Day 6          12 October 2021   Luxor – The Temple of Karnak

The city of Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the ancient Egyptian capital during the New Kingdom (1570 BCE – 1069 BCE).  Many believe that the New Kingdom monuments and temples found here both sides of the Nile and also in the Valley of the Kings are the greatest concentration of ancient structures on earth.

As the Temple of Karnak is the first of many temples we will see, I have provided a little description or architectural plan of how the temples were designed.  Most of Egypt’s New Kingdom temples followed the same basic structure.  The entrance to the Temple was called the Pylon, consisting of two large rectangular towers.  It was through a lower gateway between the two towers that the god (actually it was just his statue) would emerge on festival days.  Inside the towers were stairs that led to an upper gateway where that the pharaoh would appear on grand state occasions, appearing like the rising sun to his subjects standing below.  The outer walls of the towers were decorated with carved reliefs dedicated to the pharaoh who built the temple.  These carvings showed the pharaoh as the great warrior and the protector of Egypt.  While most of these carvings were once decorated with bright paints, today most of the paint has disappeared.

 Upon entering the temple, one would find himself in an open-air courtyard.  This was the area that the common people were allowed to enter to bring offerings to their gods and where festivals dedicated to the gods were held.  It was also the place where the purification rituals were conducted for those who were allowed to travel further into the temple.

 This was followed by the hypostyle (columned) hall designed to represent the primeval forest, with columns holding up a flat roof.  On the top of the sides were small windows that let in a little light.  On either side of the hall were doors or niches which priests would use in their regular offerings of food and drink to the gods.  The columns themselves were decorated with carvings or symbols relating to either the pharaoh who had the temple built or the god for whom the temple was built.  Here only the priests and the pharaoh were allowed to enter.

 And finally, there was the sanctuary, the most sacred place in the temple, where only the pharaoh and the high priest were allowed to enter.  It was here that the image of the god was kept.

 If you look at the temple from the Pylon entrance, you can see that the farther you go inside the temple the smaller the rooms become.  Also, while the outer courtyard was open to the air and light, the hypostyle hall had only the light from the small windows, and the sanctuary had no light at all.  And in many cases, there was a long processional way that was lined with monuments or sphinxes leading to the Pylon.  In addition to the main temple, some temple complexes also included other minor temples and structures.

 Upon our arrival we traveled to the Temple of Karnak, dedicated to Egypt’s state god Amun (later called Amun-Re), the sun and creator god.  It is the largest temple in the world.  Located on the East Bank of the Nile, Karnak’s huge complex of shrines is second only to the Pyramids of Giza as the most impressive sites in Egypt.  The Ancient Egyptians called it “the most perfect of places” and it is considered to be the most awe-inspiring of the Egyptian monuments.  Covering 250 acres, it is an outdoor museum of ruined temples, obelisks, and statues dating back some 2,000 years.  

 Before arriving at the temple, we stopped on a bridge to see the Avenue of the Sphinxes, a 1 ½ mile processional walkway lined with  1350 sphinxes (lions with human heads), used to connect the temples of Luxor and Karnack.  It was only used once a year during the Opet festival when Egyptians would parade down the avenue carrying statues of Amun and Mut in a symbolic re-enactment of their marriage.  Today fragments of about 850 of the sphinxes have been found along a section of the road that was built by Amenhotep III sometime between 1390-1352 BC.  When we were there, they were putting the final touches on the Avenue’s renovation, and it is scheduled to be reopened with a grand ceremony in the next few weeks.

 Construction of the Karnak Temple began in the 19^th century BCE under Senusret I.  It took about 1300 years to build this complex with successive pharaohs and queens adding their own tributes and monuments to the sun god Amun-Re.  Most of the structures were built during the New Kingdom.  Its Hypostyle Hall, built by Seti I (1290 to 1279 BCE), is large enough to house the Cathedral of Notre Dame and considered one of the great architectural achievements.  Over 50,000 square feet in size, it has 134 intricately carved columns arranged in 16 rows.  Its outside walls are decorated with battle scenes of Seti and his successor (and son), Ramses II, defeating the Libyans and Syrian armies.  The Hall, which stands in front of the innermost shrine complex of Amun-Re, represented the primeval swamp land that emerged at the creation.  The temple exemplifies the importance the ancient Egyptians had to the afterlife and the necessity to provide a safe passage there after death.

