5,000 years ago, on the banks of the Nile River, a remarkable way of life and of civilization was born. It evolved and flourished longer than most civilizations in the history of the world, for over 3,000 years. Located between Africa and the Middle East, Egypt holds a history of over 6,000 years. Filled with remnants of the ancient times, like the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the tombs of pharaohs, temples and much more, it is the dream location for all tourists of all ages.

Egyptian history begins around 3300 BC, when the ancient Egyptians finally had enough symbols in their writing to record history. It was also the time when Upper and Lower Egypt united, under King Menes the pharaoh, into a single kingdom. He built two capital cities: in the north - Memphis, in the south - Abydos. Egypt is said to be the gift of the Nile River. It depended on the Nile for food, water and transportation, and this gave Egypt an advantage that other civilizations didn’t have. Being the focal point of Egyptian life for thousands of years, by providing convenient transportation and irrigation channels that needed to be maintained, the river Nile gave Egypt some of the main reasons for becoming the first country in the world with a national government. The Nile’s unlimited supply of water allowed the creation of the society responsible for the wonders of ancient Egypt.

In the time of pharaohs (translated “the one who lives in peace), no other civilization could compete with Egypt on buildings, wealth, or long centuries of peace. Under consecutive strong and able rulers a well organized government was established. The calendar was introduced and the most loved god was the Sun-God, Ra. Egyptians believed that the pharaohs were more than human and they considered them to be gods. They were often called “son of Ra” or “giver of life”, and no names were enough to express the greatness of the pharaoh. He was in service of the gods, and by doing so he helped the sun rise every day and the Nile to flood each summer. Only the pharaoh could make offerings of food and water, and in exchange the gods would feed the souls of the Egyptians after death. The power of the pharaoh was unquestioned and almighty and even touching his scepter or crown by mistake was punished with death.

With the passing of time, authority began to weaken in Egypt, and the kingdom got under the control of foreign princes. The foreign rulers introduced the horses and chariots to Egypt. After about 400 years, priests got their hands on the power and the empire declined. Egypt was so weak that Alexander the Great took over Egypt with ease. His capital city was Alexandria, where he is believed to be buried. After his death, his empire was divided among his generals and the Greek rule ended with the reign of Cleopatra VII. She ruled together with her son from Alexandria, which became a world center of Greek culture. For the next 300 years Egypt was ruled by Greek-speaking pharaohs, and then it became a province of the Roman Empire. A division of power in Rome resulted in the abandonment of Egypt. After many years of war with foreign countries that took over for short periods of time, Egypt finally became an independent country with a President.

The Pyramids of Egypt and the Sphinx

Unquestionably, the most famous feature of Egypt is its Pyramids. They are at the top of any travel list for anyone considering visiting Egypt. The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt were built as tombs for Kings and Queens, and it was an exclusive privilege to have one. The most representative are the Pyramids of Giza, the Pyramids of Sakkara, the Pyramids of Dahshour and the Pyramid of Medium.

Without a doubt, the biggest, most remarkable and most famous of all are the 3 Pyramids of Giza.

The only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Khufu's Pyramid, Pyramid of Khufu and Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis. Situated near Cairo, the Great Pyramid of Cheops is by far the most famous Pyramid in Egypt, the tallest, the biggest, and the most intact. It is believed the pyramid was built over a 20 year period around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid is considered an architectural masterpiece. Its four sides face the four cardinal points precisely and it has an angle of 52 degrees. It contains around 1,300,000 blocks ranging in weight from 2.5 tons to 15 tons and is built on a square base with sides measuring about 230m! The original height was 146.5m – only 137m in the present, due to the theft of the fine quality limestone covering, or casing stones.

