Dec 11-16, Egypt: Short trip, LONG post by Cathy

Disclaimer: This is a really, really long post. If I could insert “Continue Reading” more than once, there would be like 15. I love ancient Egyptian history, so a lot of this is for me, so I don’t forget. Please feel free to skim or just look at the pictures. 

In 1979, Mom took me to see the King Tut Exhibit at the De Young Museum and I, like so many who were lucky enough to see it, was bewitched.

Naturally, I was King Tut for Halloween that year, which involved a lot of gold makeup and a difficult-to-keep-on beard as I recall. Although my King Tut poster eventually came down from my closet door (replaced by Andy Gibb I think), seeing the pyramids and the land of the pharaohs remained. At some point (late 30s, 40s?), things that we called “dreams” become items on the “bucket list,” and the Great Pyramid was at the top of mine.

My dorky, 10-year-old self would never believe that three decades in the future, I would be traveling the world with my husband and 13-year-old son (whose #1 travel destination was Egypt). Jeff was very concerned about the safety of travel in Egypt, especially when a doctor in Galway, where Jeff was getting the second round of his Hep B immunization, told us in no unclear terms not to go. Stubbornly, I continued to cite Paris, London, and Nice, all of whom had recently fallen victim to terrorist activity, and all of whom we didn’t think twice about visiting. A recent terror attack means increased security was my thinking. It didn’t help when militants killed over 300 people in a Sufi mosque on the Sinai Peninsula in late November, but I persisted in my effort to get Egypt on the itinerary.

With much time spent on TripAdvisor and other travel sites, I found Jana tours, run by Mr. Mohamed Abaza. Mohamed’s reviews were outstanding and his experience and background (Egyptologist and archeologist) made him an easy choice. He immediately assuaged our fears about safety and put together a thorough trip that was within our budget. Also, all of Mohamed’s correspondence with me began with “Dear Miss Cathy,” which I loved.

When we stepped off the plane in Cairo on Monday, December 11^th we were immediately met by Osama, one of Jana’s representatives. A personable, well-dressed, good-looking young guy, Osama expedited our customs process and had us out of the airport in about 15 minutes. We walked with him a short way to Jana’s van and met our driver for the trip, Magd.

I kid you not, the drive from the airport to our hotel in Giza on the Ring Road (freeway) was the only time I felt anything close to fear on this trip. The experience is impossible to convey in words, but consider this: the greater Cairo area has about 20 million people and only one main freeway, and as Osama said, the lines on the road are only “for decoration” – meaning that what should be a 4-lane road is used as six or seven. There are cars, white passenger vans, motorcycles, tuk-tuks, large commercial trucks, smaller trucks loaded sky-high with things like mattresses, produce, and camels (yes); and periodically pedestrians will weave across the lanes as there are no over- or underpasses. On the sides of the road (freeway!) you might see a makeshift barbecue with a few cars haphazardly parked and people waiting for some food. And all the while, there’s this constant cacophony of horn-honking. I believe chaos (a word that stems from ancient Egyptian mythology) would be an apt descriptor for this very wild ride. Kudos and thanks to Magd for transporting us safely around Egypt for the length of our stay. When we asked Osama about car insurance, for obvious reasons, he explained that very few people have it – it’s expensive, not required, and most people have used cars. When two people get into an accident, they just work it out and apparently (confirmed by our other guides), it’s not an issue. The offending party most often agrees to pay for the damage or, if the damage isn’t great, the offender will simply be forgiven. Just trying to explain our elaborate system of insurance and litigation reinforced its absurdity.

Osama checked us into our very nice hotel, Le Meridien Pyramids, and gave us some information about the next day’s plans. At some point, Jeff asked a question about the “sarcropolis,” a new Jeff-ism that Mick and I have had much fun repeating. Osama said goodnight and we were escorted to our room by a very entertaining hotel representative. It was dark outside when we got to our room, but when we drew back the curtains and looked out, there they were… the Pyramids of Giza (two of them visible). For real. More accurately, SURREAL.

On Tuesday morning, I awoke and immediately went to the window. Yep, even through still-blurry eyes and a mixture of fog and smog, they were there. The pyramids. Whoa. Something I’ve dreamed – we’ve all dreamed – of seeing, right there. Out the hotel window. The unexpected sight (and sound) was that of cars, rooftops, pedestrians, donkey-carts, and motorcycles dominating the foreground. Somehow I’d imagined the pyramids as being somewhat more remote. But as in ancient times, nothing is far from the River Nile.

After breakfast, we were picked up by Magd and our guide, Yassir (“Like, ‘Yes, sir,’” he said). Right away we liked Yassir’s style and could tell we were going to learn a lot! Throughout the day he jokingly addressed us as “habibi” (sort of like Arabic “sweetie”)” a word that makes me smile each time I say or hear it. While nothing can compare to the previous night’s drive from the airport to our hotel, today’s drive was eye-opening for different reasons. As we were listening to Yassir explain Egyptian dynasties on the way to Saqqara and what we would soon be seeing, we were distracted by what we were seeing out the window – endless heaps of garbage in the streets, along the canals, and in the canals.

Some of the garbage was being burned, and in the remains a of smoldering pile, were several grimy egrets and emaciated, mangy street dogs, obviously new mothers, all competing for something to eat. And all along the roads, fresh produce for sale. A weird contrast.

