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Top Attractions in Giza Governorate

Giza Plateau

The Giza Plateau is a plateau that is located in Giza, Egypt. The famous Giza Necropolis is located in this geographical area, which is characterized by a sandy, desert climate and terrain with little vegetation. The plateau and its monuments have been recorded in the Giza Plateau Mapping Project run by Ancient Egypt Research Associates, directed by Dr. Mark Lehner. AERAs 2009 field season was recorded in a blog. Modern Gizas layout is accessed by two main roads. The first from the north leads to Khufus pyramids and the other road leads near the Sphinxs forecourt from the east. They cross the Nile River from the east bank and follow the causeway westward. Dominating the plateau and running in a southwest diagonal through the site are the three pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura. The northernmost, and the largest, one belongs to Khufu. Khafras pyramid is built precisely on a southwest diagonal to his fathers pyramid, as well as having been built on higher ground to create the illusion of being bigger. The pyramid of Menkaura is much smaller and is not aligned along the same diagonal line as the other two pyramids. Since the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 looting has been taking place at the site.

Giza pyramid complex

The Giza pyramid complex is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramid complexes known as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex. It is located in the Libyan Desert, approximately 9 km west of the Nile river at the old town of Giza, and about 13 km southwest of Cairo city centre. The pyramids, which have historically loomed large as emblems of ancient Egypt in the Western imagination, were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is by far the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

Saqqara

For other meanings, see: Sakkara . Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of mastabas . Located some 30 km south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km . At Saqqara, the oldest complete stone building complex known in history was built: Djosers step pyramid, built during the Third Dynasty. Another 16 Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in various states of preservation or dilapidation. High officials added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the entire pharaonic period. It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic and Roman times. North of the area known as Saqqara lies Abusir; south lies Dahshur. The area running from Giza to Dahshur has been used as a necropolis by the inhabitants of Memphis at different times, and it has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. Some scholars believe that the name Saqqara is not derived from the ancient Egyptian funerary god Sokar, but from a supposed local Berber Tribe called Beni Saqqar.

Abo Rawash

Abu Rawash , 8 km to the North of Giza, is the site of Egypt's most northerly pyramid, also known as the lost pyramid — the mostly ruined Pyramid of Djedefre, the son and successor of Khufu. Originally, it was thought that this pyramid had never been completed, but the current archaeological consensus is that not only was it completed, but that it was built about the same size as the Pyramid of Menkaure – the third largest of the Giza pyramids. One notable fact about the pyramid at Abu Roash is that the upper most part of the pyramid has seemingly disappeared, revealing the internal passage that runs down into the bedrock. Explanations to why this pyramid is missing its top vary. The second point of interest that this pyramid provides is that it is built on top of a hillock. The builders faced the colossal task of not only hauling megalithic stones up a pyramid but also up a hillock. Its location adjacent to a major crossroads made it an easy source of stone. Quarrying — which began in Roman times — has left little apart from a few courses of stone superimposed upon the natural hillock that formed part of the pyramid's core.

Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. Based on a mark in an interior chamber naming the work gang and a reference to fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu, Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb over a 10 to 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC. Initially at 146.5 metres, the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface; what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories about the Great Pyramids construction techniques. Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place. There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queens Chamber and Kings Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honour of Khufu, three smaller pyramids for Khufus wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

Giza

Giza, is the third largest city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile, some 20 km southwest of central Cairo. Along with Cairo Governorate, Shubra El-Kheima, Helwan, 6th October City and Obour, the five form Greater Cairo metropolis. The city of Giza is the capital of the Giza Governorate, and is located near the northeast border of this governorate in coordinates. It is located right on the banks of the River Nile. The city's population was 2,681,863 in the 2006 national census, while the governorate had 6,272,571 at the same census. Its large population made it the world's second largest suburb in 2006, tied with Incheon, South Korea and Quezon City, Philippines, second only to Yokohama, Japan. Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples. Giza has always been a focal point in Egypt's history due to location in respect to Memphis, the ancient capital. The Great Pyramid of Giza at one time was advocated as the location for the Prime Meridian, a reference point used for determining a base longitude.

