Sharm el Sheikh

Toward the end of February, Jeff and I took a mini-vacation and spent a long weekend in Sharm el Sheikh. (I know, I've taken my sweet time writing about it, but what else is new?) Some friends were spending a week there to dive, and we decided to join them for the last part of their vacation. We arrived on a Wednesday evening and flew back to Cairo that Saturday.

Because our friends were diving, we knew that they were both getting up and going to bed early. When we arrived Wednesday night, they very well may have been asleep already. So we checked in, unpacked a little, then went in search of the restaurant we had chosen for dinner: El Kababgy, the Oriental restaurant on the resort. (Here in Egypt, what we would call "Middle Eastern" is labeled "Oriental," in accordance with the way the word was used before Europeans became aware of the Far East. So an Oriental restaurant is not Chinese or Japanese, but local, often serving Lebanese and/or Egyptian food.) We got a little lost on the way, but that was due to the darkness and our own exhaustion more than anything else, I think. It was worth the effort to find the place--the hummus, shish tawook, and kofta all were delicious.

After dinner, we headed back to our room for some sleep. On the way, though, I stopped to take a couple of photographs. The lights of Sharm across the bay from our resort were beautiful, although I couldn't get any pictures of that to turn out well. I also was fascinated by the traditional lamps that were used to provide the (sparse) lighting on the stairs and walkways.


The next morning, Jeff and I slept late. Then we found our way to the main restaurant (I forget the name) where the breakfast buffet was held. There we found an omelet station, a fruit bar, a bread bar, an Oriental corner (which boasted fuul and some other local breakfast dishes), and a variety of egg and sausage dishes (not pork sausage; that's very unusual in Egypt). Most importantly to me, there also were the usual fresh, delicious juices--orange, apple, and hibiscus. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast, Jeff and I took a walk around the resort to see what was available. Then we headed to the pool, where we spent most of the day relaxing and reading.

That evening, we met up with our friends for dinner. Their dive team had told them about a good steak restaurant in Na'ama Bay, an area not too far from the resort, and we were up for anything. We took a couple of the hotel taxis to the area where they'd been told to go, but we had issues finding the exact restaurant that had been mentioned. We were able, however, to find another steak place that was very good. The best part about the restaurant was the atmosphere--it looked like a jungle in there. There seemed to be trees growing inside the restaurant. The lighting was dim, mostly candlelight. The music was unfortunately loud, but it didn't detract too much. After a very nice dinner, we rolled ourselves out of our seats and began heading back.

I must say, it was interesting watching our friends--who are living outside of the U.S. but not in Egypt--negotiate a taxi fare. There was quite a bit of discussion about exactly which taxi we would be getting into, as it wasn't the drivers who were negotiating. There was a long line at the taxi stand, and those drivers at the front of the line wanted outrageous prices because they had had to wait so long to get to the front of the line. It was set up so that once a driver was in the line, they couldn't pull out, so the order in which they received passengers was fixed. Passengers who didn't want to pay the large prices could negotiate with representatives of other drivers, who may be parked across the divided highway, a long walk down the road, or who may not be parked at all--they may just cruise by and illegally stop to pick us up. I'm not sure how many taxis were rejected for fear of crossing the busy road. It was a new situation even for Jeff and me, since nothing is that organized in Cairo; we just flag down a taxi and negotiate right there on the street, no matter how many horns are honking behind us.

The next day, the group all met for breakfast. Our friends weren't diving that day, as they were flying the next and needed a day between diving and flying for safety reasons. We decided to spend the morning relaxing by the pool. While the others headed there, I grabbed my camera and made another round of the resort. There were just too many beautiful sights that I hadn't captured yet. After my detour, I rejoined the others and spent the morning reading and relaxing.

