Yes, the last day might have been just as busy as the previous ones, but we stuck it out 'til the end and saw them both.
We did manage to get breakfast at the huge buffet on the Ramadis II and met Hassan, our guide at the Reception Desk. I noticed rather than sandals he had a pair of walking shoes on. (More on that later and a note on Hassan, too). This time we had a boat ride across the Nile to the East bank, on a motorized "Felucca", which was merely a 5 minute trip with the pilot , Abda. There Hassan had a small bus waiting for the 10 of us (some from other groups including George and his family from Greece.) I was a 10 minute ride through the bazaar area to the east end of Luxor , where we were able to view the Valley of the Queens and the temple of Hatshetsput the "King/ Queen", who was able to masquerade as a King during her reign. Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatshepsut (There were some 7 Queens of Egypt , but no "King/Queens" except her.) This temple was from the front the most impressive of them all. The tall columns that went from north to south covered some 3,000 feet from one side to the other. The entrance was reached by some 300-400 very wide steps to three large 'landings' on the way to the top. This temple had many carvings and hieroglyphics that were intact and readable. This includes the sun, snakes, river, monkeys, papyrus, and the square knot that ties Egypt together. The Egyptians are a very proud people in that they have been one united country /kingdom for these many years (5000 plus).
We were allowed to enter two of the tombs that were numbering now in the thousands. (Recent reasearch show the numbers are growing.) Tombs that ranged from those of the Kings and Queens to the commoner , depending on what resources they had. Remember only the east side of the river has tombs as the sun sets in the west and rises in the east (hence 'resurrection' in the east)
Then around the large mountain that separated the "Valley of the Queens" from the "Valley of the Kings", where Ramesis II and his many sons were buried. (Hassan referred to the site as the "Valley of the busses".) This Temple was not as large as Hatshepsut's, but, he provided burial tombs for all of his children. There were some 200 of them. These tombs were massive. An American team of archeologists were digging in a newly found tomb and had just scratched the surface of some 150 burial rooms and they believed they were not 1/2 way yet. . The tombs and passages we entered were very long at 500-600 feet long and contained the best drawings, carvings and art work of any we had seen. The paint was still intact and when they sealed the tombs, it was believed that the paints contained a poison to keep the bugs at bay. Hence when the tombs were opened many of the searchers became sick or died and that was believed to be the reason. (Not the "curse" as we was often told) The hallways generally 6-8 feet wide and 10 feet high , with the small burial rooms every few feet along both sides. It gradually goes downhill into the end chamber where some artifacts remain for display. (Remember the teamples go "uphioll" to heaven). Other items are in Museums in Cairo and other sites nearby. A mummified infant (newborn) was in one of them , No definite story was connected with that. Then it was to the bus through the gauntlet of vendors who did not know the word," NO" and as long as you kept walking and didn't hold anything they offered, you would make it through to the gate. (They are limited to the vending/shop areas.). I found that the postcard prices were best there and few coins at one shop were quite cheap. We were told that the Luxor area was the best value for buying.
We returned to the ship, packed our bags at noon ,exited our rooms, had lunch, and waited for Hassan , to take us to the second group of tombs , this time on the west bank (the side the ship was docked ) where we would see The Temples of Luxor and Karnak. The Luxor Temple is close to the river and actually at one time was connected by a wide raod (walkway) between the two even though they awer a mile apart. This is beingrediscovered and uncovered.
Luxor has a grand entance of gentle steps and then a magnificent "double" temple (Two gods) with the walk down the middle. It has a few roofs , but only in certain areas. This temple has more than 85 pillars some 100 feet tall that make a forest of pillars on the inside of the Temple. The pillars are 6 feet in diameter and perfectly cut. The pillars are of solid granite for the most part and then cut to shape on site. LArge ramps were built with mud and wood to reach the heights. There were two obelisks in place there with many carvings and "kartoush" carvings as well.
