Source: CCTV.com

10-24-2006 17:27

Seeing pyramids appearing before their eyes, the Chinese TV production team filming in Africa realized beyond doubt that they had arrived in Egypt. Visiting this ancient country in 1904, Qing Dynasty Chinese reformist Kang Youwei was surprised to find these imposing royal tombs. As they appear in shape like the Chinese character for 'gold', he called them the Gold Character Towers. The word 'pyramid' is composed of the Greek word pyra, meaning fire or light, and the word midos, meaning measures.

There are over 80 pyramids existing in Egypt but the most famous are the three pyramids of Giza, built by Pharaoh Khufu, his son and his grandson. Before the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889, the Great Pyramid of Khufu was the tallest building on earth.

Many people can hardly believe that the ancient Egyptians were capable of accomplishing such huge construction projects. There were even assertions in the 1960s and 70s that the Egyptian pyramids were built by extraterrestrials. However, Egyptians firmly believe their pyramids were built by their ancestors and this belief has been proven true by numerous archaeological findings.

The first Egyptian pyramid was built by Pharaoh Sneferu, the first king of the Fourth Dynasty and father of Pharaoh Khufu. Sneferu built three pyramids in his lifetime although the first one was never finished due to construction failures.

His second pyramid is characterized by a more gradual slope on the upper part. For this reason it is called the Bend Pyramid.

Standing by the side of the Bent Pyramid is Snerferu's third pyramid, which is regarded as Egypt's first true pyramid. From then on, the practice of building pyramids in Egypt continued for nearly a thousand years.

Though Sneferu is known for building Egypt's first pyramid, the pharaohs more famous for their pyramid are truly his son, Khufu, grandson, Khafre, and grand-grandson, Menkaure. Egypt's Old Kingdom, also known as the Pyramid Age, from 4100 to 4600 years ago, coincided with China's New Stone Age. But Egypt's monarchy had already fully matured during the Pyramid Age.

The world-famous Sphinx, lying to the south of the Pyramid of Khafre, is 20 meters in height. With the head of a pharaoh, believed to be Khafre, and a lion's body, the statue was actually sculpted out of a hill. It symbolized the pharaoh's wisdom and almighty power. Although the nose has long been missing through the ages, the four-meter-wide face still looks awe-inspiring and dignified.

Pyramid tourism has become a large-scale industry. Those who engaged in early pyramid catering services gradually settled around the pyramids, thus forming a city known as called Giza. Today Giza, as a district of Cairo, has a population of one million, half of which is engaged in services related to pyramid tourism.

There are about six million foreigners visiting Egypt each year and the pyramids are their must destination.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is an entire kilometer in circumference and, for this reason, camel riding has become a very popular way of looking at the pyramid from all sides. And there are always many tour guides with a camel.

Editor:Wang Ping