Pictures: Egypt Priest's Tomb Found Near Pyramids

Discoveries Loom at Pyramids?

Buried in a painted cliffside tomb, the "purification priest" Rudj-Ka likely lived about 4,350 years ago and served in a dead pharaoh's cult.

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic

Workers brush sand from artifacts at the pyramid builders' cemetery in 2001.

Although Hawass thinks the workers' graves and the newfound tomb might be linked, another possibility is that the tomb of Rudj-Ka could be a western extension of the massive necropolis of Memphis, on the edge of modern-day Cairo, he said.

"The location is surprising," Hawass said. "We never expected to find a big, large tomb like this in the south of the pyramid builders' [cemetery] at all."

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

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

So Which Was it That Came First?!

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Searching for an answer to this enigmatic question, I realized that getting a clear response was not going to be possible so I did my reading looking into all the theories no matter how much they made me laugh! The notion that someone can actually believe, publicly announce and expect to be taken seriously something bizarre and unsupported was beyond me. But then again I could be the one in the dark to one of the most unanswered questions in history. So which came first the Pyramids or the Sphinx?!

As a child, I remember always getting excited over the idea of going to the Pyramids. I still feel dwarfed standing at the base of Khufu and looking up. The stone block I'm standing in front of is much taller than I am! So how did they ever build such a thing? How long would it take to get to the top? You could probably see the world from up there!

Although there are records as to how and who built the Pyramids there is little to tell about the Sphinx, the largest surviving statue from the ancient world. It is sculpted out of a large limestone bedrock, a stone soft enough to yield to copper chisels and stone hammers, common Egyptian tools. The actual mystery of the Sphinx at Giza pertains to its very identity. The Sphinx has a head of a man, wearing the Egyptian headdress and a spiraling beard, and having the body of a lion, with two paws resting beneath the head and chest. It rises up 66 ft (20 m) high and the resting leonine body stretching 241 ft (73.5 m) behind. The Sphinx has been most often associated with the Pharaoh Khafre (2558–2532 B.C.), who is represented by and is presumably buried in the second largest of the three Pyramids at Giza. At least two statues of Khafre have been found that bear a striking resemblance to the face of the Sphinx.

The Sphinx at Giza faces due east with a small temple between its paws and is referred to in some Egyptian hieroglyphics as Hamachis, the god of the rising Sun. Later, Hamachis evolved into the name Hor-em-Akhet and until 1925 it was still buried up to the neck in sand.


Believed to be built during the Fourth Dynasty at the same time as the Pyramids, the date of the Sphinx still remains a controversy and even in ancient times, some sources dated it as preceding the Pyramids. It has under gone several restorations even during ancient times. After being abandoned from around 2650 B.C to 1500 B.C King Thutmose IV of the 18th Dynasty, ordered the rescue of the Sphinx from being buried by the desert sands. Ramesses II may have also performed restoration work on the Great Sphinx. But the first modern excavation project was in 1817, lead by Captain Caviglia uncovering the chest, but the Sphinx was finally dug out completely in 1925. The last of the restoration project took place as recently as 2006.

Trying to dig up information about the Sphinx unearthed a lot. Going through all of the theories, suppositions, rumors or even psychics made me realize that common logic was dry and uninteresting compared to the fascinating controversies of more ancient unknown civilizations or even aliens being responsible. Even the most recent claim by the geologists that the Sphinx dates as far back as 9000 years ago probably at the end of the Ice age was based solely on the geological evidence, rather than information from hieroglyphics or other histories. The suppositions are based around the weathering and the water erosion that the limestone has witnessed, not of the making of the actual statue.

Then there are claims of an advanced civilization that once thrived on the continent of Antarctica before it was frozen over during a global catastrophe at the end of the last Ice Age. Or of extraterrestrials coming down to earth to build this monument because mere humans where unable to accomplish such a enormous achievement. To me this seems more of an insult to all of humanity than to the ancient Egyptians that actually toiled to have there names remembered over the passing of time.

But really the most interesting of all concepts was that of a psychic Edgar Cayce! He prophesied a secret passageway leads from one of the Sphinx's paws to its right shoulder where there exists a "Hall of Records" that contains the wisdom of a lost civilization and the history of the world. During a trance he received reading that the legendary civilization of Atlantis was responsible for many of the accomplishments of ancient Egypt, claiming that the Great Pyramid and Sphinx were built by Atlanteans refugees.

The ancient Egyptians lived, and died building the Sphinx and the Pyramids, leaving behind their documentations, tools, graves and bones. Trying to find another unknown civilization to give credits to is illogical lacking common sense and denigrating to its people. The pyramids are human achievements and one of the Nova projects called "This Old Pyramid" demonstrated that it was actually attempted to construct a scaled down version of the Great Pyramid using techniques which are inscribed in ancient Egyptian temples.

