Giza Plateau

 

When you have local guides or cab drivers, they will try to get you into souvenir shops or to places like this.

 

I don't complain about it a lot, it's the way they operate and everyone is trying to make some money. They're not exactly well off. The place, however, was a good one for this grand overview of the wole site, and then I moved toward the Cheops Pyramid. From left to right we have the Cheops or Khufu Pyramid. It is the largest. The one with the remnant of the cladding, the smooth stones that once covered all of the pyramids, is Khafre's Pyramid. The Sphinx was part of the pyramid complex that he had built. Pharaoh Menkaure had the third and smallest of these pyramids built. There are smaller ones, which are sometimes known to be pyramids of queens or built as tombs for possibly high priests or nobles are found in several places, as are remnants of temples and many other tombs.

This next one is what I call a 'halo' shot. Doesn't get any better. For this shot, you want the afternoon sun in your back.

 

 

Khufu's Pyramid, the largest of the group

 

 

 

 

They have a way of making you feel very small. The history of Giza can be read here at this link to NOVA.

 

The entrance is where the people are lining up to go down into the depth of the pyramid (or taking a last look before departing). At the bottom, below the entrance, you can see how the entire pyramid was once surfaced. They must have been a stunning sight, bottom to top, all dressed in smooth white stone, topped with a golden pyramydion.

 

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