Arriving in Cairo we boarded another bus and were taken to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, also known as the Egyptian Museum or the Museum of Cairo. First, for a bit more of the feel of being in Cairo, two more pictures of buildings in Cairo. And one picture of the street signs written in Arabic and English.
We arrived at the Egyptian Museum and drove by the plaza on which the revolt took place. Here are two pictures of the plaza.
When we saw the burning buildings on the news in February 2011, it was actually only one large office building.
There are 3 Sabbaths in Egypt as there were in Israel. Friday for the Muslims, Saturday for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians. On these days the people are more likely to come to the plaza and exchange ideas, become stirred up and then trouble can erupt. So on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the army brings in armored tanks and stations them in front of the museum between the museum and the plaza. Lots of men in uniform with big machine guns standing in the turret of the tank and around it. We really had nothing to fear but it is still very imposing. We were also not allowed to even take our camera inside the museum. All belongings were left on our bus. I tried to get a picture of the museum from the bus window but it is not great, so I provide this one generously displayed on the Internet.
Osman knows this museum well as he worked here. He took us through the mummy room and then through the Tutankhamen museum and then through the papyrus room. If you want to really understand the artifacts from King Tut's tomb, go with Osman. The thing that amazes Osman is when the King Tut artifacts came to tour America, there were lines where people stood for hours to see these amazing items. In Cairo, they are just there and no long lines. We had no problem seeing all of them and not being crowed by other tourists or locals.
After the Egyptian Museum we made the connection with our bus driver who had to drive around because he couldn't park near the museum. He couldn't only stay in one spot to let us off or on for a specific number of minutes by the museum.
Our driver would then take us from Cairo on one side of the Nile River to Giza on the other side of the Nile River to visit the pyramids. I had been very sad for the lack of cleanliness in most of the streets of Cairo. We were told Giza was a LOT worse. We were told correctly. The sad part is there is really no government since the revolt. People who work in public service jobs are often not paid so trash is left laying. The tops of their unfinished homes often serve as the place for trash as well as their streets, parking areas and sidewalks. But even sadder than that is the fact that no one applies for a permit or meets any building regulations. Hence, the city of Giza is now a glut of partially finished apartment buildings in every available space and they are built right up to the base of the pyramid complex.
The pyramid complex is very well laid out. There is a nice road our bus took through and around the base of the pyramids to a hill above them. This allowed for a great first view close up without walking great distances and then a wonderful photo op view from the hill top overlook.
Here are some candid shots from the overlook that I really like.
The Great Pyramid and the largest one is for Pharaoh Khufu. It is also know by the name Cheops. The pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom period and were there before Abraham went to Egypt.
The Pyramid for Pharaoh Khafre is the middle pyramid and actually smaller than Khufu's pyramid. It looks larger because it sits higher on the hill. Khafre was Khufu's son. This pyramid retains the largest amount of the outer covering at the top. This covering would have been on each of the pyramids .
The smallest of the three is for Pharaoh Menkaure. He was the great grand son-in-law of Khufu.
It was close to closing time. We all wanted to see the Sphinx at the bottom of the hill. We were offered the opportunity to go touch one of the pyramids. But those who got off the bus to do this would have to do it quickly and then hurry down the hill to the Sphinx. Claude and I opted to touch the pyramid. Our bus pulled up near Khafre's pyramid. We hurried down to experience the pyramid up close.
We did not go inside any of the pyramids. Alan shared with us that there are no hieroglyphics inside the pyramids. There are narrow long passages that don't get much ventilation and he explained the smell is like a boy scout's socks after a week at camp times a lot. In truth, we had so much enjoyed the hieroglyphs in the other temples that none of us were disappointed in not entering a pyramid.
As we ran at times to get down the hill to meet our bus and tour group, Alan was trying to point out the sun going down behind the pyramid. That pyramid shape is another reminder of the connection between the sun and the earth. So all the time I am running, I tried to turn and catch the perfect shot of the Pyramid of Khafre with the sun shining from the top. This is the best I was able to get. It was still moving to me.
We got to the Sphinx and the poor gate keeper was yelling, "We are closed. We are closed." while trying to close the door. This was nearly futile on his part as we all pressed to get inside. We made it inside for a quick view of the Sphinx.
