Monument sights in Africa
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Bent Pyramid
Experimenting with ways to create a true, smooth-sided pyramid, Sneferu's architects began with the same steep angle and inward-leaning courses of stone they used to create step pyramids. When this began to show signs of stress and instability around halfway up its eventual 105m height, they had little choice but to reduce the angle from 54 degrees to 43 degrees and begin to lay the stones in horizontal layers. This explains why the structure has the unusual shape that gives it its name.
Most of its outer casing is still intact, and inside (closed to visitors) are two burial chambers, the highest of which retains its original ancient scaffolding of great cedar beams to…
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Red Pyramid
The world's oldest true pyramid is the North Pyramid, which is better known as the Red Pyramid. It derives its name either from the red tones of its weathered limestone, after the better-quality white limestone casing was removed, or perhaps from the red graffiti and construction marks scribbled on its masonry in ancient times.
Having learnt from their experiences building the Bent Pyramid, the same architects carried on where they had left off, building the Red Pyramid at the same 43-degree angle as the Bent Pyramid's more gently inclining upper section. The entrance - via 125 extremely steep stone steps and a 63m-long passage - takes you down to two antechambers with…
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Gandhi's Shrine
Near the source of the Nile plaque is a small memorial garden commemorating Mahatma Gandhi, the centrepiece of which is a bronze bust donated by the Indian Government. This area is becoming quite a pilgrimage site for Ugandan Indians, as this is one of the places where Gandhi's ashes were scattered. (It seems that on Gandhi's death in 1948, his ashes were divided up and sent to many locations around the world to be scattered - and some ended up in the Nile River in Uganda.)
So Gandhi was rafting the Nile long before the Adrift team came to town.
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Colossi of Memnon
The two faceless Colossi of Memnon that rise majestically about 18m from the plain are the first monuments tourists see when they visit the West Bank. The enthroned figures have kept a lonely vigil on the changing landscape, and few visitors have any idea that these giants were only a tiny element of the largest temple ever built in Egypt, Amenhotep III's memorial temple, believed to have covered an area larger than Karnak.
The pharaoh's memorial temple has now all but disappeared. It was built largely of mud brick on the flood plain of the Nile, where it was flooded every year. The walls simply dissolved after it was abandoned and no longer maintained, and later pharaohs…
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Temple of Seti I
The first structure you'll see at Abydos is the striking Cenotaph or Great Temple of Seti I, which, after a certain amount of restoration work, is one of the most complete temples in Egypt. This great limestone structure, unusually L-shaped rather than rectangular, was dedicated to the six major gods - Osiris, Isis and Horus, Amun-Ra, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah - and also to Seti I (1294-1279 BC) himself.
In the aftermath of the Amarna Period, it is a clear statement of a return to the old ways. As you roam through Seti's dark halls and sanctuaries an air of mystery surrounds you.
The temple is entered through a largely destroyed pylon and two courtyards, built by Seti I's son…
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Zoser's Funerary Complex
The hypostyle hall leads into the Great South Court, a huge open area flanking the south side of the pyramid, with a section of wall featuring a frieze of cobras. The cobra, or uraeus, represented the goddess Wadjet, a fire-spitting agent of destruction and protector of the pharaoh. It was a symbol of Egyptian royalty, and a rearing cobra always appeared on the brow of a pharaoh's headdress or crown.
Near the base of the pyramid is an altar, and in the centre of the court are two stone B-shaped boundary markers, which delineated the ritual race the pharaoh had to run, a literal demonstration of his fitness to rule. The race was part of the Jubilee Festival, or Heb-Sed,…
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Tombs of Kings Kaleb & Gebre Meskel
Set on a small hill and offering views of the distant jagged mountains of Adwa are the monumental Tombs of Kings Kaleb & Gebre Meskel . According to local tradition, they're attributed to the 6th-century King Kaleb and his son, King Gebre Meskel. Kaleb was one of Aksum's most important rulers and succeeded in bringing southern Arabia under Aksumite rule.
Although the twin tombs' architecture resembles the Tomb of the False Door, they actually show more sophistication, using irregular-shaped self-locking stones that don't require iron clamps. The 19th-century British traveller Theodore Bent exclaimed magnanimously that the tombs were 'built with a regularity which if found…
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Pyramid of Unas
What appears to be another big mound of rubble to the southwest of Zoser's funerary complex, is actually the 2375-2345 BC Pyramid of Unas, the last pharaoh of the 5th dynasty. Built only 300 years after the inspired creation of the Step Pyramid, this unassuming pile of loose blocks and debris once stood 43m high.
From the outside, the Pyramid of Unas is not much to look at, though the interior marked the beginning of a significant development in funerary practices. For the first time, the royal burial chamber was decorated, its ceiling adorned with stars and its white alabaster-lined walls inscribed with beautiful blue hieroglyphs.
The aforementioned hieroglyphs are the…
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Torre del Conde
Set in a park just off the coast, Torre del Conde is considered the Canary Islands' most important example of military architecture. Here, Beatriz de Bobadilla, wife of the cruel and ill-fated Hernán Peraza, had to barricade herself in 1488 until help arrived.
