The Park on the Ayubbid Wall

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Al Azhar Park (also Al-Azhar Park), is located in Islamic Cairo, a part of central Cairo famous for the historically important mosques and Islamic monuments. It is overlooked by the Cairo Citadel. The park is a green space in the middle of the jam-packed dusty city. 

Typical Islamic house, source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

The view from the park, overlooking this outstanding historic district, is spectacular panoramic that takes you back to the captivating past. 

Cairo Citadel

Azhar Park is built in one of the poorest districts of Cairo, Darb el Ahmar. The district is rich with its Islamic art and architecture and its many monuments of domes and minarets.

Al-Azhar Park was a gift from His Highness Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV,
to the Cairene in 1984. Aga Khan Trust for Culture established the park over 30 hectare (74 acre) following a decision at the “The Expanding Metropolis: Coping with Cairo’s Urban Growth” Conference. The 500-year-old mound of rubble that was designated to be the park was a municipal rubbish dump that took 80,000 truckloads to excavate. The challenge was not only to transform the landscape but was also to implement urban rehabilitation projects including the socioeconomic rehabilitation of the neighbouring Historic City, which required launching of numerous restoration and community-initiated development projects. Al-Azhar Park project was intended to be a case study for a number of challenges such as environmental rehabilitation and cultural restoration.



On the western side of the park are the old Fatimid city and its out-growth Darb el Ahmar (also El-Darb El-Ahmar), with their wealth of mosques, madrasas and mausolea (plural of mausoleum), characterised by a long line of minarets. To the south is Sultan Hassan Mosque (Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan) as well as the 826 year-old Ayyubid Citadel of Salah el-Din. On the eastern side is the "City of the Dead" with its many social welfare complexes that was supported by the Mamluk Sultans which became an area that developed into a densely populated neighbourhood of its own.

Sultan Hassan Mosque 

Uncovered during the excavation was a 1.5-kilometre section of the 12th century Ayyubid city wall of Cairo that was built during the reign of Salah el-Din, with several towers and battlements almost intact and in fairly good shape. Also found were valuable stones with hieroglyphic texts some measuring as much as one meter long that were used in the building of the wall.

The Park's buildings and spaces were designed and constructed in Islamic context, using a variety of styles from different periods and regions. This is echoed in the bustan-like orchard gardens, its takhtaboush areas (shaded sitting spaces), Fatimid archways used in the buildings and the Persian and Timurid water pools and fountains. The streams and channels all lead to a lake in the south meadow which is all directly fed by raw Nile water from a nearby municipal line.

Beside the orchids, water features, kids play area, amphitheatre, there are only three actual buildings, the entrance, Citadel View Restaurant and the Lakeside Café. There is also an out-door café on a vintage point with a spectacular view where you can witness a stunning sunset. While the Citadel View Restaurant serves an Egyptian truly delicious buffet, the Lakeside café with its wooden screens and citrus groves has a Lebanese cuisine.

A walk through Azhar Park

With the magnificent 360˚ panoramic view of surrounding Cairo in the distance you can actually catch a glimpse of the Pyramids' silhouette. But besides the spectacular landscaping and endless view of the Cairo townscape, a daytime stroll on the Royal Palm Promenade is a refreshing experience as water streams run along the middle of your path. There are 325 varieties of plants where most of them have been natively grown in the Park's nursery. More of the interesting trees are the Sycamore, Zyziphus and four types of Acacia. The variety of plants also includes medicinal and culinary herbs such as laurel, chamomile, mint, lemon grass, coriander and thyme. There is also a beautiful array of roses, climbers and succulents, where most of these plants have labeled signs with both the official and Latin name to identify them.

Although in summer its best to visit the park in the afternoons to escape the heat, on a winter day a morning promenade will revamp your soul! The entrance fee maybe modest but it provides to fund for the maintenance of the park, along with the revenue from the restaurants, special events and shows, car parking fees and the sale of plants from the nursery. The entrance fee may not be much for a large number of Cairo's residence from the middle and upper class but it may be too much for many of the poor who live just a few kilometres away from the park, and who in my opinion need the park more than anyone. So it is not advisable to visit the park on a public holiday and especially not in Eid (Arabic for "day of festivities"), whether it be a Muslim or Coptic Eid. The park maybe more colourful with children donned in new multicoloured Eid cloths but will be impossible to appreciate with all the noise and commotion.

