The Final Day

Monday: December 20, 2010

Where did December go? Today was the final full day of the Egypt Mini Term. It has been a long and exciting day, let alone trip. We visited the Egyptian Museum, which was a fitting way to end the sightseeing on this miniterm. It was the perfect way to end the trip because we got to see lots of artifacts found at temples and tombs. We also visited the Khan el Khalili Bazaar towards the end of the day.

The Egyptian Museum, located in downtown Cairo, is a large museum containing ~120,000 artifacts with many more in the building’s basement storage area. Because there are more artifacts than available space, Egypt is building a new museum in Giza that will be 100 times the size of the current building and will be done in 2012. They are already in the process of moving artifacts to the new site so that they will be ready to open when the time comes. If you spent 3 minutes observing each item in the museum, you would need 6 months to see everything. There were so many people entering the building as our group entered and we were given radios so Zach, our tour guide, could talk to us without having to scream over other groups. Unfortunately, however, we couldn’t take photos in the museum.

The first item we saw when we entered the museum was an artist’s paint pallet. At ~5,000 years old, the stone pallet is the oldest artifact in the building. The two-sided stone has designs carved into it including a design that shows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt. It also shows the pulling of the hair of the king of northern Egypt, who is an enemy. There are people depicted on the stone with no heads with indicates who the enemy is. Since it is a paint pallet, there is a circular area for paint to be mixed. This artifact was discovered at Abydos, which we visited.

The next item was a replica of the Rosetta Stone which was discovered in Egypt. The original is currently located in the British Museum (who has denied lending it to Egypt for the opening of the new Egyptian Museum in ~2 years). It was translated in 1830, allowing people to understand what hieroglyphics mean.

We then saw the statue of King Djoser, the first life-size statue found in Egypt. It was also the first statue with a mustache and headdress. It was from 2700 BC, making it 4700 years old. He is represented as a dead man and you can tell from the dress that the person has no life in them. The statue is made of limestone and was found in the Step Pyramid area.

Next we saw various limestone statues of servant figures from ~2500 BC. Notice how I said “servants” and not “slaves”? Egyptians who served the king without compensation believed that they would serve the king in the 2nd life. Because the life after death was more important than the 1st life, people were willing to serve so that they would have a good afterlife. The figures showed individuals making flour, cleaning birds, making a jar, and making beer and wine.

Menkaure/Hathor (wikipedia)

The next artifact was a basalt statue of pharaoh Menkaure, goddess Hathor (right) and a goddess. This was found outside of Menkaure’s pyramid (which I saw and entered within the first 3 days). Menkaure was a pharaoh during the fourth century and built the smallest of the three pyramids in Giza.

In the museum we also learned that statues of pharaohs and kings were made in case mummies were lost or stolen by tomb robbers. In some cases, these statues are the only records civilization has about certain people. We also learned that some lower-class citizens made stone heads for themselves and hid them with mummies so that they could move on with the mummies in the 2nd life.

We then walked into another room in the museum where we saw a coffin/ sarcophagus made from alabaster stone that was ~4,650 years old. It was the only one of its kind found and it was not for a mummy—instead it was found with jars for organs in it. While its use and age is known, it is amazing that archeologists don’t know to whom this artifact belongs to.

Scribe (bluffton.edu)

We also saw the Statue of the Scribe, which was of a man writing down information. The man is in a sitting position, concentrating/listening to someone. Scribes, during ancient times, were in a high position in society because not many had the chance to be educated enough to read and write. This 3,200-year-old limestone statue was impressive because of its detail, remaining colors, and eyes made of crystal. He was once wearing a necklace, a sign of nobility, but it was stolen at some point.

King Chephren

The next statue was of King Chephren who built the second pyramid. He was worshipped as a god, however, he was seen as a weak god so another god was added to the statue. Can’t see it in this picture? Believe me. There is a falcon (god of Horus, if I remember) behind the statue’s head and can only be seen from the back. In the same room we saw the statue of Sheikh el-Balad, meaning in Arabic “headman of the village.” This is a wooden statue of Priest Ka-aper from the 5th dynasty. Since the wood is from a sycamore tree, this man must have been important because the wood was imported into Egypt since there are few trees in the country.

Wooden Statue (wikipedia)

Afterwards, we went into the room devoted to Queen Hetepheres, a queen during the Old Kingdom. In this room, we saw her bed/headrest, which was made of wood covered in 24k gold. There was silver jewelry as well. Silver was more rare/precious during ancient times than gold and was probably imported from the area now known as Iran. The room also contained a statue of Hetepheres’ son, Khufu. This ivory statue, at a height of 7.5 cm, was the smallest statue found. It was found in Abydos City even though Khufu built the Great Pyramid. This statue, which contains hieroglyphics, is the only statue we have found of this Pharaoh. Additionally, we saw Hetepheres’ organs inside an alabaster box (this is before the time when organs were placed in jars during mummification).

Queen Hetepheres (wikipedia)

Rahotep/Nofret (Wikipedia)

We then saw a magnificent painted limestone statues of Rahotep and his wife Nofret. Rahotep was the high priest of Heliopolis during the Old Kingdom. It is interesting to notice that Rahotep has a mustache and while Nofret is wearing a headdress, you can see her original hair color underneath, which was the fashion at the time. The eyes of the statues are made of crystals.

At this point of the tour, we left the Old Kingdom area of the Museum and entered the Middle Kingdom area. We first learned about Mentuhotep II, a pharaoh during the 11th dynasty and the first pharaoh of the age of the Middle Kingdom. He unified Upper and Lower Egypt for the second time and founded the second capital of Egypt. We saw a sandstone statue with the crown of Lower Egypt and since Egypt was unified, archeologists are still looking for 2 more statues containing the crown of Upper Egypt and containing both crowns.

We then saw some of the 2000 sphinxes that have been found in Egypt. These sphinxes belonged to Amenhotep III (I think, my notes are hard to read) and were 100% lion except their heads. These sphinxes also have the name of Ramses II, who ruled later in history. He stole the sphinxes by adding his name to punish non-Egyptian rulers. By adding his name, he would be confusing the gods who wouldn’t know who to let enter the 2nd life. Ramses was killing the other King’s spirit by changing the names on monuments.

Tutmoses III (wikipedia)

The next statue was out of the ordinary for ancient times and was very interesting. It was a statue of King Tutmoses III, who ruled Egypt for 54 years and created the largest Egyptian empire up to that point. This statue was different because it depicted a royal person on his knees offering a sacrifice. He was offering a sacrifice because he didn’t believe he was a god as previous kings thought.

Did you think that Benz in Germany made the first car? Maybe not. Sure the Egyptians had animal driven, 2-wheeled chariots, but archeologists found a 3,200 year-old toy car, with 4-wheels, that was probably driven by animals.

We then went upstairs and visited the monuments of the most famous Egyptian king, King Tutankhamen. These monuments were discovered by Howard Carter at the Valley of the Kings (who has a controversial history according to Egyptians) in 1922. During his time, King Tut was not seen as important since he really didn’t do much of significance since he died young at ~19 years old, however, he became famous when his tomb was found almost perfectly intact, something never seen before. There were ~3,000 artifacts found in his tomb, many taken by Howard Carter and returned to Egypt by his family. We first saw multiple gold-plated boxes that were originally placed within each other to protect King Tut’s Mummy. We then went into the main exhibit room of King Tut where we saw pieces of gold foil that were on the chest of the mummy, 15 gold rings found on the mummy, bracelets with the eye of Horus, 2 daggers found above the mummy’s abdomen, 5 gold sheets of vultures, 4 mini anthropoid coffins, and the most famous artifact, Tut’s Mask. Without it’s historical value, the 11kg gold mask is worth $2.5 billion. We also saw his 2nd and 3rd coffins (the other one is on the road) and gold military chariots (which were never used for war—since he never went to war).

King Tut (wikipedia)

Afterwards, we saw the oldest birth control in human history (made of linen). There were also linen underwear and gloves found. We saw Tut’s small bed (supported by lion figures), a mattress made of papyrus and covered with gold, a travel bed with hinges for storage that is ~3,340 years old, and an umbrella.

We then went into the Manuscript and writing samples room where we saw a 2,000-year-old political cartoon depicting animals in a “Cat and Mouse/Tom and Jerry” scene. The moral of the cartoon was that people should be careful of the people surrounding and helping them are because they may not be honest and are waiting for the right moment to pounce and attack.

After seeing most of the main part of the Museum, a bunch of us decided to pay extra money to enter the Royal Mummies exhibit. With our student cards, it cost us 60 pounds (~10 dollars) to see a bunch of actual mummies. It was worth every dollar and how could I go all the way to Egypt and not see the mummies! Once again, pictures were not allowed. I’m just going to list the mummies I saw below:

• King Seqenenre Taa II—died at ~40 years old—17th Dynasty
• Queen Ahmose-Meritamun
• King Amenhotep I
• King Tutmoses I (they aren’t 100% sure because his arms aren’t crossed over his chest, which is a sign of royalty)
• King Tutmoses II—died at ~30 years old—pharaoh for 14 years
• Queen Hatshepsut (I saw her temple earlier in the trip—had botanical garden)—died between 45/60 years old.
• King Tutmoses III—1.7 m tall—ruled for 55 years—died in 60s
• King Ramses II (saw him everywhere)—ruled for 67 years, still had yellow hair present (yellowed during mummification)—had severe arthritis and dental problems
• King Seti—Son and Successor of Ramses I—pharaoh for 13 years—died at 40 years old
• King Tutmoses IV—died at 30 years old, fingernails were well-kept
• King Amentotep II—died @ 45 years old—tallest New Kingdom pharaoh @ 1.83 m tall—was a warrior/sportsman
• King Merenpten—15th son of Ramses II—died @ 60 years old—had dental problems
• Skeleton of King Atuhenaton (Valley of the Kings)
• Queen Tiye—found in tomb of Amenhotep II at the Valley of the Kings
• King Akhenaten’s Wife/Mother of King Tut
• Queen Nesikhorus
• Queen Muatkare with pet baboon—archeologists originally thought the baboon was a child but x-rays showed a baboon.
• Prince Djedptahiufanks—royal son/priest of god Amun—died young
• King Ramses III—successfully repelled invasion of Egypt—died in 60s—may have been poisoned
• King Ramses IV—king for 6 years—died at 50
• King Ramses V—ruled for less than 5 years—died in early 30s—had smallpox and enlarged scrotum (could have meant he had a hernia)
• King Ramses IX—ruled for 19 years
• Queen Isetankheb—had dental decay
• Queen Nojunt
• Queen Herehaus

After seeing the mummies at the end of our free time in the museum, I bought some stamps at the post office and returned to our group. We traveled through downtown Cairo (there was a lot of traffic—but it was quiet for a Monday) and visited the Khan el Khalili Bazaar, Cairo’s premier bazzar. We had a buffet lunch near the market and then went directly to the market. There were lots of chockee places and jewelry stores. The people weren’t as aggressive as the vendors in Luxor, which was nice. I got some more souvenirs (haggled for the final time in Egypt) and walked around with a bunch of people. We then returned to our hotel in Giza. We then had ~45 minutes to change for our going away party at a nearby restaurant. The party was a nice ending to our trip and we had a buffet meal and cake. We met the people behind the scenes at the tour company who made our trip possible. We also thanked our tour guide Zach profusely—everybody really loved him. Afterwards, we got back on the bus and went back to the hotel to pack for our 11.5-hour trip back to New York.

