Egypt: Ingenious people, legendary pyramids

By Wendell Gaa

Egypt has been a country I’ve been seeking to visit for practically most of my adult life, and just recently I’ve finally made that lifelong dream a reality. 

Together with some of my colleagues from the Philippine Embassy in Ankara, Türkiye, I’ve had the remarkable opportunity to travel down to the ancient kingdom of the pharaohs. Egypt is home to several Egyptian icons which have become a staple of the popular imagination, such as enigmatic and fascinating hieroglyphic drawings and of course papyrus, the ancestors to modern-day paper sheets which we use in our everyday life. 

Growing up as a child, I first learned about the country Egypt from watching the classic original Indiana Jones adventure flick “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”  And for me to finally be there and experience the country in living color was something truly extraordinary. 

No trip to Egypt is truly complete without a visit to Giza, right where the iconic pyramids are located.  As we arrived in the Egyptian capital of Cairo after a little more than a two-hour plane ride from Istanbul, we were super blessed to be booked at a hotel which had a splendid view of the pyramids at quite a short distance from our room balconies.  No sooner than we began our first day did our afternoon tour kick off with a trip to the legendary pyramids. 

Our warm and genial Egyptian tour guide met us at the hotel and then we journeyed off to the nearby pyramids.  Upon arriving at the Giza pyramid complex, we were met with the awe-inspiring sight of Egypt’s three symbolic pyramids, the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure.  To blend in with my cultural surroundings, I donned on a traditional Arab headdress and robe just like an Egyptian local, and it further added more color and authenticity to my exploration of the pyramids.   

A mesmerizing trip back into antiquity was what our guide had presented as he narrated to us the history of the three pyramids.  The Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre are in fact the largest pyramids ever built in ancient Egypt, and oftentimes when Egypt as a tourist destination is advertised, the images of these pyramids are used.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest pyramid in Egypt. Among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the only structure which is still standing today and has impressively remained mostly intact since it was constructed around 2600 BC over a period of approximately 26 years.  It had served as the tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu who had ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt.  Perhaps not too surprisingly, it was the world’s tallest man-made structure for over 3,800 years!  We could only envision in our minds how ancient Egyptians could be so ingenious and resourceful in building this structure despite the archaic technological tools at their disposal. 

The second pyramid and the second tallest, the Pyramid of Khafre, served as the tomb of the Pharaoh Khafre who ruled the land during the Fourth Dynasty from 2558 to 2532 BC.  The third and smallest pyramid is the Pyramid of Menkaure, which historians believe was constructed to serve as the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty King Menkaure.

We found our way to the side of the pyramids complex where our eyes gazed upon another indelible Egyptian icon, the Great Sphinx of Giza, the captivating limestone-made statue of the mythical creature with the head of a human and a body of a lion.  To think that the head of the sphinx, whose nose has been broken off for an unknown length of time (possibly for many centuries), resembles the pharaoh Khafre is astounding.  Fitting enough, archaeologists have deciphered that this statue was built during Egypt’s Old Kingdom right when Khafre ruled over the land.  I could only hypothesize how regal-looking it was in its heyday, although even today despite its age it still imparts grandeur.

We then were taken to a side of the Giza complex where we could ride on chariots pulled by horses that would take us to an area where we could view the pyramids from a breathtaking distance.  It was in this spot where we were given photo opportunities where we mounted ourselves atop camels with the pyramids providing a majestic backdrop, a momentous experience in our lifetime bucket list!