Once you get through with all the obvious sites like the Pyramids, the museums and major mosques I strongly recommend a laid back visit to this intriguing place.

The Virgin Mary Tree

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

In the incoherent district of El-Mataria, in Cairo, there stands an old sycamore tree that has been attracting thousands of pilgrims each Christmas, it's called the "Virgin's Tree". There are many sacred trees in Egypt, trees that have offered shelter for the Holy Family during their stay here, but the one in Mataria holds the highest regard of all.

The Virgin's Tree at Al Matariyah

Mataria is now a heavily populated suburb in Cairo accessed by a modern fly-over, but 2000 years ago it was a fertile, simple village where many of these balsamic trees were grown and many date palms too. The village of Mataria was popular among pilgrims from the Holy Land and at the time it was considered one of the holy sites and a blessed place like paradise. Of all the sites visited by pilgrims after Christianity was declared the religion of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the fourth century, this tree was regarded as the most holy.

The Holy Family On Their Journey Into Egypt

The journey of the Holy Family took them from Palestine to Egypt, a journey that lasted for about three and a half years, taking them through many towns in Upper and Lower Egypt. The accounts of this journey are chronicled in a Mimar (manuscript) by Pope Theophilus, 23rd Patriarch of Alexandria (384-412 A.D.) He wrote down what the Virgin Mary told him when she appeared to him in a vision. Other sources of information include accounts by 2nd and 3rd century Greek and Jewish writers, philosophers and historians.

The Holy Family journeyed south from Palestine across the wilderness, avoiding the main road for fear of capture. They entered Egypt at modern-day Rafah, where a lone sycamore tree is said to have survived since their visit there too. The only other country where Jesus Christ is said to have lived besides his homeland Palestine, is Egypt. The reason apart from it being a land of plenty with no shortage of natural resources, Egypt was traditionally seen to have a high level of cultural integration and religious tolerance.

The holy journey of the holy family in Egypt

Today the balsam shrubs have long since disappeared and the sycamore that stands now grew from a shoot planted in place of the original tree but the tradition of the tree continues to live on. The sycamore was sacred in Pharaonic times and it was called "Nehet". The sycamore tree lives long and bears sun exposure and humidity. Ancient Egyptians used them in making wooden monuments. Sycamores exist all over the Delta, Upper Egypt and also in the oases. It is considered a popular fruit in villages. These trees are beautiful and shady, so they are cultivated on wide road sides.

It is told that as Mary, Joseph the carpenter and the child Jesus tried to escape from two brigands who were in their pursuit; the trunk of the sycamore tree miraculously opened its bark where they hid inside, escaping detection. The tree is said to have medicinal properties, which is the reason why its branches are depleted, pilgrims have even stripped its bark. In the 15th century Felix Fabri, a Dominican monk, visited Mataria and noted that a gate had been built around the tree for protection and that the number of pilgrims that could enter at any one time was restricted to four. Nearby it is believed that a spring of water gushed out of the ground forming a pool where the Virgin Mary bathed Jesus is also said to be part of the miracles of the place because of its healing water.

Mary the Mother of Jesus

According to the Old Testament, the prophecy foretold that idols shall crumble wherever Jesus went, but this was not the only blessing to be granted to Egypt, as being chosen a safe haven for the Holy Family, but also for its people to have been the first to experience the miracles of Jesus the son of Mary.

Borg El-Gezira

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Renovated recently Cairo Tower or Borg el-Qahera is a modest 187 meters and is located on Gezira Island (Zamalak). It may not be one of the highest towers at present but when it was built 40 years ago it was boasted to be the tallest all-concrete structure in the world with no steel frames or columns.


El-Borg is just 45 meters taller than the Great Pyramids of Giza, which stand 15km to the southeast. But what El-Borg lacks in height it sure makes up for in the spectacular panoramic view of the massive city of Cairo. The view from Cairo Tower is unequaled, definitely not to be missed especially at twilight when millions of twinkling lights of the city start coming to life. El-Borg’s working hours are from 9:00a.m to 1:00a.m daily, and the ticket costs around LE 50, although cameras are free, there is an extra cost for video cameras.

