Egypt

EXPERT LED BRIEFING: This expert briefing will help all the family to put into wider context many of the breathtaking ancient Egyptian sites you will see while on tour, and provide valuable information about the world out of which they emerged. The briefing is intended to assist adults and children understand key issues about the world of the ancient Egyptians before you visit the sites, and will be age appropriate for all the family. For example, ancient Egyptian temples were built by Pharaohs and as such we will ask key questions around the Pharaohs such as  what was the role of the King and what was he supposed to do for people and society both in religious and material terms? Your expert will also help you better understand the physical context of the temples visited on a tour, their huge scale, colours and scents, and how this fitted in with the social and economic role of the Kings in Egyptian society, and she or he will show reconstructed images of how the temples once appeared. Last but not least you will talk about hieroglyphics, have a go at translating your own sentence and have a go at writing some hieroglyphics yourself! Your briefing will be delivered by an expert academic Egyptologist, our experts are generally well published in their specialist fields and often appear on television and media channels to share their specialist knowledge. This meeting will last for about an hour.

Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, only one remains today: The Great Pyramid of Giza. If that’s not certified unmissable, we don’t know what is. Yet before we visit Giza we will visit the more ancient pyramid site of Saqqara where we will understand more about the history and evolution of these pyramid structures. At Saqqara, you will learn about how the ancient Egyptians experimented with stepped pyramids, including the famous step pyramid of Djoser which is the oldest stone building complex in the world. Astonishingly you will also learn how at Saqqara the Egyptians tried to rebuild entire worlds for use in the afterlife. If you would like to enter a Pyramid you might consider doing so at Saqqara where it is less busy than Giza and some of the pyramids have inscriptions inside (please note this is more physically difficult than most people anticipate and is not advised for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia, or neck, back or knee problem). You will also view the bent pyramid of Dashur from distance and your guide will relay the history of the Red Pyramid to you. Continuing our journey, and the evolution of these engineering feats, Giza emerges as a sublime structure, the miraculously accurate realisation of an ideal pyramid structure inside which the kings would journey to the next world and emerge as gods. Despite their age, these structures still overwhelm and overpower visitors. You will visit all three of the pyramids at Giza, and also witness them from a panoramic view point where you can see the grandeur of all three together. Proceed to the Great Sphinx with its head of a man and body of a lion, gazing imposingly across the valley.