Egypt with Family: The Wonder of the Pyramids, Memphis, and Giza

Back in May we went to Egypt.

I have waited for a while to record all this because I honestly don’t know how to do it justice. We saw so much, learned so much, and were honestly flabbergasted by so much that we learned. I mean, how on earth do you record all the thoughts and feelings about this ancient civilization that had so much figured out, and did so much to try to live on forever? They knew about astronomy, and art, and had ancient rituals to help connect them to a higher source. They built incredible structures that are still standing 4,700 years later. Oh man, so much to learn.

How This Trip Came To Be

Egypt was originally just a tack-on to our planned Israel trip. So it was strange how the cards played out that it became THE trip when Jerusalem was no longer available. By that time the kids had all arranged to take work off, had babysitters situated for Murphy and Ada, and we had the Egypt portion all set with our guide.

So we went.

And boy oh boy, we LOVED it.

As sad as we were to miss Jerusalem, we were actually so glad we didn’t combine these two trips. It would have been a LOT to take in with all that information to keep track of.

Our Arrival in Cairo

I hope I will always remember our drive from the Cairo airport to our hotel at midnight (after a delayed flight from our short stay in Greece). How it felt to catch our first view of the Giza pyramids from our bus window, all lit up at night.

It was surreal.

Complete awe and delight filled up every cranny of that bus from all of us, our kids eyes as big as saucers, marveling that people drive by those things every day on that freeway. Do they even realize how lucky they are?? And then, when two of our hotel rooms actually had balconies that overlooked the pyramids we could hardly contain ourselves. There is nothing in the whole wide world quite like having over 4,500 years old pyramids looming up in front of you.

An Overview of Some Trip Highlights

We were only in Egypt for five days but we covered so much ground it was mind-boggling. Did you know there have been 120 pyramids discovered in Egypt? I mean, we know the well-known Pyramids of Giza (what we saw from our bus that first night), but there are so many more, and so much more to learn.

I thought we’d have some down time mixed in as we traveled, but we were honestly being fed information from sun up (two of the mornings starting at 4:30am) to late at night. On the bus as well as while wearing our “whisper” headsets through every spot we stopped so we could hear the guides.

We rode on camels:

Hot air balloons carried us over the Valley of the Kings:

We saw so many giant, ancient pyramids:

And room after room carved perfectly into mountains thousands of years ago. They were filled with ancient art from ceiling to floor. I just couldn’t even comprehend this…and I’ll write more in the section about the Valley of the Kings.

We visited ancient temples reaching up to the heavens.

And were completely baffled by the question: How in the world did these things come to be?

Over and over again.

It is so fascinating to think about, and no one really knows exactly how these feats of ingenuity came to be.

Who We Traveled With

We traveled with a family of our best friends the Barneys, as well as our amazing tour guide and his wife and daughter:

Our main tour guide was Kerry Muhlestein, who is an Egyptologist and religion professor at BYU. His depth of knowledge is honestly astounding.

He is the dad of one of the Barney’s missionaries, (they served as mission leaders in Iowa and that’s how we hooked up with Kerry). And also why that daughter and his wife Julianne were also on the tour with us. They are the best people.

While in Egypt you are required by law to have not only a security guard and a driver, but an additional Egyptian tour guide. So we had explanations from both of our tour guides on lots of things, and this made the web of information we were trying to digest even deeper.

But I was SO grateful for their guidance through that magical land of Egypt.

I had been to Egypt on the tail end of my study abroad in Jerusalem but that in and of itself is ancient history (35 years ago). So it was so good to be able to try to put it all together again. Love that the Barneys and our kids were all pretty into asking questions and trying to figure it all out…when they got a minute between all the explanations.

We were on a big bus the whole time since there were 21 of us in all (nine in each of our families plus the Muhlesteins), plus the security guard, extra guide, etc. and I was so impressed with how well that huge bus could maneuver those tiny and very crowded streets.