From the eastern side most of the medieval quarter can be visible just beyond the Nile Hilton Hotel and the Television Building. Also eastward the city skyline fades out against the cliff face of the Muqattam Hills. Whereas westward the city limits are marked by the desert and the outline of the Giza Pyramids. But it’s the majestically serene Nile flowing below that is the most bewitching, carving its way through Cairo. Through the telescopes available you can get a better and closer look of the entire city.


Built in 1961 under the direction of Naum Chebib, the design is unique as it resembles a lotus flower, which along with papyrus was the most revered plant in Egyptian history. It is made up of 8 million small mosaic lozenges that form its partially open lattice-work tube that slightly fans out at the top. El-Borg is made of granite which was often used in building by the ancient Egyptians. Crowning the Cairo Tower is a revolving restaurant, cafeteria and an outdoor observation deck.


In November 2004 a renovation project was initiated following a series of renovation projects to several monuments in Cairo that have damaged after a moderate earthquake hit Cairo in 1992. A clean improved Cairo Tower now elegantly stands tall over the city. With seven hundred and seventy light bulbs inserted into each space in the lotus-shaped structure, Cairo Tower requires more than one gigavolt each day to light up at night.


Back in the 60s it was President Gamal Abdel Nasser favorite place to dine out with is family. One of its first visitors was Hollywood movie star, Katherine Hepburn, even though the tower had somewhat of a rocky footing back then in Egyptian-American politics. It was actually financed with American funds, but was not exactly what the Americans expected Nasser to do with the money.


El-Borg may not have been famous for its height or flamboyance but it made up for its fame in print thanks to its controversial origin, which resulted in its mention in countless biographies dealing with Nasser’s Egypt. It was first written about in CIA’s Miles Copeland in “A Game of Nations”, where he revealed how the LE 450,000 tower was paid for with American hush money originally meant as a bribe to Egypt’s strongman to be “used for purchasing presidential security accouterments.” Furious at the suggestion anyone thought he could be bought, Nasser decided to use the American taxpayers’ money to send the most blatant of messages back to the US. So he built the Cairo Tower providing a vantage point and a truly breathtaking view over the entire city!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Abandoned Ghost House

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

With its share of legends, myths and ghost stories, Baron Palace or Qasr El-Baron is one of Cairo’s landmarks that has been standing for over a hundred year at a halt. On one of the main roads leading from the airport into Cairo, this unique palace with its extraordinary and curious architecture has been ignored for years until recently.

The Baron Place was the brainstorm of a Belgian-born industrialist, Baron-General Edouard Louis Joseph Empain (1852-1929), who came out to Egypt in 1904 to rescue one of his Belgian company's overseas projects, which was the construction of a railway line linking Matariya to Port Said. Losing the project to the Britons, he then came up with the extravagant idea to build a new high class residential area out in the desert, ten kilometers from the center of Cairo. The new luxurious quartier was called Heliopolis (or Masr el-Gedida translating to New Cairo) and was linked to Cairo by rapid transit and roads.

Baron Empain acquired the 6,000 acres of desert land for the trivial amount of one Egyptian pound per acre, over which he intended to build his city with all the necessary infrastructures, like water, drains and electricity, hotel facilities such as the Palace Hotel and Heliopolis House, and recreational luxuries including a golf course, racetrack and park.

The house he built for himself was truly individual and was finished in 1910 and took three years to build. It was built over an artificial elevation so as the Baron could watch over the building of Heliopolis, his brainchild. The palace followed a Hindu style and was designed by Alexander Marcel, who was a prestigious French architect. The Baron also brought in the best Indonesian artists and sculptors for its construction.

The unconventional exterior of the palace is decorated with busts, statues, elephants, snakes, Buddhas and Krishnas. The Baron was entertained by the idea that as guests crossed the gardens up the grand steps leading into the striking palace foyer, they felt like they were being watched from the palace’s interior. Personally I admit to feeling the same but not believing in ghosts I attribute this feeling to the abundance of statues that eye you as you come close up to the building.

The Baron was himself the first resident of the palace, where he entertained his guests in lavish style. The place was inherited to his playboy son Baron Jean Empain, and finally it was occupied by Janine and Huguette Empain. The palace was finally sold off by its owners in 1957 to two families, Alexem and Reda, who were of Saudi origin.

