Esna & Edfu

After Luxor, we stopped at two smaller towns called Esna and Edfu.  The temple at Esna is historically significant for containing details of ancient Egyptian worship.  Currently it is significant as an example of how difficult it is to both excavate and preserve some of Egypt's ancient treasures. 

As  you can see in this picture, the Exna temple is located significantly below the current town's street level.  In order to complete the excavation of this temple, an entire neighborhood will have to be moved.  What you see is only the outer temple courtyard.  Additionally, the temple is now located below the water table.  Since the Nile dams have been built the water levels have changed significantly from what they were in ancient times.  The ground around the temple is quite muddy, and the limestone rocks the temple is built from are soaking up the water at a rapid rate.

Some attempts are being made to clean the inside of this temple.  In the picture below you can see a contrast between the cleaned paintings on the right and the ones yet to be cleaned on the left.  No restoration is being made, only cleaning of what remains.

The pillars in the temple detail the rituals to be followed when worshiping, including personal cleanliness and appropriate clothing.

The temple at Edfu is the best preserved temple from ancient Egypt.  The walls are almost completely intact, and there is very little damage anywhere in the temple.  As with most other temples, there are signs that it had been used for Christian worship at some point, but there was less 'editing' of the original artwork than in some other temples.  This temple was built in the time of the Ptolemies and dedicated to the god Horus, whose symbol you can see over the main doorway.

The above picture shows the outer walls of the temple.  The bird statues (representing the god Horus) around the doorway were slightly taller than my 6'1" husband, to give you an idea of the scale.

This is the outer courtyard, on the other side of the main wall.

Each successive room lines up perfectly with the last, all the way into the holiest chamber where only the high priest could go.  The dark shiny piece at the back is the alter in the final chamber.

The carvings on the walls in this temple were extensive and impressive.  They tell the stories of the god Horus, his blessing of the Ptolemies who built the temple, and details about sacrifices and the every-day business of the temple.

All throughout the temple are store rooms, underground secret passageways, and hiding places inside the walls.

In our group of eight people there was a middle aged couple who were Egyptian-American, Dr. Moody and his wife Susan.  As they had immigrated to the United States when they were rather young, they had never seen any of the sights that were part of this trip.  They quickly formed a special bond with our Egyptologist guide, Muhammad, who was clearly passionate about his own Egyptian heritage.  All three were overwhelmed by the rich history and beauty of this temple in particular.  As we finished the tour, I turned away from them to begin to walk out.  Just as I left them behind in the last room I heard Muhammad sigh, turn to Dr. Moody and say, "We have fallen so far."

Bunnies

My Arabic lesson today included words for food.  Some of the ladies began asking where they could by this and that, and the discussion moved on to the best baker, grocer, butcher, and so on in our part of town.  And while we were on the topic, our teacher told us that since she started teaching westerners, she can no longer go to the butcher, select a live chicken, and watch it be slaughtered and plucked.  Even though the chicken is much tastier that way, our squeamishness about this process has rubbed off on her.  There was one situation, however, in which she reverted back to the the old way.

Because her children had been begging for a pet, she bought them two rabbits.  One was brown and one was white and their names were Chocolate and Candy, respectively.  For a couple of days everyone was happy.  The children loved their cute bunnies and they were no longer begging for a pet.  Unfortunately, the bunnies began to stink up the house.  And while Egyptians don't seem to be too picky about dirt, dust, and trash outside, they apparently cannot abide any of that inside their homes.  So one morning after the children left for school Chocolate and Candy were gathered up and taken away.

There is a traditional Egyptian dish called Molokhiyah, made from a type of okra and often served with meat.  In Cairo, most people prefer to serve it with rabbit.  When my teacher's children returned from school that day, their mother offered them this delicious soup for lunch.  But before they began to eat, the daughter asked where her beloved bunnies were.  Her mother pointed to the soup.  And for some reason (my teacher cannot imagine why!) since that day, none of her children will eat this tasty Egyptian treat. 

Another Revolution?