The entrance of the Pyramid is located at the northern side, as almost every Pyramid in Egypt. There are actually 2 entrances, one is the original, 17m above ground level, and a man-made forced entrance located below it, created at the orders of Khalif El-Mamoun in the 9th Century A.D, who thought there might be treasures kept hidden inside the Pyramid. His stonemasons opened up an entrance, and cut it midway across the centre of the northern side. The tunnel they cut goes almost 35m into the Pyramid and at the end connects with the original inner corridors. They found nothing inside, as it was plundered in antiquity. Today’s visitors use Mamoun’s entrance to enter the Pyramid, as it is considered a shortcut.

From the main entrance we find a long narrow corridor descending for about 100m, that takes you to an unfinished burial chamber, about 24m below ground level, and inaccessible today. 20m in the descending corridor there’s a connected corridor that takes you up into the Pyramid’s heart. This ascending corridor ends at the Grand Gallery, that is a large, long, rectangular hall, 49m long, and 15m high, with a long tunnel, at the bottom, that takes you the 2nd chamber, the “Queens Chamber”. But it has nothing to do with a Queen; it was given this name by the early Arabs, who went inside the Pyramids.

At the end of the Grand Gallery lays the entrance to the real burial chamber of King Cheops, and this is where you will find his stone sarcophagus, made out of one block of granite. The chamber has a rectangular form, a flat roof, and the granite it is built of was brought from 1000Km away, from Aswan. The roof is made of 9 slabs of granite; each one about 50 tons in weight! To be able to sustain the huge pressure of the weight above that could have caused the burial chamber to collapse, the Ancient Egyptians build 5 small relieving chambers above the roof of the burial chamber. These 5 chambers are also made of granite, and about 1m above each other. The tops of the first 4 are flat, while the 5th one has a pointed top to divert the enormous pressure away from the burial chamber. The northern and southern walls of the burial chamber have two small tunnels with rectangular entrances. They are believed to be “star shafts” that in the ancient cult were designed to connect the King with the stars.

The Pyramid of Khafre, son of Cheops, is the second Pyramid, and it’s recognizable by the layers of its original casing stones that still remain near its top. Standing on a higher part of the plateau, the optical illusion is that it’s taller than the Great Pyramid although its height is 136m.
It’s internal architecture it’s simpler than the Great Pyramid, the only similarity being the entrance in the same, north side. You cannot reach the heart of the Pyramid, the burial chamber is underground, and to reach it you must pass a long descending passageway. The entrance is 15m above ground level, and the passage descends at a 25-degree angle into the large burial chamber. A large, black sarcophagus is found in this room.

Menkaure was Khafre’s son. His is the smallest of the 3 main Pyramids on the Giza Plateau. It was only 65.5m (62 now) tall. It is thought that it was planned a lot smaller, but it was altered during its construction. The smaller Pyramid had a simple descending corridor and burial chamber, but when it was enlarged, another burial chamber, a storeroom, a new corridor with 3 portcullises and a small paneled chamber were added at a lower level. Apart from the size, Menkaure’s Pyramid differed from the other 2 in the choice of casing stones. Unlike the 2 other Pyramids that were completely cased in fine, white, Turah limestone, Menkaure’s Pyramid had the first 15 meters cased with pink granite from Aswan and from 15m up cased in Turah limestone. Like the other 2 Pyramids, this one has the entrance facing north.

One of the most recognizable constructions in history, the Great Sphinx (or “the living image” as the ancients called it) was sculpted from soft sandstone. For that reason, it is believed it would have disappeared long ago if it wasn’t buried in the sand for such long periods in its lifetime. This remarkable structure faces the sun, and it is 60m long and 20m tall. The face is 4m wide and its eyes measure 2m high. The ancient Egyptians revered it so much that they build a temple in front of it. King Thutmose IV installed a stele between its front paws, describing how, when he was a young Prince, he had gone hunting and fell asleep in the shade of the Sphinx ‘s head. He then had a dream where Ra, the sun God, spoke to him, talking through the Sphinx, and told him to clear away the sand because the Sphinx was choking on it. The Sphinx told him that if he does this, he will become the King of Egypt. Thutmose cleared away all the sand and after 2 years, the god fulfilled his promise to the Prince and he was made King of Egypt.