For so many years the palace was abandoned, and stood dwarfed in the shadows of growing Heliopolis. Its reputation of being haunted was the only thing keeping it from being completely forgotten. Over time it became popular with bats, stray dogs and teenagers who snuck into the subterranean floor at night to drink and smoke hashish, further damaging it with their graffiti of swastikas and pentagrams.

The owners of the palace had plans to sell it for a notorious $50 million US, but according to Egyptian law it was forbidden to sell or purchase a building that was deemed to be antiquities. The stalemate finally ended in 2005 when the Egyptian government managed to wrestle the property from foreign owners, reimbursing them with another chunk of land in the Cairo suburbs.

Since restorations have been done on the gardens but renovation to the house will be costly so have been as yet difficult. The palace grounds are now used for TV events and musical concerts.

Heliopolis, the city that Baron Empain has envisioned has now become synonymous with power in Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak lives less than a mile from the Baron’s Palace. The Military intelligence headquarters stands around the corner. Just opposite is the former residence of Sultan Hussein Kamel who ruled Egypt between 1914 and 1917 and is now the Presidential Guest House. And the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s villa is just down the street.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

World Heritage Sites in Egypt

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

After World War Ι the world was concerned with reconstruction, and the need for the preservation of cultural sites and the obligation towards the conservation of nature. This gave birth to the creation of an international movement then called the "Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage."

To stimulate international cooperation and help generate funds to protect "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry" a 'World Heritage Trust' was put forth in 1965. The Convention was adopted by the UNESCO on 16 November 1972 reinforcing the importance for the need to preserve heritage balance between culture and nature.

The decision to build the Aswan High Dam raised concern for the loss of the treasures of the ancient Egyptian civilization, which would be lost to the flooding in the Nile Valley. On appeal from both Egypt and Sudan in 1959, the UNESCO launched a campaign to help save both Abu Simbel and Philae Temples, as they were dismantled and moved to higher, dry ground to be reassembled. This international campaign raised about US$80 million, half of which was donated by around 50 countries, showing solidarity in helping conserve exceptional cultural sites. Rescue campaigns that followed included Venice and its Lagoon (Italy), the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (Pakistan), and the restoration of the Borobodur Temple Compounds (Indonesia).

The officially listed World Heritage Site in Egypt are seven, of which 6 are cultural site and one is a natural, which is Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley) and was the latest to be added in 2005. It lies in Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area in the Fayoum Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. Its desert floor is littered with fossil whale skeletons which have long been extinct.

Of the Cultural properties is Abu Mena in the Mariut Desert in Borg Al-Arab in Alexandria. It is an ancient holy city that includes a church, baptistery, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops. It was built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in A.D. 296.

In Quina there's the ancient city of Thebes with its Necropolis. It was the capital of Egypt during both the Middle and New Kingdoms, and the city of the god Amun. The property includes the temples and palaces at Karnak in Luxor and the necropolises of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.

Historic or Islamic Cairo also became a World Heritage Site in 1979. Founded in the 10th century and by the 14th century it reached its golden age becoming the center for Islamic teaching and the Islamic world in general. Surrounded by urban Cairo the property is famous for its mosques, madrasas, hammams and fountains.

The site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Memphis and its Necropolis-The Pyramid fields from Giza to Dahshur, was the capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, holding some amazing rock tombs, temples and pyramids.

Equally extraordinary are the properties in Aswan, with the colossal temple of Abu Simbel built by Ramses II and the beautifully serene Sanctuary of Isis at the Island of Philae which were threatened to drown by the Aswan Dam in the 60's and were the first rescue campaign launched by the UNESCO.

The St. Katherine Area was enlisted in 2002, and is considered sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Mount Horeb or better known as Gabal Musa is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The Orthodox Christian Monastery St. Katherine was built in the 6th century and holds an amazing collection of Christian manuscripts and icons.

Although only seven sites are listed to this day, the tentative list for pending sites is very long, but include Alexandria (ancient remains and the new library), El-Gendi Fortress, built by Salah el-Din in south Sinai, the Protected ecosystems of Ras Mohammed in South Sinai and the Monasteries of the Arab Desert and Wadi Natrun.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

Down The Nile Without a Paddle!

