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Jonesing For Indy From The Old Hanger Vol 1.


CTarana45

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The Old Hangar

Jonesing with Indy - Virtual Archaeology in FS98

 

Introduction.

 

Are you getting bored of running the NY-Chicago Mail in zero visibility? Is chasing the Port

Columbus Express out of the station getting stale? Have you walked so many wings, you've worn

out the cloth? Then Jonesing with Indy may be right up your alley!

 

Jonesing with Indy is the place where you can explore real life archaeological sites

in Golden Wings and Flight Simulator 98.

 

Our first stops are the Pyramids of Egypt. Located near the city of Giza is an

area rich in ancient history.

 

The Old Hangar

Jonesing with Indy: The Pyramids of Egypt.

Chapter 1.

 

The Pyramids of Egypt:

Preflighting at Giza Airport, Pyramids in the background.

 

The Pyramids of Giza are often called one of the seven wonders of the world. In Flight Simulator 98 there are several pyramids visible from the airport at Giza (Embaba) (HEEM)

but little or no mention is made of them. A single situation file allows us to tour

the area from the air. We know from the desciption in the situation file that these are the "famous" Pyramids of Giza. What most people probably don't realize is these aren't the only

pyramids that are found in FS98, more can be seen further south. We are going to examine all the pyramids and explain which pyramids they are, who built them, and when. We're also going

to look over the famous "Sphinx" that faces the rising sun over the Nile. I'm going to take this time to point out that the pyramids that were placed in the Flight Simulator 98 scenery were done with excellent accuracy. I used actual GPS coordinates to infer which pyramid

was being represented in the scenery.

 

Flying over the Pyramids of Giza.

 

The pyramids are located in areas called "Necropolises" (Cities of the dead), also known as Pyramid Complexes due to the large amount of supporting structures surrounding them. These include temples, tombs for nobles and workers, food production, canals (yes, in the desert)

and other miscellaneous buildings. There really is no "oldest or newest" necropolis because many times later administrations would build their temples over older ruins, or even mine

older tombs for thier stones. This is what happened to the brilliant white casing stones

that were placed on the Great Pyramid, they were used to build buildings in Cairo.

 

Saqqara was the first necropolis, then the pharaohs built their monuments at Dashur,

the last really major monuments were built at Giza. Giza is the furthest north of the

three, and Dashur is the furthers south. We'll begin our trip at the Giza

necropolis and work our way south from there. During the time of the Old Kingdom, Egyptian

religious tenets generally held that the God RA took his daily trip through the provinces

of Egypt and from life to death. One legend states that each day, Ra was born and began a

journey across the sky. Ra was believed to travel in the Manjet-boat. or the 'Barque of

Millions of Years'. He was joined on this daily journey by a crew of many gods . The

Manjet-boat would sail through the twelve provinces, representing the twelve hours of

daylight. At the end of each day Ra was thought to die and embarked on his night voyage. For this journey he was called Auf, which means 'corpse'. Ra sailed in a boat called the

Mesektet-boat or night-barque on his journey through the twelve hours of darkness. This is

one reason why cities for the living were generally built on the eastern side of the Nile and cities for the dead were built on the western side. One of the titles of Imhotep, who was generally considered to not only be the architect of the first pyramid but to the whole idea

of building monuments out of cut stone as opposed to mud bricks, was High Priest of

Heliopolis, a city in northern Egypt that was the cult center for the worship of RA.

 

 

 

Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau.

 

Five thousand years ago Giza, situated on the Nile's west bank, became the royal necropolis,

or burial place, for Memphis, the pharaoh's capital city. Giza's three pyramids and the

Sphinx were constructed in the fourth dynasty of Egypt's Old kingdom, arguably the first

great civilization on earth. Today, Giza is a suburb of rapidly growing Cairo, the largest

city in Africa.

 

About 2,550 B.C., Pharaoh Khufu, the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, commissioned the

building of his tomb at Giza. Some Egyptologists believe it took 10 years just to build the ramp that leads from the Nile valley floor to the pyramid, and 20 years to construct

the pyramid itself. On average, the over two million blocks of stone used to build Khufu's pyramid weigh 2.5 tons, and the heaviest blocks, used as the ceiling of Khufu's burial

chamber, weigh in at an estimated 40 to 60 tons.

