A journey along many pyramids and other
nice places of interest. |
Day 4, saturday 2 december 2017.
Program today: The pyramids at Dahshur and Saqqara part 1.
After a somewhat restless night, it took some getting used to the passing traffic in Giza, the hotel is on the Haramstreet which is the main road here and even in the night it is still busy with honking cars. The delicious, extensive breakfast, however made you forget this soon.
Time to leave for Dahshur in the hope that we can now also go to the "Black Pyramid", something that was not allowed in 2012.
Dahshur is a royal necropolis located on the west bank of the Nile about 40 km south of Cairo, it is best known for its pyramids including two of the oldest, largest and best preserved in Egypt, built between 2613 and 2589 BC.
The Red Pyramid, also known as the North Pyramid, is the largest of the 3 pyramids in the necropolis of Dahshur. It is also the third largest in Egypt, only that of Khufu and of Chafra at Giza are larger.
The Red Pyramid is the third pyramid built by pharaoh Sneferu, located about 1 km north of the Bent pyramid. It is thought that construction started during the thirtieth year of Sneferu's reign.
| Click on the picture to see more of the Red pyramid. |
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If you have not had enough of it or would you like to compare the photos with those I made in 2012, click here.
It remains fun even though I was here for the second time, it is and stay's special. Well, time for a next known, the Bent pyramid.
The Bent pyramid is the second pyramid built by Pharaoh Snofroe, the original dimensions were about 105 meters high with sides of ± 190 meters, the sides initially have an angle of 54 degrees and then go above 47 meters at an angle of 43 degrees, resulting in the shape from which the pyramid derives its name.
Archaeologists now think that this pyramid is a transitional form between the step pyramid and pyramids with 'smooth sides'.
The satellite pyramid, formerly first regarded as the queen pyramid, but nowadays it is considered a structure to house the ka of the pharaoh, is also beautiful to see.
It is only a pity that both pyramids are still not accessible to the public.
| Click on the picture to see more of the Bent pyramid. |
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Well that was again a nice reunion with this awesome structure, on to the first meeting with the "Black Pyramid" of Amenemhat III, at least if we were allowed to go there.........
According to the guards at the Red Pyramid, the Black Pyramid was closed, but in view of previous experiences we decided to try it and after having asked various local residents, we finally ended up at the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III.
By car you come to about 300 meters away and the rest you have to do on foot, but that may not be a problem.
This pyramid from the Middle Kingdom to be precise the twelfth dynasty is, just like its contemporaries in Hawara and El-Lahun, heavily subjected to erosion and I hope that the authorities will soon do something to preserve this magnificent structure for the future.
| Click on the picture to see more of the Black pyramid. |
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Completely incomprehensible that here is nothing done here to protect this beautiful magnificent heritage, hopefully one sees the light soon enough before it is too late.
All in all it was again a wonderful experience to have been here, on to Saqqara because the pyramid of Unas is now open to the public again, in contrast to 2012, I'm very curious.
Sakkara once served as the necropolis for the kings and dignitaries who resided in Memphis, the old capital.
There are several pyramids, including the famous step pyramid of Djoser as well as many tombs and mastabas.
If you are here, you should spend at least two days on your visit because otherwise you do not have enough time to view everything properly.
Compared with 2012, a lot of new tombs are opened to view such as the "New Kingdom Tombs" and the "Bubasteion".
If you want to see the inside of the pyramid of Unas, do it in the morning because this pyramid is only open between 8 and 12 o'clock, something I was to late aware of and so I had to come back the next day, which ofcourse was no problem for me in this case, but when you have to leave the next day it could be a problem.
| Map of the necropolis of Saqqara, courtesy of Osirisnet. |
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Do not forget if you would like to take photos to buy the special ticket for this, because then you can shoot and film almost anywhere.
First of all, we visited the tombs from the New Kingdom which were recently opened to the public.
We visited in succession the tombs of Maya, Tia, Horemheb, MaryNeith, and Pay and Raia. Especially the tomb of Maya is beautifully decorated, even fascinating.
Do not forget to buy the separate ticket you need to take a look here, because without that ticket you have no chance. When we were there, several tourists were sent away because they did not have a ticket.
| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Maya. |
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| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Tia. |
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| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Horemheb. |
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| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of MaryNeith. |
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| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Pay and Raia. |
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Great, I'm glad I bought a ticket to see these tombs from the New Kingdom, all thanks to the good preparations of my tour guide Olette from "Horusreizen Egypt", outstanding.
After all this beauty it was the intention to view the pyramid of Unas from inside, however when I arrived there it was already closed and we heard that it was only open until 12 o'clock.
All right, then I just take a walk around it and tomorrow I'll take a look inside.
Pyramid of Unas (outside). |
The pyramid of the last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty Unas is the first pyramid with the Pyramid Texts on the walls of the chambers.
The pyramid also has one of the longest causeway's of Egypt, about 720 meters.
| Click on the picture to see more of the pyramid of Unas. |
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Unas, see you again tomorrow.
Mastaba of Niankhkhunm and Khumhotep. |
Now we go through the causeway towards the mastaba of Niankhkhunm and Khumhotep, they were royal servants. They shared the title of "Guardian of Manicures" in the palace of pharaoh Nioeserre, the sixth pharaoh of the fifth dynasty.
They are buried together and are listed as "royal confidants" in their collective tomb.
