DOCSLIB.ORG

MEMPHIS and ITS NECROPOLIS – the PYRAMID FIELDS from GIZA to DAHSHUR WORLD HERITAGE SITE, EGYPT Designated a World Heritage Site in 1979

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
MEMPHIS and ITS NECROPOLIS – the PYRAMID FIELDS from GIZA to DAHSHUR WORLD HERITAGE SITE, EGYPT Designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 MEMPHIS AND ITS NECROPOLIS – THE PYRAMID FIELDS FROM GIZA TO DAHSHUR WORLD HERITAGE SITE, EGYPT Designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 WHY IS THIS A WORLD HERITAGE SITE? Memphis was the capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, from its foundation (ca. 3100 BC) until 2200 BC. The ruins of Memphis are 19 km (12 miles) south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. There are some extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate mastabas, temples and pyramids. In ancient times, the site was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The site was added to the World Heritage List in 1979, recognizing the universal admiration for the Pyramids, their antiquity and the exceptional civilization they represent. MEMPHIS AND ITS NECROPOLIS WORLD HERITAGE SITE Flag of Egypt Ancient and modern Egypt come face to face July 1997, UNESCO Courier In the last few years rampant population growth and urban sprawl have combined to pose an increasingly serious threat to Egypt's archaeological monuments and sites. The ugly side-effects of urban development - water, air and noise pollution, constant vibrations and damage to the environment - are well known to all the world's city-dwellers. Cairo's older inhabitants remember that only fifty years ago the main road to the pyramids, beginning in Giza Square, ran through fields before reaching the pyramids in the desert. At that time the pyramids could be seen eight kilometres away. Now only a forest of buildings is visible from Giza Square. Traffic congestion choked the road so severely that another road was built parallel to it, encroaching on farmland which was replaced by more bottlenecks and anarchic ribbon building. There are no car park facilities or garages in these settlements and in some cases there is no running water. In the absence of any kind of town planning, using these two roads can be a hair- raising experience. To improve the links between Cairo and the new towns around it, the idea was raised of building a huge ring road, 95 kilometres long and 42 metres wide, at a cost of one billion Egyptian pounds. The route of the highway would take it very near the Giza pyramids - an area which has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979. Nonetheless work on the ring road began in 1986, without prior consultation with the World Heritage Committee and in flagrant violation of Egyptian heritage law, which protects land that might contain historic monuments. The alarm was sounded in 1994 by the British daily The Independent, which drew attention to the risks posed by the road to any monuments that might be buried in an area where no archaeological research had yet been done. As a result of the debate triggered by the press and subsequent UNESCO intervention, work was suspended until the completion of a study by an expert committee. This was not the first round in the fight to preserve the plateau of the Pyramids. In the late 1980s UNESCO sent an expert committee to draw up a project to protect the area, including restoration of the Sphinx and construction of a wall between the archaeological site and the nearby villages of Nazlet Essallab and Kafr Elgabal, which had been joined together by urban growth. The,project was abandoned, however, in face of a storm of protest from local interest groups. URBAN GROWTH IN CAIRO The population of the Cairo metropolitan area has increased from less than 6 million in 1965 when the first picture was taken, to more than 10 million in 1998 (United Nations Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects, the 1999 revision). Population densities within the city are some of the highest in the world and the urban area has doubled to more than 400 square km during that period. Extraordinary rates of population growth are expected to continue, with a predicted population of around 14 million by 2015. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Cradle of Pyramids.Wps
    The cradle of pyramids in satellite images Amelia Carolina Sparavigna Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy We propose the use of image processing to enhance the Google Maps of some archaeological areas of Egypt. In particular we analyse that place which is considered the cradle of pyramids, where it was announced the discovery of a new pyramid by means of an infrared remote sensing. Saqqara and Dahshur are burial places of the ancient Egypt. Saqqara was the necropolis of Memphis, the ancient capital of the Lower Egypt. This place has many pyramids, including the well-known step pyramid of Djoser, and several mastabas. As told in Wikipedia, 16 Egyptian kings built pyramids there and the high officials added their tombs during the entire pharaonic period [1]. The necropolis remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies till the Roman times. Dahshur is another royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile [2]. The place is well-known for several pyramids, two of which are among the oldest and best preserved in Egypt. Therefore this site can be properly considered as the cradle of Egyptian pyramids [3]. Figure 1 shows the Djoser pyramid and the Great Enclosure at Saqqara. The two images have been obtained from Google Maps after an image processing with two programs, AstroFracTool, based on the calculus of the fractional gradient, and the wavelet filtering of Iris, as discussed in Ref.4. The reader can compare the images with the original Google Maps, using the coordinates given in the figure [5].