About the Author:

Gawhara Hanem

The New GEM of Egypt

Copyright © EgyptHasItAll.com

1835 Champollion presented Mohamed Ali Pacha (ruler of Egypt at the time) with a petition to erect a museum to house and protect the findings that were dug up during the excavations. But that was only the start because the discoveries and the artifacts just kept multiplying. In 1890 Ismail Pacha offered one of his palaces in Giza to be the new house for the discoveries. And by 1902 a still bigger place was needed to accommodate the continually increasing monuments and mummies, which at the time reached more than 140,000 items displayed, this was provided by Abbas Helmi Pacha, who raised funds to build the museum.

The last resting place for Egypt's treasures is the present day Egyptian Museum of Antiquity in El Tahrir Square. But the museum is now subject to threat from the surrounding buildings and heavy traffic causing vibration and pollution. Besides, the museum was built to cater for about 500 visitors per day, supplying adequate natural light and ventilation, but with the increase of visitors from 6 to 7000 per day, the decision to expand was yet again a compelling issue.

The project for a new state-of-the-art museum to chronicle for the world the ancient story of over 7000 years of Egyptian civilization began in 1992 but due to the short in funding was delayed. An international competition was held to choose the building design and was won by Heneghan Peng Architects of Ireland.

Built over 50 hectares of land, and just 15 km south of Cairo, it is located in the shadow of the Great Pyramids of Giza. It is expected to hold 100,000 exhibits making it larger than the British Museum, which holds 80,000 artifacts on display.The project is to cost about $550 million US, and is expected to be finished by 2010. The Egyptian government is hoping to raise $40 million from a current tour of King Tutankhamun artifacts in the United States to go towards funding for the project, but there is also backing from Japanese investors.

The Great Egyptian Museum (GEM) will have capacity for 15,000 visitors a day and house an archeological research institute as well as extensive storage. It is also designed to include an auditorium, a media and a publication centre for books, CDs and video tapes. The creation of a data bank and an Egyptological Library will satisfy the need of many scholars keen on the study of the museum collection.

The GEM is situated at the junction where the fertile valley meets the desert, which for the ancient Egyptians was the land of the after-life. And the most befitting final resting place for King Tut's mummy and treasures that were discovered in his tomb in 1922. The museum is also expected to exhibit the Sun Boat that was believed to have transported Queen Cleopatra's body, which now stands in its own museum near the Pyramids. On August 25, 2006 the 83 ton statue of Ramases II was moved from Ramases Square in Cairo to the Giza Plateau, in anticipation of construction of The GEM. The Statue of Ramases II, estimated to be approximately 3,200 years old, will be cleaned and touched up, and will be situated at the entrance of The GEM by 2010.

But the most striking aspect of The GEM is its glowing façade and giant triangular entrance way! Constructed of translucent alabaster, it is designed to allow the light to penetrate the inside of the museum by day and will be illuminated to glow by night too. The angled roof of The GEM is aligned with the neighboring Pyramids, forming a line from one edge of its roof extending to touch the tip of the largest of the pyramid and the other edge points toward the peak of the smaller Khefre Pyramid. The Design plans and landscaping of The Gem are perceived through light and vision. Through out the site of the museum light plays a dramatic role. The color of light changes gradually between Sun and shade, the exterior and the interior, between day and night.

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Egypt Tours

A Bit More Culture- Part Ι

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A tour in Cairo would probably include dinner on a boat floating smoothly down the Nile, the deep dark waters lite up, reflecting back the lights of Cairo by night. Sounds enchanting and mesmerizing, well it defiantly is. But on a trip like this that won't be the only sight to spellbind you. The program would also include, among other things, a belly dancer and a tanoura dancer (an Egyptian folk dance derived from the Sufi religion) as entertainment.


And after a visit to the Pyramids, the Citadel and the enormous Egyptian Museum of Antiquity, you'll probably go home impressed. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg. A people whose ancestors left behind a culture that has always captivated the world, and who over time have been exposed to a myriad of invasions by foreign cultures, must have more to show, and they do!

There are quiet a number of places with significant cultural importance, and an endless list of annual festivals and exhibitions, but we'll only mention the most popular ones.

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquity displays 136,000 items with a couple of hundred thousand others in its basement store room, making it home to the most expensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. With the new Grand Egyptian Museum being built near the Pyramids area, many more of these stored items will finally be displayed and get the attention and glory they deserve.

The old Khedive Opera House or Royal Opera House was built in November 1, 1869 and burned down on October 28, 1971. Seventeen years later on October 10, 1988 the National Cultural Center (Cairo Opera House) was built with the help of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), making Egypt the soul country in the region with two opera houses built within one century. The Cairo Opera House has recently hosted concerts by the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance and Bolshoi Theatre of the Republic of Belarus.

A not too known place of historical interest is The Cairo Geniza. The Geniza holds almost 200,000 Jewish manuscripts. These have been found at the Ben Ezra Synagogue (built in 882) in Fostat (now Old Cairo), the Basatin Cemetery east of Fostat and some were bought in Cairo in the late 19th century. These documents date back from 870 to 1880 AD.

Not to be missed are the beautiful gardens of Al Azhar Park. The sunset over the panoramic view of the old city of Cairo is an unforgettable site from one of its green hills. The park has running streams, waterfalls, restaurants, Islamic archways and lush landscaped gardens. Al Azhar Park is located near Darb Al-Ahmar district. It was a gift to Cairo from His Highness the Aga Khan, as his ancestors were the Fatimids who founded the city of Cairo in 969. During the development of the park parts of a 12th century Ayyubid wall was discovered, which has led to a major project for the restorations of several mosques, palaces and historic houses.