 

 

Pharaoh Khufu (2609 - 2584 BC)

N029*58'37.2351"

E031*08'11.5891"

 

Also known by his Greek name, Cheops, the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu was the second pharaoh of

the 4th Dynasty. His full name was Khnum-Khufwy, which means '[the god] Khnum protect me'.

He was the son of Sneferu and Queen Hetepheres I, and it is believed that he had three

wives.

 

Khufu is famous for building the Great Pyramid at Giza, one of the seven wonders of the

world. Apart from this, we know very little about him. His only surviving statue is,

ironically, the smallest piece of Egyptian royal sculpture ever discovered: a 7.5 cm-

(3 inch-)high ivory statue found at Abydos. Khufu came to the throne, probably during his twenties, and at once began work on his pyramid. The entire project took about 23

years to complete, during which time 2,300,000 building blocks, weighing an average of 2.5

tons each, were moved. His nephew Hemiunu was appointed head of construction for the Great Pyramid.

 

Khufu was the first pharaoh to build a pyramid at Giza. The sheer scale of this

monument stands as testament to his skills in commanding the material and human resources

of his country. Experts now believe the pyramids were built using conscripted labour

rather than slaves. Recent excavations at the Giza site have uncovered elements of the

infrastructure put in place to support this workforce, including a fish-processing plant.

 

 

Pharaoh Khafre (2520 - 2494 BC)

N029*58'25.2991"

E031*07'45.5817"

 

Khafre, who was the son of Khufu, was also known as Rakhaef or Chephren. He ruled from 2520

- 2494 B.C. and is responsible for the second largest pyramid complex at Giza, which

includes the Sphinx, a Mortuary Temple, and a Valley Temple. The most distinctive feature

of Khafre's Pyramid is the topmost layer of smooth stones that are the only remaining casing

stones on a Giza Pyramid.

 

Dates Built: c. 2558-2532 B.C.

Base: 704 feet (214.5 m) on each side covering a total area of 11 acres.

Total Weight: undetermined.

Average Weight of Individual Blocks of Stone: 2.5 tons, some of the outer casing blocks of stone weigh in at 7 tons.

Height: Originally 471 feet (143.5 m) tall, now 446 feet (136 m) tall.

Angle of Incline: 53 degrees 7' 48".

Construction Material: Limestone and red granite.

 

Khafre may be best known for his statues, and most famous among them is, of course, the

Sphinx. Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass write of Khafre: "He was, after all, perhaps the

greatest maker of statues of the Pyramid Age. There are emplacements in his pyramid temples

for 58 statues, including four colossal sphinxes, each more than 26 feet long, two flanking each door of his Valley Temple; two colossal statues, possibly of baboons, in tall niches inside the entrances of the Valley Temple; 23 life-size statues of the pharaoh in the

Valley Temple (fragments of several have been found with his name inscribed on them); at

least seven large statues of him in the inner chambers of his Mortuary Temple; 12 colossal Khafre statues around the courtyard of his Mortuary Temple; and ten more huge statues in

the Sphinx Temple.

 

 

Pharaoh Menkaure

N029*58'17.7976"

E031*07'33.6129"

 

Menkaure, also known as Mycerinus, ruled from 2490 - 2472 B.C.. He was pharaoh of the

smallest of the three pyramids at Giza, and is believed to be Khufu's grandson.

 

Dates Built: undetermined.

Total Blocks of Stone: unknown.

Base: 344 feet (105 m) on each side.

Total Weight: unknown.

Average Weight of Individual Blocks of Stone: undetermined.

Height: originally 215 feet (65.5 m), now 203 feet (62 m).

Angle of Incline: 51 degrees 20' 25".

Construction Material: Limestone and red granite, sarcophagus made of basalt.

 

 

THE SPHINX:

The Sphinx is one of the best known monuments on Earth and dates back to the Old kingdom

and the time of pharaoh Khafre - builder of the second largest pyramid on the Giza

plateau. The head of the Sphinx probably depicts Khafre, while the body is that of a

recumbent lion.