    [Show full text]
  • Cambridge Archaeological Journal 15:2, 2005
    Location of the Old Kingdom Pyramids in Egypt Miroslav Bârta The principal factors influencing the location of the Old Kingdom pyramids in Egypt are reconsidered. The decisive factors influencing their distribution over an area of c. eighty kilometres were essentially of economic, géomorphologie, socio-political and unavoidably also of religious nature. Primary importance is to be attributed to the existence of the Old Kingdom capital of Egypt, Memphis, which was a central place with regard to the Old Kingdom pyramid fields. Its economic potential and primacy in the largely redistribution- driven state economy sustained construction of the vast majority of the pyramid complexes in its vicinity. The location of the remaining number of the Old Kingdom pyramids, including many of the largest ever built, is explained using primarily archaeological evidence. It is claimed that the major factors influencing their location lie in the sphere of general trends governing ancient Egyptian society of the period. For millennia, megaliths and monumental arts were pyramids see Edwards 1993; Fakhry 1961; Hawass commissioned by the local chieftains and later by the 2003; Lehner 1997; Stadelmann 1985; 1990; Vallogia kings of Egypt. The ideological reasons connected 2001; Verner 2002; Dodson 2003). The reasons that may with the construction and symbolism of the pyra­ be put forward to explain their location and arrange­ mids were manifold, and in most cases obvious: the ment are numerous but may be divided into two basic manifestation of power, status and supremacy over groups: practical and religious. It will be argued that the territory and population, the connection with the whereas the general pattern in the distribution of the sacred world and the unlimited authority of the rulers pyramid sites may be due mainly to practical reasons, (O'Connor & Silverman 1995).
    [Show full text]
  • Pax Britannica and the Anti-Systemic Movement of Viceroy Mehmet Ali Pasha of Egypt
    PAX BRITANNICA AND THE ANTI-SYSTEMIC MOVEMENT OF VICEROY MEHMET ALI PASHA OF EGYPT A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY OKYANUS AKIN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DECEMBER 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Yaşar Kondakçı Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur (METU, IR) Prof. Dr. Çınar Özen (Ankara Uni., IR) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Okyanus Akın Signature: iii ABSTRACT PAX BRITANNICA AND THE ANTI-SYSTEMIC MOVEMENT OF VICEROY MEHMET ALI PASHA OF EGYPT Akın, Okyanus M.S., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur December 2019, 234 pages The Pax Britannica, as a system, defined the political-economy of the nineteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Denshawai and Cromer in the Poetry of Ahmad Shawqi
    Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.3 Publication Date: Mar. 25, 2020 DoI:10.14738/assrj.73.7891. Al-Rifai, N. Y. (2020). Denshawai and Cromer in the poetry of Ahmad Shawqi. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(3) 1- 27. Denshawai and Cromer in the poetry oF Ahmad Shawqi Nada YousuF Al-RiFai PAAET Kuwait ABSTRACT In the summer of 1906, a group of British Army officers went on a pigeon hunt near the Nile Delta town oF Dinshaway. It came as no surprise then, that during the pigeon hunt, an errant gunshot set Fire to the village’s wheat supply. Enraged as they watched their precious grain go up in smoke, villagers tried to seize the oFFending gun and a riot broke out during which several people were hurt and two oF the British oFFicers were wounded. As they tried to escape, one oFFicer died From heatstroke. The British response was brutal. Returning in Force to the village, a military tribunal convicted 52 of the villagers of pre-meditated murder; though most were just beaten, Four were hanged. On April 1, 1907, less than a year aFter the Denshawai issue, Lord Cromer resigned as governor oF Egypt since 1883, and leFt Egypt. His departure allowed the anger among the patriots, who were critical oF him, to be set Free, primarily because oF his oFFense to Islam, and because he did not make any sincere efFort to try to understand the aspirations oF Egyptians. Ahmad Shawqi's "Farewell to Lord Cromer," was composed on the occasion oF the latter's departure From Egypt.
    [Show full text]
  • A Short History of Egypt – to About 1970
    A Short History of Egypt – to about 1970 Foreword................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1. Pre-Dynastic Times : Upper and Lower Egypt: The Unification. .. 3 Chapter 2. Chronology of the First Twelve Dynasties. ............................... 5 Chapter 3. The First and Second Dynasties (Archaic Egypt) ....................... 6 Chapter 4. The Third to the Sixth Dynasties (The Old Kingdom): The "Pyramid Age"..................................................................... 8 Chapter 5. The First Intermediate Period (Seventh to Tenth Dynasties)......10 Chapter 6. The Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties (The Middle Kingdom).......11 Chapter 7. The Second Intermediate Period (about I780-1561 B.C.): The Hyksos. .............................................................................12 Chapter 8. The "New Kingdom" or "Empire" : Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties (c.1567-1085 B.C.)...............................................13 Chapter 9. The Decline of the Empire. ...................................................15 Chapter 10. Persian Rule (525-332 B.C.): Conquest by Alexander the Great. 17 Chapter 11. The Early Ptolemies: Alexandria. ...........................................18 Chapter 12. The Later Ptolemies: The Advent of Rome. .............................20 Chapter 13. Cleopatra...........................................................................21 Chapter 14. Egypt under the Roman, and then Byzantine, Empire: Christianity: The Coptic Church.............................................23
    [Show full text]
  • Legends of the Nile Featuring Abu Simbel
    ACTSIMVAEL TLR GARVOELUP Mfoar xCi mulutumra ol f LAND & 2E8x pTravloreerls e rs RIVER NSMO ASLINLG GLREO UP SMUa PxPi mLEuMmE oNfT JO URNEY f2o8r TravSolo Telre arvs elers Legends of the Nile featuring Abu Simbel Inspiring Moments >Discuss what you are most curious about with your Egyptologist while exploring together at ancient sites. >Gaze in wonder at the colossal statues of Ramses II at the Great Temple in INCLUDED FEATURES Abu Simbel. >Stand in awe of towering monuments Accommodations Itinerary and dazzling treasures in a hushed hall (with baggage handling) Day 1 Depart gateway city A of the Egyptian Museum. – 4 nights in Cairo, Egypt, at the deluxe Day 2 Arrive in Cairo >Contemplate the Great Pyramid in Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza. Day 3 Cairo Giza, the only remaining Wonder of the – 1 night in Luxor at the first-class Day 4 Cairo | Giza | Sakkara Ancient World. Sonesta St. George Luxor Hotel. Day 5 Cairo >Revel in the delightful hubbub of – 4 nights aboard the deluxe Day 6 Cairo | Fly to Luxor Cairo’s old bazaar, where bartering is Sonesta St. George I. Day 7 Luxor | Embark ship elevated to sport. – 1 night in Cairo at the first-class >Delight in the natural beauty along InterContinental City Stars Cairo. Day 8 Karnak | Cruising the Nile Day 9 Edfu | Kom Ombo the Nile’s banks, a contrast of fertile green valleys and desert beyond. Transfers Day 10 Aswan | Round-trip flight to – All transfers in the Land | Cruise Abu Simbel >Experience four UNESCO World Program: flights and deluxe motor Day 11 Aswan | Disembark ship | Heritage sites.
    [Show full text]
  • Architecture and the Pyramids of Giza Known As “The Age of the Pyramids,” the Old Kingdom Was Characterized by Revolutionary
    Architecture and the Pyramids of Giza Known as “the Age of the Pyramids,” the Old Kingdom was characterized by revolutionary advancements in architecture. Figure 1: The Pyramids of Giza This view shows all three pyramid structures: the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure. The Old Kingdom (2686 BC - 2182 BC) was a period of political stability and economic prosperity, during which great tombs were built for Egyptian Kings in the form of pyramids. The first king to launch a major pyramid building project was King Djoser, who built his famous “Step Pyramid” at Saqqara. The Pyramids of Giza are the greatest architectural achievement of the time, and include three pyramid structures and the Great Sphinx monument. It would have taken several thousand workers decades to complete just one pyramid. While we know that the stone for the pyramids was quarried, transported and cut from the nearby Nile, we still cannot be sure just how the massive stones were then put into place. While stone was generally reserved for tombs and temples, sun-baked mud bricks were used in the construction of Egyptian houses, palaces, fortresses, and town walls. Note: Limestone is an abundant rock of marine and freshwater sediments, primarily composed of calcite (CaCO₃). It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. To quarry means to obtain (mine) stone from an excavation pit, usually by blasting, cutting, or digging. A quarry is a site for mining stone, limestone or slate. A sphinx was a creature with the head of a human and the body of an animal (commonly a lion).
