Kids' Questions About Egypt

In January one of my former coworkers asked me if I could help out with a project for her students.  They had been learning about Ancient Egypt in History class and she thought it would be fun if they could ask me questions about modern-day Egypt.  A blog was set up to allow the kids to post questions and to allow me to post answers.  There were many very good and thoughtful questions, but some were also highly entertaining.  Spelling, punctuation, and formatting have been preserved as much as possible.  :-)

• When I think of Egypt I think of ancient or rural Egypt. But I also think of the beutiful city. Not including the desert, what do you think the country has the most; rural or urban? If you can’t answer this you may just take a guess or answer a somewhat similar question. What did you enjoy the most about Egypt?  Thank you for reading this -if you did- and stay tuned for more of my questions, Noah 

• My name is, Liz. I am in sixth grade, I love baby bears, and the show Here Comes Honey BooBoo. I also like to play poker and I was wondering if there is gambling in Egypt.  Thanks a billion, Liz

• I’m Carson  history is not at the top of my list for classes but it’s no where near the bottom. As you already know we are studying Egypt and a question I have is does Egypt have community’s or is it just one big city with lot’s of houses.

• does Egypt have fast food restuarants or stores like we do in Maryland?  If they don’t, I would feel bad for them. 

• Wat is Egypt’s life style? Do they worship The One True God Jesus Christ, or do they worship idles and other false gods? Wat kinds of food do they eat? Thanks for helping me out!! May God Bless You, Taylor

• Do people have pets in Egypt or is it to hot for them to survive?

• Its Matt. I was wondering about the ways of the Egyptian school. How do they get paper when they live nowhere close to the forest? Do they still write on stone tablets? What do Egyptian schools look like?

• When we were learning about Egypt and their cultures we found out they wrote on clay tablets. I know we right on paper and use pens and pencils . I was wondering  if in Egypt you guys still use clay tablets ?

• this will be my last question and my most important. What is Egypt like? is it fun or is it hard with all the government problems. Finley thank you for answering all of my questions. 

• I was wondering if the woman in Egypt whore alot of make-up/Sparkles? Like if they do is it BOLD or fant to see? Thx! =D

• I was just wondering, are there candy shops in Egypt?

• Is it different from the USA? do you live in one of those mud house or a regular house that we live in or You use to live in?

• What kind of jobs do they have there? Do they have the same jobs they had in acient Egypt or is there modern jobs there?

• What are the people like there? Are they happy and nice? Or are they sad and not socailable?

• i was wondering what languages they speak in Egypt? like  in america we speak english and in mexico they speak spanish is there a specific language for egypt?

• I was wondering. What is the most popular candy? Is it sour, sweet, hard, or chewy? Thanks a billion, Liz

• What’s your favorite activity to do in Egypt? Is there bowling? 

• deer Mrs P.  Do people speak inglish in Egypt please reply

• What is the transportation situation there. Thanks

• are there any candles in Egypt?

• What happened to the city of Memphis. What is Egypt best known for. What is Egypt’s best trade. I couldn’t think so that’s why its  so short oh yeh hi Mrs P.

• Do people still believe in the after life? I do not know how the Egyptians came up with such a crazy and nonsense idea. But it is a kinda funny idea!

• I have been puzzled about something. Do Egyptians still believe in the false gods that they believed in in the ancient times?! By the way I think you and your husband are really brave to go to Egypt during all the fighting going on!!

• When people die, do they still mummify the dead body? My class is about to learn about mummies like how to mummify a body and all that disgusting stuff. Well at least I think its disgusting but I also find it very interesting!

And Finally:

Thank you for replying to all my posts. I hope to meet you (and like you) one day. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a teacher as a friend like I have to you. Except Mrs. P. at the lower school (edit: the Principal); we had frequent visits with each other.  Thanks again, Noah

Shopping in Cairo

Around Christmas time I went on a three memorable shopping trips.  My husband and I visited the City Stars mall, the biggest and fanciest mall in Cairo, some fellow American wives and I went to the Khan al Khalili market, which has been in continuous existence since 1382, and my Arabic teacher took me to a street where 'real' Egyptians do their shopping to buy me an herbal remedy. 

Neither my husband and I are big shoppers, but we had heard a lot about City Stars and were interested to see it.  We planned to see the Hobbit and then maybe do some shopping for new clothes.  The movie theater was great!  Very comfortable seats, large screens, and it even offered 3-D movies.  I'm not sure 3-D was a necessary enhancement for the Hobbit, but we enjoyed it all the same.  Since we hadn't yet tried it here, after the movie we had McDonalds for lunch at the food court.  What can I say?  McDonalds is McDonalds no matter where you go.  There were a few interesting Egyptian variations to the menu, however.  We could have gotten a Big Mac in either the original beef, or with chicken patties instead.  Additionally, you could get a quarter pounder hamburger meal OR a kofta burger meal.  Kofta is a spicy sausage-like meat usually served grilled.

The clothes shopping was a big disappointment.  Although the mall advertised that they had stores like Gap and Tommy Hilfiger, the Gap store was still under construction and the Tommy Hilfiger store, although stocked with Western clothes, had such high prices we couldn't even consider buying anything.  The other stores in the mall were more typical Egyptian stores: lots of galabaya shops, headscarf shops, and fancy party dress shops.  On the ground floor of the mall was a grocery store, which is an intriguing addition to a shopping mall!  So after a drink at Starbucks we made our way home. 

