Egypt and Libya, March 19 - April 2, 2006 / 20060321o_BentPyramidDistance Previous Home Next Ruth Milner, rmilner plus web at bookofmarvels dot net 
20060321o_BentPyramidDistance
    We could see these other nearby pyramids from Zoser's. The "Bent Pyramid" started off at 54° and was changed to 43.5° partway through, probably to reduce weight because of foundation problems. The other big one is the Red Pyramid. Both were built by the pharaoh Snefru around 2650BC for himself.
    There were quite a few men with horses and camels wandering around offering rides, especially at the back of the step pyramid.
    From here we went to a nearby carpet factory. Heidi told us that these are run to help kids earn a little money and make their parents more comfortable about them spending time in school (which is legally required through grade 9 but sometimes ignored to make ends meet). They demonstrated some interesting techniques, and the carpets were very beautiful, though not cheap. After that, she took us for lunch at local restaurant. It consisted of hummus and fabulous baba ganouzh, roasted chicken, stewed chickpeas etc. - delicious! The kids ate some of the chicken and hummus, and stuffed themselves with the wonderful bread. Heidi arranged for us to take some in case we needed a snack on the train that night (we had brought peanut butter). It was great, but went stale very quickly.


Text and images © Ruth Milner 2006.
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