Yassir explained that waste management is a huge issue for Cairo, a city that now produces 19,000 tons of solid waste each day. They don’t have the kind of public system we’re familiar with and only the affluent can afford the services of a private company. As a result, a large percentage of the city’s garbage gets dumped into the streets and/or canals. Many people burn their trash, sift through it, and try to sell anything of value. There are some new initiatives, including one where the government buys trash from people (who really need it), so hopefully the situation will improve.

The Zabbaleen
Until recently, a group of people called Zabbaleen or “garbage people” played an integral part in Cairo’s waste management.  As far as I can tell, they did what our garbage collectors do, albeit in a much more primitive way. They picked up garbage from people’s homes, loaded it into their donkey-carts, and transported it to their homes. There are about 70,000 Zabbaleen living in the greater Cairo area, and their largest settlement, Manshiyat Nasser, is nicknamed “Garbage City.” The Zabbaleen created new products from recyclable materials, to use or sell, and organic material was consumed by pigs, which were sold to restaurants serving non-Muslims. Apparently, this system was way more effective (80-90% recycled) than Western forms of waste management. In 2003, however, the government hired private, international companies to manage waste and in 2009, they ordered the mass slaughter of the Zabbaleen’s pigs due to a swine flu scare. These actions had a catastrophic effect on the Zabbaleen, but it sounds like the government may be working towards a mutually beneficial solution. I haven’t watched it yet, but I found a documentary about the Zabbaleen called Garbage Dreams that looks really interesting.

Our first official sightseeing stop was Saqqara, where we saw the very first pyramid, built in the 27^th century BC by King Djoser of the 3^rd dynasty. I’m embarrassed to say I’d never even heard of this one, but in some ways it’s more impressive than those at Giza.

King Djoser’s Step Pyramid
The earliest Egyptians were buried in pits cut into the bedrock and covered in stones. Over time, burial sites became more elaborate mud-brick and stone structures with rooms for people to enter and pay respect to the dead. These structures were called mastabas, from the Arabic word for “bench.” The pharaohs of the first two dynasties were buried in mastabas.

In the third dynasty, King Djoser (2667-2648 BC) and his prime minister, a brilliant man named Imhotep, began work on what would become the world’s first pyramid at Saqqara. After initially building an enormous stone mastaba, they added another smaller one on top. They continued until they had a six-step, 200-foot pyramid, which they encased with smooth white limestone. There were chapels and a courtyard for the king’s festivals built at the base and the whole complex was enclosed by a wall. Imhotep was a talented architect, physician, master sculptor, scribe, and astronomer, and his impact on Egyptian life and custom was profound. He was later deified as the god of wisdom and medicine.

Also at Saqqara is the tomb of Unas, which we reached by descending a low, narrow passageway.

The walls of the hallway we came to, running from left to right, as well as those in the antechamber and burial chamber, were completely covered in hieroglyphics. These writings are the earliest known example of the “Pyramid Texts,” religious texts meant to help free the pharaoh’s soul and get it safely to heaven. The Pyramid Texts are possibly the oldest religious texts in the world, which is pretty cool.

The ceilings still evidence yellow stars on a dark blue background, made to look like the night sky. The burial chamber itself had a black basalt sarcophagus situated at the end of the room, surrounded by alabaster walls with interesting bas relief carvings.

From Saqqara we went to Memphis (the original one), the capital of Egypt after King Menes united the Lower and Upper regions @ 3000 BC. Memphis was the home to Saqqara’s necropolis, the burial place of many Old Kingdom pharaohs, and the place of worship for the Memphis Triad (Ptah, the local god of creation; Sekhmet, his wife; and Nefertem, their son). Now Memphis is an outdoor museum, full of artifacts discovered all over the area. Probably the most striking of these artifacts is the limestone statue of King Ramesses II, laying supine in a covered building.

Even with the bottom part of his legs missing, the thing is massive. It’s also full of cartouches, which I asked Yassir to explain. Basically, a cartouche is the oval ring encircling the hieroglyphic name of a sovereign. Ramesses, his ego reporetedly as big as his statue, made sure that no one would mistake his statue for that of someone else (something modern-day archeologists no doubt appreciated).

In the courtyard we saw a statue of the Memphis Triad, another large statue of Ramesses II, and a really cool calcite sphinx, dating from 1700 to 1400 BC. There aren’t any cartouches or inscriptions to indicate who the sphinx was, but the facial features indicate it was likely Hatshepsut (more on her later) or Amenhotep II or III.

Our appetites whetted, we drove a short distance to the Pyramids of Giza. Hard to explain the feeling of standing at the foot of the Great Pyramid, the largest of the three. The age, the size, the history! Makes the stuff we saw in Greece and Rome seem modern! We stood at the base, marveled at the size of the blocks, looked up to the distant peak with wonder, and climbed up a ways to take some pictures of this dream-come-true for all of us.

THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

The Red Pyramid
The Pyramids of Giza were based on those of the fourth dynasty king, Sneferu (2686 – 2667 BC), which we didn’t see, but learned about. Sneferu attempted two pyramids before getting it right with the third. His first pyramid at Medum was a step pyramid modified to become a true pyramid, but instability forced construction to cease. His second pyramid at Dahshur, known as the “Bent Pyramid,” angles in about halfway up. It’s thought that this angle adjustment was made to alleviate stress when instability was discovered in the lower part of the pyramid. The third, and first successful true pyramid, was built about a mile away out of red limestone blocks and is known as the “Red Pyramid. This pyramid included some novel features – above-ground burial chambers, a mortuary temple, and a causeway leading down to a valley temple.

