Egypt, Day 5

December 10, 2008

And yet another amazing day. Today’s theme was temples. We saw four in all, two from the Greek/Roman time and two from, I think, the New Kingdom. They were all pretty much amazing. So huge, so many carvings, so complex, so…defying description. It really kind of bothers me, though, that someone (Christian or otherwise) spent so much time chipping out the beautifully carved faces and figures. It’s rather unfortunate. Still, so many good ones do remain.

At the first temple Heather gave a presentation on Egyptian medicine, which was quite interesting. They really knew quite a bit, considering the technology they had to work with. Their knowledge was probably partly the result of their practice of mummification – they learned a lot about anatomy and physiology through that. There was a carving on the wall which included various medical instruments they would have used.
As I look back, the first two temples especially are starting to blur together… I think it’s a lack of sleep. Or maybe it has to do with the time period they are from, which we didn't study at all.
The third temple was especially amazing, though. We went to Karnak! I have been looking forward to seeing that for a long time. It has so many links to the Bible and the land of the Bible that we’ve considered in class. It was nice to make those links. We got to see Thutmose III’s city list, and Shishack’s city list and all sorts of cool stuff like that. It’s amazing to see such old carvings that mention places that I’ve been. There were also images from Merenptha's campaign into Canaan and some people (like Anson Rainey) think that is also depicts Israelites:
Additionally, the sheer size of the place was amazing. It took 8 “average” people to reach all the way around one pillar.
The fourth and final temple was Luxor, which we visited after dark. We had presentations on the Sphinx and on astronomy, both of which were quite interesting. I was excited to see one of these places after dark. We see advertisement about them being lit up at night, but we hadn’t seen any yet. It was lovely. Not quite as massive as Karnak, but still quite impressive.

More impressions of Egypt:
1. I think Aswan is still my favorite place that I’ve been thus far.
2. It’s hilarious how much time we spend comparing water prices. “I had to pay 10 pounds here!” “I got some one pound water at that place!” “Two for five!”
3. The whole 5 course meal is nice, but not all that helpful for us. We don’t know what to expect, so generally we eat up the first two or so, thinking that’s all we’ll get, and then we get to the main course and are slightly shocked that they’re still bringing us food and are too full to eat it.
4. I’m kind of glad not to be the oldest never-married person on this trip…
5. I’m really a bit exhausted.
6. Egyptians are interesting people. Friendly, in general, but I’m not entirely comfortable being asked to pay “Baksheesh” for minor favors or being asked to have a picture taken with me.

Egypt, Day 4

December 9, 2008
What a day! Wow. We got off the train at 10:00 and went straight to the bus. (As a side note, the train adventure went pretty well. I didn’t sleep as well as I would like, but that was probably my fault and not the train.)

This was, according to Dr. Wright, to be more of a "fun" day. I guess by that he meant less educational about the ancient Egyptians? It was fun, for sure.

Our first real stop of the day was at the Granite quarry where we saw the famous unfinished obelisk. Actually, one of the guards at the side showed me around a bit and showed me a second unfinished obelisk, though it wasn’t as big and impressive as the first. Brad gave a great presentation on obelisks and talked about the methods that were likely employed in building and erecting them. The math and engineering behind some of these ancient buildings just stagger me. The painstaking, backbreaking work that must have been involved is a bit staggering too. I pounded a little with a couple of the dolerite balls they had there and didn't manage to do more than chip off a couple small pieces of granite. (Here I'm showing the lovely end of an unfinished obelisk.)
Our next stop was at the high dam which apparently supplies 40% of Egypt’s energy. The rest, our tour guide said, is supplied by solar panels and wind power. Hmmm… The dam and the talk of electricity makes me miss engineering. Speaking of engineering yet again, today was a good day for geeks. I got to talk about a waxing gibbous, rocks and volcanoes, fractals, and the Doppler effect, all today. (Mostly with Christina.) Yay, geeks!!

The last stop before lunch was on a temple (Philae Temple?) on an Island. The funny thing was, the temple had been moved from a previous Island which had become waterlogged and placed on a new Island sculptured to be just like the previous one. It was a pretty impressive place.

We ate lunch at the hotel. Wow. Nice hotel. Amazing lunch. I’m a fan.

