Permanence: The Pyramids of Giza and Climate Change

            So goes the story from the annals of history that, when the knights of the First Crusade finally arrived at Jerusalem, the epicentre of the Holy Land and the city that Pope Urban II had urged them to capture, they fell down to the ground and wept uncontrollably, for they had achieved their life’s purpose and saw the most beautiful place in the world. Now I didn’t exactly powerlessly fall to my knees and weep uncontrollably upon seeing the Great Pyramids, nor was I doing this trip in the service of some Higher Power, but I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I shed a few tears and was overcome with some emotions when I first entered the Giza Necropolis and gazed upon these most beautiful buildings.

            They are the testament to all of which humanity is capable, and that is why they are a refreshing site to visit right now given the state of the world. Our generation and future generations are facing climate catastrophes unseen in the history of humanity before. One look at the news today and you see floods in Pakistan or wildfires in California or Venice sinking due to rising sea-levels. It’s worth wondering what one can do to stem the tide of climate anxiety. I believe a visit to the Pyramids does as well as anything to curb these feelings.

I bounded into the necropolis very early in the morning, thinking I would be smart and skip the crowds. However, for a place of such magnificence, crowds are there whether they are allowed to be or not.

            Seeing and visiting the Pyramids will not reverse the effects of climate change nor will it give you the answers for tackling climate change. They are also generally difficult to get to without taking multiple flights, though direct flights between Dublin and Cairo are operational with EgyptAir as of only recently. Non-aviation travel here was more possible before the Arab Spring shut off most of the Middle East from the West and led to the suspension of ferries to Alexandria in northern Egypt. It is a privilege still to be able to visit and see them. Despite all the problems one can encounter when trying to see the Pyramids, it is the hope inspired by seeing them that makes a visit imperative.

            The Pyramids themselves are most than just limestone polyhedrons, they are a reminder that what humanity accomplishes can survive the test of time; indeed, it was only possible to build the Pyramids on account of climate change. Before civilisation ever came to Egypt, the whole country as far south as Cairo was submerged under the sea in an era known as the African Humid Period. Modern Cairo now lies about 230 kilometres south of the Mediterranean. The receding waters left as northern Africa dried out and left behind the marshy lands of the Giza complex that provided the perfect building-site for the Pyramids. At a moment of intrigue, I read a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It examined how Nile waterscapes aided the pyramidic constructions. It found that the lands around the pyramids retained nearly 40% of this sea-water. The site of the Pyramids was chosen only as a direct result of climate change.

                          What is most worth celebrating is that, in the face of the constant flooding that Egypt experienced for millennia, the Pyramids have survived where they are. The Pyramids immediately call back to ancient times and a part of the world where fewer and fewer sites of historical interest are passing the tests of time. Sites in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan have been lost to revolutions and holy wars in the past decade alone. Sites in Egypt, Turkey and Israel have thus far survived but who’s to say how much longer they will survive. This part of the world is losing lots of its physical historical significance as I’ve mentioned on countless occasions already.

It always amazes me that such modern conventions such as cars can be intertwined with such extraordinary ancient history. Perhaps more can be learnt from the Pyramids than one might think?

            Before coming to Egypt, I had endeavoured to read one book on Egyptian history, though it wasn’t pharaonic or dynastic, really. Eric H. Cline’s book 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilisation Collapsed challenges the accepted notion that the ancient Egyptians were plundered and defeated by “The Sea Peoples”. He puts forward theories of droughts, volcanoes, and pandemics that helped bring societies to their knees and force the mass migration of people around the Mediterranean. It is doubtful that, when people were fleeing their homeland on account of climate change, or defending their homeland from those very people, they had much thought of what of their societies would survive. I’m sure that the ancient Egyptians, upon seeing their civilisation brought to the brink of self-destruction at the beginning of the 12^th-century BCE on account of these seismic environmental changes, thought that all their history would be lost. This anxiety can be threaded through the history of humanity from them to us as we too wonder what will be left of us when we are gone.

                          Visiting the Pyramids inspires hope that they will continue to survive in spite of everything that goes on around them. They are the greatest testament to human industry, grandiose engineering, and ancient knowledge that our world has left. They are proof that human beings can accomplish absolutely anything. If people working in the Sahara Desert nearly five millennia ago were able to haul 2.3 million blocks of limestone and granite up the Nile and build structures as magnificent as the Pyramids, then what can’t we do? The history of humanity could easily be defined as the history of progression and development. The Pyramids are the greatest proof we have that we were meant for this Earth.

                           The tag-line to Ridley Scott’s 2000 blockbuster ‘Gladiator’ says that “what we do in life echoes in eternity”. The question of permanence has plagued humanity ever since we straightened our backs and emerged from the seas and the caves and developed conceptual civilisations. The Pyramids are proof that what we do in this life can indeed echo throughout eternity. While visiting them will not stop the floods or re-freeze the ice-caps, it will make you feel that, in the end, everything can and will be alright.