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8-day
circuit: From Kheops to Sesostris III : the
Pyramids from Cairo to the Fayum.
Cultural voyage organized by Luc Watrin,
Egyptologist, researcher associated with the
CNRS (UMR 7041), president of the GREPAL (Groupe
de Recherche European Pour L’Archéologie
au Levant).
Day 1:
Departure from Paris for Cairo by regular
flight. Arrival at Cairo and transfer to a
4 or 5 star hotel. Night at Cairo, next to
the pyramids.
Day 2:
Morning: Saqqara.
We will begin with the visit to the great
funerary complexes of the Kings of the IIIrd
dynasty, the pyramids of King Djeser and King
Sekhem-Khet, niched between desert and oasis.
We will then discover Saqqara-north and the
area of the “mastabas” of the 1st and IInd
dynasties where were buried the governers
of Lower-Egypt that served under the first
kings of Egypt (upon availability of visit
authorization).
Lunch at Gizeh.
Departure for Memphis (Mît-Rahineh),
capital of the Old Kingdom and visit to the
spectacular remains belonging to different
periods in pharaonic history (great sphinx,
museum of the colossus, Hathor temple, Apis
bull tables).
Continuation to the pyramides of the king-priests
of Abu-Sir dating to the Vth dynasty. Visit
to a great mastaba belonging to the bureaucrat
Ptah-Shepses and its fascinating bas-reliefs.
In the evening : Conference on the theme
of the evolution from the royal tomb to the
pyramids.
Day 3:
Morning: Afternoon: Saqqara.
Visit to the pyramids of the kings of the
Vth-VIth dynasties. Discovery of the burial
chamber of the Teti pyramid, whose walls are
decorated with the famous “Texts of the Pyramids”.
Discovery of a first group of contemporary
mastabas and their splendid painted bas-reliefs
illustrating the daily life of notables of
the Old-Kingdom (Ti, Akhetotep, Mererouka).
Visit to a second group of mastabas in the
sector of the Ounas road, including the mastaba
of Khenem-Hotep and Ny-Ankh-Khnoum known as
“the twin brothers” then discovered in the
grave of Iru-Ka-Ptah and its strange painted
statues carved in the rock.
Lunch in the palm area of Saqqara (Palm Club
restaurant or equivalent).
Visit to the pyramids of Dashour where were
raised funerary monuments in stone of the
King Snefrou (“double-slope” pyramid and red
pyramid) and the brick pyramids of the kings
of the Middle-Empire (Sesostris III and Amenemhat
III).
In the evening : Conference on the organization
of the Fayyum by the Kings of the Middle-Kingdom.
Day 4:
Departure to the northwest of the Fayyum.
Visit to the Greco-Roman site of Karanis
(Kôm Oshîm) and its Antiquities
Museum.
Halt at Medinet el-Fayyum (ex-Crocodilopolis).
Lunch (picnic) in the Fayyum.
Visit to the brick pyramids of the Middle-Kingdom
located in the heart of the Fayyum. Discovery
of the Hawwâra pyramid, a funerary monument
belonging to the King Amenemhat III. Further
to the South, we discover the pyramid of Ilahoun
which shelters the last home of the King Sesostris
II.
Lodgings at the Auberge du Lac on the banks
of the Lake Qarûn.
Day 5:
Departure to the southwest of the Fayyum.
Discovery of the great depression of Wadi-Rayan
located at 43m below sealevel in the western
desert of the Fayyum. Two lakes occupy the
bottom of this great canyon. One of the lakes
runs off into the second, forming the Shellalât,
the only waterfall in Egypt. Swimming possible
at Shellalât.
Picnic in the Wadi-Rayan.
Visit in late afternoon to the stone pyramid
of king Snefrou at Meïdum, a true “majestical
bastion” surging from a sand dune and dominating
the desert. For “speleological” volunteers,
a visit through a pillagers tunnel where were
discovered in 1871 the famous statues in painted
limestone of Prince Rahotep and his wife Princess
Nefret which are conserved in the 32nd hall
of the Cairo Museum.
Return to Cairo in the evening.
Day 6:
In the morning we will visit on foot the
Gizeh plateau, and will meditate on the 45
centuries of the Great Pyramids. Discovery
of the pyramids built by the kings of the
IVth dynasty (Kheops, Khephren and Mykerinos).
Visit of the infrastructure of one of the
three pyramids (if open). Visit to several
mastabas from the IV and Vth dynasties built
in the environment of the great pyramids.
Lunch in a Gizeh restaurant.
Discovery of the fabulous great sphinx sculpted
in the rock, gardien of the Gizeh cemetery,
visit to the funerary temple of King Khephren
which held the splendid statues of the statues
of the King now conserved in the Cairo Museum.
Discovery of the strange “pyramid” of the
Queen Khentikaous. Visit of the Gizeh museum
and its great boat in Lebanese cedar wood,
43 meters long, discovered in a trench to
the south of the Kheops pyramid.
Evening: Sound and light at the pyramids.
Day 7:
In the morning, visit to the Cairo Museum
of Egyptian Antiquities which has on display
more than 100,000 objects. Chronological discovery
of the department and of the fabulous tresure
of Tutankhamon (more than 5000 objects discovered
in his grave in the Valley of the Kings).
Lunch in a downtown restaurant.
Afternoon: free.
Evening: Dinner at the Mena House hotel at
the foot of the pyramids.
Day 8:
Transfer to the Cairo airport and return
to Paris for a regular flight.
How do I sign
up?
Download the sign-up form.
This circuit includes :
- An round-trip flight Paris-Cairo-Paris.
- The airport/hotel/airport transfers in
a private bus.
- Repatriation insurance and assistance for
the group and the guide.
- A 4/5-star hotel at Gizeh for 5 nights
with half-board (Sheraton or equivalent).
Double occupancy room, extra for a single.
- One night at the hotel Auberge du Lac (3
stars) in the Fayyum.
- Gizeh restaurants for the lunches (a different
one each time).
- transport by luxury bus with air conditioning
during the entire circuit.
- a military escort for the Fayyum.
- Accompaniement by Luc Watrin, specialist
to the destination.
- The visits of the program and the fees
for entry on the sites (including the visit
to the interior of one of the three pyramids
of Gizeh and the sound and lights of the Gizeh
pyramids).
- Conferences organized in the evening at
the hotel and on the sites by M. Luc Watrin.
- An Egyptian guide of higher-education (diploma
from the School of Guides) for visits to Cairo
(Museum/Gizeh/Saqqara).
- Maps, cultural information on the main
sites visited.
- Administrative authorizations for certain
sites (Saqqara-north: graves of the Ist and
IInd dynasties) including those of the Fayyum
and authorization to make an exursion to the
Wadi-Rayyân and to the Shellalât.
- Visa fees.
The cost of the trip does not include:
- Drinks.
- Personal expenses.
- Baggage and cancellation insurance.
- Tips to the local guides and to the driver.
- The usual tips in Egypt on the sites and
in restaurants (expect 25 euros per person
to give to your guide on the first day).
Travel organizer: Local providers
Travel base: 10 to 20 persons (maximum).
Dates: Du 13 au 20 octobre 2007.
Price:1490
euros.
Sponsorship: GREPAL
Technical and cultural design of the trip:
Mr Luc Watrin (Egyptologist/Researcher associated
with the CNRS – UMR 7041, Director of the
GREPAL). Tel. 01 47 50 46 88.
Email:
lucwatrin@grepal.org
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