Around noon, we decided to leave the resort for lunch. Our friends confessed that every day as they traveled to and from the dock, they had been eying the McDonald's down the road with longing--it's funny the things you start to yearn for when you live in a country where they aren't available. We were going to take a taxi there, but the hotel taxis were inflexible in their pricing, and they were going to charge us as much for a 2-minute drive as it would have been for a 15-minute drive, so we decided to walk. It really wasn't that far, and we thought of it as a preemptive strike on the calories we were about to consume. So we walked to McDonald's and thoroughly enjoyed the absolute glee with which our friends attacked their burgers. Afterward, a few of us walked two doors down to Starbucks (mmm, Frappuccino!), while a couple more went to the nearby convenience store to stock up on snacks for the next day's plane ride. Unfortunately, one of our number started feeling badly--I think she's allergic to wheat and unknowingly had consumed some in her yogurt--so we postponed the shopping we were going to do and headed back to the resort instead. We all agreed that we were ready for our afternoon naps anyway :-)

A couple of hours later, four of us went out to do our shopping. We went back to Na'ama Bay and allowed the shopkeepers to lure us in, although we disappointed most of them. We did a lot of looking and very little buying. Our friends were looking for t-shirts to commemorate one of the dives they had taken--Thistlegorm, I think, a wreck site that's a really big deal to divers, and justifiably so, from the pictures they took. They also wanted some cartouches, but Jeff and I cautioned them against anyone who would be able to customize them in the time they had left--tourists have been known to discover that the characters were glued on. It also seemed that the vendors were offering lower quality for higher prices than what we've seen, so we offered to simply order the cartouches from our favorite jeweler and ship them. (We still haven't done that, but we plan to do it this weekend, promise!) Then we started looking for "typical Egyptian" souvenirs, and I admit that I had a hard time coming up with something that is typical Egyptian other than cartouches, papyrus, alabaster, and distinctive lamps or mashrabeyya (there's a picture of what I mean here), the last two of which are common throughout the Middle East. We did eventually find a shop that had a variety of authentic--rather than touristy--Egyptian items, some of which even had tags from one of my favorite charity vendors here in Cairo. Better yet, they even had clearly labeled prices, which were reasonable, considering that it was located in a very touristy area. And, when I spoke with the shopkeeper in Arabic and he was curious as to why I was able to do so, I told him that Jeff and I live in Cairo. He shook his head, said "I wish you hadn't told me that," and dropped the prices on the items we purchased by about 10%.

After making our purchases, we headed back to the resort (more fun with taxis!). Later that evening, we met at El Kobabgy for dinner. Jeff and I were the first ones there, so we waited outside for the others. While we waited, we watched a woman baking bread in the traditional oven located just outside the restaurant. She saw us watching and gave us a sample of flatbread fresh from the oven--so delicious! Eventually the others showed up and we all went in to enjoy our last evening in Sharm.

The next day, we all left at different times, some very early, others not until late afternoon. Jeff and I enjoyed a late breakfast, then checked out of the hotel. We got back to Cairo in the early afternoon and had some time to get settled back in at home. I quickly discovered, while catching up on Facebook and with friends' blogs, that we had missed the event of a decade in Cairo--a genuine hail and rain storm, a true deluge! I'm glad that we didn't have to put up with the headaches that our friends here reported--such as stranded metro riders, parking lot roads, and water up to the 12-inch curbs--but I couldn't help but be a little miffed that Cairo finally got real rain, and we missed it. Oh, well, maybe next year ... but probably not.

(Side note for anyone who may want to visit Sharm: we stayed at the Sofitel resort in Na'ama Bay. It was beautiful--all of the pictures throughout this post were taken on the grounds; this last one is of a pattern that was on the ceiling of the reception area. The rooms were clean and mostly comfortable. Our air conditioner didn't seem to be functioning as well as we would prefer; it got hot during the day, even when we left it on all day, but it cooled off quickly in the evening when we opened the main door and the door to our balcony to let a breeze come through. The service and food at all three restaurants that we tried was very good--El Kababgy, the main one, and another outdoor cafe where we had lunch on Thursday. Overall, I would recommend it as a great place to go for a weekend getaway. I don't think I'd want to stay longer than a weekend unless I was diving or had other activities planned, though. Oh, and a word of warning for American prudes like me--there were guests from all over the world, so pool-side attire ranged all the way from niqab to topless bikinis.)

Aswan

The last full day of our Nile cruise started with an excursion to a couple of sites in Aswan. It was a beautiful day in Aswan, sunny, cool, and windy. Like every other day on the cruise, the absence of air pollution was divine--we breathed deeply and admired the bright blue sky.

Our first stop was the Unfinished Obelisk--an obelisk (the same shape as the Washington Monument) still lying uncompleted in the granite quarry. It originally was supposed to be 42 meters (almost 138 feet by my calculations, although Wikipedia says 120 feet) tall and would have been the tallest obelisk had it been completed. It was abandoned when the granite cracked. Its presence in the quarry apparently has helped egyptologists figure out how obelisks were made and transported in ancient Egyptian times. This website has a nice description of how the obelisks--which each were made from a single huge piece of granite--were removed from the ground. It concurs nicely with what I remember being told by Hesham: A harder stone was used to dig a row of holes around the intended obelisk, and wood was placed into those holes. Then water was poured over it, causing the wood to expand and split the rock. Heated bricks and cold water were used to smooth the sides. I'm not sure how they actually raised the obelisk from the quarry, but it was transported to a boat and from there to whatever site it was intended for. Once at the site, a hole was dug at the intended location for the obelisk's base to sit down into. Then sand was removed from beneath the bottom of the obelisk so that it slid into the hole and ended up standing upright--as a precaution, a hill of sand had been built on the other side, so that the obelisk wouldn't tip over too far as it fell. Once the obelisk was securely in its location, the hill was removed.

After visiting the Unfinished Obelisk, we traveled by boat to Agilika Island to see the Temple of Philae, a temple to Isis. It was a beautiful trip that didn't last long enough! We walked from the bus to the docking area, which was crowded with a dozen or so small motorboats. The motor

boat drivers all tried to fit their boats into the area right beside the dock--an area large enough for only a few of them. Boats that were dropping off passengers gently nosed empty boats out of their way as they slowly edged toward the dock; empty boats did the same, as the drivers hoped to pick up passengers; and full boats pushed their way through the throng trying to get away from shore. It was classical Egyptian transportation, except that in the boats, it was perfectly okay to make contact with the other vehicles--a practice that is frowned upon when the vehicles in question are cars! Once our group was settled in a boat and clear of the throng, we enjoyed a short ride to the island. We passed other islands on the way and enjoyed the lush greenery and stark rock formations.

The spectacular views continued once we were on Agilika Island. Hesham led us to a side area where we sat while he explained the history of the temple we were to see. The Temple of Philae got its name from its original home--the island of Philae, located about 550 meters (1800 feet) from Agilika. It was built there because
Philae was believed to be where one of the pieces of Osiris was buried, and where his wife Isis found it in order to reconstruct his body and bring him back to life. Apparently temples to Isis were built in each of the traditional locations where Osiris's pieces were hidden. Philae actually was a little too small to hold the temple that the builders wanted to create, so modifications had to be made to the traditional design. The modification that I remember is that, whereas most temples were built with the halls and sanctuary in a straight line, at Philae there was a slight offset, because the temple would not have fit on the island had it been built in a straight line.

So if the temple was built on Philae, why did we go to Agilika to see it? Because it was moved. Philae, already a small island, was partially submerged when the first Aswan dam--the Aswan Low Dam--was completed in 1902, jeopardizing the temple. When the construction of the Aswan High Dam was begun in 1960, it was obvious that the island would be flooded even more, making it even less likely that the temple would survive and cutting off access to the soon-to-be submerged temple whether it survived or not. So UNESCO started a project to save the temple, as well as other sites located on what was to become the floor of Lake Nasser. Dams were built around the island to relieve the flooding. The temple was recorded and measured carefully to ensure that it could be reconstructed accurately in its new home. Finally, the buildings were dismantled--creating around 40,000 pieces--and moved to Agilika, a larger and higher island where the reassembled temple would remain above the waterline. Below is a picture of what's left of Phileo from Agilika.

The information I couldn't remember about Philae and the temple was found at: Wikipedia and  Egypt Travel.

