Harteminks in Egypt: 2025-12-21

Saturday 12/13. This was the day of our 5k which was a run around the Pyramids (or as we learned, it was a run near the Pyramids, but the views were still stunning). There were over 10,000 runners and the start line was about 40 feet across, and there was no organization to the start, so it is not an exaggeration that the crowd was still crossing the starting line 30 minutes into the race. I would estimate that half the crowd was there just to take pictures on a nice walk. Kate was a bit surprised to learn she had been registered for the 10k instead of the 5k, but she is a champ, so she ran the longer distance.

After coming home to rest and recover (I'll gloss over the lost phone), we decided to go back to the Pyramids for an official visit. Here we saw the main 3 Pyramids in Egypt and the Sphinx. The hop on and off bus system was very appreciated.

the Great Pyramid (of Khufu, of boat fame from the GEM yesterday). This pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only wonder that has remained largely intact. Initially standing at 146.6 m (481 ft), the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest human-made structure for more than 3,800 years. Over time, most of the smooth white limestone casing was removed, which lowered the pyramid's height to the current 138.5 m (454.4 ft); what is seen today is the underlying core structure. The Great Pyramid was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks, weighing 6 million tons in total.
the Pyramid of Khafre. It is the only pyramid out of the three that still has cladding at the top. Khafre (a son of Khufu)'s pyramid sits on bedrock 10 m (33 ft) higher than Khufu's pyramid, which makes it appear to be taller (which was his goal). Modern measurements show that Khafre's pyramid is aligned very close to the cardinal directions, with minimal deviations from true north. This level of precision indicates builders used astronomical or advanced surveying methods.
the Pyramid of Menkaure. The smallest of the three pyramids, for another son of Khufu. He is often considered the most noble and good of the pharaohs, which I thought was more impressive than pyramid height.
the Great Sphinx. Limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt. Egyptologists believe the face of the Sphinx was carved to represent either the pharaoh Khufu or one of his sons. Fun fact: the statue is not technically a sphinx (it doesn't have a female face, or wings) and was not even named the Sphinx until 2000 years later.