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Just as Cleopatra sailed down the Nile in her luxurious royal barge, the bank along the river Nile probably looks the same for that many years. A timeless picturesque scene, life has not changed much over the years. Buffaloes and cows grazing, farmers working the land by hand, women washing cloths on the waters edge, children fishing or jumping into the water, waving and screaming at the passing boats. Egrets fly over the water surface alongside the boat and a kingfisher hovers, ready to dive down into the water to catch a fish. As an important migratory stopover between Africa and Europe, the banks of the Nile are the perfect place for bird-watching. Lining the banks are date palms, willows, acacias, mimosa and sycamore trees.


The river Nile, the source of all creation, life and beauty, is the life-line of the ancient Egyptian civilization, and the unending source of sustenance to its people. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that 'Egypt was the gift of the Nile.' Sailing by the serene beauty on a Nile cruise ship, with all the luxuries of royalty of a Pharaonic barge, is a once in a life time experience. With all the facilities of a land based hotel, Nile cruise ships are fully air-conditioned, with a small swimming pool, bars, restaurants, shops, private baths and TVs.

The large sliding window of the cabin room opens directly on to the waters of the river emphasizing the closeness of nature even further. I can never tire of gazing out at the life on the Nile as it drifts by, and the single-sailed feluccas, that remind me of giant butterflies. My personal favorite is the sun-deck, especially during the early hours of the cool morning breeze.


During the actual motion of the Nile cruise ship there is little sense of motion, so even within the smallest cabin room there is no danger of any seasickness. With an all inclusive package, you can enjoy three meals a day with all the transportation to the tours and temples. A typical cruise will include visits to the Luxor Museum, the magnificent Temple of Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon on Luxor. In Esna the Temple of Esna and at Edfu, there is the Temple of Horus. At Kom Ombo, there is the temple of Sobek, the crocodile god associated with fertility; it is directly on the edge of the Nile where crocodiles were fed red meat in ancient times.


At Aswan the sites to see include a visit to the Aswan High Dam, Lake Nasser, the Unfinished Obelisk. The Temple of Philae is on one of the most romantic and beautiful site on Earth. It had become the center point to the worship of the cult of the goddess Isis. Optional is a relaxing felucca trip to the Botanical Island and a visit to a Nubian village as you float past the Elephantine Island and the Agha Khan Mausoleum.

The cruises range from a quick, three-night cruise usually departing from Aswan to Luxor, to a moderate four-night cruise usually departing from Luxor to Aswan. The seven-night cruise either starts from Luxor to Aswan or Aswan to Luxor, this trip is for those who seek full relaxation.


Besides the day visits these cruise ships have active night life including cocktail parties, Nubian shows, belly dancers and whirling tanoura dancers, there is even a night where guests have a dress up parties putting on traditional Egyptian costumes. The meals onboard most Nile cruisers are usually buffet style and include a variety of international and local cuisine.


The best time to book your Nile cruise is between October and mid April, when the weather is cool and the locks along the Nile at Esna are all open. These locks will be closed around mid April because of the water levels. However there are cruise boats operating all year round, but due to the closed locks, cruise operators will arrange boats on either side of the locks, and a transfer must be made between boats. Although a visit to the Pyramids and the Sphinx maybe the pinnacle of your trip to Egypt, there is nothing like floating down the Nile on a cruise boat, truly an unforgettable and magical experience.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Ben Ezra Synagogue

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Maybe the oldest existing synagogue in Cairo, the Ben Ezra Synagogue or El-Geniza Synagogue was originally a church in the 8th century called El-Shamieen Church. It is located behind the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo. In 882 AD it had to be sold in order for the Copts to pay the annual taxes imposed on them by the Muslim rulers during the reign of Ahmed Ibn Tulun. The synagogue was purchased by Rabbie Abraham Ben Ezra of Jerusalem for 20,000 dinars.


The Synagogue is said to have been built over the location where the prophet Moses had been found as a baby. It also once had a copy of the Old Testament, which is said to have been hand written by the Prophet Ezra (Al-Azir) written on gazelle skin. But the Synagogue is most famous for the discovery of its Geniza (a hidden store room for sacred books and Torah scrolls).


