April 21, 2018 – Alexandria, Egypt

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, magnificent Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, boasts a storied past. Spread at the mouth of Egypt’s Nile River, this historic port grew into a center of education and the second most powerful city in the world after Rome. It remained the capital of Roman and Byzantine Egypt for a millennium. Its magnificent library was the largest in the ancient world; international scholars flocked here in search of knowledge. Today, a stunning modern library has replaced it, rising dramatically from the shore. The ancient amphitheater, too, provides a glimpse of the city under Rome. Today, much of ancient Alexandria lies underwater, a remarkable time capsule of a past era.

We did not see much of Alexandria, but what we did, it was similar to the other cities we have seen. Not very clean or well taken care of. What we did do was to take a tour to the pyramids. It was early in the morning so many places were not open yet.

Our tour was a 13-hour excursion from Alexandria to Giza and Memphis. We left at 7:30 AM and got back about 8:30 PM, but well worth it. The drive out was along the desert road; however, there was no desert, just a lot of fields and homes. One of the things that was interesting were the salt marshes. This is where the Egyptian salt comes from.

Our first stop was at Saqqara, one of the most important and richest necropolis in Egypt, is completely surrounded by desert sands. The history of Egyptian pyramids began from around 2650 BC, here in Saqqara. The pyramid that we visited here is the pyramid of Djoser, which was originally about 60 meters high and 133 meters east and west, and 107 meters north and south. This pyramid covers a shaft 28 meters deep which contained the burial chamber, attached to a system of tunnels used for the funerary trappings and a system of chambers and passages decorated with blue tiles that constituted the funerary apartment. It was decided to make the tomb more imposing by adding a series of steps, giving the monument a stair like appearance that would symbolically facilitate the ascent of the king’s soul to heaven.

The step pyramid and the related structures, which constitute the Djoser complex, are surrounded by an imposed wall in light limestone with the characteristic palace façade motif. The single entrance is situated in the largest bastion of the enclosure wall. It leads through a narrow passage, roofed with stone fashioned to imitate palm logs (now reconstructed), and ends in an antechamber.

And the step pyramid.

Also at this site was the Funerary Complex of King Teti. This dates back to the 6^th dynasty (around 2330 BC) and was built by Teti, the first king of this dynasty. It consists of the Pyramid, the Mortuary Temple, and an ascending passage to the Valley Temple. We were able to go down to the Valley Temple; however, you could not take any pictures.

We then got back in the bus and drove to Memphis. This was the capital of Egypt for about a thousand years, and an important religious and commercial center throughout the 3,000 years of the country’s ancient history. It was said to be founded by the first pharaoh (about 3100 BC). We went to the open-air museum in Memphis. It has two main attractions, an alabaster sphinx and the colossus of Ramses II. Ramses II is the main feature of the Museum compound, It is mode of hard, fine quality limestone and lies in a special shelter. Part of the crown and the lower legs are missing, but the torso, detail of the muscles of the legs and arms, as well as the pharos features, show the high standard of craftsmanship in the New Kingdom.

The alabaster sphinx is the largest alabaster statue ever fund. It weighs some eighty tons, and although somewhat weathered, is still impressive. It is and early 18^th dynasty statue, attributed to either Amenhotep I of Thutmose I.

We were then off to lunch in Giza at Le Meridien, across the street from the pyramids.

Then we were ready for our last stops of the day, the Giza pyramids. The Giza Pyramids, built to endure an eternity, have done just that. The monumental tombs are relics of Egypt's Old Kingdom era and were constructed some 4,500 years ago.

Egypt's pharaohs expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they erected temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves—filled with all the things each ruler would need to guide and sustain himself in the next world.

Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and towers some 481 feet (147 meters) above the plateau. Its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weigh an average of 2.5 to 15 tons.

Khufu's son, Pharaoh Khafre, built the second pyramid at Giza, circa 2520 B.C.

The third of the Giza Pyramids is considerably smaller than the first two. Built by Pharaoh Menkaure circa 2490 B.C., it featured a much more complex mortuary temple.

While we were there someone came up to us and asked if we wanted to have some special pictures taken with the pyramids. Of course, Steve said yes and here is what costs us $3. Well worth the investment.

We then took a short drive to see the Great Sphinx. It is a colossal stone statue located next to the Pyramids of Giza.  Carved out of limestone, the Sphinx has the facial features of a man and the body of a recumbent lion; it is approximately 240 feet (73 m) long and 66 feet (20 m) high.

The Sphinx was built in about 2530 BC by the pharaoh Khafre(4th king of Fourth dynasty, c. 2575–c. 2465 BC), the builder and occupant of the second Giza pyramid. The sphinx's face is a portrait of the king and the sphinx continued to be a royal portrait type through most of Egyptian history.

The Sphinx is thought to be primarily a guardian figure, protecting the tomb of the Khafre by warding off evil spirits. Arabs know the Sphinx of Giza by the name of Abu al-Hawl, or "Father of Terror."

The Sphinx's face was mainly damaged during French occupation around 1800, when Mameluke troops used it for target practice for their field cannons, but its body has been weathered by the elements for thousands of years.

And then back to the port. It was dark when we got back, but it was quite active in Alexandria as we drove through.

And when we finally got to the ship, we had a welcoming committee, with dancers. However, most of us just wanted to get back to our rooms.

I was glad to see the ship pull away from Egypt. It was a very interesting visit, but there were just too many police, it made me very nervous. Today we had a police escort before and after every couple of buses as well as an armed guard on the bus. At times we had an armored vehicle in front of us also. And, there were jeeps with gunned soldiers in our convoy as well. It was very unnerving, glad to be gone.

Now we have two days at sea and then a day and a half in Malta. We were supposed to go to Tunisia after one day in Malta, but they cancelled Tunisia because of the world situation and extended our stay in Malta.