February 2023 – Streaming thru America

Valley of the Kings by Air

February 25, 2023February 25, 2023Posted in Adventure, archeology, Architecture, Egyptology, History, landscape, Photography, travel, wanderlustTagged Ballooning, Colossi of Memnon, Egypt, Luxor, Medinet Habu, Valley of the Kings6 Comments

Our wake-up call was 4 AM, and the last thing on my mind was a boxed breakfast to go. I also decided to pass on coffee, thinking I couldn’t risk the chance of floating over the Valley of Kings in a wicker basket (invented by the Egyptians 5000 years ago) and needing to puke or pee.

Meanwhile, Leah had prepared for flight with Dramamine as her go-to prophylactic.

This was not our first ballooning adventure. A few years ago, Leah and I got to float over the Okavango Delta at sunrise with a pilot and 4 others (see Botswana by Balloon). But this time around, we’d be floating over the Valley of Kings, and it got my adrenalin pumping.

The desert air was cool, and the winds were calm–the perfect forecast. We arrived by boat to the east bank of the Nile,

and boarded a sprinter van that dropped us at a vast open field where teams of wranglers were already preparing for launch.

We were given our balloon assignment, and climbed aboard with 25 other “ballunatics.” After a safety drill of “hunker down and brace,” we were ready for lift off.

We felt so small standing under a canopy of hot air and rainbow-colored nylon fabric…

rising 60 feet above us–

not unlike the early morning visitors who had come to gaze at the gargantuan relics of Amenhotep III at his nearby necropolis.

In time, we were joined by so many other aeronauts gliding along the thermals,

that it seemed like heavier traffic in the sky…

than on earth.

Our birds eye perspective brought us closer to the Theban Mountains,

with views of Medinet Habu,

the verdant fields of sugarcane,

and a volume of unfinished housing–a deliberate work-in-progress ploy by locals to avoid paying property tax on completed homes.

But mostly, flying high prepared us for the forthcoming sunrise…

that blossomed before our eyes.

A sight to behold!

Forty-five minutes of fly-time flew by, until it was time for our descent…

at which point the wranglers took over.

Just watching them wrestling with the deflated balloon and lines gave me an appetite.

Breakfast never tasted so good, although the requisite champagne that usually accompanies one’s flight certificate was absent.

Perhaps, the authorities reasoned that our afternoon visit to Dendera Temple in Qena would be best experienced sober.

Luxor Temple after Dark

February 23, 2023February 25, 2023Posted in Adventure, archeology, Architecture, Egyptology, History, landscape, museum, Photography, travel, wanderlustTagged Avenue of Sphinxes, Egypt, Luxor Temple, Opet Festival2 Comments

November, 2021 was a cause for celebration in Luxor, as the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities marked the formal reopening of the Avenue of Sphinxes with a parade attended by Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, president of Egypt.

The 1.7 mile boulevard connecting the temples between Karnak and Luxor once boasted 1200 sphinxes. They were buried for centuries under several meters of sand, but are now revealed after 70 years of intermittent excavation and restoration.

Initiated by Amenhotep III and completed during the reign of Nectanebo I around 2,400 years ago, the impressive series of unearthed statues can be categorized into two shapes:

the first being a body of a lion with a ram’s head;

and the second and most reoccurring shape portrays a lion’s body supporting a human’s head.

Our daytime excursion to Karnak Temple was followed by an evening tour of Luxor Temple.

Although the entrance to the gate was originally flanked by twin obelisks, the right obelisk was gifted to France by Muhammad Ali Pasha, Ottoman ruler of Egypt in the early 19th century (see Walking Like an Egyptian), and now adorns the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Several rulers contributed to the Temple of Luxor over the ages.

Although the temple was started by Amenhotep II in 1400 BC, Ramses II appropriated the first pylon with placement of a pair of black granite colossi of his likeness seated on a throne…

that depicted the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Beyond the pylon, Ramses II also chose to enshrine 17 of his sons within a courtyard surrounded by double rows of columns capped with lotus-bud capitals. He fathered a minimum of 111 sons and 67 daughters.

