Our study abroad group went for a tour of the Pyramids today with a leading Egyptologist, Dr. Randa Baligh, who teaches Ancient Egypt (Egyptology 301) at the AMIDEAST facility.

SubhanAllah, I couldn’t help but remember these verses. Some of these pyramids were built over 4,000 years ago! Nothing remains of them but these monuments, and only God knows what the status of the pharaohs will be on the Day of Judgment!

“And how many a generation (past nations) have We destroyed before them, who were better in wealth, goods and outward appearance?” (Qur’an 19:74)

“And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir’aun’s (Pharaoh) people while you were looking (at them, when the sea-water covered them).” (Qur’an 2:50)

So here’s some random info I was able to write down or still remember:

  • There are 90-100 pyramids in Egypt.
  • The most famous and largest is located in Giza (Great Pyramid of Giza) and is one of the only seven wonders of the Ancient World that stands intact. It was built about 4,500 years ago in honor of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. Although this pyramid was originally 146 meters tall, with the test of time and erosion it now stands at 138 meters.
  • Generally the pyramids were built west of the Nile River. This is due to the fact that the Ancient Egyptians worshipped the Sun and the West, as the point of sunset, meant death and the eternal afterlife for them.
  • The Pyramids point true north, and were measured using the North Star.
  • Today, tourists enter the Great Pyramid through a tunnel dug by the Caliph Al-Ma’mum around 820 AD.

We were able to go inside the second largest pyramid, next to the Great Pryamid (you need to come early in the morning if you want to go inside the Great Pyramid)… but honestly there wasn’t much to it. Just declined a very small opening down into a pathway that led to the other side of the Pyramid where you can see a large room with a coffin at the end. Much of what was in the Pyramids is no longer there. It was either stolen by thieves, colonizers, or is in Museum’s in Cairo or Britain.