Terry and Amy Visit Dahshur

Dahshur, a village about 17 miles south of our apartment, is home to three of Egypt's most famous pyramids.  It is one of Tom's favorite sites because it is never crowded with tourists and offers free access to the burial chambers of two pyramids.  In spite of the short distance, it can take close to an hour to reach the site. There are a lot of speed bumps along the road.

The ticket office and tourist police station was not imposing as we rolled into the area.  Admission is only 60 E.G.P, about $4 - easily the best value in the Cairo area.

It has been two years since our last visit here and the neighborhood has changed a bit.  Formerly there was a military installation on the north side of the road leading into these pyramids.  Today there is an oil exploration company in the same spot with a somewhat familiar looking "Apache" logo.  Older Minnesotans reading this may recall that Apache Corporation, now headquartered in Houston, was founded in Minneapolis in 1954 and was at one time owner of the Foshay Tower, not to mention the famed Apache Plaza shopping center in St. Anthony Village. 

 

Our guide, Roshdy, briefly explained the history and architecture of the Bent Pyramid and the larger Red Pyramid and we then walked over to take a close look at the entrance to the Bent.

 

 

The third pyramid in this group is the newest.  Known as the Black Pyramid, it is a bit distant, but forms a nice backdrop for pictures in the area.  Built of a lesser quality stone, it has crumbled more than the other two.

The Bent Pyramid had been closed for over fifty years, just reopening in June of 2019.  Amy, Terry and I climbed up to the entrance where we decided to make the lengthy climb down into the interior.  

 

Once we reached the bottom, we were greeted by a very steep wooden scaffold that rises to the burial chamber.

 

 

We elected to just study the interior from the bottom and then returned up through the entry tunnel.  I counted 286 steps although the guard at the top claimed 288.  It is definitely a long climb.  We were pleased to stop at the top for a short rest.

We resumed our walk around the outside of the pyramid and returned to the car where Linda had been waiting patiently for our exploration to conclude.  We drove back to the Red Pyramid for a picture.  No one was interested in another climb into a second burial chamber.  Readers can see that chamber at this previous blog post.

More photos are available at this Flickr album.

To see more pictures of the interior of the Bent Pyramid, check this blog post from two years ago.  A couple that returned from the top of the scaffolding reported that the ceiling was still covered with bats as I had discovered two years ago.  Neither Amy nor Terry seemed disappointed that they had missed this opportunity to see the bats.  And please do view this YouTube Video that depicts a simulated interior.