 The temple complex itself consists of three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several temples located about 1½ miles north of Karnack.  The three main temples are dedicated to Amun, Mut (mother goddess and companion of Amun), and Montu (god of war).  The Temple of Amun sits in the center of the complex, with the Temple of Montu to its north, and the Temple of Mut to the south.

 Also found chiseled inside the Temple is a 365-day calendar that had 12 months each containing about 30 days.  The ancient Egyptians were the first to establish such a calendar.  Their first attempt was a lunar calendar – a calendar with 12 months with the new moons determining the length of each month.  However, while they could pinpoint when a moon would appear, they were not so good at determining the length of each moon’s phases.  The yearly calendar would be short by 10 -11 days.  To compensate, they would add a 13^th month every few years.

 As their knowledge grew, the Egyptians created a solar calendar, that again contained 12 months.  They divided each month into 3 10-day units (much like our weeks) and at the end of the 12^th month (after 360 days), they added 5 days to celebrate the birthdays of Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys.  Thus, they created the first 365-day calendar in history.  While this worked for a while, it was missing the extra day every four years – leap day.  As they were six hours short every year, the calendar eventually went off track.  In 239 BC Ptolemy III tried to issue a new calendar to correct this shortage but failed.  It wasn’t until the Julian calendar (with leap days added) and its replacement, the Gregorian calendar which fixed a math problem, that we have the current calendar of today.  However, the Gregorian calendar kept the ancient Egyptians plan of 12 months and 365 days.

Also located here is the tallest obelisk in Egypt (almost 100 feet tall) that was built by Queen Hatshepsut to honor the god Amun.  Built of pink granite from the Aswan region, it was said to be visible for 50 miles.  This is the only remaining obelisk built by Queen Hatshepsut.  The inscription on the obelisk reads, “O ye people who see this monument in years to come and speak of that which I have made, beware lest you say, ‘I know not why it was done.’  I did it because I wished to make a gift for my father Amun, and to gild them with electrum.”  Although Thutmose III  could have destroyed this obelisk as he did with all other reminders of her life, he elected instead to build a wall around the bottom 2/3’s of the structure. There were originally 3 obelisks in the Temple, but one of them was damaged when it was dropped during renovation and the top broke off.  The other obelisk of Thutmose I, Queen Hatshepsut is still in the Temple.

 Daily rituals were performed by the priests, but perhaps the most important was conducted by the high priest (called the first prophet).  Each morning at dawn he would bathe in the sacred lake by the temple, and then enter the area where the statue stood, prostate himself before the god and kiss the ground.  He would assure the god that nothing had been stolen from him by saying “Hail to you, Amun-Re, Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands.  I have done nothing with your secretions, I have not removed your dignity; I have not shaped you skin for another God”.  Then priests would carry in trays of food to Amun, and the first prophet would bless the food, dress the statue with garments, apply make-up and perfume, and place gold necklaces and bracelets on the statue.  As the last to leave, the first prophet would walk backwards out of the room, sweeping the floor to erase any footprints, and reseal the entry door.

 One of the more important rituals centered around the sacred festival of Opet which was a symbolic re-enactment of the marriage between Amun and Mut.  During this festival, priests would transport the statues of the gods/goddesses (Amun, Mut, and their son Khonsu, god of the moon) within a portable shrine – a miniature boat called the sacred bark.  These small boats were covered in gold foil and covered with precious gemstones.  However, these barks did not sail on water, they were carried on platforms with several long carrying poles.  Each god/goddess had his/her own bark and Amun’s bark had a ram’s head, while Mu’s had a woman’s head both fore and aft and each head was wearing the Double Crown, which  signifies the union of upper and lower Egypt.  Falcon heads with lunar crescents and disks adorned Khonsu’s bark.  The procession would travel from the Temple of Karnak to the Temple of Luxor by way of the Avenue of the Sphinxes.

 As the cult of Amun grew during the New Kingdom, so did the importance of the priests.  After the death of Ramses II and his immediate successors, the succeeding pharaohs were weak and a power struggle emerged between the pharaohs and the priests who became more intertwined with the secular affairs of Egypt.  With the death of the last New Kingdom pharaoh in 1075 BCE, Egypt entered into a 400-year period of instability (Third Intermediate Period).  Although the seat of Egyptian rule was moved from Thebes to Tanis in the north, succeeding pharaohs still built new structures at Karnak.  The last structure to be built was during the 25^th dynasty in the 7^th century BCE.  However, the worship of Amun continued another 300 years until the Romans emperors ordered the closing of all Egyptian pagan temples.  

 One of the interesting statues that we saw by the Sacred Lake was of a scarab beetle.  The scarab played an important role in Ancient Egyptian culture as it was linked to the sun god Jepri, which many Egyptians believed was a form of the sung god Re.  They believed this as the beetle would lay its eggs in a pile of dung and then place the dung in a hole.  When new beetles crawled out of the hole, Egyptians thought they were self-producing which was a trait of the Jepri who they believed was reborn every day as the sun.  It is found almost everywhere – in hieroglyphs, statues, carvings, and jewelry.  Early Egyptians wore it as an amulet to protect them from illness, but they also saw it as a symbol of resurrection.  Therefore, during mummification, it the amulet was placed over the heart to insure that they could be resurrected and attain eternal life.

Today was incredible hot and we were all glad to be back on the airconditioned bus for our drive to the Nefertiti.  We had several hours to unpack and freshen-up before meeting members of the crew, listening to a Port Talk which described what our next day would be, and enjoying a delicious Welcome Dinner.  Our room is nice – two twin beds, a large closet area with shelves and drawers, a desk area, large outside windows and a door leading to our balcony which had two chairs and a small table with a floor covering of artificial grass.  

Below is a layout of the Karnak Temple, although it does not show all of the temples, just mainly Amun’s temple. 

Temple of Karnak

Looking down the Avenue of the Sphinx

One of the Sphinx on the Avenue

Layout of Temple of Karnak

Pylon (entrance) to Temple of Karnak

Row of Sphinx lining the walkway to the Temple

One of the Sphinxes with statue of Ramses II

Courtyard of Temple of Karnak

Row of sphinxes along one side of the Courtyard

Statue of Ramses II with his
daughter, princess Bintanath 

Hypostyle  Hall

Columns in the Hypostyle Hall

Colorful carvings on column

Cartouche of Ramses II on a column

Column in the Hypostyle Hall

One of the small windows on side wall of
Hypostyle Hall

Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut

Two obelisks (Queen Hatsheput on left and
Thutmose I on right) and one hot tourist

Sacred Lake

Statue of Scarab

Ruins in Temple of Karnak

Top of 3rd obelisk damaged during 
renovation

Passageway through Hypostyle Hall

 

Day 5          11 Oct         The Nile River

Today we left Cairo and flew south to Luxor where we will board our ship, the Nefertiti, for a seven-day cruise down the Nile River to Aswan.  The flight was an OAT charter flight, so we had the plane to ourselves.  It was a small Fokker turboprop that was beginning to show its age.  But it was a short 45-minute flight.  It was very hot when we landed in Luxor.  As our ship would not be ready for us until later in the afternoon, our Trip Leader took us to visit Karnack Temple which I will talk about in the next blog.  Today’s blog, as the title implies, is about the Nile River.

 At 4,160 miles, the Nile River is either the longest river in the world or the second longest behind the Amazon, depending on what source you use and how that source measured the length.  (Our guide told us it was the longest river.)  In any event, the Nile is Egypt’s most precious resource and has been since the ancient Egyptians  lived along its banks.  The Nile flows from south to north, beginning in the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria (modern-day Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya) and emptying into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria.  In total it touches 11 countries in Africa -- Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Republic of the Sudan, and Egypt.  To the ancient Egyptians, this was their life source as the annual flooding of the river deposited nutrient rich soil and silt along its banks.  One of the earliest Egyptian calendars was based on the three phases of the river –Akhet (flooding season from June -September); Peret (planting season October – February); and Shemu (harvest season from March-May).  By developing irrigation methods, these Egyptians increased the amount of land that they could use for farming to support the growing population.  Crops grown included beans, cotton, wheat and flax, crops that could be easily stored and traded. 

