Egyptomania

 A meeting point of the khedivate and monarchic eras, the Mohammed Ali Palace in Manial stands witness to the political shifts in the tides of Egypt. Muhammad Ali palace is one of the most beautifully unique palaces in Egypt. It belongs to prince Muhammed Ali Tawfiq, the second son of Khedive Tawfiq , and the brother of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. The construction of the palace began in 1903 AD and the land of the palace was chosen by Prince Muhammed Ali himself to be a marker of 20th century Egypt. The prince who never made it to kingship chose a very calm location for his palace, a place where he could relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. This land was an island of Manial El Rawda on the shore of the Nile in the Shubra area, extending to Al-Haj lake.  Mohammed Ali Tawfiq, forever a Prince. Photo Attribution: Rais67, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons What makes this palace a unique architectural masterpiece? Prince Mu...

We get it. It's easier to claim that some supernatural power did all the great work instead of admitting that we are too stupid to understand it. But you know what this does? demean human endeavour. The wrongful claim of "Aliens built the pyramids" has been around for centuries.  Most recently, American businessman Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted about the matter in what was meant to be a meme, but has probably become the most misinterpreted tweet in the history of Twitter. An equally bizarre claim, very popular among hypocrite Capitalists, is "Slaves built the Pyramids". This claim has also resurfaced, because if we can not attribute human endeavour to the supernatural, we must use some dramatic theme of the very oppression we practise today. These people could not have been better than our chaotic mess of a world, could they? Now, this is the true joke here. Following the first part in a series of articles on this mystery, we bring you the pla...

Origins of the grandest pyramids date back to the modest pit graves of the predynastic  period, which were covered by simple mounds of sand and gravel. A   little later, with the onset of the first dynasty, the graves of the rulers and elite consisted of neat mud brick boxes, sunk in the desert, divided like a house , into several chambers. The tombs of the kings of the first and second dynasties followed this pattern, only with greater added complexity near the high cliffs at Abydos. In the third dynasty, the step pyramid of Djoser heralded the classic pyramid age. As from the 4 th till the 6 th dynasty, the Egyptians built pyramids for their God/kings but on smaller scale and smaller stones. The location of those pyramids lie between Abu roash, north West of Giza to Meidum near the entrance of Fayoum. This trend would soon demise where new kingdom pharaohs built their tombs in a communal royal burial ground mostly at the valley of kings at Thebes. The pyramids remain t...

Menkaure was the fifth Egyptian pharaoh of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom. Egyptian transliteration of his name is (mn-k3w-R`) which means ( Eternal like the soul of Re ). Herodotus named him Mykerinos under the Hellenistic period (Greek) while Manetho named him Menkheres. According to Manetho, he was the successor of king Bikheris but this turned out to be false. According to more sound archaeological evidence, he was the successor of king Khafre who was his father. Menkaure died after at least 26 years of his rule leaving his complex unfinished while the work was completed by his successor, Shepseskaf in mud brick. The Pyramid of Menkaure   It was the last and the smallest pyramid of the three main pyramids, located on the Giza plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo. Herdotus wrote that there once was a very rich woman called Rhodopis who claimed that the pyramid of Menkaure belonged to her. This was almost believed until it was disproved because of the d...

Unas was probably the last king of 5 th dynasty ,  but some archaeologists argue that he was the first king of 6 th dynasty.  Unas may have reigned for over 30 years ?!  His very unusual pyramid is located between the enclosures of Djoser's pyramid and Sekhemkhet's.  What makes the pyramid of Unas unique?   It is the smallest pyramid of all known old kingdom pyramids. Unas is also the first pharaoh to have his burial chamber inscribed with pyramid texts. Unas's chambers are the first since Djoser to be decorated: the chamber that contains the sarcophagus is covered with a gabled ceiling and golden stars like a starry night blanket! Unas was very smart in choosing the location of his pyramid complex    He took advantage of two natural features: long valley "wadi" for a nice paved route to his causeway and the path leading down to a lake which acted as a harbour for his Valley Temple.   Unas's pyramid became a ruin by the time of the New Ki...

Shepeskaf was the 6th and last pharaoh of 4th dynasty in Egypt during old kingdom period.  But that's all we know. We do not know much about his lineage.  Some Archaeologists believe that he was the son of Menkaure because he completed his complex after his death. Other  Archaeologists argue that he was not the son of Menkaure  because completion of monuments was an Egyptian tradition not necessarily practised by sons.   Starting from the meaning of his name Shepses in hieroglyphics means "noble"   while Ka mean "soul"  and the f is a  suffix pronoun . His name literally means: " his soul is noble"   Shepseskaf was indeed mysterious   He built his tomb named M astabat Faraoun ( very unique in its shape ), it was neither a pyramid nor mastaba,  it was a very huge rectangular coffin .  Some archaeologists suggested that he wanted to get rid of sun cult alluding to the fact that he did not build a pyramid and carried a nam...