The Pyramids of Giza (Khufu, Khafre & Menkaura)

Sneferu’s son, Khufu (2575-2566 BC), used the Red Pyramid as the model for his pyramid, the first and largest built on a rocky plateau at Giza, on the west bank of the Nile. Khufu’s pyramid, and those of his son Khafre, and grandson Menkaura, was connected to his mortuary temple in the valley with a covered causeway and the mortuary temple was connected to the Nile by a canal.

Khufu’s pyramid, the “Great Pyramid,” was built over a 20-year period by 100,000 workers – not slaves – during the annual three-month period when the Nile’s flooding made work/farming impossible. These workers were amply supplied with clothing and food, for which the pharaoh was fondly remembered for centuries. The sides of the pyramid are oriented to the points of the compass. The length of each base is 755 feet and the original height was 481 feet (now 451 feet). It is composed of 2,300,000 limestone blocks, averaging 2.5 tons, and some weighing as much as 16 tons. Originally it was encased in smooth limestone, which disappeared over the centuries due to erosion and/or plunder for the purpose of building Cairo.

At 447.5 feet, the pyramid of Khufu’s son, Khafre, is shorter than his father’s, but can look taller because it’s built on higher ground. Some of the original limestone casing still remains at the top of this pyramid, so one can imagine how the smooth sides would have looked. Khafre also built the Great Sphinx (66 feet high by 240 feet long) as part of his pyramid complex. The body of the Sphinx represents the sun god, but the face of the Sphinx is that of Khafre.

Khufu’s grandson, Menkaura (2532-2503 BC), built the third pyramid at Giza. With an original height of 228 feet, it is less than half the height of his grandfather’s. The pyramid’s lower layers were constructed of red granite from Aswan and the upper layers were originally white limestone.

A short drive within the complex and we arrived the Sphinx, situated in front of Khafre’s pyramid. Most Egyptologists and archaeologists believe the Sphinx was built by Khafre, but apparently there are many mysteries still associated with it. Whoever built it and for whatever reason, it is the definition of awesome.

Awesome [aw-suh m]
adjective

1. causing or inducing awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear: an awesome sight.

From a distance, it looks out of proportion – the head a lot smaller than the body, but up close it’s less noticeable. Some restoration has been done, mainly to stabilize the base, but no nose jobs or any of that kind of “work.”

Also awesome, in the more informal, “Dude, that was totally awesome” way, was the rock star treatment we received from a group of teenage Muslim girls, obviously on a Giza field trip. Yassir had told us earlier in the day not to be surprised if young Egyptians asked us to pose for a picture with them – apparently we’re somewhat of a novelty – but that didn’t adequately prepare us for these ardent paparazzi. As we made our way to the Sphinx viewing area, first one, and then seemingly all the other girls at once, surrounded me, asked me my name, and then repeated it aloud, giggling, with varying degrees of accuracy! This was followed by photo requests and a long selfie session. Thinking this was hilarious, Jeff managed to take a few photos before the girls were reined in by their chaperone. A bit later, Mick got the spotlight – much more understandable given he’s a 13-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy. We heard girls yell, “Salam, Justin Bieber!” and a young boy called out, “Your face, is beautiful,” both comments leading to a blushed face that subsequently posed for pictures with his “fans.”

Happily exhausted from a glorious day of sightseeing and our photo shoot, we were happy to get back to our hotel, where Mick and Jeff enjoyed the pool and I enjoyed my book.

Wednesday morning we met Osama in the lobby at 4:30 am and headed to the airport, this time a much quieter ride via city streets. The airport was unexpectedly crowded with several bus tour groups, which made the three thorough security checks take longer than usual, but our flight to Luxor was easy. We were picked up at the airport by Imad, whose sense of humor we liked immediately. He told Mick that he should stay in Egypt and marry his 5-year-old daughter, Julia, which all of us laughed about, except Mick.

At a hotel close to the airport, we picked up our guide for the day, Heba, and parted with Imad until later in the day. Heba is a beautiful, incredibly smart Egyptian woman who speaks near perfect English and taught us a LOT in our short time with her. We crossed to the West Bank of the Nile over the Luxor Bridge, built in 1998. Until that time, it was necessary to take a small ferry across the river as the other bridges were not close by. The West Bank is where the Pharaohs built their funerary temples and tombs, whereas the East Bank is where they lived and had their palaces. The first place we stopped was at the Colossi of Memnon, massive statues of Amenhotep III (see how Memnon got the credit below) standing guard at the entrance to his funerary complex.

THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON

The first monument we came to, the Colossi of Memnon, stand guard at the entrance to the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, at the time, the largest funerary complex in Thebes, now mainly rubble. The statues of Amenhotep III, are indeed colossal – each 60 feet high, 720 tons, and carved from single sandstone blocks. The statue on the right has cracks that make it look as if it were made partially of blocks, but apparently these cracks were the result of an earthquake in 27 BC and normal wear-and-tear. Why the name, Colossi of Memnon? After Alexander conquered Egypt in 332 BC, Greek and Roman tourists started visiting Egypt. These tourists started to associate the giant statues with Memnon, the Greek hero from Homer’s Iliad. As Homer’s story goes, after Memnon is killed by Achilles at Troy, Eos, his mother and the goddess of dawn, sheds tears (dew drops) for him every morning. At some point in history, the statue with the earthquake damage started making sounds, sometimes at dawn, which the Greeks said was Eos, mourning for her son. The singing statue was understandably quite a tourist attraction … until it stopped singing. Today it’s generally accepted that the sound was an effect of heat and humidity on one of the cracked stones. In the first or second century, the Roman emperor Septimus Severus repaired the damage caused by the earthquake and the sound stopped. Maybe Eos cried herself out. Regardless, if Amenhotep III made it safely to the afterworld, he is NOT happy.

Leaving the Colossi, we drove along the banks of the Nile, which is dotted with colorful, simple huts and bougainvillea – fuchsia, yellow and white – grows wild. There are fields of sugar cane, a primary Egyptian crop, as well as maize, grains, and date palms.

 

Heading west, the green of the riverside areas quickly turns to desert with rough, dry mountains in the background. In the steep sides of these mountains, we noticed what looked like caves, but are actually the burial places for the ruling family’s BFFs and VIPs.

Queen Hapshetsut’s Mortuary Temple or Djeser-Djeseru (Holy of Holies”) was our first stop, at the base of one of the mountain cliffs, and it is dazzling.

The temple is based on (and built right next to) that of Mentuhotep II, a Middle Kingdom pharaoh who was the first to incorporate his tomb into his temple and locate it across the river from Thebes (present day Luxor). Unfortunately, Mentuhotep II’s temple was destroyed when part of the cliff above broke off and fell below. Hatshepsut’s Temple has three colonnaded levels and was once surrounded by gardens. Many walls evidence well-preserved paintings and hieroglyphics, some of which describe a journey Hatshepsut took to the land of “Punt,” thought to be present-day Somalia.

QUEEN HATSHEPSUT

The story of Queen Hatshepsut reads like a soap opera script. Born @1508 BC to King Thutmose I and his primary wife, Ahmose, her father died when she was 12, she married her brother-from-another-mother, Thutmose II and acted as queen. When Thutmose died, Hatshepsut was a 30-year-old widow, who then became the queen regent for her infant son-from-another-mother, Thutmose III. After several years, probably because her job duties as regent were actually those of pharaoh, she assumed the title for herself. At this point, she decided to be portrayed as a male pharaoh in statues or paintings, perhaps to boost her legitimacy or perhaps because there was no precedent for portraying a woman pharaoh. During her 30-year reign, ending with her death, Egypt enjoyed economic prosperity. Probably her greatest accomplishments, other than the reign itself, were the temple at Deir el-Bahri and her successful expedition to Punt (Somalia). Thutmose III was too young to suspect any foul play when his stepmother took the role of pharaoh, but when he grew up and learned what had happened, he was not happy. During his reign, Thutmose III managed to chisel away almost all evidence of his stepmother’s reign, out of spite and/or to ensure his son’s legitimacy to rule would not be questioned.

The Valley of the Kings is located behind the mountains into which Hatshepsut built her temple. It was thought that the valley’s hard-to-find location would deter thieves, but unfortunately that security system was not enough. The tomb of Tutankhamun remains the only tomb discovered intact.

 

That said,  the tombs are treasures in and of themselves. We were able to visit the tombs of Tutankhamun (18^th dynasty), Merenptah (19^th dynasty), Ramesses III (20^th dynasty), and Ramesses IV (20^th dynasty).

All differed in style, design and décor, but all were amazing. Tutankhamun’s tomb was small and the least impressive. Probably the thing that sticks with us the most is the actual mummy of Tutankhamun that resides in the antechamber, at the bottom of a short entryway. The artifacts are amazing, yes, but the body … the body is blunt reminder that this now-famous King was also a teenage boy, one that likely died from complications of malaria and a leg injury.

The burial chamber holds one of the original gold-painted wood coffins that Tut’s mummy was placed in, but it doesn’t look like it would hold the amount of artifacts found in 1922.

Apparently a larger tomb was intended for Tutankhamun, but due to his unexpected early death a smaller one was used instead. The mummification process takes 70 days, so that’s the amount of time available for Tut’s tomb to be prepared and stocked for his trip to the afterlife. This expedited timeframe could explain the haphazard way Tutankhamun’s treasures appeared when discovered. I can only imagine the treasures that must have filled the other, larger tombs, before they were looted. When I was reminded that King Tut’s tomb was discovered by a crewmember excavating the tomb next to it, I couldn’t help think what great discoveries may still be in our future.

KING TUTANKHAMUN

Tutankhamun’s lineage is a mess of inbreeding. Akhenaten was likely his father, but he could have been his half-brother. Queen Nefertiti, who I thought was King Tut’s mother, was actually his stepmother. His biological mother was one of his father’s secondary wives. Further complicating things, Tut married his half-sister, the daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten, making Nefertiti both his step-mother and mother-in-law (I hope he liked her).

Tutankhamun became king in 1333 BC at only 9 years of age. He married his half-sister, Ankhesenun, who delivered two stillborn daughters over the course of their marriage. After his death with no heirs, one of Tut’s advisors, Ny, took over, but he only lasted for four years. Next up was a military general named Horemheb. Because he did not have heirs of his own, Horemheb adopted an army friend as his heir. This man was Ramesses, the first ruler of the 19^th dynasty and the grandfather to Ramesses II, who ruled for 67 years and had more than 100 children with multiple wives.