Egypt's President, Muhammad Morsi, essentially declared himself a dictator last week.  He says this is a necessary step to bring stability to Egypt, but most Egyptians view this as a return to the politics of the past.  This time they are not willing to go along with it.  There have been protests ever since the declaration, and they are turning more violent as the days go by.  The biggest protest is expected this Tuesday.  Many opposition groups have banded together to protest Morsi and his decree.  Even some Islamist groups have joined the opposition.  On the same day, Morsi's party, the Muslim Brotherhood, is also planning a demonstration in support of Morsi.  No one expects these gatherings to be carried out peacefully.

I have talked with a couple Egyptians about this situation.  I am sure the Egyptians I know are not necessarily a representative sample of all Egyptians, but Morsi seems to be less and less supported the longer he is in office.  One lady I spoke with is frustrated that she can't just 'live her life and feed her family'.  She also is disappointed in what she calls people's selfishness.  One person supports Morsi and does something good, like cleaning up the street.  Another person comes along who doesn't support Morsi and spreads garbage along the street again.  In times past, Egyptians used to help each other and their country.  Now they have lost their sense of camaraderie and patriotism.

Another, younger woman, is proud of Egyptians.  "You have to understand, she said, "for so long Egyptians suffered under dictators and did whatever they asked.  Now, since the Revolution, the Egyptian people have decided that they will not accept another dictator.  These protests are a good thing because they show that the Egyptian people really do want democracy and justice."

On the whole, I am supportive of the protesters.  It is good that the Egyptians will no longer submit to tyrants.  However, the ousting of a tyrant is a messy process.  And in addition, the place the protesters have chosen to make a stand is again Tahrir Square— two blocks from the U.S. Embassy.  There is no sign that the protesters are targeting Americans, but there is spillover.  Molotov cocktails are being thrown near the Embassy walls, and rocks have flown over the walls.  Embassy employees were sent home early today because of the fighting, and they had to drive through areas where tear gas was being used.  My poor husband came home coughing and with eye irritation from the gas. 

We will be perfectly safe, and it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.  Most people seem to expect that Morsi will be ousted fairly soon.  For everyone's sake I certainly hope so!

UPDATE 11/30/2012:  After a week of continuing protests, this weekend is set to be the biggest yet for protesting.  Morsi has shown no serious signs of backing down, and in fact, the Constituent Assembly rushed through a vote on the constitution early Friday morning.  The only members who voted on the constitution were the extreme Islamists, as everyone else abstained in protest.  This does not mean Egypt has a new constitution yet– it will have to be ratified by popular vote to take effect.  The constitution that was passed is severely lacking in many human rights issues and also appears to establish Sharia law.  There is little doubt that this version of the constitution will fail in a popular vote, but what this vote has done is create a unified opposition party out of the multitude of smaller political parties, and intensified the feeling against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Here's a picture of the road in front of the U.S. Embassy:

You can see that a new wall is being built, but that might not make us any friends.  The wall will push people more towards the British and Canadian Embassies.  None of these countries are targets of the protests, they just happen to be in an unfortunate location.

Luxor

Luxor is located in Upper Egypt, and was the capital of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt.  The ancient name of Luxor is Thebes.  The city and the surrounding area has a huge number of tombs and temples, many of which are very well preserved.  The two major temples are Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple.  Luxor is also the sight of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the Valley of the Nobles and the Colossi of Memnon.  We saw all of these sights and there are actually many more, including several good museums.

By the time of the New Kingdom, Egyptians had figured out that building a pyramid for a nobleman made a great advertisement for where a lot of gold, jewels, and other treasures were located.  Most of the pyramids were completely emptied within a couple hundred years of being built.  So during the New Kingdom time period, Egyptians began burying their pharaohs in tombs dug into mountainsides.  Most of these were also robbed of the treasures, but the paintings and other decorations are largely intact.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the tombs.  You will just have to come see them for yourselves—they are remarkable! 

Before we joined the cruise, we went by ourselves to the Valley of the Nobles and Medinet Habu, the memorial temple of Ramses III. 

The Valley of the Nobles is being somewhat reconstructed for safety reasons, but the tombs are still largely intact. 

We couldn't take our own pictures of the paintings inside, but here are a few of what we saw from the internet.  They really did look this clear, this isn't fancy photography or re-touching!