After that we got on a another boat, crossed the Nile, and took camels up to an old Coptic Monastery. Camel riding is good fun.
I think I’ll have to do more of that. I wish I knew more of the commands and body movements they understand, and the proper way to sit and hang on. Oh well. It was fun, and I think I did fairly well. The Monastery itself was interesting. Mostly, it was interesting to see sand and some rocks stretching away into the distance. The difference between fertile river land and desert is stark, and the line between is so abrupt.


Next we took the boat upriver to a Nubian village. There we got a brief lesson in our 123’s, abc’s. It was really fun. Then we joined a family for drinks (I had hibiscus) and music and dancing. It was fun. We even got to see their 3 pet crocodiles.

I have to say, I really like this area. The water, the shapes and types of rocks, the tall grasses and palm trees. I can see how life here in ancient Egypt could have been very enjoyable. Of course, we haven’t experienced the diseases and problems with wild animals and famine and all. I’m sure that at times life here was very hard. Still, it’s lovely. We rode the boat home in the dark and looked at the moon and stars. It was so peaceful.

After showering and having a lovely dinner back at the hotel, some of us set out to see the Coptic church. It is a very large church, and apparently had just finished a service when we arrived. There were quite a few people standing around in groups talking, much like at my church back home after a service. It made me feel that this church is more vivacious than many orthodox churches I’ve seen in Jerusalem. Perhaps that is in part because this is a church and those are pilgrim sites. After the church, Isaiah, Christina, and I went down on the river walk a bit and sat. It was nice and peaceful. I rather like this place. It also has Internet. And a great view from the roof.
And I need to go to bed again!

Egypt, Day 3

December 8, 2008
I want my mummy!! Hahaha, groan. Indeed, today was filled with many mummies. But more on that later.

The day started at Tell el-Yehudiah. Rather, the day started on the way to the tell as we drove along part of the delta and watched people in their daily interactions with the river, washing dishes and such. Having seen copious amounts of trash in that river, including dead cows, I don’t think I would like to wash my dishes there. Nevertheless…

The tell was pretty sweet. (Wow, you know you’ve been in Israel too long when you get excited about a mound of dirt scattered with broken potsherds). Really, though, Tell el-Yehudiah was one of the main things I was really looking forward to seeing because I’ve heard so much about it and it’s one of the few places in Egypt where some sort of Biblical connection is easier to make. I mean, really, translated it’s called “the mound of the Jews.” It has Middle Bronze Age fortifications. It’s got to be related to Canaan somehow! And indeed it is. Flinders Petrie excavated there (though I don’t remember the date) and found the first examples of what he dubbed “Tel el-Yehudiah Ware,” numerous samples of which were subsequently found in Canaan. It seems fairly clear that whoever inhabited Tel el-Yehudiah for most of its life as a town were Semitic. So the tell was cool, even though there were no major remains visible and we didn’t have enough time to look around. There was a lot of pottery (some fairly large sherds) and there were a couple of pretty clear destruction/burn layers. Fun times. Very fertile, green area.

After that excitement we headed downtown to “Old Cairo” where we visited a couple churches and a synagogue. The churches were interesting, though I’m not sure I enjoyed them a whole lot. It was rather strange having the guide talk about saints and miraculous sightings of Mary and a stone cross that used to bleed. Did they really happen? Is it made up? A hoax? Someone’s wild imaginations? I admit, I’m rather skeptical. Or if they did happen, I’m more prone to attribute them to Satan than to God. I thought it was interesting that each church had 12 pillars (like the 12 apostles) and each also had sort of an “odd man out” pillar. Most were made of alabaster, but one was of granite or basalt – the Judas pillar. Isaiah and I had an interesting discussion about the orthodox church … what do we (as protestants) do with them? Hmmm… The synagogue was interesting too, mostly because of the Hebrew writing. As soon as the guide (Mina) was done talking, I think all the Hebrew students rushed to try to make out the Hebrew. It was unpointed, so that made it a tad more difficult. Still, I think we managed fairly well. I was pleased that I was able to make out quite a few different words, in spite of their unpointed condition and my sadly lacking vocabulary.

Next stop was lunch. Since we have spent all semester learning about rocks, it was only appropriate that lunch be similarly themed. Yes, we went to the Hard Rock Café in Cairo. First Hard Rock Café I’ve been too. Wow. Interesting place. I have to say, though, I was rather disappointed that they didn’t allow nuclear weapons in the bathroom stalls. Tragic, really.