King Tut’s reign was not know as being very consequential, but there are a couple of things worth noting. Akhenaten and Nefertiti tried to switch Egypt from its traditional polytheism to something like monotheism, with the sun god, Aten at its center. He went so far as to build a new city for Aten’s worship, now called Amarna. This did not go over well. Tutankhamun brought back the old form of worship, transferred government back to Thebes, and brought stability.

On the drive back towards the temples of Karnak and Luxor in what used to be called Thebes, we asked Heba many questions about Egypt’s economy, its politics, quality of life, and how the uprising of 2011 affected those things. While reluctant to give her specific views, for professional reasons I think, she did say that what she wants, what all Egyptian people want, is the opportunity to live a good life. To be able to work and to provide for family. Further, she said she didn’t see social or economic prosperity as a reality for her lifetime, but hoped it would be for the next generation. A very humbling conversation, indeed.

The Temple of Karnak was our next stop and I think it was the biggest surprise for all of us. We thought we’d seen the biggest and the best, and certainly the most well-known, but this place is mind-blowing. The size – 200 acres or 150 football fields – is monumental. The age – over 4000 years old – staggering. What started out as sacred ground around 2000 BC became the building site for a temple and then, as each subsequent pharaoh built temples, it became a massive temple complex dedicated to Amun (the king of the gods) aka Amun-Re (the king of the gods merged with the sun god), Mut (the mother goddess), and their son, Khonsu (moon god), collectively called the Theban Triad.

 

KARNAK TEMPLE: The Precinct of Amun-Re

There are four main temple enclosures or “precincts” in the temple complex. The Precinct of Amun-Re is the only one open to the public at the moment, but at 61 acres, there’s a lot to see. After strolling down a walkway lined with rams-head sphinxes, you come upon the first pylon (giant gate). Through the gate there is an open courtyard with three rooms on the left that served as shrines for the processional boats of Amun-Re, Mut, and Khonsu.

Through a second gate lies the Hypostyle Hall, with 54,000 square feet and 134 massive (some 30 x 80’) columns.

Outside the hall, there are several smaller temples and a sacred lake (423 by 252 feet). Surrounding the lake were living quarters for the priests, storerooms, and an aviary for aquatic birds. Temple priests had a pretty good life, as did other priests and priestesses, with some very interesting job duties, such as preparing daily food and wine for the statue of the temple’s god, and perks, such as eating that food and wine because, duh, the statue can’t. Only high priests could go into the funerary temple. These priests had to go inside and say prayers for the pharaoh every single day before and after death. Their payment for this service was land (and its profits) adjacent to the temple.

The priests were also very busy during the Opet Festival, an annual festival celebrating the Theban Triad. Egyptians believed that towards the end of the annual agricultural cycle the gods and the earth were tired and needed some fresh energy from the cosmos (how thoughtful). Priests bathed Amun-Re, Mut, and Khonsu in holy water, dressed them in fine linen and adorned them with gold and silver jewelry for a ritual procession – first by litter, then by barge – to the temple of Luxor (remember, these are statues). The statues were publicly received in Luxor before spending 24 days inside the temple while the city celebrated. After 24 days, the statues returned to Karnak for a second public appearance, which closed the festival.

The sun was gradually making its way down when we arrived at Luxor. The temple complex at Luxor dates back to Amenhotep III, but building continued over the centuries. Alexander the Great did some building or rebuilding in his time. In Roman times, the complex was made into a fortress, and when Christianity was adopted by the Empire, churches were built inside. Much later, in the 13th century, a mosque was built over the top of one of these churches. Like Karnak, the temple played a big part in the Opet festival and as a place of worship for the Theban Triad.

After Luxor, we headed into town to the train station (unfortunately not picking up anything to eat). Imad was there waiting for us and we said our goodbyes to Heba (Mick and I got hugs and kisses, whereas Jeff only got a handshake – per Muslim custom).

We were about 40 minutes early for our 6:25 train, which didn’t end up coming until 7:40, but Imad helped us pass the time by joking with Mick about marrying his daughter, watching Mick solve the Rubik’s cube, and teaching us some new Arabic phrases:

• Ana atakalam English – I only speak English
• Ana la atakalam Arabic – i do not speak Arabic
• Meshi, meshi – OK
• No shukraan – No thank you.
• Hesch – Scat! Go away! (Use with caution!)

We watched several trains come and go from the bench where we waited, some of which I could not believe were actually operational.

With no food available in the station or on the train, dinner was a surprisingly satisfying 2-day old peanut butter & jelly.

The train we were on was newer and quite comfortable for our 3-hour journey. We arrived in Aswan at 11 pm and were picked up by another smiling Jana representative who took us to the Basma (Arabic for smile) Hotel and got us checked in.

When he said he’d pick us up in the hotel lobby at 4:30 the next morning, we thought he was kidding. But he wasn’t. Abu Simbel, as it turns out, is a 3-hour drive to the south, and if we wanted to get back to Aswan in time to see the Temple Philae, we’d need to leave by 5:00 latest. Exhausted, we arrived in our room to find two twin beds. Uh oh. Within an hour we were happily in another room, showered, and asleep.

