More big, old stuff.....

Today we travelled 30 kms south of Cairo to Memphis, which was the capital of Egypt around 4000 years ago. Now it is a small farming village surrounded by desert with nothing left to suggest that it was once a prosperous city.

Giant calcite sphinx at Memphis - it is supposed to represent the king's wisdom (human face) and strength (lions head)

Giant sandstone statue of Ramses II found at Memphis (Warwick upstairs taking a photo)

The Step Pyramid of Djoser - the original pyramid and predecessor of the great pyramids at Giza is located at Saqqara, the burial ground for Memphis. Before this time, Egyptian royal tombs were mud brick underground rooms covered with low flat roofs known as mastabas. This all changed when an architect at the time called Imhotep, decided to try building several mastabas on top of each other but with stone instead of mud brick, resulting in the Step Pyramid. From then on there was no going back And the rest is history

The Step Pyramid is undergoing restoration as last year it started to crumble along the second level. Not sure if you can see but there are guys up on the 3^rd level conducting repairs with no safety equipment

Titi Pyramid – believe it or not this mound of rubble is a pyramid and while the outside has not fared well, the inside is still intact and hopefully stable cause you can climb down into it. The inner walls are covered with hieroglyphics carved into the stone and the black granite sarcophagus is still present though empty.

Memphis and Saqqara are definately worth a visit and they are no where near as busy or touristy as Giza. Tomorrow we fly to Luxor to see more big, old Egyptian stuff