    [Show full text]
  • Legends of the Nile Featuring Cairo, Luxor, a Nile Cruise & Abu Simbel
    ACTIVE TRAVEL for Cultural Explorers RIVER SMALL GROUP JO URNEY Ma xi mum of 24 Travele rs Legends of the Nile featuring Cairo, Luxor, a Nile Cruise & Abu Simbel Inspiring Moments > Discuss what you are most curious about with your Egyptologist while exploring together at ancient sites. > Gaze in wonder at the colossal statues of Ramses II at the Great Temple in INCLUDED FEATURES Abu Simbel. Accommodations (with baggage handling) Itinerary > Stand in awe of towering monuments – 4 nights in Cairo, Egypt, at the deluxe Day 1 Depart gateway city and dazzling treasures in the new Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza. Day 2 Arrive in Cairo and transfer Grand Egyptian Museum. – 1 night in Luxor at the first-class to hotel > Contemplate the Great Pyramid in Sonesta St. George Luxor Hotel. Day 3 Cairo Giza, the only remaining Wonder of the – 4 nights aboard the deluxe Sonesta Day 4 Sakkara | Giza Ancient World. St. George I. Day 5 Cairo > Revel in the delightful hubbub of Cairo’s – 1 night in Cairo at the first-class Day 6 Cairo | Fly to Luxor old bazaar, where bargaining is elevated InterContinental City Stars Cairo. Day 7 Luxor | Embark ship to sport. Day 8 Karnak | Cruising the Nile > Delight in the natural beauty along Transfers (with baggage handling) – All transfers in the Land | Cruise Program: Day 9 Edfu | Kom Ombo the Nile’s banks, a contrast of fertile flights and deluxe motor coaches. Day 10 Aswan | Fly to Abu Simbel | green valleys and desert beyond. Fly back to Aswan > Experience four UNESCO World Extensive Meal Program Day 11 Disembark ship | Aswan | Heritage sites.
    [Show full text]
  • Grande Egypt by Private Car Featuring: 7 Day Deluxe Nile Cruise Aboard the Exclusive Oberoi Philae
    Grande Egypt by Private Car Featuring: 7 Day Deluxe Nile Cruise aboard the Exclusive Oberoi Philae 12 Days – 10 Nights Saturday Departures gR ande Tour Includes: • Escorted by IsramBeyond Private Egyptologist Guide in Cairo e • Oberoi Philae Cruise Guide for all gypt by Shore Excursions (group basis) • Meals: Buffet Breakfast Daily, Lunch at the Mena House in Cairo, Unfold the mysteries of ancient Egypt with this 12-day ultimate experience. Step Restaurant Lunch in Cairo, All meals back in time and explore thousands of years of history, legend, and traditions pR on Cruise • All Transfers & Sightseeing as per as you view the timeless wonders of the Pyramids, incomparable sites of the ivate Itinerary (Private Car in Cairo) pharaohs – Sakkara & Dahshur. Sail through five thousand years of history on • Flights within Egypt as per itinerary in Business Class a 6-night cruise along the river Nile on the New “Oberoi Philae”. Luxuriate c • Visa for Egypt (US & Canadian a Passports only) at the Marriott Mena House and Four Seasons during your stays in Cairo. R You will marvel at all you see and experience on this Grande Egypt tour. Highlights: • Sound and Light Show at the SAMPLE ITINERARY we continue to the astounding necropolis Pyramids of Giza of Sakkara, where architecture was born. • Entrance to one of the Great Pyramids Stroll along the first large buildings in hewn Saturday: En Route • Visit the Solar Boat Museum stone in all history; see the centerpiece-the • Camel Ride by the Pyramids Depart the USA on your non-stop flight to soaring Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Zoser, • Visit King Tut’s Treasures & enter the Cairo, Egypt.
