Item 01: Eric Susman war diary, 1 January 1915-4 April 1916 - Page 83
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[Page 83]
Sunday 28 February 1915
After lunching in Cairo, a friend and myself paid our first visit to Mena and the Pyramids. After a most enjoyable eight-mile drive, for the most part along an avenue shaded by rows of "Labakk" (shade) trees, we arrived at Mena House, now a military hospital of considerable size. After a short inspection of the neighbourhood, we hired camels and rode around these wonderful structures of the ancient world – the famous Pyramids, those grand, solemn, historic edifices, the temples and the tombs of that wonderful Pharonic dynasty. Being pressed for time, I did not have the pleasure either of inspecting the interior or of climbing to the top, thus missing, I am told, one of the finest views of Cairo and the Nile that can be obtained.
With the Sphinx, I was very disappointed. All the pictures and postcards that one sees of this great piece of work are taken in such a way as to grossly exaggerate the size of the figure. But in reality it is quite a small affair. A lions body with the head of one of the ancient kings, this sacred sculpture is, to the people, the emblem of Wisdom, Force, Power, Energy, Watchfulness, and, as the English will have it, the symbol of loyalty to Britain.