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Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
- Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
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Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
Michael > January 25th, 2019, 03:55 AM
Like millions of other people, I have watched many documentaries about the Egyptian pyramids. They are a fantastic architectural achievement for primitive people. Whoever would have thought to pile a lot of stone together to create artificial hills? Okay, if that doesn't desensitize you to the wonder of the pyramids and convince you space aliens didn't need to build them, then maybe this article about what it's like to walk into a real pyramid will cure you of the fantasy.
Most people probably believe the Great Pyramids are covered on the inside with wonderful artwork, heiroglyphics, and valuable gold ornaments. It turns out that such artwork was only created in the Valley of the Kings. The 100+ pyramids are just big piles of stone with narrow passageways, empty chambers, and lots of mold.
The prospect of descending into a hot, moist chamber filled with moldy air just doesn't appeal to me. I'm glad I stumbled across the article (pictures included). I can cross that idea off my bucket list. -
Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
badlands > March 10th, 2019, 01:51 AM
Maybe just in the valley of the kings . -
Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
august > March 10th, 2019, 09:39 AM
badlands Wrote:Maybe just in the valley of the kings .
No that's everywhere. The Ocmulgee Indians in Macon, GA had the radical notion of piling up dirt to make a big hill, so that you could a) stand on top.of it
and have a nice view if you were doing some kind of ceremony, and b) build a chamber inside where you could have ceremonies and meetings in a secluded location. Who would
think of that! :crazy: :jester:
It's a big tourist attraction now, and a popular destination for school field trips. Same musty, moldy smell, although it's cold inside, not warm. -
Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
Michael > March 10th, 2019, 04:57 PM
I've visited some old buildings and caves but the only ruins I've ever visited were just broken down circles of stone and such. I don't think I've been in any pyramid-like structures. The caves were cold and damp. The old buildings could be hot or damp.
Modern air conditioning has spoiled me and I find my desire for old places is more satisfied with pictures and video than actually going there. Besides which, all the artifacts are usually removed for scientific study and safe-keeping so it's not like you get to handle all the stuff that the scientists found. -
Why You May Not Want to Visit an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
august > March 11th, 2019, 12:05 PM
Exactly. Anything that is known to exist is now protected by the appropriate government, and anything that is open to the public has been made tourist-proof to some extent.
I was very fortunate to spend a semester in Rome when I was in college, and we got a lot of access to sites through the program we were in that are not generally available to the public.
So the interiors of Etruscan tombs, Nero's "golden house" which is largely underground now, the various catacombs, the Roman ruins under St. Peter's (including something that may or
may not be St. Peter's actual tomb), etc. etc. And my dear friend Art had a notorious fondness for breaking the rules and sneaking off into places where we weren't supposed to be,
and sometimes he managed to lure me into accompanying him. This was either extra-curricular intellectual inquiry, or, um, unlawful trespass. :whistle:
We use to just say that Art's area
of research was Roman sewers. But basically, in Italy in the late winter and early spring, everything underground is cool cool cool. Might get hot in the summer.
But yep, as you say, most things accessible (legally) to the public are just big hunks of rubble now. The first three pics below are from the Tomb of the Scipios, which is 2000+ years old, but
ultimately no more or less significant than, say, Grant's Tomb or Monticello. Fourth is a good example of 20-year-olds' sense of archaeological research and intellectual inquiry, after a long
morning involving a lot of hiking, when everyone just wanted to turn their brains off, lie in the sun, and eat lunch. I had just given the oral version of my term paper for the semester at a
nearby temple, and then we went over to the remains of a theatre - this is in the middle of nowhere in Sicily.