The Courtyard of Ramses II flows into the Colonnade of Amenhotep III, dominated by seven pairs of 52 foot (16m) open-flower papyrus columns, which still support their huge architrave blocks.

The decoration of the Colonnade of Amenhotep III was largely undertaken by Tutankhamun, who is featured beside his Great Royal Wife, Queen Ankhesenamun, daughter of King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.

Beyond the Colonnade, the Great Sun Court of Amenhotep III showcases the remains of a peristyle court with a double row of sixty columns with papyrus bundle capitals on three sides. They represent the best preserved and most elegant columns in the temple.

While Luxor Temple was conceived to celebrate the Theban trinity of Amun-Ra, married to God Mut, and son, God Khonsu, the religious focus of the adjacent chapels evolved over time from polytheism to Coptic Christianity during Roman rule, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.

Thus, the Fatimid Caliphate inaugurated the Mosque of Abu El Hagag in 1286 atop the temple ruins and rubble, repurposing columns and stones to create a strange amalgam of Islamic civilization and ancient Egyptian civilization.

Ironically, the Opet Festival–originating during the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom, and celebrated to promote the fertility of Amun-Ra and the Pharaoh–has now become an annual event.

Following a 3400-year old ritual, a royal procession parades from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple along the Avenue of Sphinxes accompanying a statue of Amun-Ra within a barque of gold that rests on the shoulders of priests.

The news is enough to make Ramses II stand up and take notice.

Karnak Temple

February 19, 2023February 23, 2023Posted in Adventure, archeology, Architecture, Art, culture, Egyptology, History, landscape, Photography, travel, wanderlustTagged Amun-Ra, Egypt, Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak Temple, Luxor, Thebes2 Comments

After 3 days in Cairo, Leah and I were on the move!

We boarded a chartered prop jet with our fellow river cruisers and flew to Luxor,

to greet the Viking Ra–currently tied up alongside the Nile’s east bank. Ra was to be our floating hotel through the following week.

After attending an obligatory safety briefing aboard Ra,

we were soon exploring Luxor and it’s ancient counterpart, Thebes–home to kings and queens from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000–1700 BC) through the Ptolemaic Kingdom (305–30 BC)–spanning 15 centuries of rule, until Egypt surrendered to the Romans.

Our tour of Luxor began with a visit to the Karnak Temple Complex, encompassing 247 acres, and considered the largest religious structure ever built.

Ram-headed sphinxes (called criosphinx) adorn both sides of the avenue leading to the unfinished, first pylon to honor Amun-Ra, Egypt’s most powerful god and Thebe’s patron deity of the Great Temple of Karnak.

The criosphinxes continue inside the Ethiopian Courtyard (IX Dynasty)–each one cradling an erect statue of Ramses II (c. 1279-1213 BC) between its forelegs.

It flanks the entrance to the temple of Ramses III.

The most impressive feature of the temple of Amun-Ra is the Great Hypostyle Hall, a forest of 134 sandstone columns centered by 12 colossal columns soaring 69 feet,

which supports the remains of a stone roof enclosed by massive walls,

and features intricately carved relief sculptures and hieroglyphs of religious and historical significance…

to honor each of the 30 kings who once ruled the imperial city.

After 3300 years, the site remains substantially intact, yet benefits from painstaking restoration.

After listening to commentary from our onboard Egyptologist, Leah and I strolled the grounds of the ancient temple trying to imagine the enormity of its scope:

while realizing that 3 other sections–the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu, and the Temple of Amenhotep IV–are also part of Karnak, and still under excavation and reconstruction.

Next stop–Luxor Temple after dark.

The Great Pyramids of Giza

February 12, 2023February 14, 2023Posted in Adventure, Architecture, History, landscape, museum, Photography, travel, video, wanderlustTagged Egypt, Giza, Pyramids, Saqqara7 Comments

I’ve dreamt of visiting the Great Pyramids nearly all of my adult life, and now, as I gaze through the window of our Viking coach, I catch my first glimpse of these ancient wonders rising beyond a construction zone. Somehow, I can’t escape the notion that these ancient Wonders of the World are part of a half-baked theme park, given their scale and juxtaposition.

We entered the vast necropolis of Saqqara, which served as the ancient cemetery of Memphis,

featuring the Pyramid of Djoser (frequently called the Step Pyramid), considered the world’s oldest known stone structure, constructed c. 2670–2650 BC. This 6-tier, 4-sided edifice rises 205 ft (62.5m).

That’s where I met Abdul the Bedouin, regarded by locals as the honorary mayor of Saqqara.

What luck! Seeing Abdul broadly smiling against this epic backdrop, I knew this was an irresistible photo op… and he knew it too–for he was adding instant authenticity to my visual narrative.

Not long after pressing the shutter release, Abdul eagerly approached me and offered to have Leah take our picture together, but not until I was properly costumed.

But don’t be fooled! Despite his diminutive stature, this mild-mannered goat herder with Clark Kent glasses had a secret power. Abdul the Bedouin could hypnotize me into giving him money in exchange for wearing his shemagh.

He wrapped his arm across my shoulder. “Habibi, you’re going to make me very happy,” he whispered as Leah was composing the shot of us. “After all, I have five children to feed.”

Egypt is a poor country. Wages in Giza average between $500 and $750 per month.

Yet, as a Saqqara personality, Abdul was very good at his job–equal parts ham and shmaltz. And he managed to squeeze me for 5 bucks.

Leah and I resumed our tour of the Saqqara necropolis,

at the site of King Teti’s pyramid.

We followed a dark shaft down a narrow passage…

into the belly of his burial chamber, replete with impressive and very rare pyramid texts traced to c. 2300 BC.

This led to an antechamber lined with relief engravings that showcased the preparations made by Teti’s royal staff in anticipation of his journey to eternity,

after having traveled beyond the alabaster alter to the kingdom of the dead.

Our next stop was the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the “big three,” standing 481 ft. and constructed c. 2570 BC. And what a site to behold!

Venders were omnipresent, with pop-up stalls surrounding the pyramid’s perimeter.

That’s where we met Mohammed and his camel. While chatting us up, he snatched my cellphone and insisted on taking our picture.

I paid Mohammed a $5 ransom for my cellphone ($1 for each of his 5 children), however, he expressed his disappointment knowing there’d be no camel ride, but only because another vendor was promised Viking’s business:

We ended our visit to Giza with a brief jaunt to the Sphinx…

with still enough time for one last parlor trick before boarding the bus.

As for Abdul and Mohammed, best $10 spent, ever!

Next stop: Luxor, Egypt…

The Oldest Market in the World

February 6, 2023February 9, 2023Posted in Adventure, Architecture, History, Photography, travel, wanderlustTagged Cairo, Egypt, Khan el Khalili, Shopping, souk, Viking River Cruises4 Comments

In a document dating back to 1434, traces of Dresden’s Striezelmarkt Christmas Market’s existence were found. Additionally, the Turks tell us that the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul has been around since 1455.

Although proponents of both regions claim title to the oldest market (souk) in the world, 100 million Egyptians would beg to differ, because deep in the midst of historic, Islamic Cairo, stands the beating heart of city commerce–a pulsing and twisting labyrinth of passages that is Khan el Khalili–the world’s oldest continuously operating market since 1382.

Passengers of Viking Ra who elected to crowd surf through the Khan el Khalili, got a glimpse of life as it once was during the Mamluk dynasty (from 1250 until 1517), when self-pronounced sultans occupied Egypt after driving out the Crusaders. The souk was built atop the mausoleum of the Fatimid Caliphate, which founded Cairo as its imperial city in the 10th century.

Once divided into distinct districts serving merchants trading copperware, gold accessories, and spices, the souk now balances its variety with every imaginable trinket and souvenir sold among competing vendors standing just a breath away from each other, forming an almost impenetrable wall of sounds, sights and smells…

across alleyways that could barely accommodate our bus.

We disembarked from the bus and melted into a crowd of families strolling past aggressive venders hawking endless supplies of camel pants, pashminas, and pyramid paper weights to tourists,