History In The Making

Construction around the Pyramids is laying the foundations for Cairo’s next cultural chapter.

- Dominic Ellis

It must rank as one of the greatest illusions. From the popular panoramic vantage spot a short drive from the Pyramids you see all three in one sweep and from this angle, the middle one looks taller than The Great Pyramid, although it’s three metres shorter.

The reason this visual ‘trick’ works so well is that the second sits on rocks that are 10 metres higher, although it’s also chronological, since the panorama is the second stop for most visitors.

Half an hour earlier, I stood at the bottom of the Great Pyramid at the entrance to the site and stared up in disbelief as it tapered into the bright blue sky. Lost in the spectacle, I fixed my sight at a few mighty blocks at the base, in themselves as remarkable as the collective; when it was originally built in approximately 2550 BC it was almost 147 metres tall but today, because of erosion, it is down to about 139 metres, though what it may have lost over the years has clearly not diminished its magnetism.

In the 21st century, most tourists are preoccupied creating visual illusions of their own, kissing, hugging and pointing at the landmarks, and uploading to social media, while camels and horse-drawn carts provide a more tangible link with the past.