Another important plant to the ancient Egyptians that grew well along the riverbanks was the papyrus plant.  Known mainly for its use in making paper, it was also used in making clothes, boxes, and rope. 

As in the ancient times, about 95% of Egyptians still live within a few miles of the Nile.  Canals were built to bring water to the cities, and in addition to agriculture, fishing and tourism are now big industries on the river.  The ancient annual flooding has been controlled with the construction of the Aswan High Dam which also provides a source of hydroelectric power to the country.  However, this same dam has some unwanted side effects.  The silt deposits that once enriched the soil along the banks and in the Nile Delta are now building up behind the dam in Sudan, and the delta region is shrinking due to erosion.  And the flooding that once cleaned the river of its human, animal, and agricultural waste no longer occurs, and as a result the Nile is becoming much more polluted.

And a more controversial concern within both Egypt and Sudan, is the new dam that Ethiopia is constructing on the Blue Nile which connects with the White Nile in Sudan.  While shorter than the White Nile, it provides almost all of Ethiopia’s water supply.  Ethiopia started construction of this dam in 2011 to provide hydroelectricity to the country, but both Egypt and Sudan are adamantly opposed to it as they feel it will diminish the water supply in both their countries.  The dam has been finished and Ethiopia has begun to fill the reservoir behind the dam, but the political controversy and conflict still continues.  It remains to be seen how it will be resolved.

Our ship, the Nefertiti, carries 75 passengers, with outside facing cabins all with small balconies.  It has four decks with a small sun deck on top where we will be able to sip our wine and enjoy the scenic sights along the Nile as we cruise from one town to the next.  The deck we are on, the Akhenaten (4^th deck) also has a small dipping pool and a covered open deck for sitting.  While being on the upper deck sounded great at the time of booking, having to walk up and down 6 flights of stairs several times a day soon became tiring.  However, we did enjoy sitting on our little balcony watching the scenery and young children playing along the river’s edge as we sailed up river (it is hard to remember that the Nile flows from south to north).  For many of these children seeing the riverboats gliding by is one of their day’s highlights.  Some even row out to greet the ships.

Floor Plan of the Nefertiti

The Nefertiti

One of the cabins on the Nefertiti

 

 

Day 5          11 Oct         Cairo • Explore Fatimid Cairo • Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifa’i Mosques • Home-Hosted Dinner

 Today Bill visited Fatimid Cairo, or Medieval Cairo, the historic area of the city that existed before the city’s current expansion during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  (I was not feeling very well – something at yesterday’s lunch did not agree with me.)  So I will have to rely on Bill’s memory for part of this day.

 Fatimid is the central area around the old walled city that was built during the Fatimid dynasty.  It is also referred to as Islamic Cairo and found in this area is the largest concentration of historic Islamic architecture, with hundreds of mosques, tombs, madrasas (schools), and fortifications. 

 The tour started with a visit to the Sultan Hassan Mosque.  Built between 1356 and 1363, it is considered one of the best examples of Mamluk architecture.  Mamluk refers to a class of warrior-enslaved non-Arab people (mostly Turks or Caucasian ethnicity), who served in the Islamic world between the 9^th-19^th century.  Although the term enslaved is used to define them, Mamluks often had a higher social standing than free born people, and in Egypt, the rulers of the Mamluk Sultanate ruled Egypt from 1250-1517 AD.  At the time it was built, it was the largest mosque in the Islamic world and today remains as one of the largest most important medieval mosque.  The mosque consists of a courtyard surrounded by four iwans (vaulted halls) and towering minarets.  In the center of the courtyard is a domed fountain that was used to cleanse the body before prayers.  Inside the mosque is the mausoleum of Sultan An-Nasir-al-Hassan who ruled from 1347-1351 and for whom the mosque was named. 