After our tour of the temple and its outbuildings on Agilika island, we returned to the ship for lunch. Then we enjoyed a felucca ride on the Nile that afternoon. The ride was nice, as we passed by several beautiful sites, but it definitely was odd. We wore life jackets. In Cairo, I'm not sure the felucca guys would recognize a life jacket if someone smacked them upside the head with it--they're just not used. In Aswan, we were required to wear them. Of course, that was an Abercrombie & Kent requirement--we were told to bring the life jackets from our cabins--not a felucca guy requirement. But it still made it feel less like an authentic Egyptian experience. It quickly became more authentic, however, when the two felucca guys brought out their satchels of souvenirs for sale before we went back to the dock.

That evening, we had our "farewell banquet." The next morning after breakfast, we checked out of our cabin. Several passengers headed straight for the airport, some to go home and others to fly to Abu Simbel to see the temple there. Jeff and I relaxed in the public areas of the ship until noon, when we were picked up to go to the airport. Our original itinerary had shown the cruise not ending until lunch, so our flight to Cairo left in early afternoon. Had we been notified of the change in itinerary, we may have booked a morning trip to Abu Simbel, but it also was nice just to spend some more time relaxing on the ship. I was a little templed out at that point. I hear that Abu Simbel is amazing, so I'd hate to see it in a less-than-eager state of mind--hopefully we'll be able to get down that way again before we leave Egypt.

Maybe a Lake Nasser cruise early next spring?

Edfu and Kom Ombo

Now returning to our Nile cruise after an inexcusably long break ...

I must begin with full disclosure. On this day of the cruise, I was unaccountably exhausted. Most of the information provided by our guide, Hesham, did not register with me at all that day. The weeks since the trip have further dulled my memory. As a result, most of the information in this particular entry is from various websites, rather than from my memories of the tours themselves.

We started out with an early morning sail, departing from Luxor and heading to Edfu. We had the opportunity to be woken up to view the ship's passage through the lock at Esna, where the ship had to be raised to a higher water level, but Jeff and I chose to sleep through this event. It was uncertain when it would occur--as early as 3am or as late as 6. In either case, we decided that sleeping late on vacation was more important than watching an event that, while probably fascinating, occurred just too early in the morning.

At a much more reasonable time that morning, we docked at Edfu and went ashore to tour the Temple of Horus, possibly the best preserved temple in Egypt. It was built during the Greco-Roman period, with construction beginning in 237 BC and continuing until 57 BC. Horus was the falcon-headed god and husband to the goddess Hathor, whose temple we saw at Dendera. There are images of Horus and Hathor engraved on the facade of the first hypostyle hall.

As we approached the temple, we could see the remnants of the carvings on the facade. The carvings were symmetrical, with the same scene mirrored on each side. The scene shows the pharaoh holding captive enemies by their hair and killing them in the presence of Horus.

Further in to the temple, in the sanctuary, we saw a reconstruction of the ceremonial barge--called a barque--that would have been used once a year to transport the statue of Horus to visit his wife Hathor in Dendera. From what I understand, Hathor visited Horus once a year, and Horus returned the visit once a year. In this way, the married god and goddess maintained their relationship. The statues even were left alone together at night so they could engage in sexual activity!

Sources for information about Edfu: Wikipedia, Egypt Travel, and Sacred Destinations.

After our visit to Edfu, we returned to the ship for lunch and a lazy afternoon, during which I again tried to stay awake. Early that evening, we docked in Kom Ombo and went ashore to tour the temple there, which was dedicated to two deities: Sobek, the crocodile god of fertility, and Haroeris, or Horus the Elder, the sun god of war. This temple is symmetrical--every room that exists for Sobek on the right also exists for Haroeris on the left. There were two entrances, two sanctuaries, and probably even two sets of priests.

There were three things that I found memorable about this temple, apart from its double design. The first was that crocodiles were kept at the temple in honor of Sobek--the belief was that crocodiles could be prevented from harming the population if they were worshiped. So a captive crocodile was kept at the temple at all times so that it could be worshiped. Hesham told us that it is believed that the crocodiles were young--when they got older, bigger, and scarier, they mysteriously died (possibly as a result of being poisoned by the priests) and were mummified. The crocodile mummies were found at the site.

The second memorable thing about the temple at Kom Ombo was the section that seemed to be dedicated to ancient Egyptian medical practices. There were carvings depicting medical instruments and procedures, even childbirth.

Third, I finally got to see something that I'd heard and read about repeatedly--a nilometer. There's one here in Cairo, but I haven't been to see it. Nilometers existed in various places along the Nile. Their purpose was to measure the height of the river, I believe during the annual floods. The nilometer consists of a cistern dug deep into the ground near the river. It's connect to the river by an underground tunnel, through which the river water enters the cistern. Stairs spiral down the walls so that priests or whoever did the measuring could go down to water level and use a pole or some such to measure the distance from the bottom of the cistern to the top of the water. The water level determined the amount that the people had to pay in taxes. If the Nile was high, it was a good crop year; taxes were accordingly raised. If the Nile was low, it was not a good year for crops; taxes were accordingly lowered.

Sources for information about the temple at Kom Ombo: Wikipedia and Tour Egypt. I remembered the information about the crocodiles, medical instruments, and nilometer on my own, so you may not want to assume that I remembered it all correctly.

After we left the temple at Kom Ombo, it was time to go back to the ship for dinner. Wednesday night was Egyptian night, so most people wore gallabeyyas. Most of them were purchased on the ship for pretty reasonable prices. Of course, I wore the one I bought a year or so ago in Kerdassa, and Jeff wore one he bought at the Khan back in October. The meal was all traditional Egyptian food--the most notable being koshary and schawarma (our favorites). After the meal there was an Egyptian party in the lounge, but I was dead on my feet, so we just went to bed instead of joining in the fun.

Next: the final day of sightseeing--Aswan.

Dendera, Luxor Temple, and A Show

On Tuesday morning, the Sun Boat IV left Luxor and headed north. "North?" you say. "But isn't Aswan south of Luxor?" Yes, indeed, it is, but we weren't headed to Aswan just yet. We had another visit to make, one that I'm very glad was included in the cruise.

Dendera is home to the Temple of Hathor, which was recommended to us so highly that we were encouraged to spend an extra day in Luxor to visit it if it wasn't included on the cruise itinerary. (Dendera is about an hour's ride by car from Luxor, just across the river from the city of Qena.) It didn't take long to see what all the fuss was about.

The surroundings were absolutely beautiful--lush green fields against the stark brown desert and bright blue sky. The temple compound was large and imposing. Most of it was very well preserved, the exception being some images of Hathor that were defaced by Christians who hid in the temple during a time when they were being heavily persecuted by the Romans. Before we went inside the temple, we spent some time walking around it, seeing the carvings on the exterior walls. The carvings told stories of Cleopatra and her son offering gifts to the gods, particularly to Hathor, the goddess of love, music, and fertility.

After seeing the outside of the temple, we went inside. Hesham told us to look up. We did, and were amazed. One half of the roof was pitch black; the other half clearly showed artistic patterns complete with bright colors. The colored half of the ceiling has been restored--not repainted, just cleaned. The black half shows how the temple was found. Apparently, when the early Christians lived in the temple, hiding from persecution, the sand had partially covered the site, making the ground close enough to the ceiling that the soot from their fires turned the ceiling black. But the colors underneath hadn't faded; all it took was a good cleaning to reveal them in all their splendor. The pictures were beautiful, and the colors were vibrant. The colors were most vibrant where they had been restored or where they had been covered with sand; they were least vibrant on the unrestored portion of the ceiling (obviously) and on the parts of the walls that had been touched by way too many tourists. Here are a few pictures of some of the vibrant designs:



After seeing inside the temple, we went onto the roof and into a smaller chamber up there, a small temple dedicated to Osiris. In that room is located one of the highlights of this temple: the circular zodiac. Unfortunately, the original zodiac is not there; it's in the Louvre. However, there is a replica zodiac that at least looks like the original looked when it was found--unfortunately, they didn't realize that there probably were colors underneath the black exterior, so the replica also replicates the layer of soot over the colors.


After that, we headed back to the ship for lunch and a leisurely afternoon while the ship traveled back to Luxor. Jeff and I spent the time on the sun deck, reading, sipping lemon juice (me) or water (Jeff), and enjoying the fresh air and beautiful sights. Of course it probably struck some as funny that we were up on the sun deck, and I kept shifting seats to stay in the shade ... but I didn't want to wear sunscreen or get burned, so shade was my only remaining option.

After tea, we went on an evening excursion to Luxor Temple. It's located on the east bank of the Nile, so it was a temple for the living. It was dedicated to the god Amun-Re, his goddess wife Mut, and his god-son Khonsu. I have to be honest here and admit that I was tired, a little chilly, and probably didn't pay as much attention as I should have to what Hesham told us about this temple ... I wish now that I remembered more of it, but I don't wish it quite enough to do a lot of research about it. I'll settle for linking to a few websites that contain information about the temple and showing you some of the pictures we took.

After we visited the Luxor Temple, it was back to the ship for dinner. But after dinner, the fun wasn't over--we still had a show! That night, a belly dancer and a whirling dervish both performed in the lounge. I wasn't as impressed with the belly dancer as I expected to be--I'm not sure if it was this particular dancer, or if I'm just not a fan of belly dancing in general. (It was my first time seeing a belly dancer, so I have nothing to compare it with.) However, the whirling dervish was amazing. I was very impressed with his balance and endurance.

This first video is part of the belly dancer's performance. It's about a minute long.





This next video is part of the whirling dervish's performance. It's around four and a half minutes long. It starts getting more interesting just shy of the 1-minute mark, and it starts getting even more interesting just before the end (sorry for the inopportune ending time).





Tomorrow (hopefully, no promises): Day 3 of the Nile cruise, including a visit to the Temple of Horus at Edfu and the Temple of Sobek at Kom Ombo.

Luxor With Hesham

Full disclosure: This was the longest day of sightseeing, and therefore, this post is pretty long. If you don't have time, you may want to read it later, just skim it, or skip it altogether.

On Monday, the first day of our Nile cruise, we got up bright and early to check in. Shortly after checking in and getting settled in our room, we headed back down to the reception area for our morning excursion--a tour of Karnak Temple. As we entered the reception, we were directed to a group that was led by Hesham, who would be our guide throughout the cruise. Here's a picture of Hesham that was taken later on, at the Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan:



Once we were joined by the rest of our group, we left the ship, climbed the stairs to street level, and boarded our tour bus. It didn't take long to get to Karnak Temple, but on the way Hesham gave us the crucial information--how long we'd be gone, water is available for free on the bus to take with us, cameras and video cameras are allowed at Karnak for no additional charge. Once we arrived, he passed out the tickets and we entered the site.

After passing through a large open square, we entered the Avenue of the Sphinxes. This is a road, lined by sphinxes on both sides, that used to connect Karnak Temple with Luxor Temple. Over time, the sands covered the avenue, as well as partially to completely covering most or all of the ancient sites. Before the avenue and its path was discovered--or maybe just before people started caring about it, I'm not sure which--several buildings were built over parts of it, including mosques, a hospital, and Luxor Museum. Apparently the Ministry of Tourism is trying to figure out whether and how to relocate these structures so that the complete Avenue of the Sphinxes can be excavated.

Just past the Avenue of the Sphinxes is the temple's facade. Hesham pointed out that temples always were built from the back forward, so the facade is the newest part of the structure. The temple complex was not built on the command of a single Pharoah; around 30 of them contributed to this massive compound. I think Hesham said that Ramses II was a major contributor. After passing through the facade, we entered an open courtyard, which contained a temple for Ramses IV, a couple of smaller temples for the goddess-wife and god-son of the main god Amen-Re (if I'm not confusing this temple with one of the many others we saw later), and a collection of sphinxes that had been moved from the Avenue of the Sphinxes for safekeeping.

After passing through this courtyard, we entered the Great Hypostyle Hall. This hall is 50,000 square feet and contains 134 columns arranged in 16 rows. The central columns are 69 feet tall! The columns used to support a roof over this hall, but the roof is long gone now. These stunning columns were described by Hesham as the "paper" for the temple--they were carved top to bottom with hieroglyphs. There also were a few more recent additions--graffiti left by early explorers, with their names and the dates they were there. It was interesting to see the different heights at which the graffiti was left, reflecting the differing depths of the sand cover at various times.