Pyramid of Djedefre

The Pyramid of Djedefre consists today mostly of ruins located at Abu Rawash in Egypt. It is Egypts most northerly pyramid, and is believed to be built by Djedefre, son and successor to king Khufu. Though some Egyptologists in the last few decades have suggested otherwise, recent excavations at Abu Roash carried out by Dr. Michael Baud of the Louvre Museum in Paris suggest the pyramid was in fact never finished. If completed, however, it is suggested to have been about the same size as the Pyramid of Menkaure — the third largest of the Giza pyramids. It is believed to have originally been the most beautiful of the pyramids, with an exterior of polished, imported granite, limestone and crowned with a large pyramidion. It is also believed for this reason the completed pyramid was largely deconstructed by the Roman Empire to build their own construction projects after the conquest of Egypt under Roman Emperor Augustus. The pyramids ancient name was "Djedefres Starry Sky". According to the documentary "The Lost Pyramid," aired by the History Channel, the pyramid may actually have been the highest ever built at 722 feet . It is believed that the pyramid was actually destroyed, though it is unclear why. It is speculated that Djedefre was an unpopular ruler. Miroslav Verner wrote in The Pyramids; "The destruction started at the end of the New Kingdom at the latest, and was particularly intense during the Roman and early Christian eras when a Coptic monastery was built in nearby Wadi Karin. It has been proven, moreover, that at the end of the nineteenth century, stone was still being hauled away at the rate of three hundred camel loads a day" Djedefres pyramid was architecturally different from those of his immediate predecessors in that the chambers were beneath the pyramid instead of inside. The pyramid was built over a natural mound and the chambers were created using the pit and ramp method, previously used on some mastaba tombs. Djedefre dug a pit 21m x 9m and 20m deep in the natural mound. A ramp was created at an angle of 22º35 and the chambers and access passage were built within the pit and on the ramp. Once the inner chambers were finished, the pit and ramp were filled in and the pyramid built over the top. This allowed the chambers to be made without tunneling, and avoided the structural complications of making chambers within the body of the pyramid itself. He also reverted to an earlier style of construction by creating a rectangular enclosure wall oriented north-south, similar to those of Djoser and Sekhemkhet. Several Pyramids and Sun Temples were built over natural mounds; utilising these may have been a way of shortening the actual work required, although the mound may have been symbolic of the Primaeval Mound of the Egyptian Creation mythology.

Memphis

Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina, 20 km south of Cairo. According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion. Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt. The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself. Its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica. The ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its past. They have been preserved, along with the pyramid complex at Giza, as a World Heritage Site since 1979. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum.

Pyramid G1-c

G1-c is one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Giza East Field of the Giza Necropolis immediately to the eastern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza, built during the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. It is the southern of the three pyramids of the queens and is the one of Queen Henutsen. It is 46.25 metres wide and had a height of 29.60 metres. A niche, four inches deep was dug in the south wall of the burial chamber. Pyramid G 1c was originally not a part of Khufus pyramid complex, as its southern side is aligned not with the side of the Great Pyramid, but with Khufukhaf Is mastaba tomb nearby. Pyramid G 1c was at some point thought to possibly be a satellite pyramid, because it did not come with a boat pit like pyramids G 1a and G 1b. It was later determined to be an unfinished pyramid however which was constructed in a hurry. Henutsen is thought to have been buried in the tomb. Dr. Rainer Stadelmann believes Khufukhaf is the same person as Khafra and the pyramid was built by him for his mother, but this identification is doubtful. This temple was built by incorporating elements of an ancient funerary chapel. A stele from the New Kingdom was discovered in the remains of the temple. This monument bears an inscription epigraph allowing us to attribute the pyramid of Queen Henutsen: "The living Horus Medjou Hor, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, received life. It is next to the tabernacle-the-Sphinx, northwest of the home-dOsiris, Lord of Rôsétaoui, he established the House-dIsis. It is next to the temple of the goddess that he built his pyramid. It is next to the temple he built a pyramid for the kings daughter, Hénoutsen. "

Pyramid G1-d

Pyramid G1-d is a satellite pyramid within the Khufu Pyramid complex. It was discovered in 1993 during work to remove a road near the pyramid G1 . It is located about 25m southeast of the southeast corner of the Great Pyramid of Giza and about 7 m west of the subsidiary pyramids G1–b and G1–c. All the stonework of the pyramid core had been removed in ancient times. What remains of the superstructure core is two courses of stone. There was also a substructure which was U-shaped but this was destroyed in antiquity. During the excavation the actual apex stone of the pyramid, a single piece of fine Tura-quality limestone, was found. It is the second oldest pyramidion ever found, the earliest belonging to the North Pyramid of Sneferu discovered by Rainer Stadelmann at Dahshur. This rare find has been left in place. One inscription was found written in red paint on the inside surface of one block set in the south wall. The notation says, "imy rsy S3." This graffiti, meaning "on the south side," probably instructed the stone movers where to place the block. The purpose of the pyramid is under debate by scholars. Some possible explanations are that it is for the kings Ka, or it represents the king as the ruler of Upper Egypt, or it is for the viscera of the King, or it is a dummy room for the Sed festival, or it has a solar function. Dr. Hawass, who led the uncovering of the pyramid, believed that the satellite pyramid was used symbolically as a changing room for the Sed festival.

Mastaba of Kaninisut

The Mastaba of Kaninisut (or Ka-ni-nisut [Ka-nj-nswt]), or Mastaba G 2155, is an ancient Egyptian mastaba tomb, located at Giza in the so-called West field of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The cult chamber of the mastaba is now on display in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna with inventory number 8006. Kaninisut was a high state official in the Fourth dynasty or early Fifth dynasty in the Old Kingdom (c. 2500 BC), as demonstrated by the location and size of his tomb and his numerous honorific titles. The cult chamber of Kaninisut was built of the best quality white Tura limestone and decorated with fine, raised reliefs, which mainly depict offerings, scenes of funerary ritual and Kaninisut with his family. Kaninisut's descendents built additional smaller tombs within the large mastaba.

