramid of Khafre, which appears taller than the Great Pyramid because it sits on higher ground, though it is slightly smaller. It is the only pyramid that retains a portion of its original polished limestone casing at the peak. 3) Pyramid of Menkaure, The smallest of the three major pyramids, reaching a height of roughly 66 meters (218 feet).

These are the obvious structures simply due to their size. However, this is also the location of the the Great Sphinx: A colossal statue with the body of a lion and the head of a human, believed to represent Pharaoh Khafre. There are several smaller "Queens' Pyramids" and a number of mastaba tombs for the lowe ranking members of a royal family and high-ranking officials. There is also the remains of a town that housed the skilled laborers who built the complex, debunking the myth that the pyramids were built by slaves.

We have visited many different UNESCO World Heritage sites. There is generally one thing in common, that is photos, maps and descriptions can’t or don’t give one the sense of the grandeur of the site. Seen many photos of the pyramids. They look amazing. But, standing at the base of the pyramid and looking up, or looking out over the plateau at the nine different pyramids, and at the same time understanding these represent only a small collection of the tombs here changes one's sense of wonder.

In theory this place was only used for 100 or so years. During one of thirty dynasties. There are a lot of theories about this place. When was it really built? By whom? But all of that really doesn’t matter. We will probably never no in a definitive manner the answer to any of those questions. We do know that it was used for burials during the 4th dynasty.

The area has been completely modernized to handle the tourism which is attracted here. Everything is now strictly controlled. They use electric buses to get people around the site, yes it is too big to just walk around. Yes, they have camel rides, although unlike Mike’s experience, they are strictly controlled and fix priced. 1,000 Egyptian pounds for one hour (about $21). There are vendors of every type, and you can buy as much tourist junk as you want.

We had lunch at the 9 Pyramids Lounge which is on a high outcropping over looking the nine pyramids, sphinx and the temple complex. It was an interesting lunch as we are all trying to eat “local”. V got what was called the mixed grill. This was a plate with several types of meat served with rice. Mary chose the veal & orzo tajine. This tajine is different from the Moroccan tajine. This is basically a thick soup. I chose molokhia with chicken and rice. Molokhia or Mulukhiyah is a leafy green vegetable which is also known a jute mallow or formally as corchorus olitorius. It’s leaves are used to make this popular, iconic soup. It’s as an earthy flavor and is slightly slimy, it reminded me of spinach. You each by taking apiece of bread and making a small pocket and scooping up the soup into the pocket (spoons are for foreigners). It was all interesting and tasty. I am not sure I would make molokhia a regular part of my diet, but I wouldn’t avoid it either.

After lunch we got back on the bus and headed to the visitor’s center to meet up with Ahmed our driver. He then took us to the just opened, two months ago, Grand Egyptian Museum which is located on the edge of the plateau. The Grand Egyptian Museum is enormous. It covers about 500,000 square meters (5,400,000 square feet). It is the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization. Measuring is difficult because you need a single metric and there isn’t one. Do you use square feet, or number of artifacts? Here there are 100,000 artifacts on display, included the entire King Tutankhamun collection (which is being shown for the first time in a single space).

We saw so many things, yet so little of the Grand Museum. We did learn about the three pillars of life for the ancient Egyptians. Face, name, and faith. It is important for people to remember your face – thus all the statues. Your name is written on nearly everything in the form of a cartouche. Again, these are everywhere. Faith, that you will go to the afterlife, thus mummification. And the afterlife, having all those things you will need in your afterlife with you, thus the elaborate burials.

We did see the “hanging obelisk” belonging to Ramses II in front of the Grand Egyptian Museum. The obelisk is elevated on four columns right at the main entrance which allows visitors to see Ramses name on the bottom of the obelisk. Normally not something you get to see. However, it is done this way to display the fact his name is written on the bottom of the obelisk, where it was assumed, his enemies would not be able to erase it. The obelisk is 16-meters-tall and weighs between 87-100 tons. This is the best example of how important your name was.

In the movie Moses, Seti upon learning that Moses is the chosen one, orders his name to be removed from all the pylons and moments in Egypt. This goes back to the importance of the name. It was significant, but now it takes on more meaning.

We took in the new King Tutankhamen exhibit. We didn’t see all of it, but we did see his golden mask, and elaborate nested coffin setup. It was really interesting. There is a lot to see here. We were her maybe two or two-and-a-half hours. You could spend months here and see very little of the museum's collection.

We got back to the hotel where Mary and I went to the burger bar in the hotel. Just mozzarella sticks and drink. Then it was off to bed.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria