Pyramids of Giza-The Last of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World

September 2021: The seven ancient wonders of the world were named by Greek travelers hundreds of years BC during their travels through the world known to them at the time; Egypt, Greece, Babylon, and Persia. Of the seven ancient wonders, only one remains today, the pyramids of Giza, which were constructed 5,000 years ago. The other six ancient wonders now gone were as follows:

• Hanging Gardens of Babylon- an oasis garden of beauty that had no rival. The location would have been in current-day Iraq
• Statue of Zeus-40 foot statue in western Greece that was destroyed by an earthquake
• Temple of Artemis-An enormous temple dedicated to Greek God Artemis in Ephesus, Turkey. It was destroyed by a ruler who wanted to be famous for destroying it. I would mention the name but I have never heard of the guy.
• Mausoleum of Halicarnassus-Giant tomb built for a Persian governor in modern day Turkey was destroyed by an earthquake.
• Colossus of Rhodes-Enormous statue in current day Rhodes Island, Greece was also destroyed by an earthquake.
• Pharos (Lighthouse) of Alexandria-Towering lighthouse built in Alexandria Greece destroyed by an earthquake and much of it is ruined beneath the Mediterranean Ocean today.

This leaves just one remaining ancient wonder of the world-TheGreat Pyramids of Egypt and since we were in Egypt I promised Paula we would see the pyramids, a place that I had seen 3 times before. Even though this was my 4th time, I am still in awe and will continue to be in awe everytime I see the pyramids in the future. We woke up at 3am and left Siwa to arrive at the Giza pyramids before they closed at 4pm. We made good time and arrived at 1pm but in the mid day sun in early September, it was hot and there is no shade. Covid is too blame for the small crowds. There were a few tour groups, mostly of Russians and Indians but aside from that we were mostly alone.  We still had our vehicle and guide from Siwa, and the pyramid complex is huge, so we took advantage of our car to drive to several different points of interest.

Enormous Magnitude of the Giza Pyramids

Enormous Magnitude of the Giza Pyramids-Paula on the Largest of the Pyramids

Paula by the Pyramids

Me Struggling to Crawl Down the narrow Tunnel Inside the Pyramid

The highlight was entering the second largest pyramid of Khafre. Entering Khafre Pyramid is no different than entering the Grand Pyramid, with the exception of the price. The Grand Pyramid is 4 times more expensive. Crawling through the tunnels of Khafre Pyramid was not easy for me.  I had to crawl down on to my hands and knees because the ceiling was so low. Paula loved it because she is short and could laugh at me while she walked upright through the tunnels. The tunnel descended passed a locked gate that blocked off a divergent tunnel that went into a different direction. The tunnel was dark and mysterious and peaked our curiosity. Even after all of these years of excavations, the pyramids leave much to be explored and many archeologist’s believe that the pyramids have more to reveal. At the end of the tunnel is empty large room with a large stone sarcophagus that lies empty, likely looted centuries ago like the sarcophagus of the neighboring pyramid, which was looted by the British in the early 1800’s along with it’s treasures only for the ship carrying it to end up lost at sea. Somewhere in the world’s oceans, an ancient gold Egyptian coffin and it’s treasures sits at the bottom of a dark sea waiting to be found.

Sphinx 

The last stop was the Sphinx, the great statue of the half lion/half woman that guards the pyramid of Khafre. From there we walked outside of the pyramid grounds to where our hotel was located, the Great Pyramid Inn not to be confused with one of the other hundred hotels in the the area also named after the pyramids. We purposely chose a hotel with a room overlooking the pyramids and our room was as close as one could possibly get to the pyramids. We had dinner on the rooftop and then we watched, what has become a favorite of mine, the pyramid laser light night show that airs every night in a small viewing area beneath the pyramids. This was my third time watching the laser light show, and the rusty old chairs and British sounding Charleston Hesston narration voice were used now just as they were 20 years ago during my first show. The background music along with the giant light beams that illuminate the pyramids was awe inspiring and amplified the mystique of the pyramids. The show is the same as it always was and these words of the narrator still haunt me, “They say humans fear time but time fears the pyramids.”