Abby the Photographer

I have to include, before we really get going, that Abby was the best photographer in all the land. I don’t lug around my big camera much any more, so LUCKILY Abby brought her whiz-bang new camera and put it to the test in Egypt. I’m so grateful for all that she captured!

THANK YOU ABBY!

Spiritual Thoughts on the Bus

The Muhlesteins had us sign up for different spiritual thoughts on the bus each day. Not everyone signed up, (and there wasn’t enough time anyway), but LOVED the thoughts Elle, Grace, Lucy and Abby shared.

Abby’s topic was eternal families and I loved how she talked about how the Egyptians wanted so much to take what they loved with them to the afterlife, and how our church believes we can do that as well. We build the framework for eternity different from they did, but we believe it can happen and that’s such a beautiful thing.

Our Egypt Itinerary: Day One

Memphis

Memphis is the oldest capitol in the whole world.

Mit Rahina Museum

We visited the open-air Mit Rahina Museum that held all kinds of ancient artifacts.

It was our first introduction to all things Egyptian. All these hieroglyphics that would take over our world for the next few days.

It holds the sphinx of Hatshepsut (famous woman pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 20 years, we went to her temple later…)

This was Lucy’s personal favorite since she looked like a lion. And if you know Lucy, you know she adores lions in all forms.

Probably its most famous relic is a giant laying-down statue of Ramses II (probably the most famous pharaoh):

I found it fascinating to note that he was preserved so well because he was found face-first in the sand, which served as a natural protector from the elements that can so quickly erode stone.

Saqqara Monuments (A Cemetery for Memphis)

Saqqara is dotted with all kinds of pyramids (remember they’ve found 120 pyramids so far and I’m sure there are lots more), including the oldest pyramid (the Step Pyramid from 2600 BC…4,700 years ago!!). They are some of the oldest and most well-preserved pyramids and they are pretty cool. I want to keep this article about pyramids here because it goes into so much more detail.

We walked through this cool column structure to get out to the main area:

And bam!

Once again, pure awe from our kids, which made it extra fun.

Ptahhotep Pyramid

We went inside one of the pyramids (Ptahhotep), squatting to make it through the tunnel down in. We found beautiful (and colorful) carvings from over 4,500 years ago.

A side note about Lucy: this girl rocked this trip! She was all in to every description and explanation, taking notes with her phone right up next to her face.

Her siblings also rocked taking such good care of her.

Lunch stop with a band of people playing all kinds of instruments so we would dance to our tables.

Dahshur

Dahshur is an ancient royal necropolis. A necroplis is a burial ground for Kings and Queens and royal family members. You’ll see this again when I talk about the Valley of the Kings in Luxor). Dahshur includes the “Bent Pyramid” as well as the “Red Pyramid.” They were both built for Pharaoh Sneferu from 2613 to 2589 BC. (!!) They are some of the oldest and most well-preserved pyramids and they are pretty cool.

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid is one of the oldest and considered the first true successful smooth-sided pyramid. It’s kind of reddish because they used local limestone to build it which has a red hue.

We got to go inside the Red Pyramid (Lucy smartly decided to stay on the bus for this part, maneuvering down into that dark cavern would have been really hard for her).

We went up, up, up:

…to this opening so we could go down, down, down:

…Pep-talking my claustrophobic Max the whole way down that LONG squatting pathway into the heart of that thing. It didn’t help that this family from Germany burst out of that tunnel heaving for air quite dramatically right as we were going in. Ha!

But we made it into the belly, which had been looted for all it’s preciousness thousands of years ago.

Which makes me wonder, how in the WORLD did those looters get all that stuff out of there? Well, in there too. I mean, the sarcophagus alone must have weighed an astronomical amount.

Sure enough, it was completely empty and we marveled at being inside that colossal structure.

Also, like those Germans, we were glad to be back on the outside when we were done.