Governor Hernán Peraza the younger had long been hated for his cruel treatment of the islanders. When, in 1488, he broke a pact of friendship with one of the Gomero tribes and, openly cheating on his wife, began cavorting with Yballa, a local beauty and fiancée of one of the island's most powerful men, the natives rebelled. They surprised Peraza during one of his clandestine meetings with Yballa and killed him with…
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Step Pyramid
In the year 2650 BC, Imhotep, the pharaoh's chief architect (later deified), built the Step Pyramid for Zoser. It is Egypt's (and the world's) earliest stone monument, and its significance cannot be overstated. Previously, temples were made of perishable materials, while royal tombs were usually underground rooms topped with mud-brick mastabas. However, Imhotep developed the mastaba into a pyramid and built it in hewn stone. From this flowed Egypt's later architectural achievements.
The pyramid was transformed from mastaba into pyramid through six separate stages of construction and alteration. With each stage, the builders gained confidence in their use of the new medium…
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Rome Stele
At 24.6m high, the Rome Stele - or Aksum Obelisk to those in Rome - is the second-largest stele ever produced at Aksum and the largest to have ever been successfully raised. Like the Great Stele, its ornate carvings of multistoried windows and doors adorn all four sides. Pillagers raiding the site are believed to have accidentally caused its collapse sometime between the 10th and 16th centuries.
In 1937 its broken remains were shipped to Italy on Mussolini's personal orders. There it was reassembled and raised once more, this time in Rome's Piazza di Porta Capena. It remained in Rome until 2005, when decades of negotiations finally overcame diplomatic feet-dragging.
After…
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Serapeum
The Serapeum, which is dedicated to the sacred Apis bull, is one of the highlights of visiting Saqqara. The Apis bulls were by far the most important of the cult animals entombed at Saqqara. The Apis, it was believed, was an incarnation of Ptah, the god of Memphis, and was the calf of a cow struck by lightning from heaven. Once divinely impregnated, the cow could never again give birth, and her calf was kept in the Temple of Ptah at Memphis and worshipped as a god.
The Apis was always portrayed as black, with a distinctive white diamond on its forehead, the image of a vulture on its back and a scarab-shaped mark on its tongue. When it died, the bull was mummified on one…
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Great Stele
Lying like a broken soldier, this massive 33m Great Stele is believed to be the largest single block of stone that humans have ever attempted to erect, and overshadows even the Egyptian obelisks in its conception and ambition. Scholars theorise that it fell during its erection sometime early in the 4th century.
Comparing the unworked 'root' to the sleek, carved base and the intricate walia ibex carvings near its top gives you a vivid idea of the precision, finesse and technical competence of Aksumite's stone workers.
As it toppled it collided with the massive 360-tonne stone sheltering the central chamber of Nefas Mawcha's tomb. This shattered the upper portion of stele…
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Camp Boiro
Although over 20 years have passed since Sekou Touré's death, his legacy continues to influence Guinean life. Some knowledge of his era is important if you want to understand present-day Guinea.
A good place to start is Camp Boiro , in the centre of Conakry on Route de Donka. Called Garde Républicaine on some maps, this military base rapidly became synonymous with the worst atrocities carried out during Touré's 'reign of terror'. From 1960 until Touré's death in 1984, thousands of prisoners were tortured or killed at Camp Boiro, including many prominent figures. Every sector of society was affected, and most Guineans you meet can tell of a family member or friend who was…
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Tombs of Mereruka & Ankhmahor
Near the Pyramid of Teti is the tomb of his highest official, Mereruka, vizier and overseer of priests. It's the largest Old Kingdom courtier's tomb, with 32 chambers covering an area of 1000 sq metres. The 17 chambers on the eastern side belong to Mereruka, and include a magnificent six-columned offering hall featuring a life-size statue of Mereruka appearing to walk right out of the wall to receive the offerings brought to him.
Other rooms are reserved for Mereruka's wife, Princess Seshseshat (Teti's daughter), and their eldest son, Meriteti (whose name means 'Beloved of Teti'). Much of the tomb's decoration is similar to that of the Mastaba of Ti, with an even greater…
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ribat
The ribat is northwest of the mosque and is the oldest monument in the medina, built in the final years of the 8th century AD.
The entrance is through a narrow arched doorway flanked by weathered columns salvaged from the ruins of Roman Hadrumètum. The small ante-chamber was the last line of the building's defences - from high above the columns, projectiles and boiling liquids were rained down on intruders. A vaulted passage opens out into a courtyard surrounded by porticos. The ribat, designed principally as a fort, was garrisoned by devout Islamic warriors who would divide their time between fighting and silent study of the Quran in the tiny, cell-like rooms built into…
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Kabaka's Trail
The Kabaka's Trail is a community tourism project to introduce visitors to the secret history of the Buganda people.
Six sites around Kampala make up the trail, including several tombs, a prison and a waterfall.
The Naggalabi Buddo Coronation Site, a short distance off the road to Masaka, is where the Buganda kings are crowned, including the current kabaka Ronald Mutebi II. There are several huts similar to those at Kasubi Tombs, as well as a natural throne from a tree root. This is the most accessible of all the sites, as minibuses run here from the new taxi park in Kampala - ask for Naggalabi Buddo stage.
