The Best of Egypt

We had a great adventure in Egypt, the "cradle of civilization!" Ancient Egypt mastered many kinds of knowledge and technology, but the most important thing was their development of a written language. Through their hieroglyphs they could pass along their discoveries and innovation across many generations and dynasties. They also had a well developed system for managing agriculture, laws, and public financing. They had a complex religion consisting of many gods, but two features were most important in understanding Egyptian life: The pharaoh was the representative of Amun-Ra, the "King of the Gods" in the Egyptian pantheon, and all of earthly life was viewed as preparation for the afterlife.

We started and ended our visit with about five days on our own in and around Cairo, then joined an excellent tour managed by Exoticca, a Spanish Tour Company. Our guide Mohammed led a group of about 18 of us (mostly Canadians, a few Brits, and a few of us from from the US) on a five day / four night tour of ancient Egypt on a riverboat that started in Luxor and ended in Aswan (both UNESCO world Heritage Sites). We visited mostly ancient temples, some restored, some original, and a few ruins. We also explored the cities, enjoyed the relaxed life on a riverboat and made good new friends along the way. A great trip!

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX AT GIZA

The biggest of them all, the Great Pyramid of Kfudu in Giza. It is the only surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World

Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure (l-r), in the Pyramid Fields of the Memphis and its Necropolis, a 1979 UNESCO World Heritage Site near Giza and Cairo

The Great Sphinx at Giza. This is the most famous one, but it turns out there are thousands of Sphinxes in Egypt! They were carved to represent a pharaoh's head on a lion's body, and their purpose generally was to protect ancient temples and tombs

Camel ride near the Pyramids at Giza

Cairo and the River Nile, by Day

The Nile at Cairo, by Night

THE RIVERBOAT TOUR: LUXOR to ASWAN

The M/Y Alyssa, our floating home on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan

Valley of the Kings. Over 60 tombs of pharaohs and powerful advisors have been uncovered here, including the one holding the King Tutankhamun and his treasures in 1922

Extremely well preserved art and hieroglyphs in the tomb of Ramses III, Valley of the Kings, Luxor (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The bodies of many New Kingdom pharaohs and nobles were buried in rock- hewn tombs here

Ramses III burial chamber; Valley of the Kings, West Luxor

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh who dressed and adorned herself publically as masculine, in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. She is widely considered to have been a successful pharaoh, presiding over mostly peaceful times, initiating many large building projects, and establishing new trade routes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatshepsut

The Karnak Temple Complex is a huge complex of temples, chapels, statues, and plazas built between 2,000 BC and 300 BC, by Pharaohs for their own legacies and in honor of the sun god Amun Ra. It is located with the Luxor (known as Thebes in ancient times) city limits, and is one of the main reasons the entire city was awarded World Heritage status in 1979

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak

The Karnak Temple Complex

The Karnak Temple

The Luxor Temple, East Luxor (formerly Thebes). This temple was connected with the Karnak Temple by way of a 3 km / 2 mi boulevard lined with sphinxes on both sides. Unlike Karnak, the Luxor Temple was built and used to celebrate kingship and worldly power rather than cult gods or deified pharaohs. For example, it is believed to be the place where many pharoahs were crowned

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Temple

The Luxor Temple

The Karnak and the Luxor Temples were connected by a 3 km / 2 mi boulevard, called the Avenue of the Sphinxes. At least 1,500 sphinxes lined this bouvevard; over 1,200 of them have been restored.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_Sphinxes

Gorgeous River Scenery along the Nile, at Al Miallah, near Luxor

The Edfu Temple is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. It was built between 237 and 57 BC. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Hellenistic period in Egypt. In particular, the Temple's inscribed building texts "provide details [both] of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation." There are also "important scenes and inscriptions of the Sacred Drama which related the age-old conflict between Horus and Seth."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Edfu

Inside the Edfu Temple

The Kom Ombo Temple at Philae, near Aswan, is unique because its 'double' design. There are courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms for two sets of gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. Meanwhile, the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris ("Horus the Elder"), along "with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor or Tefnut[3]) and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands)". The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Kom_Ombo

Hieroglyphs and pictograms of instruments like scalpels and forcepts used for mummification and Egyptian attempts at surgery

The Nile from the Aswan Dam

Lake Nasser, from the Aswan Dam

The Temple at Philae, near Aswan is a complex of 95 late Egyptian structures built on Philae Island just north of Aswan.. When the dam was built, the entire complex was relocated to a different island, one that would not be at risk of flood-related damage. This complex is well preserved, with the original temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis. Additional temples in the complex were built in honor of other gods and pharaohs. This complex, often called "the Pearl of the Nile," was likely used as a trade center and a defensive structure because of its proximity to Thebes, the center and capital city of ancient Egypt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_temple_complex

The Temple at Philae, near Aswan

We had a ride on this Felucca, a traditional Nile River sailboat, near Philae and Aswan

We had a visit to the Nubian Village of Nagaa Suhayl Gharb. Nubians originally came from Sudan before it was a separate country. This village was built by the Egyptian government to provide a home to nubians who would be displaced by the AswanDam. This is the main street of Nagaa Suhayl Gharb. It was a chaotic riot of fun! The Nubian village visit, which included a meal and a display of Nubian customs as well as a shopping spree, was probably my favorite "excursion" along the river trip. It was informative and fun!

