In June 2021, Elizabeth and I were having breakfast at Prep and Pastry. She was talking about her upcoming trip to Egypt with her parents, a trip that has been cancelled in October 2020 due to Covid. I thought about how the lockdowns had one positive spin – I had a lot of vacation time available. I said that out loud, and she told me that I should join her. So I did!
I arrived in Cairo at 11 p.m. Egypt time (UTC + 2:00) on Oct. 9, 2021. Even at that late an hour, in a city of 25 million, there was still a lot of traffic. It took 45 minutes to get to The Mena House from Cairo International Airport.
The kind and generous Elizabeth arrived a few days beforehand and had set up a tour of the Red & Bent Pyramids for the next day, October 10. We weren’t sure how jet lagged I would be, but it wasn’t going to stop me. How could I decline a private tour of Sneferu’s projects? I would come to learn that the Red Pyramid is thought “to be Egypt’s first successful attempt at constructing a ‘true’ smooth-sided pyramid.”
The architecture is – of course – super impressive, but what continues to amaze me was the scale. I attempt to illustrate the size of the blocks with humans and, in this gallery, a motorcycle. It is easy to quote the sources with the deets – limestone construction, 344 feet tall, etc. – but in person, staring up at it, walking toward them, standing at the base, is absolutely stunning.
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