Photo : MusikAnimal — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Giza · Giza Plateau
Giza Sound and Light Show
Floodlit pyramids and the voice of the Sphinx: a production from another era, under a desert night.
The show runs in the evening facing the Sphinx, from open-air tiered seating: floodlights on the three pyramids, recorded music, and a commentary spoken in the voice of the Sphinx, telling the story of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. The staging is dated — slow pacing, plain effects, solemn script — and it is better to know that before buying. What holds up is the place: the black plateau, stone lit from below, the silence between two lines, and the cold rising off the sand. Several showings an evening, each in a different language.
The extra bit
From the rooftops of the cafés at Nazlet el-Semman, opposite the Sphinx entrance, you can see and hear the show for the price of a tea: the local answer to the ticket, watched from the side rather than head on.
Know before you go
A morning ticket will not get you in at night. The show has its own gate and its own ticket, away from the daytime plateau barrier. Showings are split by language and the order changes from day to day; the board at the show's ticket office is the only place that keeps it current — no guidebook can give it to you in advance. Ask the day before, or you will sit through an hour of Spanish. On winter evenings it turns properly cold once you are seated, so bring something warm.
