Southwest Asia and North Africa
Today I will be visiting two sites in North Africa. I will be spending the day in Cairo, Egypt. Cairo is the capital of Egypt and is the largest city in the Arab world. Cairo is the home to 21 million people.
Site 1 – Our first stop in Cairo was the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Great Pyramid of Giza is known to be the oldest and largest of the pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex. This pyramid is also known to be called the Pyramid of Khufu. It borders present-day Giza located in Greater Cairo. Out of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and is also the last one to remain together. According to Egyptologists, the pyramid took twenty years to build and was built as a tomb for a pharaoh by the name Khufu. It is predicted that the pyramid was built in the 26th century BC. The pyramid is about 480 feet tall and nearly 750 feet long. It is constructed from two million pieces of granite and limestone. While visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza, we were able to ride around the pyramids on the back of camels.
Site 2 - Site 2 – Our second stop near Cairo is the Great Sphinx. It is located to the south of Pharaoh Khafre pyramid and sits on the west bank of the Nile River. The Sphinx is sculpture made out of stone and resembles a creature with a human head and a lion's body. It is one of the greatest monumental sculptures in the ancient world. The body of this sculpture is 200 feet long and 65 feet tall. The face is 13 feet wide. From archaeological and geological research, it shows that the Spinx is older than the 4th Dynasty and was restored by Khafre. The word Sphinx means strangler, but the purpose of the sculpture remains unknown. Archaeologists believe that the sculpture was either built as a memorial to a Pharaoh or resembles a guardian of God. Today, the statue is slowly eroding due to wind, humidity, and the smog from Cairo.
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