Soon after celebrating the beginning of 2011, I jumped on an airplane with good friend and sorority sister Kelly, along with her mom and dad, for a week-long trip to Egypt. With our packed schedule, we were able to see so much in Egypt in our short amount of time. Below is a synopsis of our itinerary followed by few of my thoughts and learnings while in Egypt.
Day 1: Flight into Cairo. Upon exiting the airport, my first thought was "the air smells so sweet!", and it really did, I still don't know why. The winter climate in Egypt is dry and warm during the day, chilly at night. We checked into our hotel where we enjoyed a small dinner and prepared for busy week. I decided to read the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini during my time in Egypt. It was really neat to read about the Middle East while experiencing it. Hosseini used many Arabic words in his novel that I would use and hear on the streets!
Day 2: Breakfast and pick-up at our hotel by our guide Waleed and driver Yaser. Waleed was 22 like Kelly and myself, he majored in Egyptology at university, and he loves his job as a tour guide. He is dedicated to his customers and to his country. Though Yaser did not speak English, his friendly and comical personality definitely showed.
Waleed took us to Memphis (the capital of old Egypt) to see the largest statue of Ramses II (yes, the Ramses from the time of Moses, "Let my people go"). Then we went to the Step Pyramid of Zoser, the first pyramid built in Egypt. Did you know that there are 99 pyramids in Egypt? Finally we ventured to the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx!! It also rained in Cairo on this day, for the first time in 8 months! It was a short rain though, but they were huge and cold rain drops! We ended the day by watching the light show at the pyramids.
Day 3: We spent the morning at the Egyptian Museum where we got to see the entire King Tut collection, including is solid gold mask and giant sarcophagus. Then we went to Old Cairo to see a few churches and synagogues. One of the Churches was where the Holy Family stayed during their three months in Egypt. We ended the day with a little night sailing down the Nile (I reached over the side of the boat to touch the Cradle of Civilization)!
Day 4: Took an overnight train to Luxor in the south where we were met by our guide Mohammed, who likes to go by the nickname Super Mo. Here we toured the Valley of Kings where many tombs of old Egyptian kings have been discovered (King Tut's is the most recent find in the 1960's, and it is famous because it was still mostly in tact and not pilfered by grave robbers, probably because it is underneath the tomb of Ramses IV). Then we went to The Temple of Hatshepsut, where once the Nile flowed right up to it's stairs and created a green and lush paradise. Finally we toured through the Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor.
Day 5: We took the overnight train back to Cairo, and Waleed picked us up from the train station. We spent the morning back at the Great Pyramids, taking pictures, climbing up a few levels of the limestone bricks, and simply marveling at their creation and existence. We spent the afternoon shopping around at the bazaars, which included my purchase of an Egyptian cotton scarf and a stone inlaid backgammon board.
We went to the airport that night to fly back to the US, however the airline did not put any standbys on the flight, even though the plane left with 40 open seats (there were five standbys...). According to a fellow standby named Dave, they put all of the ticket passengers on the plane, then load up the rest with cargo. Dave had been trying to get on a flight for the last three days. This resulted in a frustrating purchase of a ticket home for all of us. Dave brought us back to his dormitory/apartments where other missionaries and non-profit workers stay. They had a few empty units that they generously let us use for the night. Dave had been volunteering in Cairo for the last 8 months, helping a local company with their accounting and financial practices. He was so wonderful to take us in for the night.
Day 6: Bonus day! Spent some time in the neighborhood where Dave lived while in Cairo, then we went to the airport and boarded our flight home.
Impressions and Findings:
-Only 4% of Egypt is inhabited by people, and it's all along the Nile River. The other 96% is desert. "Lower Egypt" is in the north, and "Upper Egypt" is in the south. It's based on the direction that the Nile flows, south to north, as the Nile River delta is in the north.
