A Speck on the Sahara: Sipping Tea Above Egypt’s Bent and Red Pyramids

Listen to the audio version of this poem on HERE.

One early morning in late December, we set off on a three hour journey from Cairo to Dahshur. As we passed village after village, lush green fields dotted with beautiful villas belonging to farmers, we eventually arrived at a checkpoint for the Dahshur Pyramid Complex.

And when you step out of the car, time pauses. You find yourself in the relentless embrace of the Sahara. Just the day before, we had been at Giza, standing among 5,000 year old tombs while teenage girls recorded themselves on video, singing as they walked around the pyramids.

The complex is part of the larger ancient Memphite Necropolis, the city of the dead for its tombs. It includes the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid, built by King Sneferu and located about two kilometers apart. Since it was easier to climb down into, our tour guide recommended that we visit the Bent Pyramid.

The contrast between the crowded spectacle of Giza and the profound isolation and solitude of Dahshur helps you truly grasp the gravity of the structures in front of you.

These pyramids, built over 5,000 years ago, dominate the horizon not through sheer height alone, but through their isolation in the desert’s endless flatness. You become acutely aware of your own size in comparison to these defiantly massive structures. There is nothing around you but the vast openness of the Sahara.

We walked up to the midpoint and entered through an opening halfway up, ironically having to bend ourselves in half to fit into the long, narrow stairway. We could not help but marvel at the precision of the stone cutting, the way the walls were carved to form steps that led all the way into the roof.

When we came back out, one of the three gentlemen manning the entrance asked if we would like tea. Already sipping tea from what might have been the dirtiest cups on planet Earth were two twenty something Egyptologists, one from South Africa and one from the Czech Republic, from the American University in Cairo, along with their friend from China.

As we waited for their cups to be washed so we could have tea, I stared into the open nothingness of the desert in front of me, broken only by a small military base in the distance. The desert and the pyramids humbled me, giving me a new perspective on my problems in life.

If my challenges felt colossal, all I had to do was zoom out, like looking at them against the Sahara’s vast expanse. Would any of them matter in 5, 10, or 50 years? If I am lucky, many of my issues are just temporary blips in however long I get to live.

When we finished our tea and asked how much we owed, the man replied in broken English, “Whatever you want.” I gave each of the three men $2, and we left.

If you love archaeology, Dahshur is a must visit for seeing the evolution of pyramid design, from bent to straight. I find the mid build angle adjustment of the Bent Pyramid, from 54° to 43°, a true testament to the adaptive mindset of ancient engineers. To trial, err, and still carry on. Problems often require mid course corrections, not perfection from the start. I intend to remind myself of this often.

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