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Febuary 06 2008

Inferior: Windsor Public-house, Cairo

Seat: Giza Pleateu, Giza.

The Pyramids. Everyone has to do them, and I’m no non-inclusion. Khufu’s pyramid is very big. Khufu’s pyramid is very old. Khufu’s pyramid was/is NOT:

The Giza table-land is, however, about more than Khufu’s pyramid, undeniably awe inspiring though it, and the others, are. There are a very extensive number of other things of interest on the table-land, and it was to be the valley fane of Khafra that was the chief focus of my attentions.

In some degree overlooked by most visitors to the seat, the Temple of Khafa is clandestine in plain perception. In front and to one side of the Great Sphinx, the immense, austere all-granite conformation is entirely undecorated, but the bulky blocks are beautifully completed, and the whole structure interlocks rather resembling a giant three dimensional jigsaw pose.

Originally, the overcast innards of the pointed building, with it’s simple square granite columns, housed 23 statues of Khafra, some of which are now on expand in the Cairo Museum. Complete in greenish hoar veined Diorite (an incredibly firm stone that polishes beautifully) one of those on open is considered one of the finest examples of Egyptian statuary. Khafra sits in the traditionary pose with Horus as a hawk stretching his wings behind his head-piece. A perfect unite of the human and superhuman aspects. Combined with the granite of the construction itself, it must have been a true perception to behold. Alas, all the sculpture has now been removed, and only limited passage to the temple is allowed - to the principal pillared large room (which would originally have been roofed) and the departure to the pyramid causeway. The construction was built with a vast emphasis on symbolism, especially in the colour and election of stone, the use of indoor and outdoor spaces, and the reckon of statues (23, including a broad central bay for one of them, implying a relation with the hours of the day) and columns. However since there are no inscriptions left to us, it’s finally a matter of contemplation.

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