The first time I heard of the Labyrinth was from a friend who lives in Los Angeles who had seen a presentation by Patrick Geryl on the subject. He asked me about the Labyrinth, which after a bit of quick internet research, I found to be often known as Herodotus Labyrinth. The reason being that Herodotus was a historian at about the time of 500BC who had wrote extensively about the world of ancient times. Geryl's interest in the site is to substantiate claims that the site is in agreement with prophecies concerning the year 2012, as is much the talk in popular culture and the media today. Geryl contends that the site has reliefs detailing the destruction to ensue during the 2012 shift which I mentioned earlier.
Herodotus wrote that the labyrinth was expansive and rivaled the Great Pyramids in terms of spectacle. That in itself is a bold statement. However, I also read that in modern times the Labyrinth was inaccessible and only now being excavated due to flooding and bureaucracy. My friend was still interested, however, and if nothing else was interested in perhaps seeing the great pyramids.
So my friend planned a trip, in conjunction with a trip to Dubai and when he arrived I picked him up at the airport and a few days latter were off to see the Labyrinth, or what we could see of the Labyrinth site. While skeptical of what we would find, I figured it would prove interesting, since the area sits near Fayoum oasis and there is the pyramid of Amenemhet III at the site as well. Amenemhet ruled from between roughly 1860 BC to 1814 BC. During this time he initially constructed a pyramid at Dashur, but later decided to create the pyramid present at the site we visited.
So I let it be. But the guy got mad at me and made friends with my friend, promising a good rate. I told my friend to forget it, because I knew that I could book a mini-van through my hotel. My friend became our drivers best friend, because he was willing to pay the driver at will, whatever he asked, meanwhile I became the devil, because I knew what he was supposed to charge. I was very comfortable knowing and making sure he knew I know.
When I got back, the guy at the desk promised that he could do it for 150 LE, more on that in part two. So we went to Hawara in a beautiful mini-van, pretty much brand new. The manager at the hotel warned me, as I had been warned before, that we might be escorted by police. He advised that we be British for the voyage, to avoid an escort. In addition, police usually wont object to backsheesh, in this case 40 LE would probably be good.
So we hit the road and it is very very foggy. We can hardly see the road. Then we hit the desert. We are driving for a little over an hour. When we get near the area of Fayoum, there is a police checkpoint. We sit waiting for about 20 minutes. I remember backsheesh is welcome. We wait about 10 more minutes and a truck with about ten soldiers pull up in front of us. My friend asks if this is for us. We debate the humor and the implications of a police/military escort. Of course they have weapons and such but we wonder about the necessity. Still, we all joked about how special we must really be.
Soon we head back out and reach Hawara about fifty minutes later. Fayoum itself is a wonderful area. It is very green. I would recommend a visit to the area as it does have plenty of attractions and is a nice getaway from Cairo. Not to far, fresh air, friendly people.
When we arrive, we purchase relatively inexpensive tickets, I think about 30 LE each with discount and some change for backsheesh for site staff who really do a great job. We met the government representative for the site who did show us around, and answer questions, although he refused pictures with us. He did answer all our questions, although I felt I was missing something.
He took us through the site, we saw the area which had been built over by the Ptolemies as a cemetery, then we saw the pyramid, which was indeed impressive, we entered about fifteen feet and were stopped by water. The area is still indeed flooded, which is a shame because otherwise it would be very navigable. However, since we could go no further, we scrapped some of the salt from the top of the pyramid, although what I am going to do with this salt, built up due to the water, is undetermined. We headed back out and looked at the other areas of the site.
We also saw the area above the Labyrinth and the other areas pending excavation. The area is being excavated currently by a Polish team who were not on site this particular day. There is much left to see at the site, but I think it will require the area being fully drained of water. In addition, the area was very foggy. While draining the labyrinth is something the government has indicated interest in doing, I think this will take some time yet, or maybe it might be better to revisit in another season. In addition, before typical visitors are allowed entry they will have to complete excavation of the area. Maybe if I make friends with some special people they will make an exception, we shall see.
Whatever the case, our escort remained with us the whole time on site. In addition, we had a very friendly soldier accompany us, who laughed and joked around with the boys. We were not allowed free reign to much at the site however. Altogether I was pleased with our first visit, but I think it will be worth another visit maybe towards the end of summer or early fall.
Video of the expedition to the site to map geographical features:
This is a very nice booklet composed by the Mataha Expedition of 2008, with detailed information.
Additional links with historical information about the labyrinth. Please note I am still working on this information and I will update this story as I can.
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