The 15th May was my 50th
birthday and I celebrated in grand style by flying to Egypt for 7
days………….. my first trod to Africa.
We (myself and my daughter) reached Luxor about 7pm
………….. it was hot Iyah!!! Checked into the hotel and opened
the curtains to find a view of the River Nile right outside the window
………….. unbelievable.
First impressions were of a land of
great contrasts between rich and poor, old and new, many half finished
buildings showing that bricks here are still made of mud and straw
just like in the days of Moses. The reason for so much building, we
found out later, is that Egypt is experiencing a population explosion
with one child being born about every 45 seconds. Education is free in
Egypt until age 18 and on the first day we hardly saw any children. On
the Friday (the Sabbath) the town suddenly became filled with them.
The poor children run the streets and sometimes beg off the tourists.
If you are going there, please take pens for the children, they need
them for school.
The tourist trade in Egypt has suffered since
September 11th and it was obvious that the town was half
empty and the locals who rely on the tourist industry were suffering
badly. Everywhere we went we were surrounded by taxi drivers, caleche
(horse drawn carriage) drivers and shop keepers, all trying to sell us
something or take us somewhere at what turned out to be exorbitant
prices. Even when you refuse them over and over again they
smile and say “enjoy your stay in Egypt”.
The people are the friendliest I have ever met and they all
want to know where you are from, your name, etc. they have nuff
Raspect for Rasta and everywhere I went in Luxor I was followed by
cries of “Rasta? Rasta!”
While
in Luxor, we visited the Temple at Karnak, Luxor Temple and the Luxor
museum on the East bank. It was fascinating to learn that the early
Christians escaping the Romans used the Temples to live in. They often
defaced the images of the gods and at Karnak had even knocked the head
of one God to adapt the image into a cross. click
here The hieroglyphics though were mostly left untouched and the
educated Christians were obviously influenced by the stories they read
on the walls. So many of them are mirrored in the Scriptures.
On
Sunday we went on a 3 day / 2 night mini cruise up the Nile to Aswan.
The first day we had to be ready at 5.15am in order to take our
luggage to the boat. After this we were picked up by coach and taken
across the Nile by bridge to see Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. Queen
Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as a man, usurping her own adopted step son.
When he eventually succeeded to the throne, he tried to remove all
trace of the Queen by covering her monuments in Karnak temple and erasing
her name from the cartouches. Only pharaohs were allowed to write
their names in cartouches and they believed that this ensured them
eternal life.
From
the temple we went to view the Colossi of Memnon and from there to the
valley of the Kings where we were allowed to view 3 tombs on our
tickets. More tombs are being discovered all the time and many were
closed for excavation.
On
the way back to the coach, we visited an alabaster factory and were
given a demonstration of how this stone is made into ornaments, vases
etc by hand.
Then we returned to the boat for a relaxing trip up to the lock at
Esna. Here the local people come out in boats to sell cotton goods to
the tourists. The lock is huge and can hold two cruise ships at once.
It is also used in the manufacture of electricity.
We then sailed on to Edfu where we docked for the night.
Edfu temple, which we visited the next day, was my favourite. Here
we learnt the Incient Egyptian Creation story which is exactly the
same as the one recounted by Moses in Genesis. Hardly surprising as he
was raised in Egypt. Also the story of the god who killed his brother
(Cain and Abel) and of the brother’s wife Hathor who begot a child
by magic (virgin birth?) whose name was Horus, the falcon headed god.
Forgive me if I get some of the details wrong ……. there was so
much to remember. We also entered the holy of holies where the
ordinary people were not allowed (just like in the temple at
Jerusalem) and saw the altar which is still intact. I don’t know how
to describe the vibes I felt in there, incredible, amazing, spiritual.
Words just can't express it & I will never forget it.
Back on the boat, we sailed on to Kom
Ombo. Here the temperature reached an incredible 46.8
Celsius that’s 114
Fahrenheit. This temple was dedicated to a crocodile god. This is
unusual in that usually the crocodile was a symbol of evil along with
the snake. We were told that crocodiles were eating many of the
village children who used to swim in the river to cool down (and still
do.. there are no crocodiles in the Nile below Aswan anymore so local
children can swim in peace). The people who lived there decided to
worship the god of the crocodiles in the hope that their children
would be spared. This is the only temple we saw where blood sacrifices
of animals were made. Food offered to the crocodile god was fed to a
captive crocodile who lived in a pit in the temple. The mummified
bodies of two of these crocodiles were on display. Horus, the good
doctor, was also worshipped here and the Temple had a dual entrance,
one for each god.
We also saw an engraving depicting medical instruments still in
use today such as forceps, scalpels, spoons, enema devices etc. View
this here.
After this
we sailed to Aswan where the land of the Nubians has been mostly
drowned by the vast lake created by the Aswan dam, currently the 2nd
largest dam in the world. This dam provides Egypt with most of its
electricity and the waters are also to be used to reclaim some of the
desert area. When the dam was built the local people (Nubians) were
displaced and many ancient monuments were drowned and have since
crumbled under the water. The people were rehoused in two new villages
and a town or they could live in Sudan or anywhere in Egypt. I never
found out how they felt about this!!!! These Nubian people are the
direct descendents of the original inhabitants of Kemet. The only
other Incient Kemetians left are the Coptic Christians who, like the
Nubians, keep their bloodline pure.
Some of the
monuments were saved by enlisting the aid of the International
community. The deal was that for every whole temple saved one could be
taken out of Egypt. I think about 4 were saved by relocating in Egypt
and 4 more were moved abroad. There is one in the States but I can’t
remember where the others are.
We went to
see the Philae Temple and this has basically been stuck back together
with cement. Markers have been placed in the water so you can see
where it was originally.
Here we saw a Christian altar complete with niche where communion
bread was kept. 33 loaves were baked for communion and only one was
chosen no matter how many people there were. The rest were placed in the
niche. See picture here.
We left from Aswan by coach and returned to Luxor and
unfortunately the next day it was time to leave Egypt and forward to
London once more. I didn't want to leave and I can’t wait to visit
again!!!!
*****Give
thanks and praise*****
every minute, every hour, every day
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© Sis Marydread and Dawta Natty.
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