The Great Pyramid was 146.6 metres or 480.9 feet tall but with erosion and the theft of the topmost stone, the pyramidion its current height is left to 138.8 m. For four millennia it was the world’s tallest building, unsurpassed until the 160 metre tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed in. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid’s workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have a mean error of only 58 mm in length, the pyramid was constructed of cut and dressed blocks of limestone, basalt or granite. The core was made mainly of rough blocks of low quality limestone taken from a quarry at the south of Khufu’s Great Pyramid. These blocks weighed from two to four tonnes on average, with the heaviest used at the base of the pyramid. An estimated 2.4 million blocks were used in the construction.

A few hundred metres south-west of the Great Pyramid lies the slightly smaller Pyramid of khafre, one of Khufu’s successors who is also commonly considered the builder of the Great Sphinx, and a few hundred metres further south-west is the Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre’s successor, which is about half as tall. The Pyramid of Khafre seemed bigger because of uneven space around although it is just a fallacy of composition as they say. Whatever it is, the place is wondrous in its looks and gives one the feel of ancient times. When you leave this place and start pondering about, the thoery of Adam Rutherford engulfs the mind and forces it for sometime to believe that Pyramids really are a divine revealation, planned by prophets who influenced Pharaoh Khufu.
And here comes the great Sphinx. The word “sphinx”, which means ‘strangler’, was first given by the Greeks to a fabulous creature which had the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. In Egypt, there are numerous sphinxes, usually with the head of a king wearing his headdress and the body of a lion. In a depression to the south of Khafre’s pyramid at Giza sits a huge creature with the head of a human and a lion’s body. This monumental statue is the first real colossal royal sculpture in the country, known as the Great Sphinx, has been a national symbol of Egypt both ancient and modern.The Great Sphinx has stirred the imagination of poets, scholars, adventurers and tourists from time immemorial and has also given way to an unending debate about its age, its meaning, and the secrets held within.
The Great Sphinx is believed to be the most immense sculpture of stone in the round ever made by man. Its complex consists not only of the great statue itself, but also the old temple, a new kingdom temple and some other small structures. It is also closely related to Khafre’s valley temple, which itself had four colossal sphinx statues each more than twenty six feet long. Are you not in love with Giza still? You must, we bet, if you visit this mysterious place just once.

The historic place of Giza is queer in one more respect though that is not as pleasing as the sites are. The people at this windy and dusty place seem quite eager to oblige us and of course to other visitors also to have a snap with them but not for the sheer pleasure of being photographed. They want some cash returns and even the policemen were no exception. This practice we think must not be legal but has been taken for granted at Giza, the place of wonderful possibilities.

The thought of Pyramids had so occupied our minds that we could not be aware of the modern glory of Egypt which is Kahira in Arabic and Cairo in the tourist jargon worldwide. It is the capital and the largest city of Egypt and seventh most populous metropolitan area of the world. Cairo in many respects is similar to the Indian city of Delhi, a queer mix of modern and classical and the historical roots firmly settled in traditional basis in spite of new exteriors. A city with modern markets and grand old bazaars with customary outlook, making it easier for us to get comfortably mixed up and enjoy shopping in our true and familiar Indian style. Do you understand which style? the old Delhi style of shopping, pick and choose the articles and then…… start bargaining about. Yes, Cairo is truly Arabic in this department. The traders here are shrewd bargainers and remind us of the old stories of Arab-Saudagars. At least Elumda, our Itr frosh, the perfume vendor was one as such. He knew we were travel- journalists and could be of lasting value for him and the publicity of his trade. He did the same a shrewd shopkeeper ought to, paid thanks for coming to his humble shop and never charged for his costly itrs, perfumes.

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