Next we went to the memorial temple of Ramses III.  This wasn't a temple for making sacrifices to gods, it was built so that people would remember the king when he was gone.  The paintings in this temple were nearly as spectacular as in the tombs, even though this temple is open-air:

The hieroglyphics in this temple were carved remarkably deep, and this allowed them to be more clearly preserved up until the present time.

Once we joined the cruise, the Egyptologist on our boat took us to the rest of the sights.  First was Karnak Temple, which is known for its large number of enormous pillars:

The most remarkable thing about this temple, apart from its architecture, was that it was built, re-built, and added on to by up to 30 different pharaohs.  As a result, it has a variety of buildings and architectural styles.  As was the case with many ancient Egyptian temples, parts of Karnak Temple were also used in Christian times as a church.  There is evidence that the ancient Egyptian creation stories inscribed on the pillars were 'edited' for decency by the Christians.  (If you're curious as to why, look up the god Min.)

Next, we visited Luxor Temple, which has been impressively lit.  Because of the lights, we visited this temple just as the sun was setting so we could see the full effect. 

There is a mosque on top of Luxor Temple, that was built before the ruins were excavated.  A set of  conflicting historical preservation laws prevents the removal of the mosque, so it sits in one corner atop the temple.

All of the temples to the gods were built on the East side of the Nile, and the tombs and memorial temples were built on the West side of the Nile.  Since the sun rises in the East, and the sun brings life, the ancient Egyptians felt it was the appropriate side to worship their gods who also bring life.  The sun setting in the West signified death, thus the location of the tombs and mortuary temples.   As most of these sites did not allow photography, there isn't much I can show you.  Below is the reconstructed mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut— a powerful female Pharaoh. 

We sailed from Luxor down the Nile to a couple of smaller towns.  I will post pictures of them on the next blog entry.

A Cruise on the Nile

Last week we flew to Upper Egypt, which, confusingly, is located in Southern Egypt.  It is called 'upper' because the southern part of Egypt is at a higher elevation than the northern part.  There are two major cities in Upper Egypt, Luxor and Aswan.  The land between the two cities is mostly farmland, with a few small towns interspersed along the way.  People in Upper Egypt tend to be more conservative, more traditional, and much darker skinned.  They are admired by the people in Lower Egypt for maintaining a high moral standard and a simple way of life.

Our cruise took us from Luxor to Aswan over a period of five days.  We saw many sights from the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom time periods of ancient Egypt and we could not recommend them more!  The sights in Cairo date mostly from the Old Kingdom, and as such they are not nearly as well preserved.  In Luxor, Aswan, and several towns in between there are extremely well preserved tombs and temples. This post consists of pictures related to the cruise itself, and the next few posts will be about the historical sights we saw.

As soon as we arrived in Luxor we could tell that we were in a significantly different part of Egypt from Cairo.  The contrast may not be as clear to you all at home, but the picture below is still startling to us- the clear sky, the blue water, the greenery, and the calm atmosphere are all things that are sorely lacking in the big city. 

On the other hand, the salesmen are much more aggressive and rarely take a simple 'no' for an answer.  One night we tried walking around the town outside our hotel but only lasted about five minutes.  Everyone up and down the street started calling to us to take a taxi, take a carriage ride, or buy their stuff.  We nearly ran back to the hotel to escape!

We spent two nights in Luxor before we got on our boat.  We were in a five star hotel (by Egyptian standards) which was quite nice, but nothing compared to the Pottery-Barn-Catalog of a boat that we sailed on.  The boat had 30 cabins, but only eight passengers.  We're still not sure why the company chose to run the boat with fifty crew members having so few passengers, but we are grateful they did.  The other six people were great- a middle aged doctor and his wife who were U.S. citizens of Egyptian heritage, and a family of four with 11 year old twins.  The kids were a year and a half into a two year tour of the world that their parents were taking them on. 

After touring Luxor we set sail down the Nile.  For the most part all we saw were small mud houses,

farms,

fishing villages (you can see the small fishing boats in the river below),

and pastures.

Every once in a while we were shocked back into realizing we were actually in the middle of the Sahara Desert:

But for the most part we spend four days seeing (apart from the stops at historical sights) not much more than this:

Life in Cairo can get rather stressful at times- the constant noise, pollution, protests, and dirt are all wearing on the nerves.  We were grateful to see another part of Egypt that was so peaceful.