-Egypt is 90% Muslim, so it is very prominent across the county. Almost all of the women where hijabs to cover their heads, as well as long sleeves and long pants, even in this hot desert environment. I kept forgetting that the Hebrews, Abraham's and Moses's people, lived in Egypt. Now there are only 42 Jewish families in Cairo.
-Poverty is prevalent in Egypt. The streets of Cairo are dirty and smelly, but it was ok wit me, it remind me of China. The largest industries in Egypt are tourism, petroleum, and the Suez Canal. Many Egyptians make their livelihood out of tips, so it is very common to have bathroom attendants, people asking to help with your luggage, etc.
-Cairo is the largest city in Egypt. I don't remember the square kilometers, but there are 85 million people living in Cairo, which is more than twice the population in New York City! While Cairo is a dusty and busy city with no apparent traffic laws, traffic lights, or traffic lanes, Luxor in the south is a calm, quiet, and lush city nestled along the banks of the wider Nile. Luxor even had palm trees and fresh air!
-The Great Pyramids of Giza were fascinating! Built by father, son, and grandson, the tombs of these pharaohs lie under the ground, not within the pyramid. The pyramid is simply a topper on the tomb, like a headstone. Well, a giant headstone! Some believe the building of the pyramids was an extension of the pharaoh's search for immortality. Well, didn't they succeed. We are still speaking their names and telling their stories today.
The city of Cairo is built right up the to pyramids, there's no need to drive far into the desert as I had thought we would. The pyramids were build around 2500 B.C. and there are intriguing theories surrounding their construction. I am fascinated by the fact that the pyramids are 4500 years old. That 's more than twice as long as we've known Jesus as a man! It's just incredible to touch something that old. My favorite quote from the trip is "Man fears time, time fears the Pyramids".
-Standing in the shadow of the Great Sphinx was one of the most humbling experiences. The Great Sphinx has seen Cleopatra, Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon! All I could think of was "I am not worthy!". It's also interesting that the Great Sphinx was buried completely under sand for some time before being uncovered the last century.
-The Valley of Kings was one of my favorite visits. It was fantastic walking down into the tombs, thinking about the workers who carved and painted that hundreds of hieroglyphics and murals over the walls and ceilings. The color and carvings are still so prominent and vibrant. interestingly, the Christians hid in these tombs during the persecutions, and they defaced several of the paintings because they didn't agree to the paganism. It's sad that pictures so old and precious was destroyed by people of my faith. It's hard to wrap my mind around it.
-The Temple of Hatshepsut was wonderful! Hatshepsut was the first female ruler, and she gained the title in her own right, being the daughter of the pharaoh rather than marrying into the family. Her temple is carved into a cliff and surrounded by tombs of nobles. Hatshepsut refused to be considered a queen. She had her tomb built and is buried in the Valley of Kings rather than the Valley of Queens. She wore a fake beard like the men, and made sure that statues carved in her likeness included the beard.
There's a crumbled temple right next to Hatshepsut's that has little remaining. It was built with mud bricks and belonged to a male king who challenged Hatshepsut that she couldn't build a grander temple. Well guess what, she built hers much bigger and right next to his, and she built it out of stone. It still stands today. What a woman!
Sadly when Hatshepsut died, her own son ordered all of her statues to be destroyed. He was so embarrassed of her as a female king that he wanted to erase her name from history. He was unsuccessful.
-Dave was telling me of the theory as to why Egypt is such a humid city in the middle of the desert. There are air conditioning units on almost every window in the city. The moisture created by these units has made the city air humid. Interesting!
To wrap up, here are some notes about statues of pharaohs:
-The statues are built with the left leg forward because that is the side of the body where the heart is, and this symbolizes immortality.
-A statue of a pharaoh with a straight beard means that the statue was carved when the pharaoh was still living. A statue of a pharaoh with a curved beard means that the statue was carved when the pharaoh was no longer alive.
-The pointed hat represents Lower Egypt while the draping headdress over the shoulders represents Upper Egypt. Statues of pharaohs wearing both represents the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.
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