There is a funerary complex built around the Sphinx that is being excavated and restored now. This would probably have been the funerary temple for Pharaoh Khafre and the head on the Sphinx is believed to be his image. There was a road leading from the funerary temple to Khafre's pyramid.
I took one last shot of the head of the Sphinx with a bird on the top. When we moved to Maryland, Claude got there several months before the kids and I got there. He took pictures of Farragut Park across from the White House. There is a statue of Farragut in this park and there was always a bird sitting on his head. If found it amusing there was also a bird resting on the Sphinx's head.
One more stop in this very full day. We were taken to Abu Simbel Papyrus. The only souvenir I wanted from this trip was real papyrus with something painted on it. We were told to wait until Cairo to purchase papyrus. This business was the reason we waited. Real papyrus made the ancient way and painted with hieroglyphics. Yes!!
We were greeted by Fatima. She was an absolutely beautiful young woman. She would share with us how papyrus was made before we would be allowed to roam this store and make purchases if we desired.
Fatima is holding a stalk of the papyrus plant. She showed us that the stem is actually triangular in shape. The process is begun by cutting the outer green layer from the stem. This layer is extremely strong and is used to weave baskets and in ancient times bed frames that served the same purpose as the springs under our mattresses. The white part of the stem remaining is then cut into thin strips the size of the length of paper you want to make. Each strip is pounded with a mallet to begin flatting it out. Then it is rolled with a rolling pin to further flatten it out. These flattened strips are placed in a sink of water overnight. The longer the strip is left in the water the darker it becomes. If you wanted a darker paper, you would leave the strips in till it attained the degree of darkness you desired. The next day you would remove the strips one at a time and place them on a material with one strip going top to bottom, the next strip would lay over the top corner of the first strip and go side to side. Then you would take the third strip and place it top to bottom with a slight overlap of the first top to bottom strip followed by the fourth strip placed side to side overlapping at the top with the first side to side strip. Once all your strips were in place so you had a complete sheet of paper, material was placed over the top of the future papyrus paper and all was placed in a press and left until dried. When it was removed, you had a beautiful sheet of papyrus paper. This paper can be cut in a straight line very easily. It is very strong and does not tear easily. And, as an added bonus, you can submerge it is water and then squeeze it out and it will dry flat again.
We were shown several examples of papyrus with paintings on them. They were framed and all around the gallery. This picture is Alan explaining his favorite hieroglyph on papyrus. These were signed by the artist who painted them. Claude and I purchased two.
The first one is actually larger and will be framed and placed in our family room. It is a hieroglyph of a man and woman exchanging lotus blossoms. I can't remember the numbers but the man gives the woman a certain number of lotus blossoms indicating his interest in her and his desire for her to be his wife. If she accepts them all, she is saying yes. If she only takes a certain smaller number than he is giving it her polite way of saying, "I really like you but do not want to be your wife."
This one is really smaller and will go in Claude's office.
Dark was fast approaching as we headed to our hotel. The pyramid was visible from the entry to the hotel. It was a beautiful hotel with cabana style rooms in a huge courtyard with paths around the little buildings. We were off to ourselves as our group appeared to be the only group in the hotel. It was like each couple got their own building.
When we got into our room, I noticed this interesting item under the glass top of the desk in our room. It is something we don't see everyday and would be very helpful if you were a faithful Muslim and participated in the five prayers done each day. I liked that courtesy for the guests.
Our flights went without a hitch. We got through customs the fastest ever. Chicago now has a kiosk where you scan your passport and it takes a picture of you and you enter what you are declaring on the terminal. When you get to the customs agent they just ask you their questions and get you through rather quickly. Alan told all the others in our tour group who still were at various stages of their upper respiratory infections, to make sure they did not cough while going through customs or they would be pulled aside and given a thorough exam. I was not concerned about that for Claude and me. However, as we got to the very last phase of customs my cell phone rang. My ringtone is Hayden singing "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head". I was grinning about it but the customs agent did not find it amusing even when I explained it was by adorable grandson. I understand his concern but it is still one of the best ringtones around and it was so good to hear Hayden sing. I left customs grinning.
Claude and I would recommend a trip to Egypt for anyone. We would however caution that you go on a tour with someone who really knows the country and all the ins and outs of security.
I shared my plethora of pictures with Papa Saturday. His reaction, "You have a treasure here!" He was so happy to see the pictures and very much enjoyed his tour of Egypt from his chair.
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