Day 01 - Ancient Egypt, the Pyramids & the Old Kingdom: Pyramids, Sphinx & Step Pyramid

Greetings from Egypt! After a good night’s rest, our group enjoyed a beautiful breakfast at Le Meridian hotel. We have 49 in our group, plus our guide, so we are slowly getting to know one another and sharing this experience.

A short bus ride took us to the Giza plateau where we could see, touch, and learn about the Pyramids. Many other people had the same idea - there was a traffic jam going in and out of the area! The three pyramids, one of the Ancient Wonders of the World, represent father, son and grandson: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkare. The Great Pyramid, Khufu, took 25 years to build and consists of 2.5 million blocks, anywhere from 1-17 tons apiece, with no mortar between them! Did you know that the corners of the pyramid are oriented accurately to the four cardinal directions of a compass? It is truly a wonder of engineering and craftsmanship.

We also visited the Sphinx! As our bus sat in line, we got out and walked around to see the side profile. It is smaller in person than you may expect but visually impressive. We all enjoyed the perfect weather - around 80 degrees and sunny!

After a delicious lunch of charbroiled chicken and homemade pita bread, we traveled to Saqqara to see an EVEN OLDER pyramid! The pyramid of Djoser, sometimes called the Step Pyramid of Djoser, is an archaeological site in the Saqqara necropolis, about an hour northwest of the Giza plateau. The 6-tier, 4-sided structure is the earliest colossal stone building in Egypt. It was built in the 27th century BC during the Third Dynasty for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser.

We returned to the hotel and had dinner. Then our trip leader, Dr. Jonathan Greer, taught us more about what we saw and will see throughout the rest of our time here. What a great first day in Egypt!