- Day Trip in Cairo : Visit Memphis and Sakkara
- Visit the Great Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx
- Must See Attractions in Luxor : Tutankhamun, Karnak, Nile and more Mysteries
- Visit Cairo – Egyptian Museum, Coptic Cairo and River Nile Cruise
To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.Freya Stark
On our first day in Egypt (Read more), we head for one of the ancient capitals of Egypt – Memphis. We had booked a very reliable tour operator to get us around Egypt as most of these sites had historical weightage and you need a good Egyptologist to show you around else all these places will never make sense. Join us on a day trip in Cairo and Visit Memphis admiring the Colossus of Ramses and explore the Step Pyramid of Djoser and Pyramid of Unas at Sakkara.
According to the legends, Memphis was founded by the Pharaoh Menes. The Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta. Memphis remained the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom period, at the time when the great Pyramids were being built.
There is more to Cairo than the Pyramids and Sphinx – Discover more.
We head from our hotel in Giza towards Memphis – Egypt didn’t seem very different from a experience back home in India. The people, roads, vehicles, landscape everything looked very familiar. Our first stop was Colossus of Ramses II. The massive limestone statue of Pharaoh Ramses II is 33 feet (10 m) long and that’s without having any legs! Ramses II was the longest serving pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, reigning from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. The statue was found in 1820 by an Italian traveller, Giovanni Caviglia. Colossus of Ramses is another example of the supreme craftsmanship of the ancient Egyptians which baffles artists and historians today. It is housed in the Memphis Museum in a small village on the site of what was once Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt. There are ongoing excavations in this region.
The museum itself is in a very tragic state, there are few other sculptures on the ground including the Alabaster Sphinx – The Sphinx of Memphis. This sphinx, carved from whitish yellow stone, was much smaller than the Giza Sphinx. It is one of the most intact Sphinx and not damaged as compared to the one in Giza and Luxor. We had a stroll on the grounds of the museum to see few other sculptures.
We then head towards Saqqara – a vast ancient burial ground. It served as the Necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. It has been of constant interest to Egyptologists.
Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world-famous Step Pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base. It is the oldest known of Egypt’s 97 pyramids. Step Pyramid of Djoser was built for King Djoser of the 3rd Dynasty by the architect and genius Imhotep, who designed it and its surrounding complex to be as grand as it was unique and revolutionary.
The Pyramid of Unas is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara. It was built for pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty in the mid 24th century BC. Its ancient name, Nefer Isut Unas, means “Beautiful are the places of Unas”. The pyramid is now completely ruined.
I must say that the journey to Memphis and then Saqqara was equally fascinating as the places itself.
We then head to the world famous Giza Pyramids and Great Sphinx – Read Here
Read our complete Egypt exploration here – Click here
If you need any information or have any feedback, please feel free to leave a comment here and I’ll get back to at the earliest.
This is Aldrin and my partner Amoli. We bring you "Earths Pilgrim" - a unique insight into our travel escapades while leaving life in a cubicle. If you are looking for some inspiration to break the shackles of a regular life, then you are the right place. Read more about us- Click here.
Can u please share us the Egypt tour operator information
Thanks in advance
Geetha
Sure Geethanjali…Send all the info offline… Hope u have a lovely trip..
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