Ssezibwa Falls is a popular beauty spot with locals, just off the…
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King Ezana's Stele
The Northern Stelae Field is Ethiopia's biggest and most important stelae field. It contains over 120 stelae, though the original number was higher - some have been removed, others probably lie buried. Although standing slightly off kilter, the magnificent 24m-high King Ezana's Stele at the field's entrance has done something no other stele of similar stature has - remained standing!
Henry Salt, the British traveller and first foreigner to describe it in 1805, proclaimed it 'the most admirable and perfect monument of its kind'.
It's considered by many as the most important of Aksum's stelae because it holds important religious significance. The stone platform at its base…
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Temple of Seti I
At the northern end of the Theban necropolis lies the Temple of Seti I. Seti I (1294-1279 BC), who also built the superbly decorated temple at Abydos and Karnak's magnificent hypostyle hall, died before this memorial temple was finished, so it was completed by his son Ramses II. The temple sees few visitors, despite its picturesque location near a palm grove and recent restoration, after it was severely damaged by torrential rain and floods in 1994.
The entrance is through a small door in the northeast corner of the reconstructed fortresslike enclosure wall. The first and second pylon and the court are in ruins, but recent excavations have revealed the foundations of the…
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Temple of Merneptah
Almost directly behind Amenhotep's temple, lie the remains of the Temple of Merneptah, who succeeded his father Ramses II in 1213 BC and ruled for 10 years. In the 19th century, the 'Israel Stele', now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, was found here, which was the only Egyptian text to mention 'Israel' (which Merneptah claimed to have defeated). The Swiss Institute in Egypt has done considerable work here, uncovering the temple's original plan and a large number of statues and reliefs.
At the small museum near the entrance, the history of the temple is illustrated with text, plans and finds from excavations, a great help to understand the little that remains of the…
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Mastaba of Ti
Northeast of the Philosophers' Circle is the Mastaba of Ti, which was discovered by Mariette in 1865. It is perhaps the grandest and most detailed private tomb at Saqqara, and one of our main sources of knowledge about life in Old Kingdom Egypt. Its owner, Ti, was overseer of the Abu Sir pyramids and sun temples (among other things) during the 5th dynasty. In fact, the superb quality of his tomb is in keeping with his nickname, Ti the Rich.
Like Zoser, a life-size statue of the deceased stands in the tomb's offering hall (as with the Zoser statue, the original is in the Egyptian Museum). Ti's wife, Neferhetpes, was priestess and 'royal acquaintance'. Together with their…
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Kuskuam
Although less preserved than the Royal Enclosure, this royal compound known as Kuskuam is equally captivating. It offers an impressive mix of views over the countryside, each dramatically framed by the complex's crumbling remnants. It was built in 1730 for the redoubtable Empress Mentewab, after the death of her husband (Emperor Bakaffa).
Like the Royal Enclosure, it's made up of a series of buildings including a long, castellated palace used for state receptions and to house the royal garrison. Its exterior is decorated with red volcanic tuff; spot the figures of crosses and Ethiopian characters and animals, such as St Samuel riding his lion.
The nearby smaller building…
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Temples of Karnak
A fitting monument to Egypt's New Kingdom power, Karnak is a mind-blowing complex of obelisks, columns, sanctuaries and pylons dedicated to the Theban gods and the glory of Egypt's pharaohs. Built and added to for over 1500 years its million-plus square metres a offer a crash course in ancient Egyptian architecture.
Although the earliest structures at Karnak date back to the Middle Kingdom, when Thebes was eclipsed by Memphis in the north, Karnak was ancient Egypt's most important place of worship in throughout the new kingdom. Called 'the most perfect of places', at its height during the reign of Ramses II some 80,000 people worked in or for the complex. At its centre…
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Tomb of the False Door
In 1972 the unique Tomb of the False Door was discovered. Known locally as the Tomb of King Ramhai, it lies in the western extremity of the Northern Stelae Field and is thought to date between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. More complex in structure, its stone blocks are also larger and more finely dressed than those found in some other tombs. Comprising an antechamber and inner chamber, it's surrounded on three sides by a passage.
Above the tomb, at ground level, a rectangular, probably flat-roofed building would once have stood (measuring some 12 sq metres by 2.8m high). Above the stairs descending into the tomb's chamber was a stone slab carved with a false door almost…
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Kasubi Tombs
The Kasubi Tombs, just off Masiro Rd, were first built in 1881 and are worth a look for a dose of traditional culture. There are several huge traditional reed and bark cloth buildings of the kabakas of the Buganda people. The group of buildings contains the tombs of Muteesa I, his son Mwanga (Sir Daudi Chwa II) and his son Edward Muteesa II, father of the current kabaka, Ronald Mutebi II (known also by his Bugandan name, Muwenda). Edward Muteesa II died in London in 1969, three years after being deposed by Obote. The tombs are taken care of by the Ganda clans.
The Kasubi Tombs are open year-round, including holidays. Remove your shoes before entering the main building.…
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