I went to Khan al Khalili with three other American diplomat wives.  One of the ladies wanted to find a Christmas gift for her husband at an antique store she had seen once before.  The rest of us were just along for the adventure.  Since the market is so old, the shops are very small and very close together.  Nowadays the stores cater more to the tourist shopper rather than the Egyptians themselves, however.

One of the ladies in our group was from Kazakhstan.  She was married to an American diplomat that had been posted there, but before that she spent two years learning Chinese in China.  Apparently learning to bargain in the market is a skill she acquired there in addition to Mandarin.  And she was truly a tenacious bargainer!  We spent over half an hour waiting for her to talk down a shop keeper on the price of a leather purse.  She had decided that she was only going to pay 100 LE (Egyptian pounds) for the purse, about $17.  The shop keeper wanted 200 LE.  Since we clearly looked like tourists he expected an easy sell.  Our friend drove such a hard bargain that he shopkeeper yelled at us as we left, 'Never come back!'  I found all this highly uncomfortable, but I have since discovered that she did exactly what any Egyptian would have done.  I'm still not sure I will ever have the gumption to do the same!

My last shopping adventure was right here in our neighborhood of Maadi.  Although Maadi is considered a high class suburb, there are parts of it that are more truly middle class.  My Arabic teacher, Gigi, is from one of those areas and she kindly offered to take me to an herbal shop near her house to find something for a persistent skin rash I've had.  When we arrived the shop wasn't yet open.  While we were waiting Gigi showed me around and had me try some Egyptian treats.  I had fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice from one shop (not as sweet as you might think) and fresh roasted Aswan peanuts (exactly the same as American peanuts as far as I could tell.)  We took a tok-tok back to the herb shop.  Tok-toks are an Indian import and are as dangerous as they look!

Gigi wanted to get me pumpkin seed oil (the best for rashes, as confirmed by the Koran) but the guy in the shop didn't have it.  After inspecting my arms he determined that I was allergic to bananas and strawberries, neither of which I had eaten in several months.  He gave me two different kinds of oil and told me to to mix them together at home before applying.  As it turns out, I am allergic to one or both of the oils themselves and my rash doubled in size overnight!  No one can tell me what the oils are from so Egyptian herbology is now off my list of skin remedies.

Egyptian Superstitions

If you spend any time at all with Egyptians you will soon notice that they are a remarkably superstitious people.  These superstitions have little to no basis in religion, and (being superstitions) they certainly don't have any scientific underpinnings.   I have been surprised at how many superstitions even well-educated Egyptians hold, but then I realized my european neighbor with a philosophy degree 'knocks on wood' on a regular basis.  I suppose no one is completely immune!  Here are the most entertaining and puzzling superstitions I have come across.

Do not eat catfish.  This superstition dates from Ancient Egyptian times.  Egyptologists speculate that one of the ancient gods might have taken a catfish form at one point, resulting in this prohibition.  What is puzzling is how persistent this superstition has been.  The Nile has an abundant supply of catfish and (apart from general concerns of pollution) there is no reason whatsoever to avoid these fish.  There is nothing in either Islam or Christianity to prohibit eating catfish, but you will never catch a modern Egyptian even considering it.

Don't clean your house after dark.  This also seems to be a holdover from ancient times.  And like the former superstition, it has absolutely no basis in fact.  One of my Arabic teachers told me about this belief and said that her mother would throw a fit if anyone did any cleaning after dark.  My teacher kind of laughed about it, but said she won't clean her own house after dark either!

Lettuce increases fertility in men.   When our tour guide in Luxor found out we had been married for a year and a half and still didn't have children, he very seriously advised my husband to eat more lettuce (apparently not being ready for children isn't a plausible explanation!)  We laughed at first, but then the tour guide turned to another person in our group who was a medical doctor and asked for his verification.  This doctor was Egyptian but had immigrated to the U.S. after medical school.  And although he looked a bit shamefaced about it, he speculated that there were perhaps useful minerals in lettuce and, 'it couldn't hurt'!

Don't tempt the Evil Eye.  The Evil Eye will strike you down at a moment's notice for any number of violations.  The most common, however, is what we might call hubris.  If you are especially proud of your house, your car, your clothes, your wife's beauty, or your baby or if someone else notices what nice things you have, you are sure to lose them in a dramatic way.  People who believe in this go to great lengths to draw attention away from their new or valuable things.  And it is considered very bad manners to compliment someone on their possessions.  In Upper Egypt where this belief is strongest parents of a new baby will give their child an odd name (Muhammad for a Christian child, for example, or a random word like 'Mop') or dress their child in odd clothes in order to draw attention away from the baby's beauty.  One father was so afraid that people would notice his remarkably pretty new son that he took ashes and made a large mark on the baby's forehead.  Then, when people came to visit they spent all their time wondering why the baby had such a strange mark on its head rather than noticing that he was a beautiful child. 

There is a steady demand for symbols to ward off the evil eye here.  One of the most common looks like this:

You can see this symbol embroidered into clothes or made into earrings or necklaces.  This symbol is also found in carpets and in wall hangings.

These superstitions appear to be fairly mundane, but they do seem at times to limit the holder's ability to think clearly about a situation.  As my neighbor demonstrates, however, holding superstitions does seem to more a characteristic of being human rather than a lack of education.

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.