The end of the trip is here—come back tomorrow for final reflections! Enjoy!

Another Day, Another City: Alexandria

Sunday: December 19, 2010

After a few hours of much needed sleep, we got back on the road and traveled northwest to the second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria. The trip from Cairo to Alexandria took approximately 3 hours. We took one major highway, the Cairo-Alexandria-Matrouh Free Highway/Desert Road, to get to the city on the Mediterranean. It was cool to look out the window at this highway because many sections of it were under reconstruction or widening. Professor Ghaly said that the road is constantly being expanded to accommodate the growing population. In order to do this, many buildings were removed to expand the road’s right-of-way, something that is much harder to do in the United States. The road once went through a desert, but now the route is very developed. Just outside Cairo is an area called the Smart Village, which is designed after Silicon Valley in the United States. Tenants of the Smart Village include Microsoft, Oracle, HP, IBM, and Intel to name a few. It costs less for these American companies to have their Research and Development in Egypt because software engineers are paid less in Egypt than in the United States.

On our way to Alexandria, we stopped at a Zoo (it might have been called the “Lion Zoo,” but I can’t remember for sure) on the side of the highway. We saw Lions, ducks, ostriches, dogs, and monkeys. Yes, there were tons of dogs there…and it was pretty sad seeing all those pups in cages (at least they weren’t in Mike Vick-styled cages). There were Dalmatians, black labs, Greyhounds, and St. Bernards—all purebreds. Apparently, dogs aren’t house pets here like they are in the states—either way, many of us felt bad for those pups.

Once we arrived in Alexandria, Professor Ghaly’s hometown, he gave us a bus tour of some interesting sites of the city as we drove to our destination. It was the capital of Egypt for almost 1000 years until 642 AC. We saw Ghaly’s first construction sites and the buildings he supervised the concrete production of (his first love). He also pointed out where his house is. We also were told that archeologists discovered the entrance of Queen Cleopatra’s temple underwater. We passed Alexandria University, which has ~300,000 students on various campuses.
As we drove around Alexandria, it was very noticeable that it is a different type of city when compared to Cairo. The air and streets are cleaner in Alexandria and people follow traffic regulations—similar to Aswan and Luxor. The taxes in Alexandria are much higher than in other areas of Egypt and the real estate prices are also very high. There are high-rises on the shoreline since that is the only way for builders to make a profit. Hurghada and Sharm were also clean and had organized traffic flows but Hurghada is ½ tourist and ½ locals and Sharm is 99% resorts (there are more than 600 of them). The dirtiest areas around Alexandria are the oil refineries that smell like sulfur, but you can’t smell them from the city.

The road that follows the Mediterranean through the city (the Sea Road—46km long) was only 4 lanes wide (2 in each direction) when Professor Ghaly was a kid. Today it spans 8 lanes from reclaimed land from the sea. To protect against erosion, there are interlocking concrete blocks at the shoreline. Dulles (concrete pieces that look like jacks) also protects the shore. Additionally, the Mediterranean is 50 cm higher than it was 50 years ago due to rising sea levels. Many beaches no longer exist or are much smaller than they once were (there are 3 Miami beaches). This is occurring because of the dumping of wastewater and the reclamation of land in addition to global warming.

Our first stop in Alexandria was the Botanical Garden. We walked around the water. While it was a large place, it wasn’t anything like the Aswan Botanical Gardens. We also saw a King’s palace while there. Afterwards, we traveled a few minutes to a Roman Amphitheatre, which was actually not a place of entertainment in its heyday. It was one of ~1000 in Alexandria and is very small. It was cool to stand in the middle of it because when you speak from this spot, your voice gets louder—amazing technology and engineering. Unfortunately, it is the last remaining amphitheatre as ~1000 have been lost to time. There were also many artifacts around the site that were found under water. Apparently people can take scuba trips to artifacts that are still under water. Excavation continues under the sea to find the lost city of Alexandria.

Our second stop was the Kom El-Shuqafa (Mound of Shards) Monuments, an open-air museum and one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages. We entered “Catacomb” (a Greek word), the Main Tomb. A catacomb is an underground burial area where families would stay with the dead at night so that they were not alone. We went down a deep shaft of 2 levels, ~27 m down, to see the burial rooms. This was an interesting place because it showed a combination of Greek and Egyptian styles. There were traditional Egyptian sun disks and Horus Falcons, historically Egyptian symbols while there were Medusas and Greek Horses, Greek symbols. There were also carvings of Anubis (Egyptian) with Greek military dress. There were also snakes with the head of Anubis. 300 people were buried in this tomb. Additionally, there is an unfinished tomb of an important person, but they don’t know who it was. After leaving the tomb, we saw another tomb, the Tigram Tomb that contained painted diagrams. It wasn’t Tigram’s tomb and is only named after him because the tomb was discovered on Tigram Street.

At this point it was around 3pm and we went for a late lunch at Professor Ghaly’s favorite restaurant. I had chicken and French fries with really good pita bread. It was nice eating with a view of the Mediterranean. Afterwards, we visited the outside of the Citadel of Alexandria, which was also right on the Sea. Across the street, Professor Ghaly took us to his favorite ice cream shop. I got a chocolate and vanilla cone, but it was different than ice cream in the states (I think it was more water-based) and it was very good.

The highlight of the day was most definitely the Library of Alexandria. Built in 2002, it was constructed in the memory of the ancient library that was lost to time. The library has 11 levels and is very impressive. It is built in a bathtub (like the World Trade Center) because some of the building is built below sea level. The façade of the building is made up of granite stones with letters from 1000 different languages to symbolize the meeting of the various people of the world. It is considered a modern wonder of Egypt. There are multiple libraries and museums within the library. There was an area overlooking the entire library designed for tourists so that we wouldn’t disturb the people studying there. The windows in the main room of the building look like eyes since they don’t let the sun’s rays directly into the room and also have eyelashes to control how much light comes in. There are also many fire curtains to prevent a fire from spreading to other parts of the library. We also went downstairs (below street level) and saw the modern art museum. (SEE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotheca_Alexandrina for photos).

At around 7pm, we drove back to Cairo and returned to our hotel. Tomorrow, believe it or not, is my final full day in Egypt. We will be going to the Egyptian Museum and a bazaar to finish up the trip.

Mailbag
Little Chief Tunis: During your tour of the military museum, was any mention made by the tour guide that the Israelis were attacked on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year? No. None, just the date was mentioned. Did the guide refer to the conflict as the Ramadan War? No, but that was also going on. Was any post-war context provided, i.e. Camp David Peace Accord entered into by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter? Only Sadat was mentioned in this. Any comment on modern-day relations between the two countries or was his explanation of the etiology of the design of the Israeli flag emblematic of current thinking? None.

Far From One Gustave L. Levy Place

Saturday: December 18, 2010

“Cairo has never looked so good.”

—Melanie Watman as we entered Cairo this evening.

Today was a long day. It started at 1:15am when I received a wake up call and had to get to the bus by 1:45am. I think I slept for an hour—in my jeans and a hooded sweatshirt (I had the hood up the entire time). I couldn’t sleep because of the mosquitoes flying around my head and making a buzzing noise in my ears. Apparently there was a repellent in the room, but Mike and I didn’t realize it. Even with my hood up, I got three bites on my face (Melanie’s room also had the same problem—and she got bites on her face, legs, and back).

Why did we wake up so early? We woke up soon after going to sleep to climb Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise at 5:50am at the mountain’s peak. With flashlights in hand and wearing many layers of warm clothes (it was pretty cold at the beginning of the night as well as at the top of the mountain), we were led up the mountain by a Bedouin (pronounced: Bedwin), a type of person who lives in the desert. This man is employed by the Egyptian government to lead groups to the top of Mt. Sinai in order to give them job opportunities and ensure that touring companies don’t take advantage of visitors.

The group was moving up the mountain in the dark at a pretty swift pace. Melanie and I decided to take it easy up the mountain (we each have a history of knee problems). As we climbed the mountain, there were dozens of people offering camel rides up the mountain. A good number of non-Union people paid at least 80 pounds for this service but personally I would have been scared to ride a camel in the dark up steep slopes. There were rest stops along the path with drinks and candy, but I didn’t buy anything. After a quick rest stop here and there (anything longer than 5 minutes would have caused our body temperatures to drop), we continued on to the top of the mountain. I often looked up at the stars and I’ve never seen them so bright—it’s too bad the camera couldn’t capture these images. The ground was pretty rocky and I often was looking down so I wouldn’t trip or step in camel dung.

At the 2/3 mark, we had to climb ~750 steps to get to the top of Mt. Sinai. Even with our moderate pace, we caught up with the rest of the Union group and arrived at the top at 5:30am. I didn’t see any tablets, nor did I see Moses. Many aren’t sure of the exact location of Mt. Sinai, but this spot was chosen after it was geolocated using texts and historical background (not truly hard evidence). We spent 45-50 minutes at the top of the mountain to watch the sun rise. After hot days in Sharm, I quickly found myself shivering while wearing 4 layers, two hoods, and winter gloves. Check out this video below!

After watching the sun peak through the clouds and avoiding the numerous vendors, we descended the mountain and got to the bottom around 9am.

The Union group met at the entrance of St. Catherine’s Monastery where we then entered as a group. Interestingly, St. Catherine herself had problems with the ruler of Alexandra regarding religion among other things and was beheaded. Later, a monk saw St. Catherine’s angel and was instructed to bury her in its present location. There are many churches in the area, including one on the top of Mt. Sinai. During the 3rd/4th centuries, the Bedouins living in the area would attack the monastery for food and water and killed monks while doing so. In order to protect themselves, they built walls around the monastery for protection, similar to the walls that surround castles. The wells in the monastery apparently were used during the time of Moses, according to Zach. The monastery is also home to the burning bush. This brush is thought of to be the actual burning bush that is mentioned in the Old Testament because this location has been passed on from generation to generation, pieces of papyrus say this is the correct location, it was there in 642 AD when the Arabs came to Egypt, and pure faith.

After spending time admiring the burning bush, we returned to our hotel, had breakfast, and got back on the road to head back to Cairo. On our way back to the capital city of Egypt, we made three stops. The first stop was a Moses Water Spring, a well-type structure near the Suez Canal made from stones of the Roman time.

The second stop was an open-air Egyptian military museum depicting the events of the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel. This site was 3.5 km from Moses Springs. Professor Ghaly was the translator for the special military guide who showed us around the site. He prefaced his translating by saying this is the Egyptian side and there might not be agreement. Before 1973, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula and in 1973, Egypt regained control. We saw an Israeli-built shelter made from reinforced concrete and baskets with stones to absorb cannon ball hits that housed 6-inch caliber cannons. The guide explained that the shelter contains an Israeli flag—and that the 6-pointed star represents the 6 countries Israel wanted to conquer, the top blue strip represents the Nile River, and the bottom blue stripe represents the Tigris/ Euphrates Rivers. I’m not sure that I agree with this explanation being that the Israeli flag was designed in the 1800s, long before the creation of Israel in 1948, but I heard what the military personnel had to say.

We then left the museum and continued our ride back to Cairo. In order to move from Asia to Africa, we took a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal. Unlike tunnels in the New York City area (that were bored from hard rock), the Suez tunnel went through soft sand and needed reinforcement. It is located 10 meters below the canal and is ~4km long. There is a toll to use this tunnel—5 pounds (less than $1) for cars and 10 pounds for buses. After another hour in the bus, we arrived in Cairo and had dinner at a local restaurant where I had chicken and French fries. Next, we checked into our hotel, the Mercure, which was the first hotel we stayed in while in Egypt—we’ve come full circle. Moving around the country has been very exciting, though it is nice to return to where we started three weeks ago. After a night in a hotel like last night, Cairo was a sight for tired and weary eyes.