Erected on the same site as the ancient library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in October 2002. The main reading room is striking with its glass-paneled roof that resembles a sundial. The library has shelving space for eight million books, with the main reading room covering 70,000 m² on eleven cascading levels. The complex also houses a conference center; specialized libraries for the blind, for young people, and for children; three museums; four art galleries; a planetarium; and a manuscript restoration laboratory.


With the building of the Aswan Dam, the UNESCO attempted to salvage and recover many temples and reallocate them to higher grounds. A large quantity of artifacts was saves and was finally displayed at the beautiful Nubian Museum. The architecture of the Museum and the building walls were intended to evoke traditional Nubian village architecture, as it was along the Nubian Nile before the region was flooded by Lake Nasser.


As-Sawi Water Wheel (in arabic Saqiyet As-Sawi), is a popular cultural center. Located in Zamalek, the center hosts theatrical, musical and cinema performances, plastic art galleries, seminars and training courses. It has become a doorway to unknown artists finding a place on Cairo's culture scene. Holding awareness campaigns (2008 being "The Year of the Minds") it's intent is to protect the freedom of thought and the freedom to enjoy culture.

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Egypt Tours

Cultural Festivals-Part ΙΙ

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilisation

Picking up from our previous post about culture houses, we decided to follow with festivals. The festivals range from art and book festivals to fishing and horse festivals.


Of the most popular annual festivals that draw crowds in the millions is the Cairo International Book Fair. The first book fair was held in 1969. The Book Fair takes place in mid January and lasts for two weeks. The Fair is one of the biggest in the Middle East and during the course of the exhibition, there are lectures, seminars and special displays held on the grounds.

The Cairo International Film Festival is also another major international attraction, to be held annually in early December, and has been for the past 26 years. Besides the regular competition the festival includes tributes, controversial films, seminars and appearances by international artists, which over the years have included Matt Dillon, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren.

The 39th Cairo International Film Festival [15 till 24 November, 2016]

The Experimental Theatre Festival is held in September at the Cairo Opera House. This festival allows young artists from many parts of the world to present experimental theatrical performances based on freedom of thought, creativity and experimentation. And this year's 13th Ismailia International Festival for Folk Arts attracted 24 troupes from 17 countries, performing on 9 stages, also proved to be a success.





Cairo holds three international music festivals. During the month of August Cairo hosts the International Song Festival, which attracts not only Arab performers but talent from the international scene. The second being the Arab Music Festival which is held in the Cairo Opera House during the month of November and celebrates a tradition of Arabic music. In its 11th year the festival boasted the live performance of 44 singers during the course of 18 concerts. But the most popular is the Citadel Music Festival held in late July early August. It features beautiful voices like the Algerian Souad Massi and this year witnessed the appearance of the Grammy and BBC Award winner Fathy Salama, among others.

The Arab Horse Festival, which is being held at the moment in El-Sharkya Governarate, on the Cairo-Belbas road, includes competitions for show-jumping, horse beauty and horse manners. Another sure attraction held Mid June at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, is the annual Belly Dancing Festival. The most recent of festivals which has rapidly gained good reviews is the International Yoga Festival. The last event was themed "the Wonders of the World", taking participants from the Khufu Pyramid, in Cairo through the Jordan Rift Valley to the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea. Still on the agenda is the Health and Beauty Exhibition taking place from the 8-11 this coming October, and the seventh Egyptian Marathon on the 13th of February 2009 and the second Alexandria Run in October 2009.

El-Sharkia 18th Arab Horse Festival held in Egypt

Considered to be second only to the famous Dakar Rally, the annual Pharaohs Rally is a seven-day, seven-stage event across the Sahara. The race starts on the Pyramids plateau and in the shadow of the Sphinx in Giza. It is a race a grueling 3,000km (1,850 miles) circular course that ends up back in the bustling capital. A test of endurance for drivers and their vehicles, this tough event attracts more than 130 vehicles and 100 motorcycles from all over the world. This year it starts on the 5th and ends on the 12th of October. The sport of fishing has two popular festivals during the year. An International Fishing Festival in Hurghada that takes place during the month of February and a National Fishing Festival in Sharm El Sheikh that takes place in November.

Sun Festival at Abu Simbel in Aswan, is observed twice annually on 22nd of February and on 22nd of October. These dates mark the birthday and the ascension to the throne of the Emperor Ramses ΙΙ. On these days, shafts of sunlight enter into the temple and illuminate the face of the statues of the great King Ramses II and the two Sun gods Re-Horakhte and Amen-Re seated beside the Theban god Ptah, the god of darkness. As the temple remains in absolute darkness through out the year and receives sunlight on these two very special days, the rare phenomenon is a scene that you just cannot afford to miss. Celebrated in a big way by the locals, undoubtedly the Sun Festival at Abu Simbel is one of the most uncommon and astounding festivals in the world.