Egypt is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip (Palestine) and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilization, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanization, organized religion and central government. Iconic monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well the ruins of Memphis, Thebes, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, reflect this legacy and remain a significant focus of scientific and popular interest.
CAIRO
Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة transliteration: Al-Qāhirah), which means "the Victorious" or "the Triumphant", is the capital and largest city of Egypt. It is the Arab World's and Africa's most populous city. While Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it is called by the dialect's name for the country, transliteration: Masr. Within Egypt, residents of Cairo are called Masraweya rather than Masri.
Cairo was founded by the Fatimid caliphs as a royal enclosure. It later came under the Mamluks, was ruled by the Ottomans 1517 to 1798, and briefly occupied by Napoleon. Muhammad Ali of Egypt made Cairo the capital of his independent empire from 1805 to 1882, after which the British took control of it until Egypt attained independence in 1922.
Cairo's metropolitan area has a population of about 7.8 million people. and is also the most populous metropolitan area in Africa. Today, Greater Cairo encompasses various historic towns and modern districts. A journey through Cairo is virtual time travel: from the Pyramids, the Hanging Church, Saladin's Citadel, the Virgin Mary's Tree, the Sphinx, and Heliopolis, to Al-Azhar, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-A'as, Saqqara, the Cairo Tower, and the Old City. It is the Capital of Egypt, and its history is intertwined with that of the country.
The name Al-Qahirah has been said to mean "the Subduer", and it's often translated as "the Victorious". The origin of Al-Qahirah is said to come from the appearance of the planet Mars during the foundation of the City of Cairo. The planet Mars, which in Greek was called Ares, was associated with ruin or destruction and was called Al Najm Al Qahir in Arabic. Al Najm Al Qahir is transliterated as "the destroyer star [planet]". The legacy of the name evolved into “Qahirat Al Adaa” meaning “subduer of the enemies”. This title was given to the city as many armies were destroyed in attempts to invade Cairo or defeated elsewhere by troops sent from the settlement.
To be completely honest, Cairo was not at all what I expected. I had expected some sand duned city in the middle of nowhere filled with tents and bedouin. In fact it was a very modern and advanced city and reminded me of Shanghai circa 2007. There are plenty of cosmopolitan buildings and the Nile coursing through the city reminded me of the Bund in Shanghai. Its a great place to visit but be warned regarding safety. Bomb sniffing guard dogs are at major international hotels and buildings and almost all of the major sites we visited had metal detectors. In addition, due to the terrorist attacks of the past, tourist groups are required to have a security guard escort provided courtesy of the Egyptian government. We had several pleasant fellows who wore suits in the 100+ degree Fahrenheit weather to hide the fully automatic guns they were carrying around their waist!
The Egyptian Museum
The Egyptian Museum was first built in Boulak. In 1891 is was moved to Giza Palace of Ismail Pasha which housed the antiquities that were later moved to the present building. The Museum is located in the Tahir square in Cairo and was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897 and opened on November 15, 1902. It has 107 halls with the ground floor containing huge statues and the upper floor housing small statues, jewels , Tukankhamon treasures and mummies.
The Museum is split into seven main sections arranged in chronological order and includes a hall for the royal mummies which houses 11 kings and queens:
1. Tutankhamon's treasures
2. Pre-dynasty and the Old Kingdom monuments
3. First intermediate period and the Middle Kingdom monuments
4. Monuments of the Modern Kingdom
5. Monuments of the late period and the Greek and Roman periods
6. Coins and papyrus
7. Sarcophagi and scarabs
Coptic Churches
We visited the walls of a fortress that enclosed the Church of St. Sergius which is built on a crypt considered to be one of the resting places of the Holy Family (Jesus) during their flight to Egypt 200 years ago.
There is also the Hanging Church which is supported by only one column and has amazing paintings on the wall.
Synagogue of Ben Ezra
The Synagogue of Ben Ezra was once the center of a thriving Jewish community in Egypt under the leadership of Rabbi Ben Ezra. Inside were discovered the Geniza Documents which showed amazing information about Jewish life in Egypt's past. One of the most interesting aspects of the synagogue is the unity expressed at the time between the major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Too bad that doesn't resonate today!
The Saladin Citadel
The Saladin Citadel of Cairo (Arabic: قلعة صلاح الدين Qalaʿat Salāḥ ad-Dīn) is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Cairo, Egypt. It is located on Muqattam hill near the center of Cairo and was built by the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) between 1176 and 1183 AD, as protection from the Crusaders.
There are two other mosques at the Citadel, the 13th/14th century hypostyle Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad from the early Bahri Mamluk period, and the 16th century Mosque of Suleyman Pasha, first of the Citadel's Ottoman-style mosques. The citadel also contains Al-Gawhara Palace, the National Military Museum and the Police Museum.
Note that this site of a terrorist attack in April 2005. Two veiled females armed with guns opened fire on a tourist bus in the neighbourhood known as Islamic Cairo, not far from the Citadel. After firing on the coach, one of the women shot the other dead before turning her gun on herself. Three bystanders were reportedly injured. This was the first attack in modern Egyptian history to be carried out by women; police believe it arose from a spur of the moment decision taken by the women upon learning of the Sixth of October Bridge incident.
Khan El Khalili Bazaar
Khan el-Khalili (Arabic: خان الخليلي) is a major souk in the Old City of Cairo and a major tourist attraction. The souk dates back to 1382, when Emir Djaharks el-Khalili built a large caravanserai (خان khan in Arabic) in Cairo, and is noted for selling good-quality clothing, cloth, spices, souvenirs, and traditional jewelry and perfumes at reasonable prices. In addition to shops, there are several coffeehouses (مقهى maqha or قهوة qahwah, depending on dialect), restaurants, and street food vendors distributed throughout the market. The coffeeshops are generally small and quite traditional, serving Arabic coffee and usually offering shisha.
One of particular interest is El Fishawy which is in the middle of the bustling streets of Khan el-Khalili. The owners are proud to mention that they have been in continuous business for over 200 years and have not been closed for a single day. They serve chai and sheesha (waterpipe) and its a good place to snap some photos and enjoy a break from the heat.
We also had a nice taste of Egyptian pancakes. The place was a little filthy but they tasted really good!
Note that this was the site of a terrorist attack in April 2005. On April 7th, a suicide bomber set off his explosive device on Sharia al-Moski, near the Khan al Khalili bazaar – a street market popular with tourists and locals alike – and the al Hussein Mosque. Three foreign tourists (two from France and one from the United States) were killed, and 11 Egyptians and seven other overseas visitors were injured. Another reminder to exercise caution when you are wandering the streets.
The Nile
The Nile is the lifeblood of Egypt as it is the main supply of water in essentially a desert land. Interestingly the Ankh symbol (the symbol of life and avatars) is derived from the Nile. We took a touristy cruise on the Nile which was surprisingly enjoyable and included a Whirling Dervish and Belly Dancing demonstration.
LUXOR
Luxor (in Arabic: الأقصر al-Uqṣur) is a city in Upper (southern) Egypt at the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes and has frequently been characterised as the "world's greatest open air museum" because the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor sit within the modern city. Across the Nile River, lie the monuments, temples and tombs on the West Bank Necropolis, which include the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.
Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the great capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom, and the glorious city of the God Amon Ra. The city was regarded in the Ancient Egyptian texts as T-APT (meaning “the shrine”) and then, in a later period, the Greeks called it tea pie, which the Arabs later pronounced as Thebes. The main local god was the God Amon Ra, who was worshipped with his wife, the Goddess Mutt, and their son, the God Khonsou, the God of the moon. Thebes was also known as “the city of the 100 gates”, sometimes being called the southern city, to distinguish it from Memphis, the early capital of the Old Kingdom.
Personally, I found Luxor a much more interesting and enjoyable city to visit than Giza. However, the weather can be a scorcher and we picked the "low season" of summer when it was as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit!
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings (Arabic: وادي الملوك Wadi Biban el-Muluk; "Gates of the King") is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, across from Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The wadi consists of two valleys, East Valley (where the majority of the royal tombs situated) and West Valley.
With the 2005 discovery of a new chamber, and the 2008 discovery of 2 further tomb entrances, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers (ranging in size from a simple pit to a complex tomb with over 120 chambers), and was the principal burial place of the major royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom, together with those of a number privileged nobles. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues to the beliefs and funerary rituals of the period. All of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of the opulence and power of the rulers of this time.
The area has been a focus of concentrated archaeological and egyptological exploration since the end of the eighteenth century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest. In modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (with its rumors of the Curse of the Pharaohs), and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. In 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis. Exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the valley, and a new tourist centre has recently been opened.
The Egyptian belief that "To speak the name of the dead is to make him live again" is certainly alive and well in the building of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The king's formal names and titles are inscribed in his tomb along with his images and statues. Beginning with the 18th Dynasty and ending with the 20th, the kings abandoned the Memphis area and built their tombs in Thebes (aka Luxor). Also abandoned were the pyramid style tombs because after the fact they realized these were in effect large "ROB ME" signs.
Most of the tombs were cut into the limestone following a similar pattern: three corridors, an antechamber and a sunken sarcophagus chamber. These catacombs were harder to rob and were more easily concealed. Construction usually lasted six years beginning with a new reign. The text in the tombs is from the Book of the Dead, the Book of the Gates and the Book of the Underworld.
