Highlights of the Program:
The Giza Plateau: It’s a plateau in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, site of the Fourth Dynasty (around 4,500 years ago) Giza Necropolis, which includes the only ones surviving of the seven wonders of the ancient world which are the Great Pyramids of Khufu beside the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure as well as the Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex and it’s a Cairo's most popular attraction & drawn thousands of visitors every year.
The Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu): The only ones surviving of the seven wonders of the ancient world & the oldest pyramid in Giza and the largest in Egypt, Khufu’s Great Pyramid stood 146m high when it was completed around 2570 BC.
Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre): it is the second-tallest and second-largest of the 3 Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza and the tomb of the Fourth-Dynasty pharaoh Khafre (Chefren), who ruled c. 2558−2532 BC.
Pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus): It’s is the smallest of the three main Pyramids of Giza, located on the Giza Plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It is thought to have been built to serve as the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Menkaure.
The Great Sphinx: The Sphinx is carved from a single piece of stone. One of most famous monuments in the world, it is indeed a legendary statue for it has the body of lion and the face of a man. lt is 70 m long and 20 m high. The face of the Sphinx closely resembles that of King Kephren.
Museum of Egyptian Antiquities: known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum. It is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display and the remainder in storerooms. Built in 1901 by the Italian construction company, Garozzo-Zaffarani, to a design by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, the edifice is one of the largest museums in the region.
Citadel of Saladin: It is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, built by Salah El-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its location on a promontory of the Mokattam hills near the center of Cairo commands a strategic position overlooking the city and dominating its skyline. At the time of its construction, it was among the most impressive and ambitious military fortification projects of its time. It is now a preserved historic site & mosques.
Old Coptic Cairo which is a part of Old Cairo & as per the Christian tradition that the Holy Family visited this area:
- Hanging Church.
- Saints Sergius Church (Abu Serga).
- Church of St. Barbara.
- Ben Ezra synagogue.
Abu Simbel Temples: which is located on the western bank of Lake Nasser & it’s about 230 km southwest of Aswan near the border with Sudan.
It’s a set of two temples, it was constructed for the pharaoh “Ramses II” and the other for his own beautiful wife “Nefertari”. It were built in 1255 BC & it was rediscovered two hundred years ago.
The larger temple dedicated to three major Egyptian goddess & features with four large statues of Ramses II on its facade, while the smaller temple is dedicated to the love goddess Hathor, with statues designed for his beloved wife Nefertari.
Philae Temple: which dedicated to the goddess Isis and it’s a temple which tell one of the most famous Egyptian mythology of Isis and how she brought her beloved husband back to life, birth of her son Horus & mummifying Osiris after death.
The temple was moved to a small island called Agilika after building the High Dam to preserve it from the flood & originally it was built during the reign of Ptolemy II (Egypt’s Greco-Roman Period).
There was obelisks in front of the temple in the past which were removed by British Consul Henry Salt in 1918 and are now in a garden in Dorset, England.
The High Dam: It’s a rock-fill dam located at the northern border between Egypt and Sudan which considered an engineering miracle to protect Egypt from annual floods from the Nile as construction for the project began in 1960 and was completed in 1968. It was officially inaugurated in 1971 & its measures 111m in height, 3,830m in length, and has a base width of 980m. The spillway has a discharge capacity of 11,000m³ a second.
The Kom Ombo Temple: It is unique because it was dedicated to two Gods (Falcon god Horus and the crocodile God Sobek) built by Ptolemy VI. Its design contains courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods and it contains 02 parts; The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility who is the creator of the world (in ancient Egyptian religion), however the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Horus.
The Temple of Edfu (Temple of Horus): The temple is dedicated to Horus Horus, the avenging son of Isis and Osiris & also called "Apollopolis Magna" as per the old Greek documents because the Greeks identified Horus with their god Apollo & it is located in Edfu around 109km away from Luxor & it was one of the most well-preserved sites in Egypt because it was totally buried under the desert sands & rediscovered on 19th century.
The Valley of the Kings: It was the burial site of almost all the Pharaonic kings of the 18th till 20th dynasties & the most known tombs are Tut-Ankh-Amon (where discovered the treasures of this Golden King), King Tutmosis I, Tutmosis III, , King Ramses VI, King AmonhotepII and King Mrenptah. The clients visit 03 tombs during their tour according the opening tombs at that time.
The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut: located in the West Bank of the River Nile & also knows by Deir El-Bahari Temple which is the Mortuary Temple of beautiful Queen Hatshepsut the first known female monarch (she ruled for about two decades) and who was stepmother of pharaoh Thutmose III.
The Colossi Statues of Memnon: located West Bank of the River Nile which are two huge stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who reigned in Egypt during the Dynasty XVIII (around 1350 BC).
The huge Temple of Karnak complex: located in the East Bank of the River Nile & considered the largest open-air museum which was one of ancient Egypt's grandest and most ambitious building projects with multiple temple buildings & covers more than 100 hectares.
The Temple of Luxor: located in the heart of the city in the East Bank of the River Nile & it is one of the wonderful temples of Egypt & its entrance is known as the first pylon which was built by Ramses II and was decorated with scenes of his military expeditions (Specially his victory at the battle of Kadesh).