Cairo Day 2-Camels, Pyramids, & Sphinx

All,

Today we hopped on a bus and made our way to the pyramids. Even cooler than you can imagine. There are a few of them here, and even though they’re all about 5,000 years old, some are “newer” and better built as the Egyptians learned along the way. Amazing that these things got built at all — and amazing they were tombs. (Also amazing that the Taj Mahal — MUCH newer but still pretty old — is also a tomb. I guess royalty has always liked to be buried in style 🤣).

Here’s one thing that’s always struck me, but even more so now:

When you think about building these monuments — the Great Pyramid alone is made of 2.3 million blocks, each weighing between 2.5 and 15 tons, quarried and hauled from Aswan hundreds of miles away — let that sink in for a minute:

1.    First you’ve got to imagine it.

2.    Then you’ve got to design it.

3.    You need to calculate, find, order, ship, and deliver everything (ah…logistics 😊).

4.    Someone has to track it all and make sure you got what you ordered.

5.    You need to build it — with no electricity, forklifts, or cranes.

6.    And all this happened before humankind knew the Earth orbits the sun or understood gravity — discoveries that came thousands of years later.

Crazy.

So to me, not that much — beyond technology and science — has really changed. Those have advanced in unimaginable ways. But the buildings and monuments they built have stood for 5,000 years and remain breathtaking. I’m honestly not sure we can say the same for most of our modern buildings. Time will tell, I suppose.

And think about it: even back then, there were architects and draftsmen, quarrymen and haulers, loaders and drivers, foremen and accountants — and lawyers, doctors, judges, priests, and politicians too. Life wasn’t all that different in some ways.

Weird… and humbling.

Tomorrow: Luxor.

Onward!