Travel in Giza - Egypt - Middle East - History

Giza, Gizeh, or Al Jizah city is the capital of Giza governorate, in north Egypt, forming a suburb of Cairo on the River Nile. Cairo that is growing rapidly is the largest city in Africa and the fifth largest in the world. The area was settled in antiquity. Nearby are the three Great Pyramids, surrounded by mastabas, with the Great Sphinx to the south. With a population of 2,144,000 (1992 estimate), Giza is the third largest city in Egypt.

The true pyramid exists only in Egypt, though the term has also been applied to similar structures in other countries. Egyptian pyramids are square in plan and their triangular sides, which directly face the points of the compass, slope upwards at approximately a 50° angle from the ground and meet at an apex. The prototype for the pyramid are the mastabas of the Old Kingdom (2680–2565 B.C.), which are rectangular in plan and have only two sloping sides. After these came the step-pyramid at Sakkara, built c.2620 B.C., which soon evolved into the straight-sided true pyramid. This monumental structure was developed around the IV dynasty and continued to be the favoured form for royal burial through the VI dynasty.