P Y R A M I D o f D J O S E R
This pyramid, the oldest in Egypt, was designed
to be the Pharoah's stairway to the North Star.
Crumbling mud bricks were eventually replaced
with blocks made of sturdy limestone
when building future pyramids.
It meant spending an additional fortune to construct.
Screw it. Go with the luster.
The grandeur lasts forever.
S P H I N X
Devine guardian of the Pharaoh Khafre as
he makes his journey to the land of afterlife.
The Pharaoh's own head placed on the shoulders
of this mythical lion, painted with vibrant color,
symbol of royalty.
About six hundred years ago the Great Sphinx
of Giza lost its nose to a Muslim, furious over
this enormous public expression of idolatry.
S O U L o f P E
The falcon-headed figure above strikes its position
of praise, welcoming another deceased king into
the kingdom of afterlife. Egyptian pharaohs are
protected by powerful ancestral spirits, taking the
form of the falcon-headed deity, Horus - ruler of
Egypt, god of the sky.
It is the god Horus that rules us all in life
through his all powerful representative
here with us now on Earth...
our beloved Pharaoh.
A M E N H O T E P I I I
This serene depiction of Amenhotep III reflects his near
forty year rule of peace and prosperity in Egypt.
He was a master diplomate and maintained Egypt's
superpower status by forming strategic alliances,
avoiding military conflict. His principle advisor
was his wife, Tiye, a commoner, with a talent for
overseeing affairs of state.
T U T A N K H A M E N
Death at the age of nineteen ended the ten year
reign of King Tut. His main accomplishment was
to reverse his father's conversion to monotheism.
The country once again returned to their long
revered personal gods, the one's giving them
comfort and protection.
Tutankhamen repaired his father's damage to
Egypt's social fabric and its economy.
Then King Tut died. There would be no pyramid
built in his honor. His tomb was anonymous,
tucked away somewhere in the Valley of Kings.
Tut was forgotten; his tomb never discovered
by looters.
No one even knew of King Tut's tomb until
it was finally stumbled on in 1922.
It was the jackpot. Here was a royal
storage unit containing over five thousand
items, unmolested, from over four thousand
years ago. Tut's sarcophagus was included,
and with Tut inside.
It was a Macy's Department store Christmas
fantasyland. On display for everyone to see
was the world's best merchandise, all for the
use of a dead, superpower pharaoh.
R A M S E S I I
Still living the dream.
Yul Brynner played the dashing Rameses II
in Cecil B. DeMille's 1958 epic movie
The Ten Commandments.
Ramses' wife, Ann Baxter, falls for Moses -
the powerful lawgiver from out of the Sinai.
Moses, as played by Charlton Heston,
parts the Red Sea to free the people of Israel.
Ramses II went on to rule Egypt for 66 years.
His was the Golden Age of prosperity and
monumental construction.
Anne Baxter chose a new country home in Thebes.
Ben-Hur took on the Romans.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
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