Tomb of King Tut
Of all the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the most famous is Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The boy king died in his late teens and remained at rest in Egypt's Valley of the Kings for over 3,300 years. All that changed in November 1922 when Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter who was excavating on behalf of his patron Lord Carnarvon. Carter had been searching for the tomb for a number of years and Carnarvon had decided that enough time and money had been expended with little return. However, Carter managed to persuade his patron to fund one more season and within days of resuming the tomb was found. Today the tomb still contains the pharaoh's remains and he is the only one still residing in the Valley of the Kings (as far as we know!). The tomb itself is very small and appears to have been destined for someone of lesser importance. However, his unexpected demise saw the tomb's rushed modification to accommodate the pharaoh.
The only part of the complex that contains wall paintings is the Burial Chamber. It contained four guilded shrines nestled one inside one another. The innermost of these covered a stone sarcophagus. Inside that were three coffins the innermost being made of 110 kg of solid gold. Inside that lay the pharaoh wearing his famous gold mask.
Adjacent to the Burial Chamber was the Treasury which was home to much of the supporting equipment for Tutankhamun's afterlife. It contained a dazzling array of boats, gilded figures and the canopic chest within which were various internal organs belonging to the ancient king. Gathered around the chest in their protective stance were four beautiful gilded figures of goddesses. Just inside the entrance to the room was the protective black figure of Anubis in the form of a recumbant jackal.
The Antechamber contained dismantled chariots, containers of food, various funeral couches, thrones and two black guardian figures at the entrance of the Burial Chamber. It was this area that was first seen when Carter made a hole in the blocked-off far end of the entry passage. Carter had concluded that the tomb had been broken into on two occasions soon after the pharaoh was buried. Fortunately, the tomb raiders did not get away with too much and most of Tutankhamun's treasures can be seen at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most dramatically situated in the world. The queen's architect, Senenmut, designed it and set it at the head of a valley overshadowed by the Peak of the Thebes, the "Lover of Silence", where lived the goddess who presided over the necropolis.
A tree lined avenue of sphinxes led up to the temple and ramps led from terrace to terrace. The porticoes on the lowest terrace are out of proportion and coloring with the rest of the building. They were restored in 1906 to protected the reliefs depicting the transport of obelisks by barge to Karnak and the miraculous birth of Queen Hatshepsut.
Reliefs on the south side of the middle terrace show the queen's expedition by way of the Red Sea to Punt, the land of incense. Along the front of the upper terrace, a line of large, gently smiling Osirid statues of the queen looked out over the valley. In the shade of the colonade, brightly painted reliefs decorated the walls. Throughout the temple, statues and sphinxes of the queen proliferate. Many of them have been reconstructed.
Temple of Karnak
It is the largest temple complex ever built by man and represents the combined achievements of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples, smaller enclosed temples and several outer temples located about 3 km north of Luxor. Karnak is actually the site's modern name. Its ancient name was Ipet-isut meaning the Most Select or Sacred of Places.
The complex is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. It is probably the second most visited historical site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo. It consists of four main parts (precincts), of which only the largest, the Precinct of Amun-Re, is open to the general public.
The term Karnak is often understood as being the Precinct of Amun-Re only, as this is the only part most visitors normally see. The three other parts, the Precinct of Montu, the Precinct of Mut and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV, are closed to the public. There also are a few smaller temples and sanctuaries located outside the enclosing walls of the four main parts, as well as several avenues of human and ram-headed sphinxes connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amon-Re, and Luxor Temple.
The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction work began in the 16th century BC. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features are overwhelming. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued through to Ptolemaic times.
Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile and was founded in 1400 BC as a dedication to the great god Amun-Ra, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu (the moon god) together representing the Theban triad.
The temple was built on the site of a probably smaller Middle Kingdom structure for the god Amun, while the earliest parts of the temple seen today date from the 14th century BC and the time of Amenhotep III (the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom).
Interestingly the temple has appeared in several movies including the 1977 James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and the 1978 Agatha Christie film, "Death on the Nile".
Alabaster Demonstration
During our trip to Luxor we visited a tourist shop which was reknowned for their alabaster products. I took a short video of their demonstration.
GIZA
The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 km (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre. Great Pyramid of Giza is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west, and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred metres further south-west, along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards), signifying the reverence to those buried in the necropolis.
Of the five, only Menkaure's Pyramid is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing, with Khafre's Pyramid retaining a prominent display of casing stones at its apex, while Khufu's Pyramid maintains a more limited collection at its base. Khafre's Pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction – it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume. The most active phase of construction here was in the 25th century BC. It was popularised in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient Wonders still in existence.
Due largely to 19th-century images, the pyramids of Giza are generally thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even though they are located just outside of Cairo repleat with McDonald's, Starbucks, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants!