This discovery came about during the reconstruction of the Synagogue during the 19th century, revealing thousands of original documents from the middle Ages, over 250,000 manuscripts. The documents were written mostly in Hebrew Arabic, which is Arabic written in Hebrew alphabet, and tells of life for Jews during those medieval times. Besides recounting of sectarian organizations and the relations between different Jewish sects, these scrolls also reconstruct the political, economic and social conditions of Jews in Egypt and the way they dealt with the Arab Muslim authorities during that period of history. These rare documents contain interpretations from the Old Testament and excerpts of linguistic research on Hebrew.


The original building has long collapsed, but with the renovations it was accurately and ardently reconstructed mirroring the original, the present day temple dates back from 1892. The Ben Ezra Synagogue was built in basilica-style with two floors one for men and the upper one for women. The main floor is divided into three parts by steel bars, and in the center is an octagonal marble bima (platform for Torah reading). The walls, ceiling and columns are decorated with geometric and floral patterns in the Turkish style.


The Jewish heritage library in the Synagogue was inaugurated on November 25, 1997. The Jewish community is almost extinct dwindling from a strong 80,000 in 1922 to just 250 people, who are all very old. Functions and services are still held in Synagogues but are protected by government police. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is open daily for touristic visits, but be prepared to pass through security to get in.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Bride of the Nile

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

A long long time ago, some three or four thousand years before our epoch, around the same time every year, the rise in the water on earth was herald by a sign in the heavens. The brightest of all the fixed stars appears at dawn in the east just before sunrise about the time of the summer solstice, indicating the beginning of the sacred Egyptian year. The brilliant star of Sirius or as the Egyptians called it Sothis, marked the time of the inundation of the Nile. Sothis was deemed by the Egyptians as the star of Isis, the goddess of life and love. They called it so because it was believed that as Isis came to mourn her departed husband, Osiris, to wake him up from the dead; her tears caused the rise in the levels of the Nile water.


The flooding of the Nile was the most important event in the lives of the Egyptians. It was a matter of their very existence and welfare. For a year with little or no flood meant famine in the Kingdom, but too large a flood would mean a disaster for it would over flow into the villages destroying them. A flood had to be just right to determine a good season. The Egyptian flood cycle starts during the second week of August and is divided into 3 stages. The time of the Nile flood, Akhet (the inundation) was the first season of the year. The sowing time Peret marked the time when crops grew in the fields and was considered the Egyptian Autumn from October to mid-February. The last and third season, the time of harvest Shemu, ran from mid-February until the end of May and was the spring season of the Egyptian calendar. This cycle was so predictable that the ancient Egyptians based their calendar on it.



As the Nile flow from the south to the north, the flood brought the silt-laden waters into Egypt, and as the water receded later the silt would stay behind, fertilizing the land. The flood was seen as the yearly coming of the god Hapi, bringing fertility to the land. . He was worshipped even above Ra as he brought the fertile inundation; he was a very important deity to any one living in the Nile valley. He was depicted as a blue or green bearded man with female breasts, indicating his powers of nourishment. At the time of the inundation the Egyptians would throw offerings, amulets and other sacrifices into the Nile at certain places, sacred to Hapi.



Today's celebration takes on a different meaning and form. Yes it is still celebrated at the same time of the year but there is no longer flooding of the Nile, which stopped when the Aswan High Dam was built to regulate the flow of water year round. Now this time of the year is called "Wafaa el-neel Festival" or literally "Fidelity of the Nile". It was said that the Pharaohs sacrificed a beautiful virgin girl to the river in return for a good harvest. The ancient legend has survived into an ongoing tradition where a wooden doll dressed as a bride is thrown into the Nile instead.


The modern-day celebration is now more contemporary with art competitions for children, poetry reading, concerts and scientific discussions. This year there festival will include flower parades and a Pharaonic procession portraying the ancient legend of the Nile Festival. The events included aqua sports like rowing, water skiing, windsurfing and swimming. The celebrations well accommodate floating hotels, restaurants and other places over looking the Nile. This year's concept is to promote the awareness to protect this vital source of life and a main attraction to Egypt's ecotourism.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Giza Necropolis

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

"With each new dawn I see the sun god rise from the far bank of the Nile. His first ray is for my face which is turned towards him and for 5,000 years I have seen all the suns man can remember come up in the sky..."

