If you’ve ever dreamt of stepping inside an Egyptian pyramid – or if you already have been to Egypt and want to re-live the experience – we can highly recommend Horizon of Khufu, a virtual reality experience nearing the end of its run in Sydney.
Awesome is an over-used word but frankly I can’t think of a better word to describe what it feels like to be standing with a headset on, knowing that you’re on a flat floor with plenty of headspace, yet feeling that you must tread carefully or crouch down to move from one chamber to another. It really does feel that real.
Khufu, or Cheops as he was known to the Greeks, was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty, around 2500 BCE. He commissioned the largest of the pyramids as his tomb; it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
While his mummified body has not been found, his granite sarcophagus remains in the Great Pyramid of Giza. It’s while you’re standing in this chamber during the VR experience, that the power goes out (figuratively of course) and a mysterious cat — an incarnation of Bastet, the goddess of the hearth — appears in a halo of light.
So ridiculously real is the whole thing that without hesitation we follow this talking cat into a magical realm that takes us into the heart of Egyptian culture. Even better than the real thing, the journey allows us to explore sites that are usually off-limits to the public, such as the Queen’s Chamber.
An effortless ascent of the pyramid provides a breathtaking 360-degree view, from where we can observe the Great Sphinx and the mastabas, the tombs of those who were close to the deceased pharaohs. The panoramic view allows us to observe Cairo and the Giza Plateau as it is today and as it was in the past, the modern view showing just how close Cairo’s urban sprawl has come to the ancient site.
A boat trip on the Nile takes us to a temple where we come face to face with an embalming ceremony before attending the funeral of Khufu himself.
Launched in Paris in June 2022 and currently showing in 19 locations around the world, including the United States, Canada, China and Korea, Horizon of Khufu has entertained more than a million visitors across the globe.
Meticulously researched by French company, Emissive, it was designed in collaboration with Egyptologist and Harvard University professor Peter Der Manuelian, an archaeologist and epigrapher specializing in the study of funerary architecture.
The team drew on verified architectural, scientific and historical data from Harvard University’s Giza Project to reconstruct the buildings and rituals that feature in the experience. (The Giza Project website, incidentally, is a fascinating resource for anyone who is into Egyptology.)
Trip of a lifetime
Cutting-edge technology developed by Excurio propels the visitor into another dimension that feels very ‘otherworldly’ – the VR experience might be just 45-minutes long but it feels like the trip of a lifetime.
Global live-entertainment platform, Fever, is running Horizon of Khufu in the Fever Pavilion at Sydney Olympic Park. It is open to visitors aged 8 years and over. Don’t dilly-dally in seeing it as it will end in the next few months, to be replaced by a VR experience taking us to medieval times.
Ticket information here.
With thanks to Fever for hosting Food Wine Travel for this very special experience.