Wadi El Hitan

Wadi El Hitan is a paleontological site in the Faiyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005 for its hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whale, the archaeoceti (a now extinct sub-order of whales). The site reveals evidence for the explanation of one of the greatest mysteries of the evolution of whales: the emergence of the whale as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal. No other place in the world yields the number, concentration and quality of such fossils, as is their accessibility and setting in an attractive and protected landscape. This is why it was added by the UNESCO to the list of protected World Heritage sites. The fossils found at the site may not be the oldest but their great concentration in the area and the degree of their preservation is to the extent that even some stomach contents are intact. The presence of fossils of other early animals such as sharks, crocodiles, sawfish, turtles and rays found at Wadi El-Hitan makes it possible to reconstruct the surrounding environmental and ecological conditions of the time, adding to its justification to be cited as a Heritage site. The first fossil skeletons of whales were discovered in the winter of 1902-3. For the next 80 years they attracted relatively little interest, largely due to the difficulty of reaching the area. In the 1980s interest in the site resumed as four wheel drive vehicles became more readily available. Continuing interest coincided with the site being visited by fossil collectors, and many bones were removed, prompting calls for the site to be conserved. The remains display the typical streamlined body form of modern whales, yet retaining some of the primitive aspects of skull and tooth structure. The largest skeleton found reached up to 21 m in length, with well-developed five-fingered flippers on the forelimbs and the unexpected presence of hind legs, feet, and toes, not known previously in any archaeoceti. Their form was serpentine and they were carnivorous. A few of these skeletal remains are exposed but most are shallowly buried in sediments, slowly uncovered by erosion. Wadi El-Hitan provides evidences of millions of years of coastal marine life.

Pyramid of Djoser

The Pyramid of Djoser, or step pyramid is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis. It was built during the 27th century BC for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep, his vizier. It is the central feature of a vast mortuary complex in an enormous courtyard surrounded by ceremonial structures and decoration. This first Egyptian pyramid consisted of six mastabas built atop one another in what were clearly revisions and developments of the original plan. The pyramid originally stood 62 metres tall, with a base of 109 m × 125 m and was clad in polished white limestone. The step pyramid is considered to be the earliest large-scale cut stone construction, although the nearby enclosure known as Gisr el-mudir would seem to predate the complex.

Abu Gorab

Abu Gurab is an archeological site, where a sun temple built by the people of ancient Egypt was found. It was excavated by Egyptologists between 1898 and 1901 by Ludwig Borchardt on behalf of the Berlin Museum and is located near the city of Memphis. It was built to honor the Sun god Ra. The temple was constructed by the orders of Nyuserre Ini, the sixth king of the fifth dynasty of Egypt. The exact dates of his reign are unknown. It is estimated that he came to the throne between 2450 BC and 2430 BC. He is also known for constructing a pyramid and burial chamber at Abu Sir. Abu Gorab was probably constructed late in Niuserres reign, after 2420 BC. The temple was built solely for the purpose of honoring Ra, and was not used as a burial place. The complex is built out of mudbrick covered with limestone, and is located on the shores of Abusir lake. Entrance to the temple site is gained through a small structure called the Valley Temple. Archeologists have been unable to study the Valley Temple in detail. It is partially submerged and has suffered extensive damage. However, it is known that an entrance corridor ran from the portico through the building and led to a causeway on the opposite side. Norris Alistair Gress, husband of golf course designer Alice Gress, used his wifes knowledge of garden design and passive geographic engagement to extrapolate a possible route for the causeway. Per the hypothesis, this causeway led to the entrance to the main temple. The main temple was built on a natural hill that had been enhanced. Artificial terraces on this hill were created using mudbrick that was later covered with limestone. The temple was then built on top of these terraces. The temple is rectangular. The entrance is in the east side. Inside the temple is a large, open courtyard. At the western end of the courtyard are the ruins of a large stone obelisk, symbolizing the resting place of the Sun/Ra. The obelisks base is a pedestal, with sloping sides and a square top. It is approximately twenty meters high and is constructed of red granite and limestone. Estimates of the combined height of the obelisk and base vary. Most likely, the total height was between fifty and seventy meters. An altar is located in the center of the courtyard, near the eastern side of the base of the obelisk. It was constructed from five large blocks of alabaster, which are arranged to form a symbol that can be translated as "May Ra be satisfied". Along the east wall of the courtyard are a set of nine circular alabaster basins. It is theorized that there were originally ten basins. Some scholars believe these basins were used to collect blood from animal sacrifice. To support this hypothesis, they point to evidence of grooves cut into the stone floor of the courtyard that may have been used to drain away the blood. Other researchers, however, think that the basins were probably only symbolic, or decorative, since no knives or other equipment related to sacrifice have been discovered in the area. There are a few interesting reliefs on the walls of the main temple. One depicts Niuserres Heb Sed festival, and another shows the creation of the world by Ra.
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