Stacey’s Mini-Extravaganza to the Middle East

The Egyptian Museum

The Sculpture Garden at Egyptian Museum

View of the main hall in the museum

On Monday, a cold snap hit Cairo…it was merely 90 degrees rather than 109.  To be honest, it didn’t feel that much different to me though everyone else was rejoicing at how cool it had gotten.  Bright and early on Monday morning I headed to the world-famous Egyptian Museum which is conveniently located 300 meters from my hotel.  It took no less than two police officers to assist me across four lanes of traffic…I have never seen such traffic or crazy driving as I’ve seen in Cairo.  The driving situation here makes Chicago drivers look like little old ladies out for a Sunday stroll.

The museum is housed in an enormous pink building with a nice entryway including a sculpture garden with a pond.  The building is very large and packed full of artifacts but still there is not enough room for everything and I’m told much of the collection lies in storage in the basement.  The pride and joy of the Egyptian Museum is the King Tut display.  King Tut’s tomb was only discovered in the last century by Englishman Howard Carter in 1922 and amazingly was found to be largely intact.  Our cameras were confiscated upon arrival so the pictures here are those I’ve found elsewhere on the web but are of the same artifacts I saw in the Museum.  Perhaps the coolest exhibit in the Egyptian Museum is that of the Royal Mummies.  About 20 mummies from kings and queens of years past were on display and by display, I mean they had pulled down the linen wrappings around the bodies to show the head and the feet of each mummy.  It was truly fascinating and well worth the additional entrance fee.

Mask over the head of King Tut’s mummy.  Estimated by collectors to be worth more than the Crown Jewels

Throne

One of 3 coffins that contained the mummy

Royal bed found in the tomb

Necklace

Shrine in which the various coffins were contained

Various knives and daggers

Ceremonial chair considered the best example of cabinet-making found in Egypt

After the museum, I decided to hop on the Metro and head down to Old Cairo, the scene of the original city from 500 BC and later a Christian enclave where a few small, ancient Christian churches still exist.  I love cities with subways.  Subways are so easy to get around in.  They are pretty much the same everywhere and it’s very difficult to mess up.  Indeed Cairo was the same.  The subway system has only two lines so it doesn’t go everywhere but for this particularly stop on the tour it was extremely convenient…and cheap.  One ticket costs 1 Egyptian pound which is roughly the equivalent of 18 cents.  Yes, 18 cents.

Egypt being a largely Muslim country, there are all kinds of gender restrictions on men and women in public.  Interestingly, there are 4 cars of each train dedicated exclusively to women and they are very clearly marked so everyone knows what is expected.  It is not,  however, clear to me what would happen if a woman tried to ride in a man’s carriage and I wasn’t really up for finding out so there I found myself…the only “Western” woman in a car full of hooded and veiled women.  It was certainly a different experience…they were no doubt wondering about my life as much as I found myself wondering about theirs.

Hanging Church

Just outside the Metro stop was the entrance to Old Cairo.  There are a few remaining churches from the 5th century AD as well as a Jewish synagogue from the 12th century AD that lie nearly 3 meters below street level.  I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the inside of those old churches or the synagogue so the pictures you see here are from the other two that are above ground.  The main attraction aside from the Coptic Museum is the Hanging Church…so named because it is not set on a foundation at all but is set on three stone piers of the semi-flooded Roman Water Gate.  It was originally built in the 4th century AD, demolished in 840, rebuilt in 977 and “recently” modified in 1775.  Inside the church they have a cut-out in the floor showing 13 meters down that there is indeed no foundation.  The inside of the church is very beautiful with a 15 column pulpit as well as the wood and mother-of-pearl inlaid screen in the front separating the main church from the side rooms.  The mosaics of various biblical scenes are on the walls leading to the steep stairs up into the church.

Entryway to Hanging Church

Main portion of church with 15 column pulpit

Examples of woodwork with inlaid mother-of-pearl

Mosaics on the walls leading up to Hanging Church

 The second church of interest is that of the modern St. George (1904)…the only circular church in Egypt.  Surprisingly they allowed me to take pictures in there though it’s sort of difficult to take pictures of round spaces.  The painting of Christ is underneath the dome shown in the photo and the wooden chairs are found around the perimeter of the building.  This church is the head of the Greek Orthodox church in Cairo and the mausoleums you see here are from the Greek Orthodox cemetery within the stone walls of old Cairo.  The tombs and mausoleums are in surprisingly poor repair given that the dates of most of the burials are within the last century. Those of you who were with me in New Orleans and again in Buenos Aires may recall my fascination for old cemeteries.  There’s just something interesting, eerie and beautiful about them to me.

By 3 pm I was ready to return to the hotel for a little siesta.  My final day in Cairo finds me cruising through the narrow and windy streets of Islamic Cairo and the old Khan El-Khalili market.  Pictures and stories to follow tomorrow!

Modern Church of St. George

Interior of St. George Church

Entryway to Old Cairo

 

Mausoleums and tombs from Greek Orthodox cemetery

The Red Pyramid

A few kilometers outside of Cairo (and seemingly a whole world away) lie the pyramids of Dahshur and Saqqara.  Cairo is utter mayhem while the villages near these monuments are serene and agricultural.  It is hard to believe that the craziness that is Cairo lies only a few kilometers to the north.

After spending the morning at Giza, I finagled my driver into taking me to Dahshur despite the fact that wasn’t on our original itinerary.  Dahshur is home to two major pyramids: the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid as well as several lesser pyramids.  I had previously heard that if you want to go inside a pyramid that the Red Pyramid of Dahshur was the place to do it as it was less claustrophobic than at Cheops, there are fewer people and the entry is included in the 30 Egyptian pound fee.  I couldn’t resist the opportunity to go inside one of these monuments so I climbed the steep stairs to the entry about halfway up the side of the pyramid and in I went.

As I was descending through the passage and into the pyramid, a large tour group of senior citizens was huffing and puffing their way out on ascent through the passage.  The passage was clearly not built with two-way traffic in mind so I had to stop frequently to let them pass and with each breathless person I encountered I was wondering what I was getting myself into.  The passage was narrow to be sure and the “stairs” were just boards nailed horizontally onto a long platform.  It was dark but there were some low lights on each side and I had to crouch down and sort of slide my way down the slope.  Amazingly, when I got there there was no one else so I had the entire burial chamber to myself.  Which, I must say, was a rather eerie experience.

View from bottom of pyramid shaft (how it actually looked)

And with a flash so you can see it a little better

These pictures are not great and I’m battling a bit with the flash on my camera to get it the correct intensity but hopefully these shots kind of give you an idea of what it was like inside.  There were basically only two rooms…the first with an added wooden floor and a very high, pointed ceiling.  You then went up some stairs and found yourself in the burial chamber looking down at…not much.  As you can see below, it’s largely a bunch of rocks strewn about and my guidebook says the burial chamber was never actually used.  The ascent out of the pyramid didn’t feel too challenging at the time though I am majorly feeling it today.  I’m not sure my quads have ever been so sore and going up and down stairs is currently not one of my favorite activities.

Steep angled ceiling of first chamber

Burial chamber

Burial chamber

Also near the Red Pyramid and viewable from a distance is the Bent Pyramid which is clearly given its name from the strange angles found in its shape.  No one seems to know why this pyramid was constructed in this manner though several theories abound.  Some think the angle was changed so as to complete it sooner, some thought it indicated a double pyramid (two pyramids superimposed) and still others think the architect lost his nerve.  Apparently another pyramid collapsed that was being built with the same angles as the bottom portion of the Bent Pyramid.  Regardless, it was too far afield to walk to so I have only these photos from afar.  Wondering about the haze?  Nope, it’s not my camera…just the notorious Cairo pollution which is horrible to say the least.

Bent Pyramid

After Dahshur, we were off to Saqqara which is a much larger complex of pyramids and most notably there lies the first pyramid ever constructed and considered to be the prototype for Giza and all others that came later.  This pyramid is called the Step Pyramid for its shape and is currently undergoing restoration which is why there is so much scaffolding about.  Prior to the age of pyramids, important people were buried in mastabas which were burial tombs with deep shafts for the sarcophagus (stone coffins essentially).  The construction of the Step Pyramid marked the beginning of the age of imposing elevated mausoleums.

Step Pyramid of Saqqara

Close up of bricks used to construct Step Pyramid

At this point in the day, I was on the edge of melting so I quickly took some pictures of the various points of interest and got myself back to Cairo.  The columns are from Hypostyle Hall which was the only entrance into the Step Pyramid back in the day.  The whole complex is the funerary of the king Zoser (2667-2648 BC) and was built by chief architect Imhotep who is widely considered to be the world’s first architect.  One of the local guides showed me around some of the tombs and let me take some pictures of the walls which you can see below.  Also shown are the walls of tombs covered in hieroglyphics and other pictorial scenes.

Hypostyle Hall

Columns within the Hall

After a day of pyramid-hopping in 109 degree heat I headed back to the hotel for a much needed shower and nap.  Next up on the Mini-Extravaganza…my trip to the Egyptian Museum as well as my subway trip to see Old Cairo (or Christian/Coptic Cairo as it’s sometimes referred to).  Tomorrow I’m headed to the famous Khan El-Khalili market and to wander the streets of Islamic Cairo.  Type to you soon!

 Pyramid of Cheops

Greetings and salutations from the great city of Cairo, Egypt (population 16 million souls...the largest city on the African continent). My driver told me that ... [Continue reading this entry]