Thursday morning, at the agreed upon time, we met our day’s tour guide, Hussein, in the lobby, picked up our “breakfast boxes” and drove 3 hours to Abu Simbel, sleeping some along the way. Luckily, Jeff and I were both awake to see the sunrise over the seemingly endless desert that makes up the majority of Egypt.

Only 6% of the land of Egypt is occupied – the banks and the delta of the Nile. The rest is uninhabitable. One way the government is trying to change that is by building a canal from the river, between the high and low dams, extending 200 meters out into the desert. Hussein pointed out a housing complex (like a mini-city really) built by the government near the canal. To encourage settlement outside of the city, the government is offering people 50 acres of land and a home in the complex provided that they agree to cultivate the land, using the water from the canal. Unfortunately, only 50 meters was completed before the project stopped due to lack of funds.

The first impression on seeing each new Egyptian monument has been, “Whoa, how did they build that?” and Abu Simbel was no exception.

When we learned that the temples we saw in front of us were once about 650 feet closer to Lake Nasser, we said, “Whoa, how did they RE-build this?” Let me back up. In the 1960s, Egypt built a dam, the Aswan High Dam, which formed Lake Nasser. This allowed for better control of the Nile’s water, water storage, and hydroelectric power. The problem was that places like the Abu Simbel temples would eventually be under water.

Several options were discussed, but ultimately the decision was made to disassemble the temples and reassemble them exactly as they were, only on higher ground. UNESCO agreed to finance the project and from 1964 to 1968, the temples were cut into 20-ton blocks, numbered, moved to the new site, and reassembled. Importantly, Ramesses’ temple remains oriented in such a way that on February 22 and October 22 (one day later than in its prior location), sunlight enters the temple and illuminates the statues of Ra-Harakthi, Amun and Ramesses (but not that of Ptah).

ABU SIMBEL TEMPLES
The Temples of Abu Simbel are located in the land once called Nubia, an area of southern Egypt (near what is now the Sudanese border) that at times was independent. In an effort to secure his reign in this area and therefore the stability of a united Egypt, Ramesses II built two impressive temples in the 13^th century BC. The larger of the two temples is dedicated to Ra-Harakhti, Amun, Ptah, and a deified version of Ramesses himself. The Great Temple is 98 feet high and 115 feet wide with four, 65-foot statues of Ramesses wearing the double crown of upper and lower Egypt, two on each side of the entrance. Underneath are statues of those defeated by Ramesses – the Nubians, Libyans, and Hittites. Inside the temple, in the first hall, there are eight enormous pillars and many side chambers. There are reliefs inside depicting battles waged by Ramesses. In the second hall, there are four pillars and depictions of Ramesses and Nefertari with the gods Amun and Ra-Harakhti. At the back of the temple are the statues of Ra-Harakhti, Amun Ra, Ptah, and the deified Ramesses.

The smaller temple, about 300 feet northeast of Ramesses II’s temple, was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari. The statues at the entrance are of the king and his queen and are approximately the same size, something unusual at that time. The layout of this temple is similar to that of the larger temple, only smaller. There are six pillars in the first hall, the tops of which represent the face of the goddess Hathor. Bas-reliefs of the deified king, his military conquests in the north and south, and Nefertari making offerings to Hathor decorate the walls. In the next hall are more bas-reliefs of the king and queen giving papyrus to Hathor, depicted as a cow on a boat sailing in a thicket of papyri.

Three hours back to Aswan and we arrived at the dock where we would pick up our boat to the Temple of Philae.

We walked down to the marina on a ramp lined with souvenir-type stuff and came to a marina fleet of almost identical boats. Our captain was a shy, Nubian (dark skinned) boy Mick’s age, obviously working out of necessity.The weather was perfect and the short boat ride to the temple (on an island) was lovely.

TEMPLE OF ISIS AT PHILAE
The temple of Philae, begun by Ptolemy II and completed by Roman emperors, was dedicated to the goddess Isis. Isis was the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, all very important deities for ancient Egyptians. When Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth, Isis collected all the pieces and magically brought him back to life. Osiris becomes god of the underworld and judge of the dead and Isis gives birth to the god Horus. When Horus is grown, he defeats his uncle, Seth, in combat, avenging his father’s death. Like the temples of Aswan, Philae was moved, in its entirety – in this case from one island to another.

First inscription basically says that a French army commanded by Bonaparte landed in Alexandria and pursued the Mamluks 20 days as they fled as far as the pyramids and beyond the cataracts of the Nile. It then lists the military men involved and the date, 13 Ventose Year of 7 of the Republic or 3 March AD 1799. Inscribed by Castex Sculptor.

Second inscription is an example of the simple graffiti, like Treboux was here, 1823, that we saw. 

Third inscription is a list of the members of a science commission sent to Philae in 1798 and the calculations made by the astronomers Nouet and Méchain

We really like Philae – maybe because it was new to us or because it’s in a beautiful location, or because we were one of very few people on the island when we visited. Whatever the reason, we were happy we dragged our butts out of bed at 4:15 in order to get back to see them.

After seeing Philae, Hussein dropped us off at the sleepy Aswan airport for our trip back to Cairo. At Cairo, we were met again by Osama and we all told him how much we’d missed him, which he found very funny! The time of night made our drive to Giza quicker than when we first arrived and we were back at the Meridien Pyramids in time for a late dinner. In addition to the scheduled Friday night belly-dancer, there was also a wedding going on, both of which we found highly entertaining.