The last “educational” stop of the day was at the Cairo Museum. WOW. Amazing. Immense. Overwhelming. Fascinating. Need I go on? It was impressive. (Really bummed that pictures weren’t allowed, though.) It has specimens from pretty much every period of time in Egyptian history, ranging from pre-dynastic to the Greek and then Roman times. Statues ranging from nearly 2 stories high to statues 4cm high, maybe less. The guide took us through, pointing out things he thought were important. I didn’t so much enjoy that part – I could rarely hear him, there were far too many people in one area, and when I could hear him, he rarely said anything particularly interesting. So eventually I gave up trying to see what he was pointing out and listening to him and instead looked around the general area. I would have considered wandering off, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to see the Mummy room or have known what time to meet at the end.

Favorite parts of the Museum?
1. King Tutankhamen display. Holy buckets of gold! That was an impressive display. I mean, ok, the funerary mask and two of the caskets and the various pieces of jewelry which were in a separate room were all spectacular. It was crazy to think that I was seeing things that I remember studying in 6th grades social crudies. :) I’ll have to tell Mrs. Broughton. Won’t she be jealous! 11 kg of gold in the mask alone. That’s just crazy. And that was just the beginning. A whole hallway was filled with displays of things that were found crowded into his tomb. It was overwhelming. And all this for a fairly minor Pharaoh who ruled only 9 years and died at the age of 18.
2. Mummies! We saw probably about 20 of them. And these are the most famous ones – like Merenepthah, or Ramses II (III, IV, IX, etc.), Hatshepsut, etc. In their lives, people must have trembled before them, and now… Along the same lines, do you know how incredibly complex and detailed the contents of the tombs were? The Egyptians were definitely a people obsessed with life – the after life. They put a huge amount of effort into preparing for it, and yet in the end, where are they today? Kind of tragic. And it makes me wonder. When Abraham, Isaac, and others where “brought” by God to Egypt, was is so that one or two of the Egyptians would have a chance of real eternal life?
3. Mereneptha Stele which mentions the Tribe of Israel as being destroyed by Mereneptha around 1205BCE.
4. Armarna letters.
5. Greek/Egyptian statue – the whole thing was farily Egyptian in style with the exception of the curls around the head. Those were quite Greek. It was kind of funny.

After the Museum we had a short stop at the Market. It made me laugh – those shopkeepers.

After that the excitement still wasn’t over – we got to take the train! It has been pretty fun so far. So exciting, it’s taken me a while to wind down and feel tired. Charlene and I opened the door between ours and Brad’s and Chang Hun’s room and ate dinner “with” them. Good times. We thought about going to the belly dancing contest, but... ;) Anyway, it’s still fun, but I think I’m going to see if I can catch some sleep shortly here. ‘night!

Egypt, Day 2

December 7, 2008

I can now say that I’ve seen most of the more famous pyramids in Egypt up close, and I’ve even been inside two of them! (This is the bent pyramid.)
We didn’t get to go inside any of the 3 most famous ones, but oh well. The first one we went inside, the Red Pyramid, built by Sneferu (4th dynasty). It was the third pyramid he built and is the first “true” pyramid. I have in my notes that it is called the red pyramid because it is built of granite. Our Egyptian guide said that it was called red because of how it looks when the sun hits is and all pyramids are made of sandstone. Hmm… Anyway, that was our first stop and my first trip inside a pyramid. The air inside was far ranker than anything I had previously experienced. I mean, I’ve gotten somewhat used to the occasionally smell of garbage and urine over the semester, but this…it smelled quite similar to an outhouse, but much stronger and unrelenting. Nevertheless, it was amazing inside. Amazing to think about people carrying all sorts of treasures inside through those steep, narrow paths. Amazing to see the huge boulders inside fitted so tightly that the narrowest knife wouldn’t be able to squeeze between them. Wow. The other pyramid we went inside was itself not that impressive of an edifice on the outside. I believe it belonged to Teti, of the 6th Dynasty. It did not smell nearly as bad, and the passages inside were not nearly as long. The inside was also covered by hieroglyphics (whereas the other had been plain) so that was cool.

We went to a couple museums featuring various statues and Egyptian finds. I have to admit, I don’t think I know enough about Egyptian history and archaeology to be as interested as I have been at museums in Israel. Still, they were cool. I think one of my favorite pieces was the cubit rod.
We got to look around in the “Mereruka Mastaba” and see all the reliefs on the walls and the falls doors. The pictures were amazing – so intricate and small. How long they must have taken! Let’s see, my favorites… We didn’t really have enough time to take them all in, but I think the two that really caught my eye were in the first chamber. The first was a picture of people basically wrestling a cow. One of them had the tail, a couple had the horns, and they were going at it. It reminded me of the Big Timber Rodeo wild cow race.  The other was a larger image of a man and woman. Their heads were cut off, but they were holding hands. It was cute.

We visited the Djoser pyramid complex (a stepped pyramid). Basically a series of, I think, 7 Mastabas built on top of each other.
We finally got to see the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx at Giza. Unfortunately, we were quite rushed there. Oh well, still fun to see.

We also stopped at a Papyrus factory on the way back to our hotel before dinner. We saw a short demonstration on how Papyrus was made. Pretty cool.
Favorite parts of Egypt today (I mean, other than the pyramids):
1. Seeing random mammals in the backs of pickup trucks. No fancy camel trailer for the dromedary. No sir! The back of this short bed truck will do just fine! And when the camel is done using it, it can do duty as a bovine transporter. Sheep and people were also seen in the back of trucks, sometimes more than one species together.
2. I really like the pita-like bread and the sauces.
3. Seeing signs that say things like, “Please do not throw toilet paper at the toilet.”
4. I haven’t gotten sick yet! (knock on wood)

I have to say that Egypt reminds me more of Bolivia than Israel did, though quite obviously all of them are quite different. Some of the smells here, though, are similar, as well as seeing donkeys in the street and people in the backs of trucks.

Ok, I’m off to bed.

Home and Egypt

Well, here I am, after a good night's sleep in a nice bed, sitting in a comfy chair in front of a blazing fire, while outside people are enduring sub-zero temperatures. The last time I slept through the night on a bed I was on a train to Cairo and the temperature outside was probably in the 70's. What a change a few days make! What a ride. And I'm 1/4 done with my master's degree, Lord willing. Now I just need to decide if I want to do a thesis or not. Hmmm.... any advice? :) Anyway, to catch you all up to date I'm going to post all my Egypt impression reports. Don't feel the need to read them all in one sitting.

December 6, 2008

I’m in Africa! Today was quite a day – at the bus at 5:30 am, and we didn’t get to our hotel until 10:30 pm. This is the sunrise we saw on the Ascent of Adumim, on the way out of Jerusalem. Actually, you can see the Dead Sea in this one.
As we were driving we saw an island just off the coast with the remains of a crusader castle on it, I think. Very picturesque. That’s apparently one possibility for the location of Solomon’s fleet in the Red Sea (Biblical Elath).
Our only real “stop” of the day was at the Red Sea, on the Egyptian side of the border. We got to swim for a bit, which was fun. One more ocean to add to my list! Plus we got to see lion fish in the water. (You can't see it too well in the picture, but it's there!)
I need to check tides, though, because I’m guessing there isn’t much of one there. The water was really still. After swimming we went to lunch at Sol y Mer, Sea Star, at the Captain’s Table. It was pretty good food. I even tried a stuffed crab. It was cute. I think I may have had real crab meat before, but never in recognizable form. Pretty exciting.
Then we drove across the Sinai Peninsula. It was pretty barren, and fairly flat much of the way. I admit it – I slept. Still, I saw parts and was glad that I didn’t have to wander there for 40 years. Finally, probably around 6pm, we made it to the Suez Canal and actually drove under it. We got into Cairo itself around 8. It’s a city of around 20 million. (Egypt has a total population of 80 million). I think that would qualify it as the largest city I’ve been in. Hmm…then again…well, I’d have to check, but at least it’s close. Dr. Wright said that the number of people who work the night shift here is greater than the number of people in Chicago. So, it’s a big place. And busy. It’s nearly midnight as I write and it sounds like rush-hour traffic outside. Egypt is 15% Christian. Fairly large Coptic group, I would guess. We got to our restaurant (a boat on the Nile) around 9:00. Good dinner. And now it’s nearly bedtime.
(This is the boat we ate on, on the right side of the picture. You can see the lights of the city reflected in the Nile to the left.)

