Inside the Great Pyramid

The Great Pyramid is the most gigantic piece of architecture in the world. Consider the size and precision with which it was built. Imagine all the unquestioning resources of an entire country at the command of one man. I think that makes Pharaoh Khufu one of most powerful men that ever lived. Powerful men do not always leave lasting monuments. This man and his family left some pretty amazing ones.

The Great Pyramid has an ancient name, it was called "Khufu's Horizon".

The second pyramid was built by Khufu's son, Khafre and was called "Khafre is Great".



I would like to somehow convey the fascination and power I felt when standing on the ground next to these remarkable monuments. While I waited for our turn inside the pyramid to arrive, I thought about time. I heard a saying once: "Men fear time, Time fears the Pyramids". I have read that these monuments were built to outlast all of mankind. Interesting that the ancient Egyptians believed that there would come a time of the end of mankind. A time that only stone could survive. I wonder what brought them to that conclusion?

The white building on the right is the solar boat museum. Pictures on that later.



A couple of notes about the special access passes our tour group was able to get from the government.

As a tour group, we had private access to the Great Pyramid from 11:00am to 1:00pm. No other tourists were allowed in during this time. Our tour leader had also arranged to have the lights turned out from 12:30pm to 12:45pm. We had 15 minutes of total darkness while we sat in the Kings chamber. The acoustics are great by the way.

We also had special passes for private access to the Sphinx for one hour. No one else was allowed in the Sphinx enclosure during our reserved time. It helps when the people in charge have all the right connections. Like anywhere, in Egypt it is about who you know.

Here is Jessamy getting ready to enter the pyramid. She will be climbing down into the subterranean chamber (commonly called 'The Pit'), deep below ground level. She is wearing a headlight as the lighting is poor in the Pit. It is a very tough climb as it is very long and there is no ventilation, so I am not going with her. I will go only to the Queen's chamber and the King's chamber. The passage to the Queen's chamber has to be climbed bent over as it is only about three feet high. About half the climb to the King's chamber is done bent over. Once you reach the Grand Gallery you can stand up.



Here is Jessamy in 'The Pit'. The chamber is unfinished and not well lit.



Jessamy in the Queen's chamber. All our tour members that made the climb into the Pit met up with the rest of us at the Queen's chamber. Those of us that did not go to the Pit were sitting and meditating. The tired climbers took the opportunity to stretch out and get some fresh air. Unlike the Pit, the Queen and King's chambers have ventilation shafts for plenty of fresh air. Actually I think Jessamy was meditating not napping.



This is a shot of the Grand Gallery on the way into the King's chamber. There were lights strung along the way so it was not totally dark, just dim. The climb is fairly steep so the handrails really helped. The ceiling is a corbelled ceiling. That means that each layer of stone for the ceiling sticks out into the room a few inches. This means that the ceiling is very tall and slowly gets very narrow. It can support a great deal of weight though (that is important inside of a stone pyramid).



That small opening in the corner of the room below is the entrance to the King's chamber. I am sure that the king would have approved of everyone having to enter his burial chamber on hands and knees.

As you can see there are no decorations of any kind on the walls, floor or ceiling. The acoustics were great. They were great in the Queen's chamber too.



This is a shot of what is left of the red granite sarcophagus in the King's chamber. It is really very smooth, inside and out. The lid had been missing since antiquity. I was able to climb inside and laid on my back with eyes shut for a while. Jessamy took pictures but I don't have them yet. The sides are about waist high on me (about 2 1/2 feet) and the inside was about 1 foot longer than my 5 foot height. It was fairly narrow, I think a man's shoulders would stretch from side to side. Not much room for fancy coffins and such. Khufu must have been of small stature. The stone is smooth and very pretty with all that red in it.

While we were taking turns inside the sarcophagus some us sang and chanted. Did I mention that the acoustics are great?



Below is a shot looking back at the entrance to the Kings chamber as I was leaving. I had originally thought that being inside would be oppressive (all those many tons of stone piled over your head). I was wrong. I didn't feel that way at all. Maybe part of it was the mystic, part excitement, (My God!! This is me really inside the Kings chamber of the Great Pyramid!!!) But part of what I felt was neither of those, it was a feeling of being centered and grounded. My experience with pyramids is limited and maybe that is the nature of a pyramid.



I am out of steam for now. Next is the Sphinx, solar boats and run-away horses. I did mention the horses didn't I?

Until later,
kate