Did I mention all of this is in a vast expanse of pure desert?

The Bent Pyramid

We walked over from the Red Pyramid to the “Bent Pyramid.” It got its name because it has a distinct angle change half way up (shifting from a 54-degree to a 43-degree slope). Can you see it below in the distance?

I guess this is due to some structural instability problems they had during construction.

Parts of this one haven’t held up as well, as you can see below:

But it was fascinating standing there in awe thinking about how they matched the facing fitting stones together perfectly, no mortar, how did they get the stone?

How did they cut the stone?

And all of it built in an estimated 10-20 years…!!!

I just can’t comprehend.

DANGEROUS EXPLORATION

Back at the hotel I was itching to explore and find an Egyptian grocery store. (I LOVE exploring grocery stores in foreign countries with all my heart…kind of a strange hobby but I love it.) So Dave, Carson and I headed out with the Barney boys to check that place out.

Dave always gets a bit protective in places like this, the streets were crazy busy.

But we did find a grocery store and got back safe and sound having explored a fascinating tiny corner of Egypt.

Dinner under the Pyramids

That night we sat around the table at a restaurant, just our family, still not being able to fathom that the pyramids were looming right above us. We had some unwinding to do, but I love that Dave asked for a quick round of what everyone was thankful for. I love how gratitude can make the air around you feel softer and can make you feel even more in love with those expressing it.

Day Two: The Giza Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum

This was what I had been waiting for — we got to visit each of the three main (and most famous) Giza pyramids…first from afar off, and then each one up close.

Riding Camels at the Giza Pyramids

On our first stop everyone could choose if they wanted to ride a camel. We’ve done this before in Africa as well as Dubai, so Lucy knew what she was getting into and raised her hand high.

I wasn’t going to miss that opportunity so I joined her too…then Grace and Carson joined in as well.

It was so exhilarating to lumber along slowly with the misty pyramids in the distance (almost falling out of my very crooked saddle a couple times), Lucy full of excitement in front of me.

The cheerleaders on the sidelines:

Pyramid of Khufu (or the Great Pyramid)

After that camel adventure we got up close and personal first with the Great Pyramid:

This is one I was very personal with when I was on study abroad there 35 years ago and climbed that thing. But that’s a story for another day.

Our whole group and I know I’m biased but is Lucy just the most amazing girl sitting there smack-dab in the front?

Pyramid of Khafre

Then the Pyramid of Khafre that still has a bit of its smooth stones at the top…and is so famous.

So much to learn!

Great Sphinx of Giza

Ok and the piece de resistance as far as I was concerned: the Great Sphinx of Giza holding watch over those Giza pyramids. It was so surreal to be there with my family.

We were sufficiently wowed and so happy to be in that spot.

The Grand Egyptian Museum

That afternoon we went to the GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum) and that thing is a wonder.

It’s only recently been opened and the architecture and arrangement of all those artifacts is incredible.

King Tut’s Treasures

The highlight for all of us? KING TUT’S TREASURES.

There were rooms and ROOMS filled with his things, from small chariots to sandals to hundreds of bows and arrows, chairs, beds, anything he’d need in the afterlife.

But most impressive of course were the golden boxes that originally nested one inside the other with three different sarcophagi nested inside that to hold King Tut’s body.

This further-away view gives you a better perspective.

And the most magnificent golden face mask.

Incredible.

The fact that King Tut’s tomb was one of the smallest tombs but one that hadn’t been looted makes you wonder what kinds of things were in the big ones.

A Papyrus Factory

We ended the day with a visit to a papyrus factory where Elle and I got suckered into buying some, ha! So interesting to learn how it’s done.

Much to everyone’s delight, we got back to the hotel in time enough to sit by the pool, all those kids starting to mingle more and more (we haven’t really had all our adult kids together for a LONG time).

…and to pack up and get ready for LUXOR the next day.

Continue reading: Egypt Part 2 — Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, and the Royal Mummies