The story of the raising of an abelisk is an interesting one. FROM THE TIME OF CARVING THE 1500 TON STONE UNTIL ITS PLACEMENT IN THE SITE , TOOK THE TOTAL TIME OF 7 MONTHS. In the past century the French moved one to France that was already carved and on a site AND TOOK 7 YEARS to get the job done) The USA also imprioved on the movement of one obelisk from Egypt (to NYC) and took only 5 years to complete the job. Egyptian engineering was very superior in many ways to ours today.
To raise an obelisk they would build a obelisk high, tall box filled with sand. Then they would move the obelisk on mud ramps and actually tip it into the box and remove the sand as it fell into place. Ingenious. See this site for some information on obelisks: http://members.aol.com/Sokamoto31/ramses.htm
Karnak was just around the corner and we visited that one as a final stop on this trip. It , too has many pillars and was less intact than Luxor, although it also had a lake that was there where the Temple was built as that is a source of life for much around it. Hassan wore the shoes that day as the Temple sites had a lot of sand and loose gravel and they really got into the toes with sandals. (I was not that smart to see this change ahead of time)
Hassan is a former teacher and Egyptologist at Aswan University and semiretired. He is in the process of writing three books on the subjct one of which he wants to instruct the children about the ways of ancient Egypt , particularly the balance of life that they had and how to continue that through today's cultures. He is a learned man.
Our trip to the airport went smoothly with another guide Nubie, who picked up our luggage and got us to the aiport at Luxor in plenty of time. The flight to Cairo from there was about one hour and we had a good view of the vast amount of irrigation along the Nile from the air. There are a few lakes a distance from the river.
Our friend Harry was there to greet us at Cairo and get us to the "Le Passage" Hotel see this site for pictures http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll? or Le Passage Hotel, Cairo.
After a supper we had a leisurely AM and were able to sleep a bit longer . The pickup at the hotel was at 9:25 in order to clear customs for the 12:40 flight, which we did. Harry was very attentive and helped us clear the hotel desk, and get through the correct lines at customs. He is an excellent EO (Educational Opportunities) agent and guide. He did pick up some gifts the men had made specially on order.
The flight home was clear from Cairo until we reached the coast of England, so with a window seat I was able to see clearly the Island of Crete, Sardinia and most of France from Nice to the English Channel. It is interesting to to see the very square and oblong agriculture sites along the Nile Delta, and then see the very irregular ones in France surrounded often by trees (hedgerows) that have no pattern except the natural lay of the land. Of course without irrigation there is no need to have a regular pattern. The mountains of Northern Italy (Dolomites) were very visible carrying the debris down the mountains into the valleys below in Northern Italy.
Not until Cape Cod did the clouds clear, where we did see Massachusetts, and Connecticut and then the VERY long island of Long Island. It was clear to see and as we came down lower, each harbor and marina and house became very clear, We circled a few times waiting for a storm to pass from JFK so we had some good views of the Island and distant NYC with Manhattan Island barely visible.
From there it was getting throught customs and the check points and finally a pickup by the Hotel (Holiday Inn) after some walking to get to the "rail' that takes us to various parts of the airpiort and the shuttle parking lot for the Hotel . This was a long walk with luggage. It was a fitfull night rest for most of the five of us and early wakeup at 5:00AM to be ready at 6:25AM for the first shuttle to the airport. Went through the customs check again, and the security were finally passed and we were aboard AA to Chicago passing northern NY state and the Finger Lakes, Lake Ontario and Erie PA. Finally Lake Huron, the state of Michigan at Saginaw Bay (as we went a bit north to avoid weather in Chicago) , Houghton Lake, and the coast of Lake Michigan at Ludington coming into Chicago from the north. The rest is history as we had a 3 hour layover in Chicago and were met in GR by our families and happy to be home.
I will add a post script later today or tomorrow which will include some notes (and hopefully pictures) which were not included before. It was a "lifetime" trip that allowed is to see the ancient Holy Land, before, during and after Jesus time, as well as the journey of some of the land of the "Hebrew Children" with Moses, and then the Land of the Pharoahs and Kings, Queens and people of the Nile of Egypt some of which predated all of the above. Thanks for listening and remember ...one more entry. I would be interersted in your comments and I will again attempt to place pictures in the blog now that the speed of the computer is back.-jvs
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