 Across from the Hassan Mosque and below the Citadel is the Al-Rifa’i, Mosque, one of Cairo’s largest mosques. Built during the 19^th century, the mosque was the first Islamic monument in Egypt to use cement in its construction.  While part of the mosque is dedicated to prayers, part of it is a mausoleum for the Egyptian Royal Family of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who descendants ruled from the early 19^th century until the revolution of 1952 when Egypt became a republic.  Egypt’s last monarch, King Farouk is buried here as is Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, who was married to Farouk’s sister.

 In the evening, I was feeling much better and was able to attend our Home-Hosted dinner with an upper-middle class family.  Driving through Cairo takes a lot of patience and time.  And tonight, as we neared the home we were to visit, the crowd was especially large.  This was the first day of school, and parents were shopping in this one area where vendors bring all the school supplies that are needed by the students.  Think Walmart before school starts, but there are many small venders, many pedestrians, and no parking lot.  People just parked anywhere on the street. 

 We also passed a gaily-lighted street that Mito explained was where Egyptians come to buy sweets in preparation for the al-Mawled al-Nabawi, the celebration of the birth of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad,  The date of the celebration is the 12th day of the Islamic month of Rabi' al-Awwal, which this year is 21 October.  It is a national holiday and the people celebrate by eating sweets. 

Our hostess was Marina, who along with her twin sister, lives with their mother in an area that is home to many Christians.  Both Marina and her sister work (I cannot remember her name) – she is in marketing while her sister is an accountant.  Their mother worked until she retired with the Egyptian government.  They have a nice, small apartment on the second floor and their brother and his family live above them.  Their home is nicely furnished, but the furniture is old.  However, their mother is a very good cook.  For dinner we had a tomato and cheese salad, rice, potatoes in a tomato sauce and chicken.  Dessert was a traditional Egyptian dish made with rice, milk, bread or graham crackers, raisins, and cinnamon.  It is very much like our rice puddling only much more runny.  We spent about 2 hours talking with them about their travels, mainly around Egypt, especially the beaches on the Red See where the two daughters love to snorkel.

 They are orthodox Christians and Marina we explaining to us their fasting rules.  In the November-December timeframe they fast for about 60 days, eating no meat, chicken, dairy or poultry products.  Then around Easter, they fast again for 55 days.  We always enjoy these Home-Hosted dinners as they give us a glimpse into the every-day lives of ordinary people in the countries that we visit.

Sultan Hassan Mosque (left) and Al-Rifa’i,
Mosque (right)

Entrance to Sultan Hassan Mosque

Fountain inside Sultan Hassan Mosque

Inside the Sultan Hassan Mosque

Niche inside the Sultan Hassan Mosque

Altar where Iman speaks

Tomb of Sultan An-Nasir-al-Hassan

One of the Royal Tomb inside
Al-Rifa’i, Mosque

Tomb of Ismail Pasha

Tomb of Ismail Pasha's wife

Tomb of Sultan Hussien Kamel

Tomb of Sultan Hussien Kamel's wife

Tomb of King Farouk

Parents buying school supplies

Street for buying candy for Muhammad's
birthday

Home-hosted Dinner Hosts - Marina (left), her
twin sister (center, mother (right

 

 

 

Day 4          10 Oct 2020          Cairo • Controversial Topic: Women’s rights in Egyptian society • Explore Sakkara & Memphis

 This morning we traveled again to visit Saqqara and Memphis.  Before continuing, I must comment about the heat.  It is extremely hot here for this time of year – we are experiencing days with temperatures over 100 degrees (something to do with a low pressure out of Saudi Arabia).  The sun is intense, and the light-colored sands does not help.  It is hard to be out from the shade for more than 15 minutes – lots of water is a necessity! 

 We started the day with a stop at the Outdoor Museum in the ancient city of Memphis.  One of Egypt’s oldest cities, it was the capital of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom and the center for commerce, trade, and religion.  Located strategically on the Nile River, it was an important port and center for the distribution of food and merchandise throughout Egypt.  It is believed King Menes (c.3150 BCE), who had first united the two divisions of Egypt, founded the city, and he and his descendants from the Early Dynastic Period as well as the dynasties from the Old Kingdom, ruled Egypt from Memphis.  The name Memphis came the word Men-nefer which means “established and beautiful.”  And with the palaces, gardens and temples that once filled the city, the name was appropriate as Memphis was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world.  It was here that kings constructed their great monuments, Alexander the Great was crowned pharaoh here, and the Rosetta Stone originated in Memphis.  Memphis’ importance waned during the later years of ancient Egypt (under Roman rule) as Alexandria, on the coast of the Mediterranean grew in economic and commercial importance.  And with the decree that Christianity would be the religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD, the city’s worship of ancient Egyptian deities also diminished.

Most of the ancient structures have disappeared, with the exception of the 36-foot colossal statue of Ramses II, which at one time stood with the great Temple of Ptah, the creator god and the patron god of craftsman who also guarded Memphis.  His temple was once the most important structure in Memphis.  What little remains of the temple, along with the Colossus of Ramses II and a large sphinx monolith are now part of an open-air museum which we visited.  The statue of Ramses II lies on its back in a small building.  One of the most fascinating things about the statue is the carving of his favorite wife Nefertari, on the inside of his leg.  Outside there were carved stones and monuments, including the largest alabaster sphinx monument – that of Queen Hatshepsut -- all of which were found in the nearby fields.  One of the statues is entitled "The Triad of Memphis."  Ancient Egyptians believed their gods were like human families.  One of the most important family was of the Creator God Phat, his wife Sekhmat, and their son Neferem.  However, in the statue, Ramses II is portrayed as the son, thus showing that in addition to being a pharaoh, he was also a god himself.

Our second stop was to Saqqara and the Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest pyramid in Egypt.  I have already written a little about the pyramid in my 5 Oct blog, but I will add a little more here.  As I noted in the earlier blog, the pyramid was built for King Djoser, the 1^st king of the 3^rd dynasty during the 27^th century BCE.  Its architect Imhotep conceived of the idea of stacking mastabas (flat-roofed rectangular monuments made of dried clay bricks) on top of each other, with each new stack made smaller thus creating the step look of this pyramid.  The pyramid was constructed in several phases.  The first phase was the construction of the first (lowest) mastaba.  However, Imhotep wanted something more fitting for his king, so he added two more mastabas to the first.  As the king was still alive, Imhotep decided to continue adding more mastabas until he had added six on top of the original first one making this the tallest structure of its time.  And instead of using clay bricks, he made the mastabas out of limestone.

 

Diagram of Djoser Funeral Complex

Surrounding the Djoser complex was a 34-foot high limestone wall.  Outside the wall was a 2,360-foot long, 130 feet wide trench that is thought to have served not only as a quarry for the buildings inside the wall but also as additional protection for the complex.

Up against the northern wall of the pyramid was Djoser’s Mortuary Temple.  Unlike earlier buildings which were built with mud-bricks, the temple’s walls were built using stone.  The temple was approximately 35 feet high and its sole entryway was a narrow passage that led to a walkway framed by a series of columns.  Unfortunately, all that remains of the Temple is the entrance wall.

The purpose of a pyramid was to provide the pharaoh an easy transition to the afterlife after his death.  The afterlife was just like his earthly life, and the pharaoh would need food, drinks, and the luxuries of his former life.  Those items would be placed in the pyramid along with the body of the pharaoh.  Djoser must have had a wonderful afterlife as 40,000 artifacts were found within the pyramid complex.  Although the artifacts were found, his body was not inside the pyramid.  It is believed that tomb robbers absconded with his body.  The statue of Djoser that was found in the Serdab is the oldest known life-sized Egyptian statue (picture of a replica of the statue can be found in the 5 Oct blog).

Unfortunately, a major earthquake struck the Cairo region on 12 October 1992, causing significant damage to the pyramid – the vault of the great funerary well collapsed along with the ceilings of several underground galleries.  And to add insult to injury, the company hired to restore the pyramid had no knowledge in the restoration of ancient monuments.  The results were catastrophic – part of the pyramid collapsed threatening to collapse the entire structure.  The Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities commissioned a new mission, led by a French architect, to repair the damage.  They have reinforced the underground galleries and replaced the vault structure of the main funerary well.  In addition, they discovered several new galleries at the site.  It finally reopened to the public in 2020.