 

The paws are 50 feet long while the entire length is 150 feet. The head is 30 feet long

and 14 feet wide. It is 200 feet long and 65 feet high. The Sphinx has a tail which

wraps around the right hind paw. The paw has been restored in recent years. The Sphinx

has a breast plate between its front paws. In the New kingdom, the Sphinx became a symbol

of kingship and many pharaohs of this period built temples and stelae (upright stone tablets bearing inscriptions) in the area surrounding the statue.

Amenhotep II built a mud-brick temple to the north-east of the Sphinx, and Rameses II, one

of the ancient kingdom's most prolific builders, constructed an altar of granite between its paws. Ancient tablets also show images of worshippers presenting burnt offerings to the

Sphinx.

 

 

The Saqarra Necropolis:

 

Throughout its almost 3.000 year long history, Saqqara expanded to cover an area of 6 kilometers from north to south by 1,5 kilometers from east to west. As such, it is one of

the largest and most important areas of the Memphite necropolis. Its northern most

monuments, the so-called Archaic Tombs, are located slightly to the south of the 5th

Dynasty necropolis of Abusir. It is believed by some that the oldest remains of Memphis are

to be found underneath the modern-day village of Abusir, immediately to the east of the

Archaic Tombs.

 

To the south, Saqqara borders on Dashur, which some Egyptologists consider only to have been

an extension of Saqqara. Against this view, however, it must be noted that when the first pyramids were built at Dashur, in the beginning of the 4th Dynasty there was a large area of unexploited desert between the two sites. The southern-most royal monument at Saqqara was

built by Shepseskaf, the last pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty.

 

 

 

The Step Pyramid at Saqqara - A Mastaba.

N029*51'32.9262"

E031*59'29.7705"

 

The first tombs of the pharaohs were large, unimpressive, bunker affairs called mastabas. They were made from sun dried mud brick and most have long since crumbled to dust. This all changed around 2630 BC with the erection of the step pyramid. It was made for the pharaoh Djoser and began as a normal mastaba, but was subsequently enlarged by adding one mastaba on top of another until it consisted of six terraces some 200ft (60 meters) high. The surface was originally encased in smooth white limestone which must have caught the sun light and

reflected its rays.

Across the Great Court of the Pyramid Complex of Djoser (2667 - 2648 BC), the second pharaoh

of the 3rd Dynasty, stands the Step Pyramid. It is believed to have been created by one man, Imhotep. He has been called Doctor, Sage, Architect, Astronomer and High Priest. The Greeks worshipped Imhotep as Aesclepius, the God of Healing. Imhotep is also credited as a founder

of the Egyptian, and Masonic, mystery traditions.

 

 

 

The Pyramid of Pepi I at South Saqqara

N029*50'40.9161"

E031*59'29.7705"

 

Pepi I was the second ruler of ancient Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and his pyramid at South

Saqqara, though no more then a twelve meter high ruin today, has actually had a

significant effect on Egyptology. From the fragments of Khamuaset's restoration text, we do

know that the pyramid was in good shape during the 19th Dynasty, with few improvements.

This pyramid was first investigated by Perring in the 1830s, but in 1881, Maspero entered

the subterranean section of the pyramid and there for the first time discovered pyramid

texts. This pyramid continues to be scrutinized by the French archaeological mission in

Saqqara, originally lead by Lauer and Sainte Fare Garnot, but since 1963 by Leclant and

Labrousse. Among other finds, they have discovered the small pyramid complexes of

Pepi's consorts.

 

There was apparently a valley temple and causeway, though we have no information on

these structures. The mortuary complex is almost a duplicate of that in Teti's complex. It

is fairly symmetrical and as usual, consisted of inner and outer sections. The causeway

leads in from the northeast, leading into first an entrance corridor which in turn leads to

a columned courtyard. A transverse corridor splits the outer and inner sections. An doorway

in the middle of the back wall of this corridor leads into a five niche chapel, which then

leads to the offering hall with its false door on the wall adjacent to the pyramid.