On Friday morning, we slept in until 8am, with time to enjoy the breakfast buffet in the lobby. At 9, we met up with Fatima, a beautiful, fun, and fiery young woman who kept us laughing all throughout the day. In the morning we spent time in Coptic (old town) Cairo. The Hanging Church is a Christian church built over the remains of a Roman fort and once offered sanctuary to Coptic Christians who were persecuted by the Romans. The inside is beautiful, with a nave shaped like Noah’s ark and beautiful wood and stone throughout.

We then saw the Ben Ezra Mosque, an important place in the history of Jews in Egypt. The mosque dates back to the 9^th century, but in the 19^th century a huge cache of documents was found in a storeroom of the mosque and is now referred to as the Cairo Geniza.

Lastly, we visited the Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church or Abu Serga. It’s a lovely, old church with brick walls and big stone columns supporting a wooden nave. The coolest thing about this church, though, is the fact that inside, down a flight of stairs is a small room where Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived for a time. Really.

Last on the itinerary was the Egyptian Museum. The building itself is old, but lovely, and not as intimidating as the enormous new museum that’s under construction will undoubtedly be. Even with many artifacts en route to or in storage for relocation to the new museum, there is too much to see in one day. Fatima showed us the highlights, including a copy of the original Rosetta Stone, culminating with a collection of King Tutankhamen’s treasures.

We liked the guy below because 1) his body looked like a real Egyptian guy probably looked (notice the not-so-flat-abs); and 2) because his glass eyes were creepily real.

Thirty years after seeing them the first time and they’re even more breathtaking, each one extraordinary. What I don’t remember seeing in the de Young exhibit in 1979 was the series of gold boxes that Tut was buried in. It’s like he was inside two sets of Russian nesting dolls – one set in the shape of his body inside a second set of rectangular boxes, the largest of which is like the size of our storage unit in Benicia!!! I also enjoyed looking at the various segments of the Book of the Dead, beautifully written on papyrus.

Light-hearted: The ancient Egyptians believed that to enter your afterlife, your heart had to be light, which you achieved by being a good person in life. After you died, on your way to your afterlife, you had to travel through the Hall of Maat where the god Anubis weighed your heart and the god Thoth recorded the findings. If your heart was as a light as a feather, you passed Maat’s test and entered your afterlife. But, if your heart was heavy, Ammut the (crococile-headed god) would eat you.

There is a cool story to this one of Ankhesenamun giving Tutankhamun two different bunches of lotus flowers.  I can’t remember what each meant, but it was evidence that they were marrying for love. 

Exiting the museum, we took a couple of pictures with Fatima and then walked over to take a couple of pictures of the now famous (infamous?) Tahrir Square.

Afterwards, Jeff asked Fatima her opinion of the uprising of 2011 and her thoughts on the current state of Egypt (we like to do this). Clearly passionate about this subject, Fatima explained how she’d been a part of the movement, how hopeful she and her fellow “revolutionaries” were, and how nothing they wanted to achieve has been accomplished. She said everyone is now too afraid to speak out against the government and while hopeful for change, like Heba, she doesn’t see it happening in the immediate future.

Some thoughts on politics: Egypt’s history of Egypt’s  government, like Egypt itself, is long and turbulent. Even the last 60 years have brought much change. In 1952, Nasser (military) overthrew King Farouk and instituted many changes. He was liked by the people until he wasn’t. When he died, Anwar Sadat (also military) took over and instituted many changes (peace negotiations with Israel, political, social, and economic reforms). He too was liked and not liked, and in 1981 he was assassinated by Muslim extremists. Hosni Mubarak took over in 1981 and, over the course of 30 years, he suffered the same loss of support, culminating in the 2011 uprising. Initially the people who participated in the uprising, predominantly youth, were encouraged, but now, no. From our limited discussions on the subject, it sounds like things are worse than prior to the revolution. I think a comparison could be made to pre- and post-invasion Iraq as many Iraqis feel life was actually better under Saddam Hussein than it is now. And BTW, this movement of our embassy to Jerusalem is not popular in this neck of the woods.

After arriving back at the hotel and saying goodbye to our new friend, Fatima, we savored some downtime. We were all very happy to get a call from Mohamed to say he was coming over to meet us. He’d called us several times on the trip to make sure everything was going OK, but we kept telling him our trip would not be complete until we met him. And it’s true. Not only is Mohamed great at his job, and obviously passionate about Egypt and its treasures, he’s a really, really nice, friendly guy, who we enjoyed getting to know, albeit briefly.

As soon as I finish this interminable entry, I will proudly add our recommendation to all the others for Jana Tours on TripAdvisor! After Mohamed left, another, perhaps even larger wedding party had assembled in the lobby, so we splurged on room service and went to bed feeling full and happy.

In the morning, we drove to the airport with Magd and Osama and once again Osama worked his magic, expediting us through the check-in process. We took a few pictures, exchanged hugs, and told him we’d be back again, inshallah!