Tomorrow we take a long bus ride north to Alexandria for a day trip and return to Cairo in the evening. Any questions!? Ask! I’ll answer them! Thanks for reading!

**One Gustave L. Levy Place is the location of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City**

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee…Mohammed Ali of Egypt

Writing from an Egyptian sleeper train is harder than I thought it would be. I’m currently in car number 2, cabin 10 traveling overnight to Aswan in Southern Egypt. I guess I over estimated what the sleeper train was going to be like since I pictured large cabins and regular sized beds. There isn’t Internet on the train, so I’m writing as if you are reading it the day of!

Anyway, we hopped onboard the 8pm train from Giza Station. Giza Station reminded me of Jamaica station on the Long Island Rail Road in New York. There were only two tracks but the metro was above the commuter tracks using an elevated concrete structure similar to the one used for the AirTrain to Jamaica. Once on the train, we were soon greeted by a train conductor (or attendant, I’m not quite sure what to call the gentleman).

He gave us dinner (presented in a similar style to the airplane food) made up of rice, chicken, fish, cole slaw, a piece of bread, an orange, and a chocolate éclair-type desert. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if my stomach could handle the chicken yet even though it has gotten somewhat better throughout the day so I had some rice, the bread, and the desert. After we finished dinner, the conductor picked up our trays and set the beds up in the cabins. The seats fold down and a bed comes off the wall for the lower bunk while the upper bunk comes out of the wall. I just hope I can get some sleep tonight on the train but the train shakes back and forth when we get to track that splits in multiple directions In fact, I’m having problems typing as my computer shakes from side to side in my lap.

Earlier today, however, we visited many religious sites in and outside of Cairo. On our way to the Citadel, we could see from our tour bus the City of the Dead. This is an area where there are many mausoleums and in recent years it has been renamed the City of the Dead and Living since people who have immigrated to Egypt have had problems finding homes and therefore use the aboveground monuments at this area. This is a dangerous place to live because this area is at the bottom of a mountain where rocks have collapsed.

We then traveled to the Cairo Citadel, a fort the highest point to protect from Crusadors around 1100-1300 AD. At the Citadel, we saw the al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque that was built in 1335 during the Mamluk period and is of Islamic architecture. This mosque was an open-air facility and we had to take off our shoes. There were many doors (that have since been closed off) for easy escape for fighters who could have been in the mosque as an attack was occurring. This was important because many wars were going on and was considered the “Bloody Time.”

We also saw the Mohammed Ali Mosque (no relation to the boxer) who reigned over Egypt from 1805 to 1848. Mohammed Ali’s mosque was once the most beautiful mosque because of its marble construction, though like most stones in Egypt, they were stolen and recycled. Mosques in general were domed because microphones didn’t exist and they helped control temperature. Many people didn’t understand or like Mohammed Ali since he wanted to modernize Egypt. In fact, people would cut off their fingers to avoid having to join the military. Since there weren’t any women in the military, there wasn’t a place for women to pray. Apparently the Mamluks were causing trouble so Mohammed Ali invited 300 of the most important Mamluks to a party and instead of showing them a good time, he showed them death by shooting them.

We had a buffet lunch on a boat that stays on shore, though my stomach was really hurting me. Lets just say I had some bread, but didn’t eat anything else…I hope this goes away soon…damn, probiotics guy in Port Chester…you were right. I hope this only happens once.

We also visited Old Cairo. We got off our bus in front of a metro station. Cairo has 2 metro lines and is planning on building two more lines. Apparently the metro is pretty nice, though Zach, our tour guide didn’t suggest I get on board a train…too bad. We then visited a Coptic Church. 80% of Christians in Egypt are Coptic. It was made of wood treated with poison to protect against rot. Professor Ghaly, who was a Sunday school teacher, told us about the story of Passover and the plagues that god brought to Egypt. We also went to Ben Ezra Synagogue, the most-visited Jewish site in Cairo, and saw a converted Coptic Church turned Synagogue. This was pretty cool being in temple on a Saturday afternoon, even though I was in Egypt.

Another great and busy day in the Cairo area. Once I get off this bouncy sleeper train, I’ll be in Aswan in southern Egypt. I hear it is a whole different place…but I really need some sleep! Sorry about the lack of pictures, I’m way too nauseous to do that right now! Till next time!

MAIL BAG! (Keep them coming!)
Comments and Questions:

Ian: Thanks! It’s getting better, but I guess I need to be careful over the next few days.

Dad: We left Cairo before the second round of elections but it is noticeable around the city. You can’t go anywhere without seeing an election poster, sign, or banner—all in color with the candidate’s photo. I haven’t seen a fire station or truck yet. There are various types of police: Tourism, Antiquities, Irrigation, Traffic and the Military (a bunch of guys in Cuban-colored getups all got off the train at Giza Station.

Taxes are a major concern of Egyptians. They try to avoid it at any cost. Many of the buildings in Cairo are not finished because old tax law said that property tax was not applicable on unfinished buildings. So 3 floors are finished and the 4^th is just an open roof. I have pictures of this that I will put up at some point. I have no idea what the political parties are here…I want to read the paper everyday but they seem hard to find for the average tourist, nor do I have time.

Jeremy: Chicken from the bone; I wish they had chicken nuggets.

Aunt Mindy: Thanks for reading! Water: don’t drink it, only bottled water. The irrigation canal is also really nasty. No drought in Egypt right now, they are in a good situation with the Aswan Dam. It is however, the low water season in the Nile right now. The high season is from June to August.