While stone thieves seriously damaged the complex, important discovered were nevertheless

made. These included limestone statues of kneeling enemies of Egypt with their hands tied

behind their backs. They once stood in the open courtyard, and may also adorned the entrance

corridor. These types of statues have been found in several pyramids and perhaps had the function of frightening away anyone who might wish to damage the structure. They symbolized conquered evil. On the foundation of the pyramid was also found a small cult pyramid.

 

Pepi I's pyramid has a core of six steps and was constructed in much the same way as

Djedkare's pyramid, which used small blocks of limestone bound with a clay mortar.

Interestingly, blocks from Teti's mother, queen Sesheshet, were discovered within the

core of this pyramid. This was Pepi's grandmother, and may have been removed from a

destroyed building. The pyramid was, as usual, cased with fine white limestone, though

it remains intact only at the lowest levels. The pyramid's entrance is in its courtyard

pavement next to its north face. There was probably a chapel here, but nothing of it

remains today. The subterranean levels are similar to earlier pyramids of the 5th and 6th

Dynasties, beginning with a descending limestone corridor that that leads to a vestibule.

After the vestibule, the next corridor is level but is reinforced at three places with pink

granite. Located about in the middle of this second corridor is the barrier made of three

portcullis blocks also of pink granite. This corridor leads to an antechamber on the pyramid's

vertical axis. West of the antechamber is the burial chamber, and to its east is a serdab

with three niches.

 

Some burial equipment was found within the pyramid. fragments of a sarcophagus that stood on the west wall of the burial chamber suggest that it was probably a substitute, the original having broken in transportation or perhaps developed flaws. A fragment of a mummy was found that could have been that of Pepi I, but is uncertain, along with some fine linen wrappings.

 

Fourteen shards of yellow alabaster canopic vessels were discovered, together with a small flint knife, a piece of pleated linen and a left sandal of reddish wood, possibly made of sycamore.

 

Pyramid text not only cover the walls of the antechamber and burial chamber, but also the

corridors. Some of these texts remain in place, while others parts are in fragments (about

three thousand fragments). In piecing this all together, the French team has discovered

that about two thirds of the inscriptions were altered by reducing the size of the glyphs.

 

 

Dashur Necropolis:

 

The history of Dashur is a somewhat shorter than the history of its northern neighbour,

Saqqara. The oldest traces of building activity are dated to the start of the 4th Dynasty,

when Snefru, for unknown reasons, moved away from Meidum to start a new royal necropolis

just South of Saqqara. This is all the more surprising since Snefru also appears to have founded the royal necropolis in Meidum. After Snefru, there was considerably less activity

at Dashur, as Khufu moved the royal necropolis even more to the North, to Giza. Royal

attention returned to Dashur during the Middle kingdom , with the pyramid of 12th Dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat II. Amenemhat's immediate predecessors had preferred el-Lisht, near Meidum, as a burial ground. It is not clear why Amenemhat II moved back north again. His example was followed by Sesostris III and Amenemhat III , but the latter pharaoh chose to be buried in another pyramid, at Hawara.

 

After the Middle kingdom, Dashur seems to have lost its appeal as a royal necropolis.

Amenemhat III's pyramid was the last royal funerary monument that was built there. Recent

archaeological research, however, has revealed a private necropolis dated to the New kingdom

at North Dashur.

 

 

Bent Pyramid at Dhashur

N029*45'27.8730"

E031*10'50.2568"

 

Located in southern Saqqara stand the pyramids of Dhashur. Among them stands the Bent Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid is about 2 km south of the Mastaba Faraoun.

 

The builder of the Bent Pyramid is thought to have been the Pharaoh Snefru 2680-2565 BC), who was the first ruler of the 4th Dynasty. The Bent Pyramid, is one of three (or maybe even four) pyramids built by the great Pharaoh Snefru in Egypt's Old kingdom. His sons were also pyramid builders who helped create these projects. Khufu was one of his sons. Sneferu had the Bend pyramid built as a safe place to rest after he passed to the other side. Egyptians spent

years preparing to go to their deaths.

