Alexandria
January 16, 2007
Today we went to Alexandria, I wasn't too excited at first because I didn't know too much about the background here. Once we arrived it was a great time! The place was a lot cleaner than Cairo and was very pretty. We started out day at the Alexandria National Museum, which was excellent. It was interesting to see the Egyptian and Greek cultures kind of blended together. There were some very nice pieces here, I definitely like the pictures and descriptions of the Step Pyramid before it was saved from the sand. The rescue was very interesting to read about. After browsing for a while, me and Rachel went out on the marble balcony and tried to tan like the "Sun Worshipers" we are. After the museum we went to the catacombs, this place was very cool to me. Here there was a spiral staircase down to the entrance to the first room, there was a "U" shaped table here where the family of the deceased would eat and make offerings, somewhat like the Day of the Dead in Mexico. The depictions here reflect a lot of the Egyptian culture but at the same time look very Greek. There was a blending of the Egyptian and Greek styles. It seemed like a labyrinth here because it was a never-ending maze, there were so many burial places. The only unfortunate thing is that the Greeks didn't know how to mummify the dead as good as the Egyptians, so all the bodies decomposed. Very cool site though, and yet again while running back up the spiral staircase I hummed the theme song to Rocky. It was hilarious this time because it echoed up to the top, even Rachel heard it and she was way ahead of me.
Exhibits at the Alexandria National Museum
Next we went to Pompey's Pillar, here was a granite scarab from the New Kingdom, a roman bath and the pillar was just awesome. It stands 26.8 Amr's, I mean meters, haah Chris again. The pillar is somehow connected to the library of Alexandria but it is not known why. No one knows yet what even happened to the library, only that it held around 700,000 papyrus and 130,000 books. The east part of the library might be here, but again there is no way to tell because there is no proof, but they do believe that is why there are niches in the wall. There is not much here but the niches and tunnels. We found a bone here, a human radius and I can't say I was expecting that! Next we headed towards the new library, but we stopped for ice cream on the way first. I will definitely miss that, it was so good! At first I couldn't understand why we were going to a modern library, but I know now, the place is amazing! The gallery they have inside; and the actual book from when Alexander the Great had scientists and egyptologists studying the temples and such here. The design of the building was cool too, windows were designed to be like eyes and had "eyelashes" to keep raindrops off of them. The blue and green windows help to heat up the place and protect the eyes from harmful UV rays. The pillars are lotus shaped and some are separated for a reason. If a fire starts, these columns will fall and enclose it, also there are holes or niches in the walls to represent where the papyrus would go in Ancient Egypt. Very high-tech and interesting!
The Pillar and the Libraries in Alexandria
Before going home to the hotel in Cairo, we stopped by the beach and Rachel and I wanted to at least put our feet in the Mediterranean and take some pictures. As we were goofing around and taking pictures we got hit by this huge wave and which soaked us from the waist down. Then Rachel got changed on the bus and neither of us noticed that everyone outside could see in because it was dark, oops! Good thing that Egyptian man waved at us frantically, and I thought he was just being polite! Oh well it was fun, and at least we can say we were in the Mediterranean Sea! We all fell asleep on the bus ride home, it's an early night. Goodnight!
Cairo
January 17, 2007
Today after breakfast, we started with the Al-Lahan Pyramid from the Middle Kingdom. It was cool to go to this site because it is not a big tourist attraction, hardly anybody goes there but because of this the rules were more lenient. This tomb was robbed in ancient times, the robbers would usually melt down the gold and re-use it for something else. The entrance was sadly in poor shape, so we couldn't go inside but we explored around it. The first thing Amr showed us was a major shaft that we couldn't even see to the bottom to! We then went around to the back where there was still a mud brick wall left! This is pretty amazing considering the mud brick wasn't fired, it was sun dried thousands of years ago and still exists! Amr said it was in worse shape than it was ten years ago, which was the last time he had been there. He said it had been destroyed significantly those past ten years because when he last saw it the wall was almost all there. Now there is only a few sections left. It was interesting to see that they used reeds and straw to make what we use as steel grids for concrete today, the straw is able to be seen sticking out of the mud brick. Fortunately, it doesn't rain much in the desert because that melts the mud away. From a hill we took pictures of the pyramid beside the mastabas and mud brick wall in the foreground.