• It is forbidden to climb the Pyramids. You are only allowed to climb up the stone steps that lead to the entrance, which is 55 feet above ground level.
• It is strongly advisable to wear good walking shoes.
• If you wish to take a car onto the site, you need to get a car parking ticket. 2 LE for a small car, 5 LE for minibuses, 10 LE for a coach.
• The best time to go the Pyramids is in the morning between 0800 and 1200. - or 15:00 to 17:00
• If you wish to go inside the Great Pyramid, there is an extra ticket for this that will cost you 100 LE. You will find the ticket office for the entrance to the Great Pyramid in front of the north-eastern side of the Pyramid. Sometimes, it is quite difficult to get this ticket, as the amount is limited to a certain number of visitors. They sell only 300 tickets daily, and they are divided among morning and afternoon. They sell 150 at 0800, and then, at exactly 1300, the other 150. 
• If you wish to go inside Khafre’s Pyramid, you will have to get an extra entrance ticket - 20 LE. In addition to that, they charge 10LE for cameras. 
• As for Menkaure’s Pyramid, it is now closed for restoration. The Pyramids are opened on a rotational basis; usually it would last for a year, so that restoration work can be done. 
• If you want to get a camel or horse ride, the best place for this are the stables at the foot of the Pyramids plateau, it is cheap and safe.
• In order to get rid of the vendors, simply say “No, thank you! “or“La Shukran” and they will go away. Believe it or not, it works.
• As for the street vendors Don’t say the word “Emshi”, like many of the guide books will advise you, it is simply means get lost, and you don’t want to offend anyone in there, after all they are just trying to make a living.  Here are Some useful  Arabic words for you
•  Tip: If you don't want to pay the extra entrance ticket for any of the above mentioned pyramids and still want to have similar experience of being inside one, then go the eastern side of the Great Pyramid and you will find there three subsidiary smaller Pyramids (one was for the Khufu’s daughter, one for Khufu’s wife and the third one for Khufu’s mother). Two of these Pyramids (his wife’s and his mother’s) are opened for visitors, and there is no extra charge to get in. All you need to do is show your site ticket to the guard and you will be in!
• If you ever feel that you need to go to the toilet while you’re conducting your visit, then the best place to go is at the boat Museum which is located in front of the southern side of the Great Pyramid. Just tell the people at the entrance that you only want to use the toilet and they will let you in

One of the most beautiful attractions of Egypt is its temples. While there are a lot of temples, more than you could hope to visit when you travel to Egypt, we will show you the most famous and beautiful ones that you should try to get to.

The Temples of Abu Simbel are some of the most interesting Pharaonic Temples. They are located 280 km south of Aswan and consists of two, rock-cut Temples, both dating back to the reign of King Ramses II (1290-1223 BC). Unfortunately, being in proximity of the Lake Nasser, the Temples suffered from the raising water while the High Dam was being built. Other countries and UNESCO assisted Egypt in its effort to save them. The Temples were cut in pieces, and then reconstructed again on a site 65m higher than before, and 200m back inland, to escape the rising water level. This operation took 4 years, between June 1964 and September 1968.

The first Temple was built by King Ramses II and is dedicated to the God Re-Hor-Akhty, Amon, Ptah, and King Ramses II as a deified King. It’s 35m long and 30m high. In the front of the entrance there are four seated colossi representing the King seated on his throne wearing the double crown. They are 20m tall and are accompanied by 3 small figures, flanking their legs, representing his wives, sons and daughters. Above the entrance stands the figure of Re-Hor-Akhty. The main hall, supported by Osirid shaped pillars cut into the rock, has its walls decorated by battle and offering scenes. The sanctuary is at the far end of the Temple, and contains four statues; Re-Hor-Akhty, Amon-Re, Ptah and the deified Ramses II.