While little is known about King Djoser, he did build many monuments and temples, including the rebuilding of the Temple of Khnum, who was the god of the source of the Nile.  During Djoser’s reign, the people believed the Khnum was holding back the waters of the Nile thus causing a famine because he (the god) was displeased that his original temple was in disrepair.  Djoser then averted the famine by rebuilding the temple.

After the Djoser Pyramid, we drove to another area of Saqqara to visit the tomb of Kgemini, the son-n-law of King Teti (6^th dynasty), whose pyramid was also close by.  The drawings and carvings inside the tomb were spectacular and showed many aspects of day-to-day life, like dancing, fishing, hunting, force feeding animals to fatten them up, and presentation of offerings.

On our way home we drove by the Cairo Aqueduct, which was first started by Sultan Saladin around 1175 AD who developed the idea of bringing water from the Nile to the Citadel by building a canal along the top of the wall that he had built to encircled Cairo.  The aqueduct was later reworked by Mamluk sultans to provide more water to the Citadel of Cairo.

After returning to the hotel, we had a woman, Nashwa Awad, come and talk to us about women in modern Egypt.  She is a well-educated woman, with degrees in education and mental health and has taught in middle, high school, and college.  She is married and has two grown sons. 

She started her talk with the 1919 revolution that changed the life and role of women in Egyptian society.  This revolution was the first time that women participated in an active role.  However, it wasn’t until 1956 that a new constitution gave them the right to vote.  And in 1971, President Saddat’s wife, a college professor, was instrumental in creating a family court where women would receive a fair hearing in matters of divorce, annulment, custody and alimony.  But after the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, when, surprisingly, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi, became president, many of the rights and strides made by women received a set-back in the new constitution.  This was also the first time that a religious ember won and tried to influence lives with religion.  Fortunately, Morsi’s reign only lasted one year, as on 30 June 2013, there was another uprising by Egyptians all over the world and he was replaced by the current president Sisi.  A new constitution was adopted that reversed all the decrees of the Morsi regime.  Today there 8 ministers in the Egyptian government and women are beginning to hold key positions in corporate and educational facilities.  Women are now allowed to become police officers and enter the Army, although they are restricted to non-combatant roles.  And just recently and Egyptian Airlines flight was flown by an all female crew.  And 25% of Parliament must be women. 

Today we see a lot of women in a variety of styles of dress.  Some are in the conservative abaya (a full-length black dress covering their bodies) and some dress in western style, and some are a mixture – a head scarf (called an hijab), but western outfits.  Contrary to what we thought, the Koran does not dictate how a woman should dress.  How she dresses is not based on any religious principle – a Muslim woman can make her own choices.  However, in reality, many times her dress is influenced by the family or the village she is from. 

She then talked about the educational system in Egypt.  All children must go to school from the age of 6 to 15 (9th grade) and it is free.  However, many of the elementary schools, especially in villages and rural areas, have classrooms with up to 90 students and one teacher.  In order to continue on to high school children must attain a fairly high GPA.  For those that do not, their parents can send them to a private school or their schooling ends.  They do have technical schools, but she said they are not very good.  The high schools have improved and include baccalaureate studies, private schools, American schools, British schools, language schools (but these are not free).  Only about 35% of children go on to high school.  Since 2011 more women are going on to the university levels, and the Cairo University’s president is a woman.

She gave a very inciteful and informative talk about women today, the obstacles they have had to overcome, and the progress they have made. 

Queen Hatshepsut Sphinx

Colossus of Ramses II

Head of Ramses II

Carving of Ramses' wife Nefetari under his leg

Cartouches carved on a block of granite

Triad of Memphis - Ramses II (as son
Nefertem, Phat, andd Sekhmat

Tomb of King Teti 

Tomb of Kgemini,

Pictures of Everyday Living

Crocodile attacking a Hippo (center of last line 
carvings)

Man carrying a goat across the water (1st man on
left of second line of carvings)

Man holding goat as crocodile tries to attack
(last man in boat in center of picture)

Dancers (right side) and clappers on left

Man force-feeding a cow (second cow that is lying
on its back holding a tray with its feet)

Cairo Aqueduct 

Carving of Kgemini

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