The Great Pyramid at Giza - People ascending to a small opening a few tiers up from the base. The sheer mountainous immensity of the pyramid is daunting when seen in person. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

On the Giza plain two of the three Great Pyramids stand out as the magnificent tributes to the Pharaohs who commissioned their construction. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

Lonely travelers on foot and camel in the desert west of Cairo on the great Giza plain. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

The Great Pyramid of Giza - notice the camel and rider as well as a number of people walking along the base of the Pyramid (enlarge the photo for a better look). The camel is much farther from the base of the Pyramid than you would think. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

Giza, Egypt

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The Sphinx lies peacefully guarding the Pyramids at Giza. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

A small island in the Nile River near Luxor, Egypt sprouts a few trees and some small underbrush. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

Faluccas take to the Nile at sunset for a breathtaking sail near Luxor, Egypt. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

On the Nile River just south of Luxor - A small shrine to a local Luxor man sits atop a hill on the West bank of the river overlooking the city which lies across the river on the East side. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

Dunes on the Eastern fringe of the Egyptian desert overlooking the Nile River. Two men sit at sunset and contemplate... ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

Faluccas (small sailing vessels) glide along the Nile near Luxor under the hilltop memorial to a local prominent citizen. ©Gerald Diamond All Rights Reserved

On an island in the Nile River lies the beautiful and ancient ruins of the Temple of Philae. Clear and well-preserved artwork and hieroglyphs decorate almost every square inch of this histroic Temple. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

The Temple of Philae with its huge walls (see the woman at the base of the wall for scale) provides a beautiful tableau for hieroglyphs and images of the Gods and Pharaohs. This Temple is more than 2,000 years old and still standing on an island in the Nile River. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

A colonnade at the Temple of Philae on an sialnd in the Nile River. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

This spectacularly well-preserved and deeply-carved image of the God Horus, symbolized by a falcon's head, stands on one of the giant entrance walls to the Temple of Philae. Horus became synonymous with the Pharaoh. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved

Isis, the mother of Horus and wife of Osiris, here depicted as she often is with the hieroglyphic symbol for a crown. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved