Flat Stanley and a day at the museum

Today my friends took me to the Egyptian museum.  There are over 100,000 artifacts in this big two story building.  They are building a new museum close to the Pyramids that is supposed to open soon. In this building, there are many different types of statues, kings, queens, and everything else in between.  King Tutankhamun or as we call him King Tut, and his big mask.  We couldn't take pictures of the mask though but I found one to show you.

                                                                The front of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

This is King Tutankhamun's tomb.  Do you see how big it is?  It's the size of an apartment.  Look at all the stuff they packed for him to take to his next life.  King Tut was a young king and a lot of people way back when did not think he was a very important person. 

King Tut's mask is made out of gold.

This is a king and queen and their two little kids.  Women always had white perfect looking skin whereas men usually had a tan.

 This is the guy who built the first pyramid.  Quite a feat right?  Do you know how big his statue is, it's about 3 inches tall.  It's really small.  I bet if he knew his statue was this little, he wouldn't be very happy about it.

                                                              

                     Another king.  You can see his paint still looks really good after all these years

 I wanted to take my new found friend home but he isn't allowed to leave. Anubis was the god of the dead and he was a jackal.  His job is to watch over the dead. 

 This was a mummified dog. Do you see the monkey off to the side?  They were often found in the tombs with their owners.  They also took other pets and farm animals with them to the afterlife

This is a mummified ram.  This way the person would have something to eat when the went to their next life.  I don't think it would taste very good.

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                                          They even buried their cats with them.  Even the ones laying down are mummified cats.

Shhhh, she's sleeping.  Just kidding!   I'm guessing this queen wasn't too important or famous because she wasn't wrapped up like some of the other ones.  For being dead for thousands of years, she looks actually pretty good.

                                                       Now, this is what a mummy looks like! 

Papyrus which is paper made from the papyrus plant.  The writing looks great, doesn't it?  I bet you are glad you don't have this for handwriting homework.

                                                      Hey check me out, I'm a King...with a little head though.

                                                    My new little friend is waving bye!

Tommorrow I'm going to tell you about my overnight train ride down to the southern end of the country to Aswan.

The Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx

Hi guys!  I can't wait to tell you about what we did today.  Doesn't it look really hot and dry here?  Actually, it's pretty chilly and I didn't pack a jacket. It started out in the 60's and it was only about 70 degrees when we arrived.

This is the Great Pyramid.  It's over 3,000 years old!  It's almost 500 feet tall which is like a 50 story building.   
Can you believe that? 

I was standing at the opening of the pyramid looking out into the desert.  See how many people have jackets?

Sorry, my picture is so bad.  This is inside the pyramid.  You have to climb up inside to see the tomb.  It's very narrow.  How do think the Egyptians built this way back then?

Well, here they are!   The biggest one was built for Pharoah Khufu.  The other two are the Pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure.  The little ones by each of the big ones are the Pharoah's wives.  Do you know how old these pyramids are?  They are at least 3,000 years old, probably even older than that.

These are the camels I got to ride.  This is part of the Sahara Desert.

Here I am riding a camel.  They said I was too little to ride by myself.  Plus, since I am so light, I actually blew away and some person saved me from getting lost in the desert.  I was so scared!  Thankfully, my friend Lydia held on to me really tight.

I finally made it!

He was pretty ticklish under his chin.

They are not used to seeing many Americans.  My friend Lydia was so popular but eventually, she said it was tiring.  Now I know what famous people go through.

This is what I had for lunch.  Flavored beef, chicken, and veggies.  Eat your veggies kids!

Well, tomorrow is another fun day for me.  We will go visit the Egyptian Museum.  There are many statues there as well as mummies.  Have you ever seen a real mummy or only your mommy?  Do you get it?  I was making a joke.

Flat Stanley's long flight

I was so happy that friends took me to Egypt for my Spring Break.  I really wanted to get out of this Illinois weather in the worst way.  I'll just say this, I think it may have been easier for them to mail me there instead of taking the very long flight to get to Egypt.  It took about 18 hours of flying time and everyone else was on their spring break as well so it was a very packed plane.

Can you see how much farther I have to fly?  Once I get to Abu Dhabi, I have to fly for almost 4 more hours.  I'm going to be tired!

   

This is what flying into Abu Dhabi looks like.  I wish I could stay here for a few days because it looks warm and like a lot of fun.  Do you see all those sandbars?

 I got really thirsty and this is the water they gave me.  Neat huh?

 

Abu Dhabi is flat, hot and dry.

                                                     

 Passing over the Red Sea.  It doesn't look like anyone even lives there.  This was on my second flight to Cairo.  I'm so tired...

                                       
                              

I can't wait to get off this plane.  This is what Cairo Egypt looks like from up here.  Doesn't look like home though.

                 

Now I'm heading off to bed because I know we have a busy day tomorrow.  We will go to Giza to see the pyramids and the Great Sphinx.  I think a camel ride is in my future too.