The mastaba still has large pieces that are nicely decorated.
| Click on the picture to see more of the mastaba of Niankhkhunm and Khumhotep. |
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Tomb of Irukapta and Neferherenptah. |
The next tomb that I will visit is the one of Irukapta and Neferherenptah. It is part of a group of 11 funerals, discovered and searched in 1940 by Abd el-salam Mohammed Hussein.
| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Irukapta and Neferherenptah. |
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Gorgeous those beautiful statues. So now it's time to pay a visit to Djoser.
The pyramid of Djoser, is now world famous so I do not have to tell you much about it.
The pyramid of Djoser, pharaoh of the third dynasty is the first ever built for as far as we know, is rightly called Steppyramid, situated within a large enclosed funeral complex and originally intended as a large mastaba.
Nowadays people are busy with restoration work, which unfortunately do not benefit the appearance, but they are very necessary if we want to keep this monument for future generations.
Strange actually that there is enthusiasm in Sakkara to protect the heritage in relation to the other places that I visited this week.
| Click on the picture to see more of the pyramid of Djoser. |
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If you also want to see the photos I've made in 2012, click here.
It's great to be able to view all those gigantic monuments in person.
In the meantime we quickly headed for the tomb of Ptahhotep and his son, with a short stop at the pyramid of Userkaf.
Unfortunately, this pyramid is not accessible to the public and it is a bit neglected so it seems, but this pyramid also has its charm.
Userkaf is the founder of the 5th Dynasty of Egypt. The mother of Oeserkaf is known under the name Queen Neferhetepes, but his father is not known. Yet Oeserkaf was a grandson of Djedefre.
| Click on the picture to see more of the pyramid of Userkaf. |
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After this short stop, on to the tomb of Ptahhotep and his son Akhethotep, so far known the only tomb in which both the father and the son are buried.
Tomb of Ptahhotep and Akhethotep. |
Ptahhotep was the vizier during the government of Djedkare during the fifth dynasty.
He later became the author of a total of 37 life-rule systems, which are regarded as the oldest fully preserved wisdom doctrine and gave him the nickname the sage.
A copy of this maxim of Ptahhotep, the Papyrus Prisse, is in the Bibliothèque national de France. The doctrine in the remaining versions dates from the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.
| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Ptahhotep. |
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So having seen this tomb was also nice , now on to the nearby Serapeum.
The Serapeum of Sakkara is located northwest of the pyramid of Djoser. It was a cemetery of the Apis bulls, which were incarnations of the god Ptah.
It was believed that the bulls became immortal after death, just like Osiris-Apis, an abbreviated name for Serapis in Hellenistic times.
The oldest funerals found on this site date back to the reign of Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty.
The temple was discovered in 1850 by Auguste Mariette, he found one intact grave, which is now in the agricultural museum in Cairo. The other 24 sarcophagi were robbed empty.
| Click on the picture to see more of the Serapeum. |
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Fun, special and interesting to have seen this.
The guard is enthousiastic, because he takes me directly to the nearby tomb of Ty, I guess it has something to do with the tip, haha.
The tomb or mastaba was built during the fifth dynasty as a grave for the Egyptian official Ty.
Ty held numerous senior offices, such as, for example, administrative and priest functions in the Solar Sanctuaries of Sahoere, of Neferirkare and of Neferefre.
He bore titles like "Only Friend of the King" or "First Court Barber". Who gave him permission to build a large mastaba for himself on the necropolis of Sakkara, something that was considered a great privelege. Auguste Mariette discovered this mastaba in 1865.
| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Ty. |
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Good, this nice tomb we have seen, again one less on my "to do list".
Meanwhile, Olette and our driver have been talking to someone who said that he could make sure that we could get to the pyramids of Pepi I and Pepi II tomorrow, but on a camel.
The local police had previously told us that these pyramids were closed to the public and then you have to try to follow other paths.
Because time was short, it was 1600 hours and we were told that the site would close, we quickly gave our phone number to the camel guy so that he could give us call when he had arranged it and we could talk about the price.
Because we thought it was rather strange that we had to leave the site at 4 pm, we complained by the ticket office because we also had tickets for the Mereruka tomb, there they were happy to help and said that we could visit it for a while. Later on it turned out that they said to close at 4 o'clock in order to have at the real closing time of 5 o'clock all the tourists out.
Mereruka served at the sixth dynasty as one of the most powerful officials at a time when the influence of the nobles grew in wealth and power.
Mereruka had numerous titles together with those of visor, which made him the most powerful person in Egypt after the king himself.
Some of his other titles include "Inspector of the priests attached to the pyramid of Teti", "Gouveneur of the palace", "Chief lecturer priest", "Supervisor of the royal writers" and "Leader of all works of the king" .
| Click on the picture to see more of the tomb of Mereroeka. |
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Beautiful tomb to view.
Well for today it is over and I think I've, seen enough beautiful things, tomorrow morning again to the pyramid of Unas and Teti to view them inside to view and to honour the Bubasteion with a visit.
Arriving at the exit of the complex one had apparently heard of our interest in the pyramids of Pepi I and Pepi II and we were told that it is closed and that you need a 4WD to get there.
Another agent was meanwhile talking to our driver and it turned out that he was free tomorrow and could bring us, we only had to call him tomorrow, in other words if we don't hear from the camel guy and we can not find it ourselves, we had an alternative.
Meanwhile, the counter stood in terms of number of pyramids on 12, by which I have already counted the one of Unas.
See you tomorrow.
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