Al Lahan Pyramid
Next we went to the Hawwara Pyramid, also from the Middle Kingdom. This one was used as a huge area to store crops, unfortunately, there is nothing left but a granite basin and tons of broken pottery. Also, Crocodolopolis, a piece of rock found with depictions of crocodiles on it. Here there is also the Fayhouna Oasis, in the entrance to the pyramid, not very far down you hit water! It was pretty cool to see water appear in the middle of the desert. Here, since this was not a big tourist attraction either, we were able to sift through the ruins and pottery because Amr talked to the guards and it was remote enough. This was absolutely amazing because nobody has had a license to dig here yet. We wouldn't have been able to do it without Amr, we are blessed to have him as our guide. It was a great experience, our whole group was searching and digging and finding amazing things. Once person found a jaw bone that still had teeth in it! I was pretty proud of myself because I found a piece of pottery with such a vibrant blue paint still on it! Amr said it was a rare find because it had paint on both sides, which is unusual unless it was a piece of a handle. I also found the left femur bone of a muscular male, I was ecstatic! I was holding the bones of someone who lived 4,000 years ago! Pretty mind blowing.
Hawarra Pyramid
We then went to Karnak Bazaar Pyramid Art Gallery to get cartouches and such because this was the best place for gold and silver. I didn't get a cartouche necklace because I never take off the necklace Danny gave me. I ended up getting a silver ring with my cartouche on it, which I kind of like better! They won't be ready until tomorrow. For the grand finale we finally went camel riding! It was only for 20 minutes but it was so much fun! Especially, after you get on the camel when it is sitting and then stands up with his back legs first, it felt like I was going to fall off for sure! I didn't, thank God, and I couldn't stop laughing the whole time, camels are really tall! Then one ran past me in the opposite direction and it was as if he had no control of his lips, they were flopping around like crazy making the funniest noise, Oh my god I lost it. They have to be one of the cutest animals ever! After that, nothing much happened but dinner and bed. Goodnight!
January 18th, 2007
Today we were supposed to go to Cairo museum first but we ended up going to the bazaar before because the museum was so crowded this morning. The bazaar was a very cool experience, it was really quiet in the morning but after an hour or so it was CRAZY! I spent almost all of my money there but got some good deals, even though it was stuff that was a little bit cheap. I bought some cherry sisha for my hookah, an Ankh key-chain, and a gorgeous scarf. The bartering thing has grown on me and I'm really starting to get the hang of it. Too bad I can't use my skills back in the states. Oh well, I got something out of it, and at least I have some experience in case I come back someday.
The Bazaar
The museum was next and what an experience! This place was so overwhelming! Half the time I couldn't believe my eyes! This museum is pretty old, finished in 1901, but is breathtaking. I was so excited to go in , I wish we could have brought our cameras. The first thing we saw was the very famous Narmar Palette, which represented the unification of upper and lower Egypt in 3300 B.C. This was used by the first pharaoh and was first to unify the two different families from upper and lower Egypt. We saw a statue, found in the smallest pyramid at Giza, from about 3300 to 2500 B.C. It represents the "Glory of the spirits of Ra". It shows the two goddess' embracing the pharaoh, who is wearing the white crown. The most interesting thing about this piece is that the pharaohs foot is stepped out to resemble power and the one goddess, Hathor, has her foot stepped out a bit too. Of course, hers was not as far out as the pharaohs because he has the most power. The other goddess didn't have her foot out at all. There was a statue of the head of Kephron, there are many theories as to why there is a falcon behind his head. One is that since the head is the weakest part of the structure, the falcon was to protect and re-enforce it. Kephron was the builder of the second pyramid at Giza. We saw a wooden statue from the 5th dynasty, (2400 B.C.), of a scribe. Scribes were important to Ancient Egyptians because they knew how to read and write hieroglyphics, they were very highly educated. A scribe would have to be very rich to have a wooden statue like this one, which is made out of cedar. The eyes on this statue were mind blowing, so real and shiny looking! This was done by making the eye sockets out of copper, for the whites of the eyes it was rock crystal, for the cornea it was colored transparent rock crystal, and for the pupil it was the head of a pin. We saw the furniture in the pictures of our textbook-bedroom furniture of Queen Hetepheres, who was the mother of Kheops. Kheops built the Great Pyramids at Giza. We saw the stone head of Hatshepsut and even though her eyes were gone, (many of her statues destroyed by Tuthmosis III), it was gorgeous. We saw the statue head of Nefertiti, an absolutely beautiful women she was! there was a sarcophagus of Akhenaten, the face was destroyed along with the cartouche, but the rest was amazingly intact. The destruction was because someone was obviously trying to erase his name from history. The ancient letters from Tel el Armana were in this room too! These are the earliest forms of writing in the world, between different countries that is. Diplomatic letters from Mesopotamia and many letters from the pharaoh to places outside of Egypt. They used messengers to carry these clay tablets back and forth. Another way they did this was to shave the messengers head, write the