Cairo, Egypt - Pyramids, Traffic, Pharaohs, Touts, Temples, and Smog

"When Moses was alive, these pyramids were 1,000 years old. Here began the history of architecture. Here people learned to measure time by a calendar, to plot the stars by astronomy and chart the earth by geometry. And here they developed that most awesome of all ideas - the idea of eternity."  - Walter Cronkite

Cairo, Egypt Slide Show

The title of this post, "Pyramids, Traffic, Pharaohs, Touts, Temples, and Smog" only begins to describe Cairo. The Lonely Planet Egypt Guidebook states that "one taxi ride can span millennia, from the resplendent mosques and mausoleums built at the pinnacle of the Islamic empire, to the 19th-century palaces and grand avenues (which earned the city the nickname 'Paris on the Nile'), to the brutal concrete blocks of the Nasser years - then all the way back to the days of the pharaohs, as the Pyramids of Giza hulk on the western edge of the city."
Jennifer, Noah and I spent many hours reading about the history of Egypt prior to arriving in Cairo. Landing in the modern Cairo airport does not make you think of pyramids and pharaohs. As we drove through the city in a taxi to our hotel, we realized that we made a great choice in NOT renting a car. Driving in a city of 22 million that has street signs in Arabic and drivers that never stop and disregard traffic lanes and signs would not have been a good idea. As we found out later, crossing the street in Cairo is a death defying feat that is not for the timid.
I will try not to bore your here, but I feel that it is necessary to provide a very condensed timeline to help give you some perspective on Egypt's incredible history. In 3100 BC, Pharaoh Narmer united upper and lower Egypt and formed the capital in Memphis. The Pyramids of Giza were built around 2500 BC. The famous Tutankhamun (King Tut) ruled Egypt from 1336 - 1327 BC, dying at the age of 18. The ruler that built the most temples in Egypt was Ramses II, ruling for 66 years from 1279 - 1213 BC. Alexander invaded Egypt in 323 BC and founded the northern city of Alexandria. Anthony and Cleopatra's empire fell in 30 BC, resulting in Egypt becoming a province of the Roman Empire.
In 48 AD, St Mark introduced Christianity to Egypt. Prior to Mark, there are many biblical stories that took place in Egypt. "Pharaoh, Pharaoh, oh baby. let my people go." In 641 AD, an Arab army led by Amr ibn al-As conquered Egypt, making it an Arab state. In 1798 Napoleon conquered Egypt. In 1805, Egypt was reintegrated into the Ottoman Empire by Muhammad Ali. Britain occupied Egypt from 1882 to 1922 but remained until an uprising in 1952. Egypt's tumultuous history continued with wars, and political and economic issues. Egypt is now run by President Mubarak and is approximately 90% Muslim and 10% Christian. For us, it was encouraging to see a country in the Middle East where Muslims and Christians live peacefully together.
One of our first stops in Cairo was at the Egyptian Museum. The museum was built in 1902 and holds over 176,000 artifacts. We do not have any pictures from inside the museum since photos are not allowed. The museum is an impressive mixture of tombs, mummies, jewels, monuments, temple pillars, sculptures, and daily life tools and eating utensils. Most of the mummies that we saw are over 3,000 years old. The museum was a great introduction to what we were about to see around Egypt over the next 2 weeks.
While in Cairo, Jennifer and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. Noah joined us on a Nile River cruise on the Maxim Riverboat. The dinner was overpriced and the belly and Nubian dancers were a bit hokey, but it still was a fun way to spend our anniversary. Going up and down the Nile at night is spectacular with the felucca boats and cruise ships all lit up and the 5 star hotels lining the riverbanks. It makes you forget the traffic and smog that are omnipresent in Cairo. The next day, Jennifer was making fun of Asmahan, our belly dancer, which offended our guide since she was his favorite. Not to be outdone, I accidentally walked on a prayer mat in the train station and Noah and I ended up in a "Females Only" car in the subway. At some point, I assume that we will be deported.
After spending time in modern Cairo, we turned our attention to some of the ancient sites on the outskirts of the city. We visited Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt that now is mainly an open air museum that contains ruins from some of the temples of Ramses II. The next stop was at the world's oldest pyramid, called the Step Pyramid of Saqqara. It was finished around 2,650 BC. Egyptologists (yes there are people that specialize in the study of Egypt) are still uncovering tombs and temples in Saqqara. I wonder if there are any Minnesotaologists out there.
Next up was the famous Pyramids of Giza which are deservedly on the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World list. After visiting the pyramids, we had mixed feelings about the experience. It was amazing that we were at the pyramids and our first thoughts were "how did they possibly build these 4,000 years ago?"
Unfortunately, those thoughts were quickly followed by "no, for the 10th time, I do not want to go on a camel ride, or buy a miniature pyramid or sphinx." Egypt has done a very poor job of policing the area around their precious tourist attractions. The sites are filled with budding entrepreneurs (touts) who relentlessly badger you. Jennifer and I were offered to have our picture taken on the pyramid by a guard. We thought that this was a very nice gesture, but then of course he held out his hand. I handed him 2 pounds and he replied, "5". Since he was carrying a machine gun, I gave him 5. 10 would have been just fine with me. This didn't ruin the experience of visiting the pyramids and the sphinx that day, but it sure wears you out.
As stated earlier, about 10% of the Egyptian population is Christian. The Christians in Egypt are called Coptic Christians and "Old Cairo" is home to many of the historical Christian churches. We visited Coptic Cairo and were reminded that Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled the persecution of King Herod and went to Egypt. As stated previously, St Mark introduced Christianity to Egypt in 48 AD. From the 3rd century on, monks came to Egypt and built monasteries marking the Biblical sites of Joseph, Moses, and Jesus, among others.
Overall, our stay in Cairo was a positive experience. By staying in one place 5 nights in a row, we were able to really get to know the vendors and the neighborhood around our hotel. And they have high-speed internet in Cairo! To see our slide show of Cairo, Egypt, click on the following link ==> Cairo, Egypt Slide Show.