I’ve seen little horses, donkeys, water buffalo, and crocodiles.

I have no idea where the girls are…but…there are women, albeit less, peddling goods. I’ll investigate further in the coming days. I haven’t seen them at restaurants at all come to think about it. The housekeeping staff in the Cairo hotel was comprised of men too.

I’m buying local, handmade crafts…or so they say.

Education…I haven’t seen a school yet, but we’ve discussed it while seeing children on the streets. Egypt has a public school system free to all children. Most however, don’t make it past 6^th grade because they need to help their family economically. The public school system in Cairo isn’t great because there are between 60 and 70 students in one classroom. There are also private schools—both international and Egyptian ranging in price from 3,000 Pounds ($600 USD) to 30,000 Pounds ($5,000 USD). International schools are around $7-8,000 USD a year. Government Universities are free-Cairo University and Heliopolis University to name a few. There are also international private universities. Our tour guide, Zach, went to Cairo University where he studied archeology and Helwan University where he received his degree in tourism and hotel management. The kids should be in school…but it seems like they can do whatever they want whenever they want for a quick pound.

"Long distance information give me Memphis"...Egypt

Today I went to Memphis and didn’t learn anything about Elvis Presley. Why, you may ask? Instead of being in the American city in Tennessee, I went to Memphis, Egypt, the site of the first capital of Egypt. Memphis (Mn-nfr) literally means “Beautiful monument” and was the capital for 700 years, though it was totally destroyed during the Persian Occupation in 900 BC and under Arab rule when they recycled stones in 642 AD.

Memphis is the ancient capital of Egypt and at one time was considered “the most important city” in the world. While the countryside is beautiful, the irrigation canal is pretty disgusting. Not only is there garbage lining each side of the canal, the floodwalls (I’m not sure that they are designed to be floodwalls or levees, but they somewhat look like them) are falling apart in many sections.

There are two types of canals in Egypt- the high level dam is for irrigation for crops and the low level dam is for runoff (which has a much higher salt content). These dams run solely on gravity (though some farmers have pumps to get extra water from crops). The farmers that have pumps deny farmers downstream of the same water quantity. Since water is a precious commodity in Egypt, the irrigation police monitor water supply to ensure that all farmers have a fair share of the water supply. There are 9 countries that share the water of the Nile River and there are regional agreements—though Egypt does get the majority of the water supply since it is based on historical rainfall. Even though I’m talking about water and rainfall, it was once again very nice here today—the day started off overcast but it eventually burnt off and was a warm and sunny day.

Melanie and King Ramses II sitting
in an open-aired museum...

Our first stop of the day was the Memphis Open Air Museum. The area was filled with various artifacts from the Memphis area since any pieces found are property of the Egyptian government. If artifacts are found on a person’s property, the government has the right to relocate your house. Among the many small pieces that had great details in the stone, there were two statues of King Ramses II. He had ~50 wives, ~200 children, and ruled for 67 years. The indoor statue was huge and was made entirely of limestone. Additionally, I bought a handmade carpet/tapestry from a merchant with Randy Miller. The merchant was originally asking 350 pounds for it, but we got him down to 100 pounds and a free bag.

Step Pyramid Under Renovation

From the Open Air Museum, we traveled to Saqqara, the home of the oldest pyramid. At Saqqara, we watched a movie narrated by Omar Shariff about the area and the pyramid. The Imhotep Museum was very cool since it showed old columns, arches, and artifacts. There were also mummies in the museum in humidity-controlled cases. It is amazing to see artifacts made around ~2500 B.C. when we are in 2010 A.C. We then drove up to the Step Pyramid of Djoser where we first entered a funerary area, which led us to the pyramid complex. It was considered to be a stairway to heaven. It turns out that the Egyptian Government is restoring the pyramid (as you can see in the picture). This restoration is very necessary in order to avoid a collapse of the structure. I’m curious how the final outcome of this restoration looks.

We then went to the Mereruka Tomb where we saw hieroglyphics stenciled into the stones of the walls. Each set of symbols represents a story and is read depending on the story. These symbols were once totally in color, but they have faded badly. The color was done by grinding up stones and mixing it in egg whites to create ink. Next to the tomb was King Titi’s Pyramid. I went down into the pyramid and it was interesting to see so many hieroglyphics and King Titi’s sarcophagus (but no Mummy).

There were various vendors around these sites peddling their goods, but I told them no and didn’t allow anybody to put anything in my hands unwillingly. Woo!

One of many carpet schools on
the road to the Step Pyramid

Before heading to lunch, our group stopped at a carpet school. The one we visited was one of many schools along the road leading to the step pyramid complex. It was a very nice facility where the guide told us that school children are taken off the street (and away from drugs and crime) and are taught how to make silk and wool carpets. The children (elementary and middle school aged) showed us how to make these carpets, and while they move at a nice pace, it takes many months and sometimes years (depending on the detail) to finish a carpet. The school also had a large showroom, but I didn’t purchase any carpets.

Lunch was very unique in that it was an open-air restaurant. The restaurant was buffet-barbeque and the tables were set up under a large pavilion. Guess what I had for lunch, yes, chicken—my stomach has been hurting me all day—and I think my good luck streak in the bathroom department has finally ended. Hurts…literally.

After going back to the hotel after our late lunch, I relaxed and checked emails. We then headed out to the Great Pyramid complex to see the Sounds and Lights Show of the Pyramids. The show was very cool since it lit up each pyramid as it told the story of the Great Pyramids. The music and narration was not as exciting, but the laser show was very impressive.

Tonight is the final night at our hotel in Cairo as we travel via sleeper train to Aswan tomorrow evening. I’m not sure what the Internet is going be like the next few days, but I’ll continue writing—internet or no internet—and I’ll post the entries when I have available WiFi.

