The Citadel

One of Cairo's most popular tourist attractions is The Citadel, located on a spur of limestone that had been detached from its parent Moqattam Hills by quarrying. The Citadel began it's life not as a great military base of operations, but as the "Dome of the Wind", a pavilion created in 810 by Hatim Ibn Hartama, who was then governor. These early governors, not realizing it strategic importance, simply used the pavilion for its view of Cairo. In 1176, Salah ad-Din fortified the area to protect it against attacks by the Crusaders, and since then, it has never been without a military garrison.

In 1218 Sultan al-Kamil, Salah ad-Din's nephew moved his residence to The Citadel, and until the consturction of the Abdin Palace in the mid-19th century, it was the seat of government for the Country of Egypt.

Most of the fortification's enterior were built after Salah ad-Din's rule, being added to by almost every invader including the British, some of whom destroyed much of what existed before them. Al Nasir Muhammad leveled most of Salah al-Din's buildings and later Muhamad Ali did the same to the Mamluk structures.

The Citadel actually consists of three main sections, surrounded by their own walls with towers and gates. These consist of the Lower Enclosure (El-Azab), the Northern Enclosure (El-Ankishariya) and the Southern Enclosure which is The Citadel proper (El-Qal'a). The two main gates are on the north (Bab el-Gadid) and south (Bab el-Gabal). Particularly when viewed from the back side (from the north), The Citadel reveals a very medieval character .

The Egyptian Museum

 

The Egyptian museum was first built in Boulak. In 1891, it was moved to Giza Palace of "Ismail Pasha" which housed the antiquities that were later moved to the present building. The Egyptian museum is situated at Tahrir square in Cairo. It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902. It has 107 halls. At the ground floor there are the huge statues. The upper floor houses small statues, jewels, Tutankhamon treasures and the mummies. The Museum also comprises a photography section and a large library. The Egyptian museum comprises many sections arranged in chronological order

1-The first section houses Tutankhamon’s treasures

2-The second section houses the pre-dynasty and the Old Kingdom monuments.

3-The third section houses the first intermediate period and the Middle Kingdom monuments.

4-The forth section houses the monuments of the Modern Kingdom.

5-The fifth section houses the monuments of the late period and the Greek and Roman periods.

6-The sixth section houses coins and papyrus.

7-The seventh section houses sarcophagi and scrabs.

A hall for the royal mummies was opened at the museum, housing eleven kings and queens. More than a million and half tourists visit the museum annually, in addition to half a million Egyptians

The Great Pyramids

The Great Pyramids

How the Great Pyramid was built is a question that may never be answered. Herodotus said that it would have taken 30 years and 100,000 slaves to have built it. Another theory is that it was built by peasants who were unable to work the land while the Nile flooded between July and November. They may have been paid with food for their labor. The flooded waters would have also aided in the moving of the casing stones. These stones were brought from Aswan and Tura and the water would have brought the stones right to the pyramid. This pyramid is thought to have been built between 2589 - 2566 BC. It would have taken over 2,300,000 blocks of stone with an average weight of 2.5 tons each. The total weight would have been 6,000,000 tons and a height of 482 feet (140m). It is the largest and the oldest of the Pyramids of Giza

Chephren is the son and successor of Khufu and Hensuten. Khufu's other son and also successor, Ra'djedef, started constructing his own pyramid at Abu Rawash, which is north of Giza. Chephren's pyramid is designed more modestly than Khufu's. The Chephren pyramid originally was 10 feet (3m) shorter and 48 feet (14.6m) more narrow at the base. The estimated weight of all the stones in the pyramid is 4,880,000 tons. Because it is built higher on the plateau, it looks taller from most angles than Khufu's pyramid. The slope of the angles is higher, 53 degrees compared to Khufu's 51 degrees.

The Pyramid of Menkaure' (Mycerinus) is the smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza and shows the beginning of the decline in workmanship in the Egyptian pyramid building. The attention to detail is not as it is on the earlier pyramid.