Through the columns, we could see two obelisks rising from the temple's ruins in the next part of the temple, the Obelisk Court. These obelisks are each carved from a single piece of granite. At least one of them was erected by Queen Hatshepsut, possibly both of them; I don't remember. Hatshepsut's stepson (or was it her son?) erased monuments to her by defacing her cartouche (the pharaoh's name carved inside a border that was reserved for pharaohs alone) and then having his own cartouche carved in its place, but he couldn't do that on the obelisk. Granite did not accept corrections--once it was defaced, that was it; there was no carving over it. And because obelisks were monuments to the gods, there was no way a pharaoh would deface it and leave it that way.

Passing through the Obelisk Court, we entered the central court. There wasn't much left to see there, so we quickly walked around the side to see something far more interesting: ancient Egyptian bookkeeping. One of the ancient pharaohs wanted to keep track of the offerings to the gods that were presented at this temple, so a carving was made on the wall. Each vertical slash indicates "1," the inverted Us indicate "10," and the funny little staff thing indicates "100." Each column represents offerings of a certain type that were given throughout the year, and the bottom row is the total. For some of the columns, it's hard to see if the math is right because of the missing row in the middle, but it seems to be accurate.

After that, we quickly saw the sacred lake and some other artifacts in the area, then returned to the ship for lunch. Following lunch, we took a motorboat to the west bank (we were docked on the east bank) to see the sites over there. Hesham explained that the west bank was considered the land of the dead, because the sun sets in the west, whereas the east bank was the land of the living, because the sun rises in the east. So temples built on the east bank were for those who were alive--the pharaohs and high priests would offer sacrifices, and the people would be allowed, on rare occasions, to enter. On the west bank, there were tombs and mortuary temples for the mummification of the dead.

Our first stop on the west bank was the Valley of the Kings. Cameras weren't allowed at this site, so I have no pictures to share with you. For around 500 years, pharaohs were buried in tombs at this site. A single ticket gains you access to the three tombs of your choice; men are stationed at each tomb to punch a hole in the ticket when you enter a tomb to keep track of how many you've seen. You can enter the tomb of King Tutankhamen for an additional fee. From the outside, the tombs don't look spectacular. Once you enter them, though, you can see wonderful hieroglyphs and paintings on the walls and ceilings. It's also interesting to see the steps that were taken to foil grave robbers--one king's tomb had three separate security measures, although I only recall the first: a sudden, unexpected turn that made it look like the tomb ended in an already-looted chamber. If you're interested in detailed information about the Valley of the Kings, including pictures and maps, I would suggest that you check out this website.

Our second stop of the afternoon was the Valley of the Queens, similar to the Valley of the Kings but smaller. We only visited one tomb at this site, as time was short and the tombs weren't as impressive anyway. This site held the tombs of the pharaohs' wives and youngest children--I think Hesham said that boys under 12 were buried here, whereas boys over 12 were buried in the Valley of the Kings.

The third stop, and the first where we could use the cameras, was the Temple of Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was one of the few female Pharaohs. This temple was impressive for its size and the grandeur that it apparently had before her stepson defaced it. The temple was approached via a 100-foot causeway, which includes 3 terraced courtyards. There were statues of lions at some of the ramps. The walls are covered with depictions of Hatshepsut's life, including her purported divine birth (a requirement to be a pharaoh), her trip to Punt, and her offerings to the god Anubis. There also is a depiction of Hatshepsut being suckled by the goddess Hathor. This depiction is the only one of Hatshepsut that was not defaced by her stepson; I don't recall why it survived, if it was oversight or if there was a particular reason why it would have offended the gods for that one to be defaced. Here are a few more pictures of this temple:


Our final stop of the day was a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon. These are two huge--colossal, if you will--statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. The mortuary temple that used to be at this site is pretty well gone by now. If you want more information, you can look here. There's not too much else to say, so I'll just show some pictures of the colossi and the surrounding area. It was starting to get dark by that time, so some of the pictures have deeper shadows than we'd prefer, but you can get the idea.



Next stop on our Nile cruise: the Temple of Hathor at Denderah. Hopefully I'll be telling you about that tomorrow, but no promises.