IN AND AROUND CAIRO

When we returned to Cairo, we enjoyed four extra days to explore the city and the surrounding region on our own. We did day trips to Alexandria and to a nearby nature reserve in addition to spending time in this energetic, crowded, polluted, richly historical capital city itself. Onc highlight was a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), just opened last year. It is huge and magnificent!

https://gem.eg/

Statue of Hatshepsut, one of the most important female pharaohs, in the GEM

One of King Tutankhamun's thrones. The GEM has a huge collection of King Tut's stuff, over 5,000 items on display

On a wonderful tour of mosques and churches in the Islamic secction of Old Town Cairo, we visited this mosque, part of a school, mausoleum, and hospital complex called the Madrasa and Mausoleum complex of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, built around 1250 AD

This is the "Hanging Church" in the Coptic section of Old Town Cairo. It is called the "Hanging Church" because the church was built on the top of two old Roman towers separated by a passageway. The church "hangs" between the two foundational towers. It remains an active parish and a tourist attraction today, in part because of its elaborate icons and decorations, and in part because it claims to be a place (in the basement of the churtch) where Mary and Joseph stayed for a few months in their flight to Egypt

ALEXANDRIA

The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafaare were established sometime in the second century CE. It started as a family tomb by a Greek man who lived in Egypt. This was his tomb. The catacombs were expanded to family members and eventually unrelated people. The tomb was formed by carving a three level set of caverns with niches for over 50 bodies. Over time, the caves were flooded by the Mediterranean and abandoned. The catacombs were rediscovered when a donkey accidentally fell through a thin layer of the roof of the cave. The donkey survived and the catacombs were rediscovered. They are now an accessible and popular attraction in Alexandria.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Kom_El_Shoqafa

The Citadel of Qaitbay, along the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, is a maritime museum that was at one time, an important defensive structure. It was built around 1475 on the location of the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The lighthouse was built around 250 BC and functioned for over 1,500 years.

The citadel was established to protect Alexandria from Ottoman invaders. It continued to function as one of the largest and strongest defense centers until the British bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. It was neglected for more than a century, when it was rebuilt as an Egyptian national monument.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Qaitbay

The Great Library of Alexandria, built around 250 BC, was an important part of why Alexandria became an important center of knowledge and learning. It collected scrolls and texts from around the world, and students and scholars came to Alexandria to study and learn. It functioned as an intellectual center for only 200 - 300 years, and was mostly destroyed during the Roman invasions.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a very modern incarnation of the classical library, built on the same place as the original along the Mediterranean. It is breathtakingly beautiful and enormous! It is part of a complex that also houses a conference center, specialized libraries for maps, multimedia, the blind and visually impaired, and for children; four museums, four art galleries for temporary exhibitions, 15 permanent exhibitions, a planetarium, and a manuscript restoration laboratory (Wiki). We spent an hour or so looking around

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotheca_Alexandrina

WADI EL RAYAN

Wadi El Rayan is a river valley that features the only waterfall in Egypt. Water from an aquifer and agricultural runoff flows into Lake Qarun (on the desert southwest of Cairo) then through engineered canals and tunnels into Upper and Lower Lakes Rayan. Between the two Rayan lakes is a 20 meter / 66 foot elevation change. Most of that evelation change happens at the Upper and Lower Fayoum Waterfalls. The Rayan Lakes were "created" between 1978 and 1986, and the waterfall and lakes created a biodiverse and scenic tourist attraction within two hours of Cairo. The water chanel from Upper Lake Rayan splits into two channels to form two double tiered Cascades. The water flow is low, but the waterfalls themselves, flowing over limestone ledges, are quite striking.

We visited this protected area on a day trip. We enjoyed the desert and oasis scenery, and found the waterfalls quite delightful. Being waterfall chasers, we felt we had no choice but to check them out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_El_Rayan

Egypt's only real waterfall, at Wadi El Rayan

Wadi El Rayan

ABOUT EGYPT

Egypt has a total population around 117 million, land area 386,000 sq miles / 1,000,000 sq km, (about the size of Texas and New Mexico combined, and about the size of Ontario or British Columbia in Canada). Egypt has an estimated 2025 GDP around 350 billion (USD equivalent), GDPPP around 3,000 (USD equivalent), and an average income around 220 USD/month; 2,640 USD/year. About 30% of Egyptians live in poverty. Approximately 98% of the population lives on 3% of the land, along the Nile River and Delta. Roughly 20% of Egypt's people live in the greater Cairo area.The government is widely characterized as an authoritarian Republic; security and police are everywhere, and yet, the parts of the country visited by tourists feel quite safe.

As you might have gathered, I/we loved and highly recommend this trip for a glimpse into a world quite different than ours in the US and Canada. If you'd like more pics and info, you can dig deeper through these links:

More pics:

Best of Cairo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3DAhgw3TjDuEZfk7A

Luxor to Aswan by River Cruise: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dAzGcXWYagk2ocFd9

Luxor: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SCqNkSv2L1V17f2y9

The Grand Egyptian Museum (The GEM): https://photos.app.goo.gl/CNdtY2P33GHicZkz7

Mosques and Churches in Old Town Cairo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FRNbgzb6tBZ46U8e7

Alexandria: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jm8uEJa7ciPjfmt39

Wadi El Rayan: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yWEjg9ehcNL5fQDj8

Egyptian Peeps: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pgPQd6wCUMHSU8TJA

More Info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo