Built on the orders of the pharaohs thousands of years ago, the Great Pyramid of Giza continues to reveal its secrets.
On Thursday, scientists shared the discovery of a corridor inside the 4,500-year-old structure at an unveiling ceremony held at the Giza Plateau.
The previously hidden corridor is the latest discovery of the ScanPyramids project, a mission made up of heritage experts from Cairo University and the French Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute.
As Egypt’s most-visited attraction and the last remaining intact wonder of the ancient world, the great pyramids are shrouded in mystery with little consensus on how the giant structures were built.
The discovery of the concealed tunnel could lead to more findings on the construction of the pyramids, according to science journal Nature.
For curious travellers planning a trip to Egypt's pyramids, here's everything you need to know.
How do you get to Egypt's Great Pyramids?
The Great Pyramid of Giza — also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu — sits beside the pyramid of Khafre and the pyramid of Menkaure, which make up the Giza Plateau.
The pyramids are located on the western outskirts of Cairo, and the easiest way to reach the destination is by car — whether that's via taxi, Uber or a private driver.
Public transport is available via the metro, with the nearest station to the pyramids on Al Haram Road. From here, it’s a short taxi ride or local bus trip to the site.
Once on-site, tourists can walk around the ancient structures or hop on one of the first batch of e-buses designed to take visitors through seven stations around the plateau.
There are also hotel options in the vicinity of the Giza Plateau, where travellers spending the night can simply walk across the desert to the pyramids.
What’s inside the Great Pyramid of Giza?
Despite the discovery of the hidden corridor inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, travellers need to lower their expectations a little before visiting the historic tomb, as most parts of the inner sanctums of the historic structure remain off-limits to tourists.
What visitors can see is the King's Chamber, Queen's Chamber and Grand Gallery. The King's Chamber is where Khufu was believed to have been buried. The only item in the room is the monarch's sarcophagus, hollowed out of a block of granite. Despite there not being too much to look at, it's fascinating to see the towering pyramid's strong structure from within.
No photography is allowed inside the tomb and tourists should be aware that it gets rather hot as there is no air conditioning inside.. Venturing into the tomb is not recommended for anyone who has claustrophobia.
Can I climb to the top of the pyramids in Giza?
Travellers cannot climb to the tops of the pyramids.
While visitors used to be able to roam freely around the structures, authorities introduced a ban on the activity back in the 1950s, although it wasn't always enforced then. That's not the case today.
In 2016, teenage tourist Andrej Ciesielski received a lifetime ban from Egypt after posting photos and videos of his pyramid climb on social media.
In 2019, a law banning climbing on Egypt's antiquities was introduced, carrying with it penalties of at least one month in prison and fines of more than $6,000. Despite this, tourists often try to stand on the lower rows of the pyramid stones for photographs.
How much does it cost to visit the pyramids?
Prices to visit the Great Pyramid of Giza are a reasonable 240 Egyptian pounds ($7.8) for tourists, with students able to enter at half that price. It's worth noting that this rate doesn’t include access to the tombs — a separate entrance fee applies to enter inside any of the pyramids.
Tickets to the Great Pyramid cost Dh52.50, while Khafre and Menkaure tickets are Dh12 each.
When is the best time of year to visit the pyramids?
Open daily from 7am to 4pm, the pyramids are best seen from October to April, when the weather is not too warm. The site is open to tourists year-round, but travellers visiting in summer will want to avoid the mid-day heat.
What else can travellers see there?
After visiting the three pyramids and the nearby Great Sphinx of Giza, travellers who want to explore further can scout out the plethora of tombs, temple ruins and smaller-sized pyramid structures dotted around the desert plateau.
The 9 Pyramids Lounge is the only on-site restaurant and has built a name for itself as the place to dine if you want lunch served alongside Instagram-friendly vistas of Egypt's ancient treasures.
After the daytime viewing closes, the Giza Plateau comes alive with a night-time light show that illuminates the historic structures. Telling the tale of ancient pharaonic legends, it projects images on to rock faces and uses the pyramids as an awesome backdrop. Tickets cost about $20, but the show is also visible from several rooftops surrounding the site.
For great photo opportunities or an alternative light-show viewing without a steep price tag, try the nearby KFC and Pizza Hut, where a rooftop terrace offers picture-perfect vistas of the ancient wonders — accessible for the price of a piece of fried chicken.
The inside tip
Avoid riding the camels and donkeys that wander around the Giza Plateau. Not only are you likely to be asked to pay a hefty fare, but you will also be spending your tourism dollars for supporting activities using wildlife where the welfare of the animals cannot be verified.
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
The five pillars of Islam
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government