message, and have him get to the destination some time later where they would shave his head again to read it. Very creative! Next was the craziest part for me, a whole floor of KING TUT! As soon as the group made way up the stairs we were faced with the outermost part of Tutankhamuns sarcophagus. I couldn't breathe, it was so amazing to me, the shade of blue and pure gold and the size of it, it was HUGE! I started to tear up, I was so amazed. The treasures were never-ending, there were to many to count because his is the only tomb that has been found that hadn't been robbed. After the huge sarcophagus was another smaller one that fit inside the first, and so on like this for several more sarcophagus'. There was an iron knife found among his treasures which proved the Ancient Egyptians used iron. When we went into the room with the mask of King Tut I lost it; all the necklaces and gold jewelry, still smaller sarcophagi, and the famous mask! I started to cry when I saw it, there it was-something from the 18th Dynasty-in perfect condition; shiny gold, vibrant blues, piercing eyes, and no damage. There are no other words to describe it other than: ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! The treasures just kept going and going: Tutankhamuns canopic jars (which were depictions of his mask instead of the usual-4 different animals), ancient underwear, a condom (not used for birth control but actually for protection against sexually transmitted diseases, who knew?), models of symbolic boats, ancient clothing, actual canopic jars used (some still sealed). There was a collection of boomerangs and a statue of the head of the boy king. It kind of looked like the one of Nefertiti, but his is different. His shows his head coming out of the Lotus flower, which is basically him saying: "I have the right to be created". There was left over food, musical instruments, tools, an ancient toilet. The very famous thrown with the tender scene of his wife rubbing oils on him (which is a very unusual scene), the same scene on the papyrus I bought. There was so much there, I could never name all the things here that took up the entire second floor of the museum and all of it was found in King Tuts Tomb! I was totally overwhelmed by the never-ending gold and treasures, I can't even put into words how great this was for me, a dream come true! I have always been so interested in Egypt and it was everything I expected it to be and then some. Next, we went into the animal mummy room. It wasn't very well lit, so so it was kind of creepy but really cool. There were all types of animals here; dogs, cats, birds, a humongous fish, and 2 enormous crocodiles. They were so big and still had their teeth and everything, hard to believe. After this we headed to the Mummy Room, it was exciting just thinking about it! This totally put me in awe, as soon as we got in it was unbelievable! All these temples and tombs we have visited, I've been thinking how cool it was to be standing where the Ancient Egyptians once stood. Now here in front of me are the real people, there's no way to explain how incredible that is. We saw several mummies including: Tuthmosis II, Tuthmosis III, Seti I, King Menptah, Rameses the Great, and possibly Princess Merit Amun and Tuthmosis I (these two are not yet confirmed). The last two mummies have question marks next to the names because they are still not absolutely positive who they are, the evidence must point to several theories. It was hard to believe in what I was seeing, these mummies still had finger nails, teeth, and hair! Especially Rameses the Great, who had a good amount of hair left on his head, it was bright white. It was amazing to be able to see and stand next to him, he who reigned around 67 years and died in his 90's. He who has had so many things built in his memory, statues and temples all over Egypt. He who was responsible for Abu simbel, and would have known Moses with the famous words: "Let my people go". It was amazing, this was a very emotional day because there was so much to take in. When we left the museum the night view of Cairo was beautiful and the bus ride back would be one of our last. When we got back to the hotel we all signed the card that Becca made for Amr and headed to dinner. When dinner was over, we exchanged gifts with Amr, Becca gave him the card and we all said goodbye. Rachel, Rebecca, and I were crying like babies. I'll definitely miss Amr, he is a great guide but an even better person. When we stopped crying Rachel, Chris, Allison, David, Pat, Lindsey, Alicia, the Ryan's, and I had a few drinks. I had a screwdriver and a Meistr max beer (Egyptian beer is not so bad). We watched the singer by the pool and laughed at inside jokes, talked about our experiences. Now I'm writing here, but I guess I should pack now. I will be sad to leave Egypt but happy to see my family, my fiance Danny, and my friends back home in Lake George. Goodnight!
January 19th, 2007
We are on the plane now, headed to JFK, I think we are about 3 hours away. We woke up today at 5:00 a.m., had breakfast, and headed to the airport. The plane ride isn't so bad, though there was a minute where I thought it was all over. It was just really bad turbulence. Anyway, the man in front of me and Rachel smells really bad!!! Kind of like Indian food and used diapers. HAHA. Shakira, I swear, was everywhere from the beginning of this trip to the end. Shakira was on, at some point, in almost every place we visited. We also heard Hero by Mariah Carey-the guy Sammy from the hookah tent in El Gouna had it as his ringtone, then it started playing last night at the hotel when Amr left. Anywho, it has been my dream to come to Egypt for so long, I've always been fascinated with it's history. This trip was definitely amazing, even more so than I expected and I can't wait to go back!
Love,
Tamara
