Burj Dubai--A Masterpiece

Burj Khalifa has been designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that would include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such asThe Address Downtown Dubai, 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12-hectare (30-acre) man-made Burj Khalifa Lake.

The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. According to the structural engineer, Bill Baker of SOM, the building's design incorporates cultural and historical elements particular to the region. The Y-shaped plan is ideal for residential and hotel usage, with the wings allowing maximum outward views and inward natural light

In the tradition of gala celebrations marked around iconic structures such as the Sydney Opera House, Paris Eiffel Tower and at New York Times Square, Dubai will host the Burj Khalifa New Year’s Eve Gala.

“The Burj Khalifa New Year’s Eve gala is our tribute to the celebratory spirit of Dubai, home to over 200 nationalities, and a truly global city. The celebrations will put the international spotlight on the city, and drive the destination as the must-visit place for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Also marking the first anniversary of Burj Khalifa, which soars high at 828 metres (2,716.5 ft), the New Year’s Eve Gala has a mystique theme that encompasses the entire Downtown Dubai community, the 500-acre mega development by Emaar.

The main highlight of the celebrations will be a colourful countdown followed by a laser-fireworks-lights spectacle. Flagging off the celebrations is a fire-water performance of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain overlooking Burj Khalifa.

The Dubai Fountain will sway to the rhythm of world music, with fire flames and water jets in harmonious flutter, creating a spellbinding effect on viewers. As the countdown for the New Year begins, the Downtown Dubai community will be enveloped with lights and lasers effects.

Large television panels will display the countdown, and the New Year will be ushered in with a dazzling fireworks-laser-lights display atop Burj Khalifa – marking it as the world’s highest fireworks celebration for the New Year.

Music, specially composed for the event, will add to the surreal ambience, offering spectators a never-before-experienced New Year’s Eve gala. 

The Burj Khalifa New Year’s Eve gala is open for the public, who can enjoy the celebrations from Burj Park, an island overlooking Burj Khalifa, and set on the Burj Lake. They can also view the sparkling extravaganza from the Waterfront Promenade lining the adjacent Dubai Mall.

The Great Pyramid Mystery-Sphinx

Among the marvels of Egypt perhaps the Great Sphinx of Giza is second to none. The mysterious colossus with the head of a man and the body of a lion is not at all uncommon in Egyptian architectural adornment, but the Great Sphinx placed before the Second Pyramid (the Pyramid of Khafre) fills the observer with wonder and awe by its gigantic and monumental proportions.The location of the Great Sphinx of Giza is on the Giza Plateau, bordering the Sahara Desert, on the west bank of the Nile River, near modern-day Cairo.The Great Sphinx is known to the Arabs as Abul-hol meaning the father of terror. The Greek word "sphinx" may have derived from the Egyptian shesep-ankh, which translates to 'living image'.
There are three types of the Egyptian sphinx:

• Androsphinx - The Androsphinx has the body of a lion and a head of a man
• Criosphinx - The Criosphinx has the body of a lion and a head of a ram
• Hieracosphinx - The Hieracosphinx has the body of a lion and a head of a hawk

Some of the facts are listed below:

• The sheer size of the Sphinx is colossal standing taller than a six-story building
• It is one of the largest single-stone statues in the world and carved out of limestone bedrock
• The Great Sphinx of Giza was considered by the ancients to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World
• The Sphinx is oriented due east facing the rising sun
• For centuries the sands buried the great ancient monument to the chin. The entirety of the Sphinx was finally dug out in 1925
• The paws and breast were restored by the Ptolemy's and the Caesars
• The Great Sphinx of Giza is 57 metres (260 feet) long, 6 m (20 ft) wide, and has a height of 20 m (65 ft)
• The paws are 50 feet long (15m)
• The head is 30 (10m) feet long and 14 feet (4m) wide
• The one-meter-wide nose on the face is missing
• A beard, symbol of the Pharaohs, used to hang from it’s chin, but it has long since fallen away
• It has a tail which wraps around the right hind paw. The paw has been restored in recent years
• There is a chapel located between the out-stretched feet of the sphinx which was uncovered in 1816
• A small temple is located behind the great monument which is formed of great blocks of red Syene granite
• The Great Sphinx of Giza is made from megaliths. A megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument either alone or with other stones without the use of mortar or cement. The megaliths used to build the Great monument of Giza are estimated to weigh 200 tons apiece, the smallest weighing 50 tons and built from megaliths fashioned from a single stone of rock
• The body of the monument has been subjected to considerable water damage.

When was the Great Sphinx of Giza built? Good question, but no one has the exact answer! The Great Sphinx of Giza is carved of rock, so it cannot be dated by the radio carbon technique. The only other method of dating the Sphinx would be by using old Egyptian texts that refer to its existence and construction. The problem is that there are no such texts, therefore, no definite facts are known. The great monument was definitely in existence in the time of Khufu (Cheops). Pharaoh Thutmose IV had a granite stele known as the Dream stele placed between the paws (A stele was a stone slab, decorated with text which served as a monument. But the sphinx probably dates back to the generations before the Pharaoh Menes who established the 1st Egyptian dynasty in the Early Dynastic Period. These people were called in the priestly chronicles "the Servants of Horus" and were the early people who settled in Egypt and who were Aryans during the Predynastic Period 5550 BC - 3050 BC.  However other scholars believe that the Great Sphinx of Giza was built during the period of the Old Kingdom of Egypt during the 3rd millennium BC. The Old Kingdom is often referred to as "the Age of the Pyramids" when the Great pyramids of Giza were built, in close proximity to the Great Sphinx.

The Riddle of the Sphinx:

There is some confusion regarding the legend of the Riddle of the Sphinx. The Riddle of the Sphinx refers to the legendary Greek creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman. The myth surrounding the Greek Riddle of the Sphinx is therefore attributed to Greek mythology. In this story the Sphinx of Thebes asked a riddle of all travellers who passed by. If the traveller failed to solve the riddle, then the Sphynx of Thebes would kill them. The riddle of the Thebes Sphinx is:

"What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?"

The answer to the riddle is:

"A man. He crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age."

The riddle refers to morning, noon, and night which are metaphors for the times in a man's life. The riddle was solved by Oedipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself.