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Cairo |
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Paris |
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Hebron |
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Atlanta |
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Saturday, December 31, 2016
December 29 -- Coptic Cairo (by Lou)
With plans to hit the historic walled Coptic enclave, and on the advice of our hotel desk manager, we ventured out for our first subway ride. Conveniently located near our pensione, it dropped us off right in front of the Coptic Museum but not before learning a few lessons. First, you're supposed to insert your ticket into the turnstiles for both entering the system and on leaving. A family cluster of Hijab wearing women kept poking me in the back to alert me about that, pointing to my stub sticking out of the machine. Also, gentlemen do not enter ladies cars, as several men pointed out when we stood on the wrong part of the platform. Other than that we learned once again, that Egyptians are just such thoughtful caring folks. Turns out that the culture venerates their elders and people kept offering me a seat, senior citizen that I am. And to our delight, our stop fell exactly on the steps of the Roman towers and the garden entry to the Museum. Built by Trajan in the first century AD, the towers and wall of the enclave once abutted the Nile, protecting the district, which housed the early Christian community. Nearby courtyards and gardens framed the Coptic Museum. Built in 1908, this gorgeous carved ceiling modest sized museum houses a great collection of early Christian art showing the transition from the Ptolemaic to the early Islamic period of Egypt's history. Displays of stone and wood carvings, monastery murals and textile fragments, were augmented by books and manuscripts, including the oldest book of psalms. One room housed major source material of gnosticism, the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. Even more interesting for me was the gallery that clearly displayed the absorption of Greek, Roman, and Pharaonic imaging and mythology into early Christianity. Crosses incorporating the ancient ankh form were particularly striking, as were pre-Christian depictions of baptism and rebirth.
Beyond the museum and deeper into the walled enclave were a number of early churches including the 9th C Hanging Church so called because it straddles and hangs over the old Roman wall. This and other churches visited were filled with fabulous icons, each church varying in personality. Just outside the Roman wall was a 4th C church structure that became the 9th C Ben Ezra Synagogue. It was believed to be on the spot where Pharaohs daughter found Moses in the reeds of a spring and also where Mary fetched water to wash Jesus. The oldest Synagogue in the Cairo, its simple exterior belies the rich black and white marble interior. Alas, no photos allowed so with time short, we reluctantly retraced our steps through the compound. After the train back, we walked past shops we'd hoped to hit for the last time including a patisserie. The crowd queuing outside the patisserie suggested it was popular but inside, it was absolute bedlam. People were just jammed themselves into the two room shop and you had to go with the flow or else with browsing not an option so, I joined the fray. Grabbing boxed sweets off the shelves, I spied a counter with pan au chocolat and had a couple bagged for the early morning drive to the airport, then surged toward the checkout before literally being ejected out onto the sidewalk. Phew! Asked a fellow if there was some holiday people were frantically buying for and he said no, it's normal activity, Cairienes just love their sweets. Well, call me crazy, but I just love Cairo!
For our last dinner in Cairo, we decided to head back to the sleepy but iconic Windsor, with its trophies and sad Christmas tree but also, celebrated martinis and the best hummus and other nibbles. At the front desk with its ancient telephone switchboard and letter slots, we took what is described as Cairo's oldest elevator up to explore what rooms there are like. An anti chamber with two mother of pearl sideboards on the walls leads to the rooms themselves, large and comfy. Who knows what next December brings but looking at these rooms, it's easy to dream and imagine coming back because for all the wonderful experiences we've had, we've only just scratched the surface.
Beyond the museum and deeper into the walled enclave were a number of early churches including the 9th C Hanging Church so called because it straddles and hangs over the old Roman wall. This and other churches visited were filled with fabulous icons, each church varying in personality. Just outside the Roman wall was a 4th C church structure that became the 9th C Ben Ezra Synagogue. It was believed to be on the spot where Pharaohs daughter found Moses in the reeds of a spring and also where Mary fetched water to wash Jesus. The oldest Synagogue in the Cairo, its simple exterior belies the rich black and white marble interior. Alas, no photos allowed so with time short, we reluctantly retraced our steps through the compound. After the train back, we walked past shops we'd hoped to hit for the last time including a patisserie. The crowd queuing outside the patisserie suggested it was popular but inside, it was absolute bedlam. People were just jammed themselves into the two room shop and you had to go with the flow or else with browsing not an option so, I joined the fray. Grabbing boxed sweets off the shelves, I spied a counter with pan au chocolat and had a couple bagged for the early morning drive to the airport, then surged toward the checkout before literally being ejected out onto the sidewalk. Phew! Asked a fellow if there was some holiday people were frantically buying for and he said no, it's normal activity, Cairienes just love their sweets. Well, call me crazy, but I just love Cairo!
For our last dinner in Cairo, we decided to head back to the sleepy but iconic Windsor, with its trophies and sad Christmas tree but also, celebrated martinis and the best hummus and other nibbles. At the front desk with its ancient telephone switchboard and letter slots, we took what is described as Cairo's oldest elevator up to explore what rooms there are like. An anti chamber with two mother of pearl sideboards on the walls leads to the rooms themselves, large and comfy. Who knows what next December brings but looking at these rooms, it's easy to dream and imagine coming back because for all the wonderful experiences we've had, we've only just scratched the surface.
Friday, December 30, 2016
December 28 -- Cairo: King Tut and Assorted Shopping (by Roger)
We saw the tomb itself in the Valley of the Kings and found it underwhelming. It was small, and the main room had little decoration. Pharaohs generally started work on their tombs from the time they ascended the throne, but Tutankhamen apparently died shortly after he became king, and the 18-year-old had apparently not done much to prepare for his afterlife. His reign was so short, in fact, that his tomb was mostly forgotten, and when Ramses VI was later excavating his tomb, his workmen dumped the debris from that excavation over the entrance to Tut’s tomb. On the up side, that debris hid the young pharaoh’s tomb, which is the main reason it remained undisturbed for so long.
But a young pharaoh is still a pharaoh, and the Tut artifacts that we saw at the Egyptian Museum showed the power and respect that post commanded despite the person in it. My favorite piece (by no means unique to me): the throne. And my favorite part of the throne is the back panel that shows the queen anointing the pharaoh’s shoulder with an ointment. Seeing the ointment took me back to Temple of Horus at Edfu, where we’d seen a room covered in recipes for scented unguents, but the real appeal hear was the style of the art. The face and limbs of the royal couple are elongated and stylized, lacking the crisp abbreviation of form in most Egyptian art, and the two of them have a languid posture rather than the stiffness we’d seen in most art. Also, instead of the usual assortment of gods validating the pharaoh’s rule, the panel portrays only Atun, a giant sun in the background with rays that end in hands. It’s an unusual way to portray an Egyptian pharaoh.
I was drawn to this piece because it so clearly shows the unique historical moment that Tut lived in. Tut was a member of the 18th dynasty, one that became something of a black sheep in Egyptian history. Tut’s father, Akhenaten, had banned the worship of the traditional gods in favor of worshipping the father of all of them – the sun, Atun. In practical terms, this meant disruption for the giant temples throughout the empire that were run by an entire class of citizens, the priests. And this religious revolution was accompanied by an artistic one with the characteristics that I saw right there on Tut’s throne.
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| Isis Protecting Canopic Jars |
After spending the morning well into the afternoon with Tut, we left the museum to find the bookstore of the American University in Cairo. They publish tremendous books, and we’d read they had a coffee shop. The book part was right – we stocked up – but the coffee shop part wasn’t. So we headed back toward the hotel, stopping in one of the tree-lined side streets for a huge al fresco snack that included a troop of Abyssian cats and Turkish coffee from the back of the grocery next door to the terrace we ate on. Stops on the way home included a place to buy sheets (Egyptian cotton!), underwear (Egyptian cotton!) and belts. And I got a sweater.
We were both worn out when we got back to the hotel, so we stayed in during the evening. Except that Lou graciously offered to go out to our favorite fast food falafel place and bring some of that yumminess back to the room. With French fries.
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| Canopic Jars from Tut's Tomb |
Thursday, December 29, 2016
December 27 -- Cairo: Saqqara, the Great Pyramid, Giza (by Lou)
It was a deliberate decision to wait to see the great pyramids until the end of the monument phase of our tour and today was that day. With its ancient stepped pyramid, Saqqara was our early morning destination. The drive along canals past towns and villages already busy for the day was fun. Arriving before the site gates opened, our driver pulled up to a roadside stand and bought us falafel and pita, a yummy breakfast treat. Saqqara itself is the largest archaeological site in Egypt, 7 sq km of desert necropolis in active use for over 3500 years before its final decline in 700 AD. With 114 pyramids discovered in Egypt so far, 11 major pyramids are in Saqqara alone. The stepped pyramid of Zoser is what we came to see, built 4700 years ago, the oldest stone monument in the world. Limited time and a sandstorm to boot made it logical to start with the little gem of a museum dedicated to the architect Imhotep who served Pharaoh Zoser. Imhotep is credited with the transition of ancient architecture, from the use of ephemeral materials to stone. Faience tiles from the interior walls of the stepped pyramid, as well as small treasures found there rounded off compelling displays of architectural transitional techniques. Illustrating the movement from wood to stone building materials were exhibits showing how columns and lintels and more were carved to suggest traditional wood forms through both shape and paint. Outside, we walked through the bundle columns lining the hypostyle hall toward the great south court and the Pyramid itself. Currently being worked on, it is still a dramatic sight in spite of the scaffolding and for sure, the sand storm added atmosphere. Along the way to other structures, we noted the design transitions learned at the museum.
Saqqara is just far enough from Cairo and the Nile valley to be desert, and the dunes were throwing sand big time. Even after entering some tombs, sand would fall on us through cracks, but not in the Serapeum caves. Dedicated to the sacred Apis bull, a son of Rameses II ordered these tunnel tombs to be excavated as well as the carving of huge granite sarcophagi weighing 70 tons each, to hold the mummified remains. These immortal deity bulls were known as Osiris Apis, later shortened to Serapis hence the site being called Serapeum. The tunnel we were in was 1000' long and winding past deep pit niches holding granite caskets the size of trucks, their polished and etched granite contrasted with the rough carved cave. Returning above ground, we leaned into the wind and struck out for the Mestaba of Ti and the tomb of Mereruka, both private tombs of high ranking citizens in the time of the Old kingdom. Both tombs are famous for their relief images detailing daily life in the time of the Old kingdom from hunting to hairdressing. Scenes of boatbuilding, fishing, preparing food and much more were accompanied , so we've read, by hieroglyphic dialogue: Hurry up, the herdsman's coming, or my favorite: Pay up, it's cheap! No photographing of these interior scenes was allowed but the guards suggested that for a little baksheesh, they'd turn a blind eye: pay up, its cheap! We've also learned how to turn off that camera shutter click that IPhones make. Alas, we couldn't turn a blind eye to the time so we jumped in the car and headed back to Cairo and the highlight moment we'd been waiting for, the great pyramids of Giza.
Just as in Luxor with Karnak, it's a bit shocking how close these respective cities have encroached on such remarkable monuments but once you enter the site, the city evaporates as your eyes struggle to grasp the enormity of these pyramids let alone the notion that you are beholding the last remaining of the 8 wonders of the world. Situated high on a rise of bedrock, the way up to the pyramids is circuitous, around ruins and gullies and dunes. One gully contains the iconic guardian sphinx, a David Roberts painting in the flesh. Above its shoulders and off in the distance we saw tiny figures riding horseback or on camels trudging across the dunes while the pyramids remained huge. Horse drawn carriages on the winding way up the rise shrunk to specks before disappearing around the back of the pyramids. The closer we got, the further it seemed we had to go, but make it we did only to discover that its enormity is impossible to take in let alone photograph. On that score though, we had the advantage of the sandstorm that followed us from Saqqara. The uphill approach to the pyramids takes ones breath away both visually and literally so we often stopped to appreciate the view, the sky continually roiling with black clouds moving behind the pyramids while rays of sunlight broke through the foreground to brilliantly light the massive structures. Whirlwind columns of sand swirled up and about making for the most dramatic of vistas. For the whole of journey up and down the Nile we've had picture perfect weather, day after day of brilliant sunrises to dazzling sunsets. Today was our first storm with all of a dozen raindrops and clouds that threatened more but delivered only glorious backdrops to these amazing monuments. Walking around the periphery, we discovered deep pits where full sized funerary boats were buried to transport the Pharaohs soul into the afterlife. Discovered in 1954, one of the five 4500 year old cedar barges found was restored and displayed in a wonderful wood, glass and concrete museum to house it, sited over its original burial pit. Like the stepped pyramid we saw this morning, each represents the oldest of its kind in the world; staggering to see, staggering to imagine.
Saqqara is just far enough from Cairo and the Nile valley to be desert, and the dunes were throwing sand big time. Even after entering some tombs, sand would fall on us through cracks, but not in the Serapeum caves. Dedicated to the sacred Apis bull, a son of Rameses II ordered these tunnel tombs to be excavated as well as the carving of huge granite sarcophagi weighing 70 tons each, to hold the mummified remains. These immortal deity bulls were known as Osiris Apis, later shortened to Serapis hence the site being called Serapeum. The tunnel we were in was 1000' long and winding past deep pit niches holding granite caskets the size of trucks, their polished and etched granite contrasted with the rough carved cave. Returning above ground, we leaned into the wind and struck out for the Mestaba of Ti and the tomb of Mereruka, both private tombs of high ranking citizens in the time of the Old kingdom. Both tombs are famous for their relief images detailing daily life in the time of the Old kingdom from hunting to hairdressing. Scenes of boatbuilding, fishing, preparing food and much more were accompanied , so we've read, by hieroglyphic dialogue: Hurry up, the herdsman's coming, or my favorite: Pay up, it's cheap! No photographing of these interior scenes was allowed but the guards suggested that for a little baksheesh, they'd turn a blind eye: pay up, its cheap! We've also learned how to turn off that camera shutter click that IPhones make. Alas, we couldn't turn a blind eye to the time so we jumped in the car and headed back to Cairo and the highlight moment we'd been waiting for, the great pyramids of Giza.
Just as in Luxor with Karnak, it's a bit shocking how close these respective cities have encroached on such remarkable monuments but once you enter the site, the city evaporates as your eyes struggle to grasp the enormity of these pyramids let alone the notion that you are beholding the last remaining of the 8 wonders of the world. Situated high on a rise of bedrock, the way up to the pyramids is circuitous, around ruins and gullies and dunes. One gully contains the iconic guardian sphinx, a David Roberts painting in the flesh. Above its shoulders and off in the distance we saw tiny figures riding horseback or on camels trudging across the dunes while the pyramids remained huge. Horse drawn carriages on the winding way up the rise shrunk to specks before disappearing around the back of the pyramids. The closer we got, the further it seemed we had to go, but make it we did only to discover that its enormity is impossible to take in let alone photograph. On that score though, we had the advantage of the sandstorm that followed us from Saqqara. The uphill approach to the pyramids takes ones breath away both visually and literally so we often stopped to appreciate the view, the sky continually roiling with black clouds moving behind the pyramids while rays of sunlight broke through the foreground to brilliantly light the massive structures. Whirlwind columns of sand swirled up and about making for the most dramatic of vistas. For the whole of journey up and down the Nile we've had picture perfect weather, day after day of brilliant sunrises to dazzling sunsets. Today was our first storm with all of a dozen raindrops and clouds that threatened more but delivered only glorious backdrops to these amazing monuments. Walking around the periphery, we discovered deep pits where full sized funerary boats were buried to transport the Pharaohs soul into the afterlife. Discovered in 1954, one of the five 4500 year old cedar barges found was restored and displayed in a wonderful wood, glass and concrete museum to house it, sited over its original burial pit. Like the stepped pyramid we saw this morning, each represents the oldest of its kind in the world; staggering to see, staggering to imagine.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
December 26 -- Cairo: A Day Off (by Roger)
We spent the morning in the room, reading, writing and listening to the city. John Cage would love this place. Every driver seems to have his own little horn melody and the overall effect is of a joyous cacophony, only augmented at 5 am and 5 pm when the main calls to prayer produce yet a second, overlapping cacophony. And for all that, the soundtrack of the city doesn’t sound like noise. We’ve tried, but we haven’t been able to record it right yet.
We finally got out of the room and started picking up a few things for Stateside. New belts and window shopping took us one of our favorite little side streets, a lively alley full of cafes and small restaurants. And a barber shop, which we both needed to visit at this point in the trip. A couple of haircuts later, we stopped into a place whose menu we couldn’t read; got a “meat-with-cheese,” as a friendly guy translated for us; and then dropped off our purchases at the hotel before diving back into the old market south of us.
With me focused on finding our favorite brass worker here, we went ever deeper into Khan al-Khalili, passing some enormous Hello Kitty stickers I wish I’d bought one of and multitudes of cloth salesmen. Lou was in shop-til-you-drop mode, and we rooted around in nearly every dusty little shop we passed. And we kept unearthing unique treasures; ask me about my new door knocker later. We finally had to pass on the pair of 36” long cast iron architectural medallions, one of Alexander and the other of some goddess. They weighed just under 45 lbs each, which meant we could’ve checked each in a suitcase if we had found suitcases big enough, but we have a few books to bring back, too, so we were worried about the weight. My only regret of the trip so far. And we’ve already had to buy new suitcases anyway.
I finally found my brass-smith and, as I feared, he needed more time to make my censor than we had left in Cairo. So I left Lou poking around ewers and brass pots in yet another dusty shop to go get a bowl of lentil soup and a cup of coffee. We finally met back up, pulled all our purchases together and headed back to the hotel though the legion of people, parcels and cars. And Lou got us take-out for dinner to conclude another wonderful day in this wonderful city.
Monday, December 26, 2016
December 25 -- Cairo for Christmas...and Lou's Birthday (by Lou)
So, what does one do on Christmas Day in Cairo, let alone on his birthday? Why, go to the souk of course. Roger was hoping to have a reticulated brass sensor made by the brass merchant we met on our first day in Cairo. On the way to the souk, we found a really nice essential oil shop. Was this really an essential need on our part? Apparently yes, as we left with some files of lovely scents whose names we couldn't decipher from their Arabic labels but hey, it's the aromatherapy that matters right? Once in the souk, we found the brass shop shuttered so we consoled ourselves at a shop across the way by buying lamps and ewers from a shop run by one family for 450 years. It consisted of a warren of rooms with a vast array of lamps hanging from the ceilings of each room, compartmentalized by displays of alabaster and brass items, basalt vases and leather stools, crocodile skins and antique leopard skin rugs. A wild and wonderful place it was with antique display cases full of fun trinkets. Roger jovially but unrelentingly bargained with the owner. I'd wished I'd recorded the process but after prolonged banter between the two involving first born sons, a deal was made. Hauling our generously bubble wrapped treasures outside, the merchant jovially asked if we had any grandchildren to barter with, before giving us gifts of camel Christmas tree ornaments, and a fez each to celebrate the holiday. A taxi whisked us back to the hotel where we unburdened and headed off to our next stop: Egyptian Museum.
I've loved the Egyptian Museum for as long as I can remember and to be in it is a dream come true. We only made it through the ground floor middle and new period displays two weeks ago, so we thought a shot at the upstairs was in order but alas, by the time we got inside, there was less than 2 hours till closing time. Where did all the time go? Why, shopping of course. Let's check out this bookstore, let's look at those sheets and towels after all, they're Egyptian Cotten dontchaknow. While trying to explain in English the various size sheets we were looking for, and getting unintelligible Arabic responses, a group gathered and helped translate and we ended up buying a set of sheets each. Hopefully, Rogers king size set will actually be just that and good luck to me too but hey, hope springs eternal. Our pile of sheets and towels was put aside so we could hit the museum unencumbered.
The Egyptian Museum handles vast crowds on a daily basis. Located next to Tehrir Square, where there are no traffic lights, one bobs and weaves through oncoming traffic to reach the museum gate and somehow, we avoid every car that seems determined to hit us. But traffic is not our only impediment to Museum going. We can't quite manage to keep our cameras at bay. There is so much to see in Cairo and to our eyes, it's all gorgeous. But make it to the museum we did and we're blown away by beautiful ancient carved and painted figures and furniture, jewelry and amulets, headpieces and sarcophagi. Room after glorious room, vitrine after glorious vitrine, all filled with treasures. Our trip to the Met two months ago was a great starter for this trip but, as great as the Met is, there's no place like Cairo's Egyptian Museum for the most dynamic and comprehensive collection of ancient objets. We're looking forward to at least one more visit while we're here.
Dinner at the colonial era Windsor topped off the day, and on the way there we enjoyed the fun and often bazaar holiday window decorations for the upcoming Coptic Christmas. As persecuted a minority Egypt's Christians might be, Cairo's merchant tradition means no stones lay unturned on the way to making a buck so, lots of stores made a Christmas effort. And for me, it was a treat to hear Christmas music on the holiday itself, not 3 months beforehand. Roger treated me to a lovely birthday dinner at the Windsor because it serves the nearest thing to a martini that a Muslim country can offer, and for the truly wonderful Arabic taste treats that come out of its kitchen. Oh, and did I mention the bottle of Omar Sharif red we tried from the hotels extensive wine list, one of the lists 3 offerings. Quite tasty actually, and from Egyptian vineyards no less. So, is this any way to celebrate ones Christmas/birthday? Sure worked for us! Merry Christmas!!
I've loved the Egyptian Museum for as long as I can remember and to be in it is a dream come true. We only made it through the ground floor middle and new period displays two weeks ago, so we thought a shot at the upstairs was in order but alas, by the time we got inside, there was less than 2 hours till closing time. Where did all the time go? Why, shopping of course. Let's check out this bookstore, let's look at those sheets and towels after all, they're Egyptian Cotten dontchaknow. While trying to explain in English the various size sheets we were looking for, and getting unintelligible Arabic responses, a group gathered and helped translate and we ended up buying a set of sheets each. Hopefully, Rogers king size set will actually be just that and good luck to me too but hey, hope springs eternal. Our pile of sheets and towels was put aside so we could hit the museum unencumbered.
The Egyptian Museum handles vast crowds on a daily basis. Located next to Tehrir Square, where there are no traffic lights, one bobs and weaves through oncoming traffic to reach the museum gate and somehow, we avoid every car that seems determined to hit us. But traffic is not our only impediment to Museum going. We can't quite manage to keep our cameras at bay. There is so much to see in Cairo and to our eyes, it's all gorgeous. But make it to the museum we did and we're blown away by beautiful ancient carved and painted figures and furniture, jewelry and amulets, headpieces and sarcophagi. Room after glorious room, vitrine after glorious vitrine, all filled with treasures. Our trip to the Met two months ago was a great starter for this trip but, as great as the Met is, there's no place like Cairo's Egyptian Museum for the most dynamic and comprehensive collection of ancient objets. We're looking forward to at least one more visit while we're here.
Dinner at the colonial era Windsor topped off the day, and on the way there we enjoyed the fun and often bazaar holiday window decorations for the upcoming Coptic Christmas. As persecuted a minority Egypt's Christians might be, Cairo's merchant tradition means no stones lay unturned on the way to making a buck so, lots of stores made a Christmas effort. And for me, it was a treat to hear Christmas music on the holiday itself, not 3 months beforehand. Roger treated me to a lovely birthday dinner at the Windsor because it serves the nearest thing to a martini that a Muslim country can offer, and for the truly wonderful Arabic taste treats that come out of its kitchen. Oh, and did I mention the bottle of Omar Sharif red we tried from the hotels extensive wine list, one of the lists 3 offerings. Quite tasty actually, and from Egyptian vineyards no less. So, is this any way to celebrate ones Christmas/birthday? Sure worked for us! Merry Christmas!!
Sunday, December 25, 2016
December 24 -- Luxor: Last Visit to Karnak; Return to Cairo (by Roger)
With plans to head back to Cairo today and having felt rushed through Karnak Temple on our last visit, Lou and I got up early yet again to have a couple more hours to spend there. Our plans went smoothly, as they always seem to here, and our hotel clerk found us a taxi there and back.
Karnak is, well, Karnak. It’s impressive, historic, gargantuan. One of the most important New Kingdom sites, Karnak was added to by pharaoh after pharaoh, so you enter though a late Ptolemaic pylon and walk back into time to the earliest part of the New Kingdom and even a bit further. This was my third or fourth time through this temple and it never fails to impress me, though after what we learned at Abydos, I now understand what happened here better. Two family stories stand out to me. The first is the supposed rivalry between Thutmose III and his aunt, Queen/Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Thutmose III took the throne when he was young, and Hatshepsut ruled as his regent for some twenty years, an unusual reign for a woman in pharaonic times. But many if not most of Hatshepsut’s cartouches have been erased on monuments and generally replaced by the those of Thutmose III. This happened throughout Karnak, with the exception of an obelisk that was partly buried and thus retained Hatshepsut’s name. The prominent obelisks at Karnak are Hatshepsut’s despite their cartouches signifying Thutmose III.
There’s a similar story in my favorite part of this and most temples, the Hypostyle Hall. Seti I did most of the work here and had his incredibly-skilled artisans do plaster figural work on the pillars. His similar work at Abydos is some of the most delicate we’ve seen in Egypt, so I can only imagine how glorious this must have looked. It’s a hugely impressive structure, even with the roof missing and many of the pillars in bad condition, so it’s mindboggling to imagine this structure covered with the colorful, detailed work of Abydos! But Ramses II, Seti I’s son another of my favorite builders, finished the hall and, to his undying discredit in my view, had the pillars scrapped and engraved directly with his own images. Ramses II obviously had great ability with inspirational architecture, but the work of his artists lacks the grace of those of his father’s. So the Hypostyle Hall here is awe-inspiring, but the imagery isn’t transcendent like that in Abydos.
There are many other features to appreciate here -- other pylon gates, statues, colonnades and shrines, not to mention the mile-and-a-half long, sphinx-lined avenue that leads from Karnak to Luxor temple. And since we were there just after 7 am, we had the complex mostly to ourselves but for a fox that watched us from a millennia-old walkway through the center of the complex. However, we had a plane to catch, so we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then headed out for the airport.
It was an uneventful flight from the pharaonic back to Cairo but for an engaging Brazilian couple from Sao Paulo whose company we enjoyed. And we got a taxi from the airport into town and back to our pensione. Happily, the traffic was awful at that time and our driver took surface streets rather than the big tunnel to get into Old Cairo, which meant we passed the Al-Azahar, Khan el-Khalili and some familiar medieval landmarks along the way. Lou and I both had a sense of coming home after our travel in the south of the country; Cairo is so vibrant and lively that it’s hard not to love the place.
Our hotel was warm and welcoming as always, and we spent a while unpacking before we headed out again to do some shopping and find dinner. As has happened repeatedly here, we fantasized our ideal – a down-at-the-heels vintage place with a comfortably outdated bar that was close to us -- and we found it two blocks away, in this case the Windsor Hotel. The Barrel Bar here is a former officers’ club that’s been pouring since the British were in Egypt and that survived the arson that burned out much of the area in the 50s. It’s still pouring, and we had a dry martini (minus vermouth, which they were out of) and a great set of finger food that included hummus, babaganoush, stuffed grape leaves and falafel that was pan-fried rather than deep-. Then we wandered around the great nightlife of our neighborhood before heading back to the hotel.
Karnak is, well, Karnak. It’s impressive, historic, gargantuan. One of the most important New Kingdom sites, Karnak was added to by pharaoh after pharaoh, so you enter though a late Ptolemaic pylon and walk back into time to the earliest part of the New Kingdom and even a bit further. This was my third or fourth time through this temple and it never fails to impress me, though after what we learned at Abydos, I now understand what happened here better. Two family stories stand out to me. The first is the supposed rivalry between Thutmose III and his aunt, Queen/Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Thutmose III took the throne when he was young, and Hatshepsut ruled as his regent for some twenty years, an unusual reign for a woman in pharaonic times. But many if not most of Hatshepsut’s cartouches have been erased on monuments and generally replaced by the those of Thutmose III. This happened throughout Karnak, with the exception of an obelisk that was partly buried and thus retained Hatshepsut’s name. The prominent obelisks at Karnak are Hatshepsut’s despite their cartouches signifying Thutmose III.
There’s a similar story in my favorite part of this and most temples, the Hypostyle Hall. Seti I did most of the work here and had his incredibly-skilled artisans do plaster figural work on the pillars. His similar work at Abydos is some of the most delicate we’ve seen in Egypt, so I can only imagine how glorious this must have looked. It’s a hugely impressive structure, even with the roof missing and many of the pillars in bad condition, so it’s mindboggling to imagine this structure covered with the colorful, detailed work of Abydos! But Ramses II, Seti I’s son another of my favorite builders, finished the hall and, to his undying discredit in my view, had the pillars scrapped and engraved directly with his own images. Ramses II obviously had great ability with inspirational architecture, but the work of his artists lacks the grace of those of his father’s. So the Hypostyle Hall here is awe-inspiring, but the imagery isn’t transcendent like that in Abydos.
There are many other features to appreciate here -- other pylon gates, statues, colonnades and shrines, not to mention the mile-and-a-half long, sphinx-lined avenue that leads from Karnak to Luxor temple. And since we were there just after 7 am, we had the complex mostly to ourselves but for a fox that watched us from a millennia-old walkway through the center of the complex. However, we had a plane to catch, so we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then headed out for the airport.
It was an uneventful flight from the pharaonic back to Cairo but for an engaging Brazilian couple from Sao Paulo whose company we enjoyed. And we got a taxi from the airport into town and back to our pensione. Happily, the traffic was awful at that time and our driver took surface streets rather than the big tunnel to get into Old Cairo, which meant we passed the Al-Azahar, Khan el-Khalili and some familiar medieval landmarks along the way. Lou and I both had a sense of coming home after our travel in the south of the country; Cairo is so vibrant and lively that it’s hard not to love the place.
Our hotel was warm and welcoming as always, and we spent a while unpacking before we headed out again to do some shopping and find dinner. As has happened repeatedly here, we fantasized our ideal – a down-at-the-heels vintage place with a comfortably outdated bar that was close to us -- and we found it two blocks away, in this case the Windsor Hotel. The Barrel Bar here is a former officers’ club that’s been pouring since the British were in Egypt and that survived the arson that burned out much of the area in the 50s. It’s still pouring, and we had a dry martini (minus vermouth, which they were out of) and a great set of finger food that included hummus, babaganoush, stuffed grape leaves and falafel that was pan-fried rather than deep-. Then we wandered around the great nightlife of our neighborhood before heading back to the hotel.
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