A few first-impressions of Africa/Egypt.
- Lots of Arabic! I wish I could read it and/or understand it orally, even a little bit.
- Fortunately, the heat hasn’t been bad, though I did notice that the boarder crossing was warmer than Jerusalem. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.
- Traffic is crazy
- I saw a bus/van/something with headlights that change color like fiber-optic decorations. Apparently, they don’t like to use their headlights all the time, so the colors were only noticeable when the headlights were off.
- As we were driving, I could see clearly into a men’s bathroom…fortunately no men in at the time. Curtains are good, yes?
- It’s really a good distance from Jerusalem to Cairo.
- I’m always amazed at the western influence in these Muslim countries. I suppose the ones I’ve been to so far are fairly westernized, but the clothing one sees in stores is really not all the much more modest than clothing in America. I suppose the main difference is that girls wear it but cover it up when in public. Maybe?
- Minarets and mosques are odd. They are often beautiful buildings, but at night they are lit up by neon green lights. It just strikes a discordant note to me.
- I kept seeing small vehicles with huge amounts of luggage stacked on top. Will have to try to get a picture.
- I’m sure I’ll add more tomorrow, but right now I need sleep!

Crazy Ideas

So, today I had an interesting experience. I went shopping in the old city with Peter, which, while interesting, is not the experience to which I refer. That happened as we were on our way home. We passed a guy who then asked if we were American. Peter, being a nice American, turned around and answered. (I generally ignore all queries and comments addressed to me because ya never know what they might want...and I don't want to have to spend a lot of time escaping from someone trying to sell me something.) Anyway, this guy was, well, I'm not really sure what he was. He said he was just "an old cowboy" from New Mexico, I think. He was dressed more like a Orthodox Jew, though he didn't quite fit that part either. Anyway, he started talking to us (well, mostly to Peter) and telling us about his background. I guess he was a preacher for the Church of Christ for a number of years. Apparently he doesn't completely agree with their theology now, however. He started telling us about how the New Testament proves Judaism (or something along those lines), quoting verses like Matthew 5:17-18...mostly completely out of context. And asking questions like, "What did Yoshua say about how to be saved?" and then quoting Jesus' words to the rich young ruler.

Can I just say that I hate it when people ask questions, obviously expecting a certain answer, but you don't think that you can truthfully give them the answer they expect? (And generally they don't give you time to answer anyway.) Or when they say something and ask "Right?" And you want to be agreeable and say "Yes, of course" but you're not sure that you agree, either because you are not sure what they're asking and haven't had time to think it through, or because you might agree with part, but you're afraid that if you agree unconditionally they'll go on to draw further conclusions which you won't agree with at all. As much as I might like people who do this, I really don't like having discussions with them.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure exactly where this guy ended up with his leading questions, but it was some place mighty weird. I think he told us that Jesus Christ is the antichrist. He made a distinction between Yeshua/Yoshua (as Jesus would have actually been called in New Testament days) and the Greek/Englishized name "Jesus." Really rather odd. He emphasized names a lot, using the name of God repeatedly (thus proving that he wasn't really Jewish either).

They say Jerusalem can do odd things to people. I think this guy had some odd ideas before he got here, but I don't think being in Israel has cured him. :)

As Peter said (roughly), I hope I don't start having crazy non-sensical ideas when I get old!

Anyway, now that I've shared that story with you, I should get back to studying for archaeology. Speaking of which, have you ever considered EBIV/MBI aka "The Intermediate Bronze Age"? Well, you should. It really doesn't make sense.

It's December...

...and mosquitoes are in the air! I probably kill an average of one or two a day. Not a problem that is common in Montana in December.

(Oh, Happy first of December and Rabbits and all that. :)

I went to the Scottish Presbyterian church again on Sunday. You know what my favorite part is? They have music! I mean, like, hymnals where you can sight-read the music if you don't happen to know the song! They also sing hymns! The other churches I've been to (and our own vespers service) generally sing more "praise songs." Which isn't bad, but if you don't know the song, well, you're kind of out of luck because they're only going to sing through it once. The entire semester. Ok, so I don't want to be a grumpy, picky person, but I will say that is nice to be able to have music to look at while you try to learn the songs.

It was a rather busy weekend for me. I had a final and a paper due on Thursday and then two papers and a final today. Glad those are over! Now I just have two more finals. Hebrew is tomorrow and shouldn't be too bad. Archaeology is on Friday, and I am a bit more worried about that one. I think I will be eating, breathing, and sleeping archaeology for most of the rest of the week.

I leave for Egypt on Saturday! So exciting! That's going to be quite a trip.

Tonight I got to see the conjunction of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter. Over Jerusalem. Someone said that they last time they were in this formation was around 2 BC, but I haven't been able to find confirmation of that. At any rate, it's a beautiful sight.