FYI: I had pizza in the hotel plaza area...not chicken...:)

Have any questions? I’ll answer anything! Talk to you soon! Thanks for reading!

Let’s (Not) Make a Deal

**Note: The Camera died so limited pictures tonight, I'll post more tomorrow!**


This trip is my first time in a non-western country and I quickly learned how different Egypt truly is. Day 2’s sites included the Giza Pyramids, the valley temple, the great Sphinx, and a papyrus “museum.” Sure these are different structures than what we see in the United States, but we learned a lot about the commerce and culture of Egypt…pretty frustrating at times.


We started our day at the Giza Pyramids and they were remarkable. You often see the Great Pyramids in pictures and movies (Rugrats Passover, anybody?) but they don’t do it justice. They are the only remaining ancient wonders still in existence. I don’t think I can accurately describe the scale of the pyramids, so Melanie recorded a video of me!

Seems related during this trip?

So, some quick facts about the video in case I missed anything: It was taken in front of the Pyramid of King Kiops. The pyramid is made of stone from the other side of the Nile River. The structure wasn’t always jagged; it was covered in smooth limestone. How did they get the limestone across the river (apparently not Rugrats Passover)? The 3 Million blocks of limestone were transported via big boats and ~100,000 workers during a three month period when the Nile flooded. At the pyramid complex, 20,000 workers built the actual pyramids. And no, they weren’t slaves since the workers worshiped the kings and believed by doing a good thing for them, they would have a better chance of being in paradise in the second life. There are three pyramids at this site for the father, son, and grandson (L’ Dor va Dor?).

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any mummies or artifacts at the complex because there aren’t any that were preserved. Tomb robbers stole the artifacts and the smooth limestone. Additionally, the mummies were stolen in order to boil them to make medicine and antibiotics.

We then drove up to a small market area where we took a bunch of pictures (we’ve taken so many group pictures that Professor Ghaly’s often-used expression, “10 Seconds” as he runs back to get into the group photo is our group’s name). A guy at one of the market tables told Mike Jacobson that his Roslyn (NY) High School football hat was good luck and he wanted to trade his head covering for Mike’s hat. In fact, the guy took Mike’s hat off his head…but Mike took it back from him. I went to a different guy to look at the goods he was selling and immediately put stuff in my hands. I hondled with him for a while as we disagreed on prices. Every time I said I had to think about it, he added more stuff to the deal. I wound up getting 13 things for about ~$7 USD, so I was pretty content with that.

Look mom! No Hands!

After bartering, many people in the group took camel rides to Menkaure’s Pyramid. Instead of dealing with the camel guides and getting ripped off like no other, Professor Ghaly made deals for us. I thought the camel was going to smell worse than it did, but luckily my camel (who I named Jed Bartlett) didn’t smell too bad, though the people behind me told me that Jed was peeing most of the time (nice). Tips to riding a camel, lean back and hold tight when going downhill. It's high up, but pretty fun...however, I don't need to do it again I think.

On my way into Menkaure’s Pyramid, another guy selling more stuff stopped me and asked me where I was from and my name. Giving both of these answers, he then told me he had lived in various US cities (he named nearly every major US city) and in Canada. He proved his “Canadian” stay by showing me his hat from a Canadian construction company. At this point I finally realized why that other man wanted a hat from North America—as a selling point to buy stuff from him. He then “gave” me an Egyptian headdress as a gift because he had also been in New York at some point. I repeatedly told him I didn’t want it but he loved Obama and told me to have it.

We couldn’t take bags into the pyramid so I left my stuff with our tour guide. The pyramid was kinda cool, but there wasn’t anything it—just empty spaces where things would have been. The lights went off for a minute so that wasn’t nice, but it was an experience to go into a real pyramid. This was not included in the tour price and cost 15 pounds (~$2.50 USD). Knowing that the man was going to ask for me to take his goods and buy them, I separated my money—5 pounds ($0.83 USD) in one pocket and the bigger bills in the other. When he asked me for money, I told him I only had 5 pounds and quickly asked for the stuff back—and I gave it back with pleasure. My plan had worked! I already exchanged my 100 pound (~$16.60 USD) notes for 20 (~$3.30 USD) pound notes, so I’ll be continuing this plan for the next three weeks. Melanie has a story of her own, so be sure to check out her blog on the right hand side (melwatinegypt.blogspot.com).

The people in Egypt are so aggressive in selling stuff—postcards, statues, media cards, head coverings, anything and everything really. I only saw males of all ages (~5yrs old to ~70s) selling stuff in the tourist areas. It got very irritating dealing with the people, they were so pushy! Pops (my grandpa) would really get a kick out of these people after selling used cars for so many years. And I thought used car dealers and lawyers (happy birthday Dad) were corrupt.

Anyway, we then traveled to the Mummification Temple and the Sphinx. I picked the Sphinx’s nose but there were so many Egyptian kids there on a field trip! It was a madhouse unfortunately. We then headed to lunch and had decent chicken with some French fries. This was my first experience with tipping the guy at the bathroom door for a piece of paper towel (though Professor Ghaly paid the guy for everybody).

We then traveled to the Papyrus “Museum” which was really a store selling papyrus artwork. We learned how to spot counterfeit papyrus—real papyrus can roll up without breaking and the vertical lines crisscross with the horizontal lines. I didn’t buy anything but I helped Melanie deal with the merchant (she got a major discount on the calendar papyrus she bought and the guy also threw in 2 smaller pieces for free). Check out the pictures of these on her blog!

Dinner was similar to lunch and once again I had chicken and French fries…nothing special, again.

So today was filled with culture shock, price shock, and chaos but all in all it was a beautiful sunny day in Cairo-- 23 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow we head to Memphis, the first capital of Egypt, and Saqqara, the home of the Step Pyramid.

Pyramid in the palm of my hand!

Quick Notes:

Good ol 57 varieties

• There is no Arabic word for “Ketchup.”
• People say “Good Morning” until 5pm. Instead of “Good Afternoon,” Egyptians only say “Good Evening.”
• Happy 2^nd Night of Chanukah (lit more candles!)!
• The traffic on the roads is crazy as I described yesterday, but the infrastructure is amazing. The girder bridges are all concrete—no rusting! The road is asphalt and is often repaved overnight due to the constant abuse it gets.
• Happy Birthday Dad! (Melanie, Professor Ghaly, and I all sang happy birthday at 12-midnight Cairo time—5pm EST)

Mom’s Question Corner

Pizza Hur

Mom—You can come to Egypt; they have a Pizza Hut! Still looking for Friendly’s…

How is the Mama and the professor? Is it fun being with them? --They are great and it is nice to have Prof’s Ghaly’s Mom around.

Food okay, or should we have listened to steroid man and gotten the million dollar probiotics?  --So far (poo-poo), so good (knock on wood). Melanie might be sick…oy…

Well I guess I should see a patient, although e-mailing you is more fun.—Enjoy!

See you tomorrow on the blog!

Hello Egypt!

Good early morning from Cairo, Egypt (Dec 2)! After approximately 11 ½ hours, 9230 km (5735 miles), and a 22 degree F change in temperature (55 F to 77 F), I, along with 41 other Union Dutch(wo)men as well as Union Engineering Professor Ashraf Ghaly, have made it to Egypt for the 2010 Union College Egypt Mini Term.

After arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport at 3pm EST (and stopping before hand to get one last NY delicacy—a pastrami and corned beef sandwich on Rye from Woodrow Kosher Deli), I boarded the EgyptAir Boeing 777 “A HUGE IRONBIRD” for the 6:30pm direct flight to Cairo (flight# 986 MS). My original seat was 26H, an aisle seat near the front of the plane, however, Melanie found me and told me there were unoccupied rows in the back of the aircraft. Melanie and I had the entire middle section of row 52. This allowed us space to relax during the flight, which was really great. I had the aisle seat, 52G. Of course, JFK airport didn’t disappoint; we waited on the tarmac (which is a misnomer, runways are made of concrete—not tar or macadam pavement, but that’s for another Professor Ghaly class) for a good hour before taking off at 7:34pm EST.

I have to say, I was more than a tad nervous about the takeoff from JFK. I had never been on an airplane so big before and it was pretty intimidating looking at it from the gate. And yes, Mom, that same plane flew over the Subway Sub Shop—it was the only EgyptAir aircraft I could see and it arrived soon after you observed it flying over Queens. I was somewhat relieved to find a personal screen on the back of each seat to watch movies and tv shows and play games while on the airplane. I distracted myself during the takeoff (which happened to be very smooth) by watching on of my favorite shows—“How I Met Your Mother.”

Cairo Airport and the construction
in the New Cairo area

I passed the time by reading Moneyball on my new Kindle I got for Chanukah from Melanie, watching Inception, playing Solitaire, and taking Dramamine to fall asleep (which really didn’t work-I probably only slept for an hour). We finally reached Cairo at 1:17pm local time (6:17am EST). The Cairo Airport Company was pretty quiet, but it took time to get a visa to put in our Passports. It is a sticker that costs ~$15 USD and is very cool looking. I ate two meals on the plane: chicken for dinner (decent) and apple pancakes for breakfast (pretty good). Better than I expected for airplane food.

My porch 

My hotel room in Cairo! 

“December?” I asked myself as I left the terminal. It was hot and hazy—typical for the desert. The airport apparently is located in the “New Cairo” section of they city. It was originally planned to serve a poor population, however, it has become more of a higher-class suburban area. There is construction in every direction you look—it is really amazing how many cranes, bulldozers, and lifts there are. Buildings in Egypt are mostly made out of concrete (no wonder Professor Ghaly loves concrete) because there isn’t any forests to harvest lumber from so they use the abundant stone. I was very impressed by the new hotel under construction next to the airport; it is going to be huge.

After resting for a little at the hotel in Cairo (my room has a porch that leads out to a grassy area and the shower pressure is great!), our group went on a Nile River Dinner Cruise. It had belly dancing (not impressed) and tantric? dancing. The buffet (I had decent chicken and bad mashed potatoes—no Yukon Golds at all) was nothing special and I was pretty tired (it felt like morning even though it was night time). The most exciting part of the night was probably the ride back to the hotel when there was newly-weds in the car ahead of our bus. Professor Ghaly said they were doing something called “Zaffa.” This is a traditional Egyptian wedding celebration where the couple blocks the road to get people to notice them. Cars honk, flash their lights, and block the road in celebration of the new marriage.

The what I think was tantric dancing
during the Nile River Cruise

Some interesting things I’ve heard/noticed about Egypt:

According to Professor Ghaly, 80 Million people live in Egypt. 95% of the population lives in the Nile River Valley. Additionally, he says that the population increases by a million every eight months.

Gasoline is ~$1.50/gallon in Egypt (1.7 Egyptian pounds/liter), however, as we drove from the airport to the hotel, I saw plenty of Shell and OiLibia Stations but none of the signs displayed the prices. It turns out that the government subsidizes the prices—so all stations have the same priced fuel. 

There are few traffic lights in the city of Cairo. No roundabouts either. Instead they converted the 2-way streets to 1-way streets. Drivers seem to disregard the marked lanes (if any) as I have seen up to 3 cars in the width of one lane. Basically, it is utter chaos.

Melanie and I lit Chanukah candles with prayers and everything (gelt!). Probably we are two of the few people in Egypt to do that tonight. I guess a “Miracle Happened Sort Close to Here”?

Tomorrow I head to the Giza Pyramids and hopefully will ride a camel! I’ll write it here for all ya to read! Any questions? Feel free to ask and I’ll get back to you! Enjoy!