Khafre (East Side)
Khafre's Pyramid is second to his father Khufu's Pyramid in size,
but since it is built on higher ground and at a steeper angle (about
53°), it appears taller. This view was shot from Khafre's Mortuary
Temple, the ruins of which stand at the eastern base of the Khafre
Pyramid. The temple was one element within the pharaoh's vast
funerary complex, which included, besides the Pyramid, a lengthy
causeway or roofed ramp stretching downhill from the Mortuary Temple
to the Sphinx, the Sphinx’s temple, and a Valley Temple, all of
which in olden days would have stood on the edge of the Nile. (A
change in the river's course has left it farther east today.)
You start facing Khafre’s towering pyramid. Working around to the
right, you can see, to the north, the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the
white Solar Barque museum at its base; to the east, the plateau
dropping down to the unseen Nile, with Cairo beyond; and to the
south, the vastness of the Sahara and, lastly, the smaller pyramid
of Menkaure, Khafre’s son. Can you zoom in and find the rear of the
Sphinx? Hint: Look beneath the distant skyline of modern
Cairo.