Egypt's Pyramids of Giza: The Last of the Seven Wonders
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing — a structure of 2.3 million stone blocks built 4,500 years ago with a precision that modern engineers still struggle to explain.
The Pyramids of Giza are the most visited archaeological site in the world and the most ancient — the Great Pyramid was built around 2560 BCE, making it 4,500 years old and the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is also the only one still standing. The pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 3,800 years, and the precision of its construction — the base is level to within 2.1 centimetres, and the sides are aligned to the cardinal points with an accuracy of 0.05 degrees — remains extraordinary.
The Giza plateau contains three pyramids — the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre, and the much smaller Pyramid of Menkaure — along with the Great Sphinx, the largest monolithic statue in the world. The Sphinx, carved from a single outcrop of limestone, has the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh (probably Khafre), and has been guarding the plateau for 4,500 years.
The interior of the Great Pyramid is accessible to visitors — a narrow passage leads to the King's Chamber, a room of red granite at the heart of the pyramid, where the sarcophagus of Khufu once stood. The climb is claustrophobic and physically demanding, but the experience of standing in a room that has been sealed for 4,500 years, in the centre of the largest stone structure ever built, is one of the most extraordinary in archaeology.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a short drive from Giza, contains the finest collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts in the world — including the treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. The golden death mask of Tutankhamun, the innermost of three coffins, and the extraordinary jewellery and furniture from the tomb are the highlights of a collection that spans 5,000 years of Egyptian history.
Luxor, 700 kilometres south of Cairo, is the finest open-air museum in the world — a city built on the site of ancient Thebes, the capital of the New Kingdom pharaohs. The Karnak Temple complex, the largest religious building ever constructed, and the Valley of the Kings, where 63 royal tombs have been discovered, are the principal sights. The tomb of Ramesses VI and the tomb of Seti I are the finest in the valley.
The Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan is one of the finest river journeys in the world — a four-day voyage past temples, villages, and the agricultural landscape of the Nile Valley that has changed little in thousands of years. The temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo, visited on the cruise, are among the best-preserved in Egypt.
The best time to visit Egypt is from October to April, when the temperatures are comfortable — the summer months (June to August) can see temperatures exceeding 45°C in Upper Egypt, which makes outdoor sightseeing genuinely dangerous. The winter months (December to February) are the most popular and the most crowded, but the weather is excellent and the light on the monuments in the low winter sun is extraordinary.