    [Show full text]
  • Egypt Revisited “It Was an Amazing Experience to See Such Wonderful Sites Enhanced by Our Lecturer’S Knowledge...A Fabulous Experience!”
    Limited to just 16 guests EGYPT Revisited “It was an amazing experience to see such wonderful sites enhanced by our lecturer’s knowledge...A fabulous experience!” - Barbara, Maryland Foreground, Red Pyramid at Dahshur; background, Temple of Seti I at Abydos October 19-November 3, 2019 (16 days | 16 guests) with Egyptologist Stephen Harvey optional extensions: pre-tour Siwa Oasis & Alexandria (8 days) and/or post-tour Jordan (5 days) Archaeology-focused tours for the curious to the connoisseur. Dear Traveler, You are invited to return to Egypt on a brand-new, custom-designed tour in the company of AIA lecturer/host Stephen Harvey, Egyptology guide Enass Salah, and a professional tour manager. © Ivrienen Snefru's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur Highlights are many and varied: • Gain inside access to the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, enter the burial chamber of the collapsed pyramid at Meidum, and visit two mud-brick pyramids (Illahun and Hawara) at the Fayoum Oasis. • Go behind-the-scenes at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara to see some of the new and remarkable excavations that are not open to the public, including (pending final confirmation) special access to the newly- discovered, 5th-dynasty Tomb of Wah Ti. • Make a special, private visit (permission pending) to the new Grand Egyptian Museum. • Explore the necropoli of Beni Hasan, known for its 39 rock-cut tombs © Olaf Tausch with well-preserved paintings of dancing, acrobatics, juggling, fishing, Red Pyramid at Dahshur hunting, and weaving; and Tuna el-Gebel, with huge catacombs for thousands of mummified ibises and baboons, and much more. • Visit Tell el-Amarna, which replaced Thebes (modern Luxor) as capital of Egypt under the heretic, 18th-dynasty pharaoh Akhenaton and was significant for its monotheism and distinctive artistic style.
    [Show full text]
  • Egyptian and Greek Water Cultures and Hydro-Technologies in Ancient Times
    sustainability Review Egyptian and Greek Water Cultures and Hydro-Technologies in Ancient Times Abdelkader T. Ahmed 1,2,* , Fatma El Gohary 3, Vasileios A. Tzanakakis 4 and Andreas N. Angelakis 5,6 1 Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt 2 Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University, Madinah 42351, Saudi Arabia 3 Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, Cairo 12622, Egypt; [email protected] 4 Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Science, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Iraklion, 71410 Crete, Greece; [email protected] 5 HAO-Demeter, Agricultural Research Institution of Crete, 71300 Iraklion, Greece; [email protected] 6 Union of Water Supply and Sewerage Enterprises, 41222 Larissa, Greece * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 2 October 2020; Accepted: 19 November 2020; Published: 23 November 2020 Abstract: Egyptian and Greek ancient civilizations prevailed in eastern Mediterranean since prehistoric times. The Egyptian civilization is thought to have been begun in about 3150 BC until 31 BC. For the ancient Greek civilization, it started in the period of Minoan (ca. 3200 BC) up to the ending of the Hellenistic era. There are various parallels and dissimilarities between both civilizations. They co-existed during a certain timeframe (from ca. 2000 to ca. 146 BC); however, they were in two different geographic areas. Both civilizations were massive traders, subsequently, they deeply influenced the regional civilizations which have developed in that region. Various scientific and technological principles were established by both civilizations through their long histories. Water management was one of these major technologies. Accordingly, they have significantly influenced the ancient world’s hydro-technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete Dissertation
    VU Research Portal Blessed is Egypt my People Klempner, L.J. 2016 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Klempner, L. J. (2016). Blessed is Egypt my People: Recontextualizing Coptic Identity outside of Egypt. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 26. Sep. 2021 VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT Blessed is Egypt my People RECONTEXTUALIZING COPTIC IDENTITY OUTSIDE OF EGYPT ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graAd Doctor AAn de Vrije Universiteit AmsterdAm, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. V. SubrAmaniAm, in het openbAAr te verdedigen ten overstAAn vAn de promotiecommissie van de Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen op maAndAg 19 december 2016 om 11.45 uur in de aulA van de universiteit, De BoelelAAn 1105 door Levi JoshuA Klempner geboren te Hadera, Israël promotor: prof.dr.
    [Show full text]