Church & Synagogue - Not

We were then taken to see the church built over where Joseph, Mary and Jesus supposedly lived while in Egypt followed by a local synagogue as well, but neither house of worship would let us take pictures. What I found far more interesting on this our last day was the plethora of satellite dishes atop even the poorest looking homes. You might also note the metal rods poking out of the top of all the buildings. We were told that if you are doing renovations or new building on your property, you are exempt from property taxes, so many, many, many homes, houses, buildings are intentionally left unfinished. Also these dishes that beam hundreds of channels from around the world cost only ~$80 U.S. A one time fee with no continuing cost like we have in America. The upside is that a broader worldview is entering Egyptian (and indeed Middle Eastern) homes on a daily basis, even those who are poorer and do not have access to quality education have t.v. The downside, I was told, is that over 300 of these channels are pornographic, thus giving the impression that Western society is decadent and corrupt. There is no understanding that we in the West do not have these channels on our television sets, nor do we watch them or allow our children to watch them. Their system is "pay once and get it all - good and bad". Ours is "pay monthly and only get what you pay for". But they don't know that...

The Mosque at the Citadel

The Mosque at the Citadel was commissioned by Muhammad Ali in the mid 18oos. It was built in memory of his son and as a sort of de facto declaration of separation from the Ottoman empire. The architect was a Christian who had also designed the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul. Interestingly enough, this means that there are some Christian-like facets to the building: note the landscape scenes in the third picture. The clock was donated by King Louis Philippe of France in 1845. It was reciprocated by an obelisk from Luxor that now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris - unfortunately, despite repeated attempts from experts in numerous countries, the clock has never worked. I've added also a photo of what appears to be an anomaly to me - a woman in full black chador using a video camera. I assume she is a tourist like us, but from a country with a far different culture. An interesting site to my Western eyes.

Our Last Night on the Ship

I take a moment to grant kudos to our group: our last night on the ship, we took this photo in remembrance of what was a lovely gathering of people from around the world, different in so many ways, but fun to meet and get to know. Back row (left to right): Peter, Bob, Maggie, Michael and Robert. Middle row (left to right): Rebecca, Gail, Carol, Ruby and Jean. Front row (left to right): Grace, Dale, Jane and Rose. And of course, seated: our tour guide, Mohammed.

Luxor Temple

Next was the Temple at Luxor. This temple, like the one on Philae Island has been appropriated by others over the years. The first picture is of (who else) Ramses II keeping watch over his temple some 3400 years later. The arch you see in the middle picture was built by Alexander the Great and incorporates him into the friezes along with the Egyptian gods. The third picture is of the mosque that is still worshipping today - a wedding was occurring there the day we arrived and you see some of the children in attendance peering through the grates at us.

The Temple at Karnak

This temple is actually not one alone, but the largest temple complex in all of Egypt encompassing 55 acres. You see here one of the entranceways flanked by an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes and the bathing pool of Hatshepsut, which was filled and emptied daily with fresh water from the Nile. There was a also a statue of a scarab beetle next to it that she used to circumnabulate 10 times after bathing to cleanse her heart as her body had just been cleansed. Grace and I didn't bathe, but we did walk around the statue 10 times in hopes that our hearts might be purer.

The Singing Statues

These two reconstructed statues of Pharoah Amenhotep II - they were destroyed in an earthquake - are known as the Colossi of Memnon or the Singing Statues because in the morning, they make a whistling or singing noise, probably because of the rising temperatures and the evaporation of the dew within the rock.

Queen Hatshepsut's Temple

This was a stunning temple built by Queen Hatshepsut - the one who had a Sphinx of herself at the Memphis site. She made herself Pharoah by killing off her husband and enlisting the aid of the High Priest and the Commander of the Military and one other person that I'm not remembering right now. Anyway, this is the Mortuary Temple she had built to prepare her body for interment in the Valley of the KINGS. Hmmm. She actually ruled for 33 years, too, so she was successful in her bid for power...

The Valley of the Kings

There's not much for the outside observer to see here. Just a bunch of stone entrances to tunnels. They won't let you take pictures inside because they don't want the colors to be ruined by flash photography. Suffice it to say that the colors are gorgeous and it's hot, hot, hot deep under the ground in unventilated tombs. But also "cool" nonetheless.

Cruising on the Nile

The Nile River looks just like you'd expect it to: gorgeous palm trees and green close to the river and sand dunes in the background. We were treated to all sorts of sights. Note here a man net fishing in a small boat, goats and other animals living in the greener areas, what looked like fog, but upon closer observation turned out to be farmers separating wheat from chaff.

Edfu Temple

The next morning we visited the Edfu Temple. We got there via horse and buggy. It was an interesting trip: Grace and I got in the second the last carriage and arrived at the temple second. Our driver kept driving the horse into a canter and shouting, "Ferrari! Ferrari!" (Interestingly enough, Robert and Jean were the last couple to alight a carriage and the first to arrive!)

The temple at Edfu is the most complete temple still standing. It is dedicated to the falcon god Horus and there is also a complete statue of that god at the front (you see Mother and Grace standing before it). Even as crowded as it was, I managed to find long, narrow passages with no one in them. Mohammed told us some country (I forget who: the U.K.?) offered an exhorbitant amount of money for it last year, but the Egyptian government declined. I walked along for awhile imagining I was a servant girl in ancient Egyptian times. (My mother tells me that is the difference between us - she rode in her carriage imagining that she was Queen Cleopatra! :)

Kom Ombo

Even though it was in far from the best shape, this was my favorite temple. Our guide, Mohammed, told us that this temple was dedicated to the crocodile-headed god, Sobek, because each year, five days before the Nile flooded, the crocodiles would gather here. After years of this, the people began noticing and built a temple in Sobek's honor. Each year they would capture a crocodile and basically starve it to death and then mummify it to worship.

He also showed us heiroglyphics that described the Egyptian calendar: 3 seasons each 4 months long, each month was 3 weeks long, each week was 10 days long, which adds up to 360 days with 5 left over - those were the 5 that the crocodiles gathered before the flooding.

There is also a well which served as a Nil-O-Meter: the leaders would note how full it was each year, and taxes would be assessed accordingly. In other words, it served as a gauge for how well the crops would be irrigated and how wealthy the community would be for the year. I've certainly heard worse methods!

Perfume and Oils Palace

Next we were offered the opportunity to help the Egyptian economy at a Perfume and Oils Palace, where we were treated to a sampling of a wide variety of oils and extracts from which some of the world's best-known perfumes are made. One of the most interesting aspects of this was watching the glassblower make perfume bottles - he wasn't blowing glass, but plexiglas - an unbreakable alternative!

Philae Island

The original sacred island of Philae is actually now under Lake Nasser. It was dismantled and reassembled on another island (now renamed Philae) to preserve the architectural treasures. Originally a temple dedicated to Isis, when the Christians came, they made it into a church of their own. Note the cross that has been carved into the column among the heiroglyphics and the altar.