 

The Bent Pyramid is rhomboidal shaped. It unique for two reasons - the first is the angle change. There are two theories for this change. The first is that the builders may have

gotten tired and wanted to reduce the volume and to finish faster. Another is that when the pyramid at Maidoun collapsed, the architect lost his nerve and changed the angle. The angle

at Maidoun was 52 degrees as is the base of the Bent Pyramid. At the bend, the angle is

changed to 43.5 degrees up to the peak. The second reason is that it has two entrances. The first is in the middle of the northern side and is about 12m above the ground. It leads

to the upper chamber. The second entrance is on the western side and is just above the

ground. It leads to the lower chamber. The floors of both chambers were built 4m deep with small stone blocks. It is thought that the bent shape of the pyramid was not architecturally what Sneferu's son set out to built. But due to the weight of the pyramid the original was altered. The pyramid was finally abandoned after 20 years of construction as if was not safe.

 

The greatest builder of the Pyramid Age was Pharaoh Snefru, the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, during whose reign the biennial tax levy may have become a more frequent event. As

a result, it is difficult to assess the true intensity of Snefru's creative power. He is accorded a reign of twenty-four or twenty-nine years in the ancient king-lists,yet the

recent discovery of an inscription mentioning the twenty-fourth occasion of the census

suggests he may have reigned as long as forty-eight years, if the taxes were still collected every other year.

 

But regardless of his total years, his reign is distinguished by the number and sheer

magnitude of the works he carried out. The owner of three full-sized pyramids and probably

two smaller ones, he shifted one-third more stone - some 3,600,000 cubic meters

(4,708,800 cubic yards) of it - than his son and successor Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.

 

Snefru's reign represents an important period in Egyptian history, a period of transition

in art and architecture. It was a time when developments in the rendering of the human

form and major advances in the working of stone were crystallized and perfected. To him

belongs the credit for the first geometrically true pyramids ever attempted in Egypt, as

well as major and long-lasting changes in how the resurrection machine functioned. It

was his experiments with its conception and form that set the stage for the remarkable

achievements at Giza.

 

 

Red Pyramid at Dashur

N029*46'29.3026"

E029*10'59.6487"

 

The Red Pyramid at Dashur also known as the Shining Pyramid, is one of three (or maybe even four) pyramids built by the great Pharaoh Snefru the first pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, father of Khufu (supposed builder of the Great Pyramid), who reigned from 2575-2551 BC - in Egypt's Old kingdom. It is the first true pyramid still remaining. The Red Pyramid gets its name from the reddish or pinkish limestone, used in its casing stones. The total area of the structure

is only slightly less than the Great Pyramid, but as the angle of inclination of its sides is much shallower (43 degrees 22''), it only reaches a height of 341 feet (104m ).

 

The interior of the pyramid is quite interesting. The entrance is in its Northern face, as is common with nearly all pyramids in Egypt. A descending passage takes you along about 80

metres before levelling out and opening out into two seperate underground chambers, connected by another short tunnel. Both of these chambers have magnificent corbelled roofs, a photo of which can be seen below. A further passageway, at a considerable height above the level of

the floor, leads to a third chamber, with a corbelled roof that rises 50 feet into the body

of the pyramid. No trace of a burial has ever been found in this pyramid, the inside is completely uninscribed and therefore it is, to all intents and purposes, anonymous.

 

Two and a half miles to the north of the bent Pyramid lies Snefru's third pyramid. Called

the 'Red Pyramid' after the rusty tinge of the local limestone of its core, it would become

Snefru's final resting place. Quick to learn from their mistakes, this time the pharaoh's

architects laid a foundation platform of several courses of fine white limestone to prevent

the problem of subsidence from recurring. The lesson of the Bent Pyramid also encouraged

them to construct the pyramid with stones laid in level, rather than inclined, courses at

the similarly modest angle of 43 degrees to a not insubstantial height of 104 m (341

ft), making it the fourth highest pyramid ever built.

 

 

Christopher Tarana

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  • 1 year later...
Thanks Christopher, for this informative travel flight expedition! :pilot: A lot of research has gone into this. I had actually found your Pyramid expedition on your old site (archived on Wayback machine), but I'm pleased to see that you've made it available here.

Visit FSXMissionsHangar.com

For Missions in FSX and P3D

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