The Great Pyramid
King Khufu, who is also known by the Greek name Cheops was the father of pyramid building at Giza. He ruled from 2551 to 2528 BC and was the son of King Sneferu and Queen Hetpeheres. The pyramid was built in 2589 to 2566 BC and consists of 2.3 million limestone and granite blocks of stone. The base is 13 square acres, 0.6 million square feet. The length of each side of the base is now 745 feet and the total weight of this pyramid is 6.5 million tons. The average weight of an individual block of stone is 2.5 tons, the height of Cheops is 449 feet and the angle of incline is 51 degrees.
The Pyramid of Khafre
Khafre was the son of Khufu and was also known as Chephren. He ruled from 2520 to 2494 BC and he is responsible for the second largest pyramid complex at Giza which includes the Sphinx, a Mortuary Temple and a Valley Temple. This pyramid was built of red granite and limestone in 2558 to 2532 BC. The base is 704 feet on each side and covers an area of 11 acres. The average weight of each stone is 2.5 tons some of which are as large as 7 tons. The height is 446 feet and the angle of incline is 53 degrees. Khafre is best known for its statues and the most famous is the Sphinx.
The Pyramid of Menkaure
Menkaure, also known as Mycerinus, ruled from 2490 to 2472 BC. He was king of the smallest of the three pyramids at Giza and is believed to be Khufu's grandson. The dating of this pyramid is undetermined as is the number of blocks of limestone, red granite and basalt of blocks of stone. The base is 344 feet on each side and is 203 feet in height with an angle incline of 51 degrees.
Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx of Giza (Arabic: أبو الهول "The Father of Fear") is a half-human, half-lion Sphinx statue in Egypt, on the Giza Plateau at the west bank of the Nile River, near modern-day Cairo. The largest monolith statue in the world, it stands 73.5 metres (241 ft) long, 6 m (20 ft) wide, and 20 m (65 ft) high. Commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians in the 3rd millennium BC, it is the earliest known monumental sculpture. The Great Sphinx is one of the world’s largest and oldest statues, yet basic facts about it such as the real-life model for the face, when it was built, and by whom, are debated. These questions have collectively earned the title “Riddle of the Sphinx,” a nod to its Greek namesake, although this phrase should not be confused with the original Greek legend.
The Great Sphinx is thought by most Egyptologists to represent the likeness of King Khafra (also known by the Hellenised version of his name, Chephren) who is often credited as the builder as well. This would place the time of construction somewhere between 2520 BC and 2494 BC. Because the limited evidence giving provenance to Khafra is ambiguous and circumstantial, the idea of who built the Sphinx, and when, continues to be the subject of debate.
What name ancient Egyptians called the statue is unknown. The commonly used name “Sphinx” was given to it in antiquity based on the legendary Greek creature with the body of a lion, the head of a woman and the wings of an eagle, though Egyptian sphinxes have the head of a man. The word “sphinx” comes from the Greek Σφιγξ — Sphinx, apparently from the verb σφιγγω — sphingo, meaning “I strangle,” as the sphinx from Greek mythology strangled anyone incapable of answering her riddle.
A couple of things to point out that were quite surprising to us. Firstly, the Sphinx is really small relative to the Pyramids - almost shockingly smaller. Secondly, "sphinxes" are very common throughout all of the temples of Egypt. They are a symbol of power and wisdom and thus were plentiful wherever we went. This one probably got the most publicity because of its proximity to the Great Pyramids and its size relative to other sphinxes which were generally the size of statues outside Chinese restaurants!
Khufu Ship
The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2,500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu (King Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. It is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved vessels from antiquity. It measures 43.6 m overall. It was identified as the world's oldest intact ship and has been described as "a masterpiece of woodcraft" that could sail today if put into water.
The ship was rediscovered in 1954 by Kamal el-Mallakh, undisturbed since it was sealed into a pit carved out of the Giza bedrock. It was built largely of cedar planking in the "shell-first" construction technique and has been reconstructed from more than 1,200 pieces which had been laid in a logical, disassembled order in the pit beside the pyramid. The history and function of the ship are not precisely known. It is of the type known as a "solar barge", a ritual vessel to carry the resurrected king with the sun god Ra across the heavens. However, it bears some signs of having been used in water, and it is possible that the ship was either a funerary "barge" used to carry the king's embalmed body from Memphis to Giza, or even that Khufu himself used it as a "pilgrimage ship" to visit holy places and that it was then buried for him to use in the afterlife. The Khufu ship has been on display to the public in a specially built museum at the Giza pyramid complex since 1982.
Papyrus
On our way back from the pyramids we stopped in souvenir store and were treated to a papyrus demonstration.
