OLD AS THE SPHINX

Giza, is the third largest city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River, some 20 km southwest of central Cairo. Along with Shubra El-Kheima, Cairo and Helwan, the four cities form the Province of Greater Cairo metropolis. The city's population was 2,681,863 in the 2006 national census.

Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: The site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx (ca 2558–2532 BC), the Great Pyramid of Giza (ca 2560 BC), and a number of other large pyramids and temples. The plateau and its monuments have been recorded in the Giza Plateau Mapping Project run by Ancient Egypt Research Associates, directed by Dr. Mark Lehner.

Visiting the Giza plateau and seeing the great pyramids, temples and the Sphinx was one of the most memorable of our travel adventures. Crawling inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops and seeing the burial chamber in the heart of the pyramid was an awe-inspiring experience, making one feel the weight of the centuries on one's shoulders...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.