Pyramid of Khafre and The Sphinx, Egypt - A first hand experience

"Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they are going"- A travel quote

Pyramids of Khafre and Mankaure 

Although big brother, the Great Pyramid of Giza [of Khufu] may have hogged the limelight, there are two other pyramids in the plateau of Giza, namely the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Mankaure.

The pyramid of Khafre built around 2520 BC, though of lesser height [originally 471 feet or 143 meters] than the Great Pyramid, appears to be bigger in the Giza plateau, the reason being that it is built at an elevated hillock. It also had a surrounding wall all around its perimeter and this is the only pyramid that has partly preserved outer casing near its top. This gives this pyramid a distinctive and rather impressive appearance.  This also gives you an imaginative view as to how the completed pyramids would have looked, when covered in their entirety by the outer casing stones.

The entry inside the pyramid is also not as claustrophobic or scary as in the Great Pyramid. This was the reason we could make it inside the Pyramid, although a feeling of claustrophobia and lack of oxygen was definitely felt. Tourists were entering and exiting through the same narrow passage and we could not find any ambulance standing by or any medical post, in case a stampede occured. That way it looked a bit tricky and risky. 

The funerary complex of this pyramid is comparatively well preserved consisting of a valley temple connected by a causeway to the Pyramid and is about 500 metres long. The valley temple is unique in the sense that it has 16 huge pillars of limestone, which once weighed upto 100-150 tons. Granite has also been used in the temple as a lining. The temple was located near the river Nile which used to flow nearby in those days.

The pyramid of Mankaure built around 2490 BC is the smallest of the three rising originally to a height of 218 feet [66 metres]. Although the smallest, the complex has preserved some of the most stunning examples of sculpture to survive from the ancient Egypt.

Sphinx

Situated to the south of Pyramid of Khafre is a giant monolithic statue carved out of the limestone hillock. The statue has a human head and the body of a recumbent lion. This statue is called Sphinx, named in the later period based on its not so accurate resemblence to a mythological treacherous Greek goddess. The greek goddess was a female and also had wings, while this one is a male and has no wings and is benevolent in contrast. I find the formation of Sphinx to be in contrast to what we see in Hindu mythology where many gods have the body of human but the head of an animal, Lord Ganesha being the most obvious and most revered example. The human face of Sphinx is considered to be that of Egyptian king Khafre wearing his traditional headgear, the same king whose name is also associated with building the second highest Pyramid.

 The face of the sphinx presently is defaced, with the nose having been chiseled out by some vandals at some point in the history. The traditional artificial beard from the king's face is also broken, the pieces of which are preserved in the London museum. The sphinx while sitting majestically for many centuries, was later abandoned due to shifting of the power centre to a different city. It was later rediscovered by a later ruler, Thutmose IV who found it lying mostly buried in the sand. Sphinx was eventually fully excavated at a much later date in history.

 Today it is one of the most visited and photographed sites in Egypt. We were no exception.                                      

                                                                     

                                     The sphinx in the backdrop

                                        
                                                          The sphinx with Pyramid of Khafre in backdrop   

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