INTERESTING FACTS (#’s are approximate)

Egypt’s population: 97,000,000
Population of greater Cairo: 20,000,000
By 2020 Egypt’s population is expected to grow by 20%
About 98% of the country’s population live along the banks of the Nile and  on Nile Delta
90% of Egypt is desert
75% of Egyptians are under the age of 25 and just 3% are over the age of 65
Average monthly income: $500
Unemployment rate: 12%

COOL SYMBOLS

The ankh (My favorite)
“The ankh is a cross with a looped top which, besides the concept of life, also symbolized eternal life, the morning sun, the male and female principles, the heavens and the earth. Its form embodied these concepts in its key-like shape; in carrying the ankh, one was holding the key to the secrets of existence. The union of opposites (male and female, earth and heaven) and the extension of earthly life to eternal, time to eternity, were all represented in the form of the looped cross. The symbol was so potent, and so long-lived in Egyptian culture (dating from the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt, c. 3150-c. 2613 BCE), that it is no surprise it was appropriated by the Christian faith in the 4th century CE as a symbol for their god.” Source

The scarab (Mick’s favorite)
“In ancient Egyptian religion, the sun god Ra is seen to roll across the sky each day, transforming bodies and souls. Beetles of the Scarabaeidae family (dung beetle) roll dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs; this way, the larvae hatch and are immediately surrounded by food. For these reasons the scarab was seen as a symbol of this heavenly cycle and of the idea of rebirth or regeneration. The Egyptian god Khepri, Ra as the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab beetle or as a scarab beetle-headed man. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it, again, the next day.” Source

Dynasties, Kingdoms, and Periods of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian history is divided periods of prosperity called “kingdoms”: Old, Middle, New, and Late

These prosperous eras are separated by periods of central government instability called “intermediate periods”: First, Second, and Third.

In the predynastic period, around 3400 B.C., there were two separate kingdoms – the Red Land or Lower Egypt to the north, and the White Land or Upper Egypt in the south.

Time Period	Dates	Dynasties	Powerful Rulers
Predynastic Period	5500-3100		Scorpion
Early Dynastic Period	3100-2700 BC	1-3	Menes/Narmer (first king), Djoser
Old Kingdom	2600-2160 BC	4-8	Cheops, Chephren, Mycerinus, Pepy I, Pepy II
First Intermediate Period	2160-2040 BC	9-11
Middle Kingdom	2040-1700 BC	11-13	Amenemmes I – III
Second Intermediate Period	1700-1570 BC	14-17
New Kingdom	1570-1070 BC	18-20	Amosis I, Amenophis I – III, Tuthmosis I – IV, Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Ramesses II – III
Third Intermediate Period	1070- 600 BC	21-25	Nubian rulers until their expulsion
Late Period	600 – 332 BC	26-30
Greco-Roman Period (end of Ancient Egypt)	332 BC – 395 AD		Alexander the Great, Ptolemy, Cleopatra, Octavius

VIP EGYPTIAN GODS & GODDESSES

• Amun– A creator god, patron deity of the city of Thebes, and the preeminent deity in Egypt during the New Kingdom
• Anubis– god of embalming and protector of the dead
• Aten– Sun disk deity who became the focus of the monotheistic Atenist belief system in the reign of Akhenaten
• Bes– Apotropaic god, represented as a dwarf, particularly important in protecting children and women in childbirth
• Ennead– An extended family of nine deities produced by Atum during the creation of the world. The Ennead usually consisted of Atum, his children Shu and Tefnut, their children Geb and Nut, and their children Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys
• Geb– An earth god and member of the Ennead
• Hapi– Personification of the Nile flood
• Hathor– One of the most important goddesses, linked with the sky, the sun, sexuality and motherhood, music and dance, foreign lands and goods, and the afterlife. One of many forms of the Eye of Ra
• Horus– A major god, usually shown as a falcon or as a human child, linked with the sky, the sun, kingship, protection, and healing. Often said to be the son of Osiris and Isis
• Imhotep– Architect and vizier to Djoser, eventually deified as a healer god
• Isis– Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, linked with funerary rites, motherhood, protection, and magic. She became a major deity in Greek and Roman religion
• Kek– The God of Chaos and Darkness, as well as being the concept of primordial darkness. Kek’s female form is known as Kauket
• Khepri– A solar creator god, often treated as the morning form of Ra and represented by a scarab beetle
• Khonsu– A moon god, son of Amun and Mut
• Maat– goddess who personified truth, justice, and order
• Mut– Consort of Amun, worshipped at Thebes
• Nefertum– god of the lotus blossom from which the sun god rose at the beginning of time. Son of Ptah and Sekhmet
• Nephthys– A member of the Ennead, the consort of Set, who mourned Osiris alongside Isis
• Nut– A sky goddess, a member of the Ennead
• Osiris– god of death and resurrection who rules the underworld and enlivens vegetation, the sun god, and deceased souls
• Ptah– A creator deity and god of craftsmen, the patron god of Memphis
• Ra– the foremost Egyptian sun god, involved in creation and the afterlife. Mythological ruler of the gods, father of every Egyptian king, and the patron god of Heliopolis
• Sekhmet– A lioness goddess, both destructive and violent and capable of warding off disease. The consort of Ptah and one of many forms of the Eye of Ra
• Set– An ambivalent god, characterized by violence, chaos, and strength, connected with the desert. Mythological murderer of Osiris and enemy of Horus, but also a supporter of the king
• Shu– embodiment of wind or air, a member of the Ennead
• Tefnut– Goddess of moisture and a member of the Ennead
• Thoth– A moon god, and a god of writing and scribes, and patron deity of Hermopolis.