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Around
Cairo History
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| Saqqara |
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The
area known as Saqqara today, was founded
in 3100 BC by King Menes. He called it
Memphis and made it the capital of the Old
Kingdom. King Menes is famous for uniting
Upper and Lower Egypt, and establishing a
period of great wealth and prosperity, of
which Memphis was the capital, probably
the most glorious period in all ancient
Egyptian history. With the god Ptah (god
of creation) as its honorable deity,
Memphis remained in power until the 5th
century BC when Thebes (today's Luxor)
took over as the new capital. Saqqara, the
30 km long necropolis is left behind as a
reminder of the prosperity and glory of
this era. Zoser's Step Pyramid in Saqqara
was Egypt's first pyramid and probably the
largest structure of its size in the
world. The pyramid was only uncovered in
1924 and is still under restoration today.
Built by Imhotep, the Pharaoh's architect,
in the 27th century BC, the pyramid is the
first burial chamber above grounds.
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| Fayoum |
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In
the past Al-Fayoum, Egypt's largest oasis, was
completely flooded by lake Qarun. Today the lake
has shrunk to just a quarter of that area. The
change was made feasible by the 12th dynasty
Pharaohs, who reduced the flow of water into the
lake in order to cultivate the land, and build
their palaces. Fayoum was a place where the
Pharaohs of the 13th dynasty went for vacation and
recreation. Later the Greeks came and called the
lake Crocodilopolis, for they believed that the
crocodiles in Lake Qarun were sacred. Accordingly,
a temple was built in honor of the god Sobek, the
crocodile-headed god. From then on, Fayoum became
a sacred place where pilgrims from all over the
world came to feed the crocodiles. This act of
pilgrimage was active namely during the time of
the Romans and Ptolemies
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| Wadi
El Natrun |
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Originally,
Wadi El-Natrun was a very important place for the
ancient Egyptians, who came all the way down here
to get the "natrun" chemicals which they
needed for their mummification process. This
"natrun" chemical was found in excess in
the valleys of this region, thus the name Wadi
El-Natrun, or "Valley of the Natrun".
Later, in the 4th century AD during the Roman
persecution, thousands of Christians escaped into
the desert, some to Sinai,
some to and others to this region where they built
monasteries to live in. Wadi El Natrun was once
home to over 50 monasteries. Now only four
monasteries stand, the rest were destroyed by the
Roman, Bedouin and Muslim raids.
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