The Sphinx' first words as it stand guarding the Pyramids of Giza. The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, located only a few kilometers south of Cairo, Egypt. The ancient Egyptians called this place imentet, "The West" or kher neter, "The Necropolis". The Great Pyramid of Giza, the relics of a vanished culture, is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Pyramids of Giza are generally thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even though they are located in what is now part of the most populous city not only in Egypt but in Africa. In fact, urban development reaches right up to the perimeter of the antiquities site. The ancient sites in the Memphis area, including those at Giza, together with those at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abu Ruwaysh, and Abusir, were collectively declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

The opening lines to the Sound and Light Show instantly capture the audience, and why shouldn't they? With the backdrop being the Sphinx and the Pyramids beautifully lite, in the pitch dark, easily make one feel that they have actually been transported back into time.

"You have come tonight to the most fabulous and celebrated place in the world. Here on the plateau of Giza stands forever the mightiest of human achievements. No traveler, emperor, merchant or poet has trodden on these sands and not gasped in awe. The curtain of night is about to rise and disclose the stage on which the drama of a civilization took place. Those involved have been present since the dawn of history, pitched stubbornly against sand and wind, and the voice of the desert has crossed the centuries."

The Pyramids of Giza were built over the span of three generations - by the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), his second reigning son Khafre (Chephren, Kephren), and Menkaure. But it was Khufu who placed Giza forever at the heart of funerary devotion, a city of the dead that dwarfed the cities of the living nearby. Dominating the sandy plateau his pyramid built around 2530 B.C, is the largest of all the pyramids in Egypt.


On its southwest diagonal is the pyramid of his son Khafre. Although it is smaller, they appear from afar to be of the same size, this illusion is due to its steeper angle, and as it is built on higher ground it infact appears taller. The notion that this was done on purpose to out-do his father's pyramid is obvious!

Further along the southwest diagonal is the smallest of the three great pyramids, that of Khafre's son, Menkaure. It is also the most unusual. As it is not entirely limestone the uppermost portions are made of brick. It is also not along the diagonal line that runs through the Great Pyramid and the Second Pyramid, but instead is nearly a hundred meters to the southeast. This error, if an error at all, is of a magnitude not in keeping with the mathematical skill known to have been possessed by the ancient Egyptians.


In the last few years there has been a theory that the three large Pyramids of Giza are actually meant to be in an alignment representing the three "belt" stars in the Orion constellation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. This theory is rejected by the majority of Egyptologists, but none the less a point to consider. And while the center of the pyramid does not line up with its larger counterparts, the southeast sides of all three pyramids are in alignment. The sides of all three of the Giza Pyramids were astronomically oriented to be north-south and east-west within a small fraction of a degree.

But who really built the Pyramids? The worker's cemeteries were discovered in 1990 by archaeologists Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner. Contrary to some popular belief, the pyramid builders were not slaves or foreigners. Skeletons excavated from the site show that they were Egyptians who lived in villages developed and overseen by the pharaoh's supervisors. The most possible assumption the Pyramids were built by tens of thousands of skilled and unskilled laborers who camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of paying taxes until the construction was completed.

But graffiti from inside the Giza monuments themselves have long suggested something very different. They were not the Jews as been said, nor were they people from a lost civilization. And they were certainly not from out of space. They were Egyptian and their skeletons were buried on the plateau, and were examined by scholars, doctors and the race of all the people found completely supports that they were Egyptian.

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers built the Pyramids at Giza over 80 years. Much of the work probably happened while the River Nile was flooded. The workmen who were involved in building the Great Pyramid were divided into gangs, groups, four groups, and each group had a name, and each group had an overseer. Undeniable evidence to this is graffiti found in places that were not meant to show such as the inscription above Khufu's burial chamber. The workmen who were involved in building the Great Pyramid wrote the names of the gangs, names like "Friends of Khufu". Plus there was solid evidence from the facilities that the workers were well fed, with a lot of bakeries found and left over bones of fish and cattle. Building the pyramid was a national project of Egypt because everyone had to participate in building it.

After 5000 years this place of ancient worship still stands with all its glory and awe. Defying the elements of nature and time, to this day they still keep from us many secrets. And as the saying goes, "Man fears Time, but Time fears the Pyramids."

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem