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May 2008 Egypt part 2

 

Much Aloha to all our friends.

Here is part 2 of our photos.

We took close to two thousand photos so it has taken some time to edit them down to about 750 pictures that we hope you enjoy. Because there are so many I am breaking this presentation into 3 parts, this one being part 2. I will try to get part 3 up as soon as possible.

Print this page out to so you can follow along with the photos.

 

  1. These palms were all along the Nile. I have never see a palm that “branches”, it looks like a Dr. Suess palm.
  2. We pass another quarry. We are a long way from anyplace that temples were built.
  3. More tombs are by the quarry. These were for the workers.
  4. The rock was cut perfectly.
  5. Here you can see where the rock was cut and the tombs.
  6. Close-op detail of one of the tombs.
  7. These camels were by themselves.
  8. Water buffalo
  9. As we get closer to a major city you see more Mosques.
  10. A boy is tending his animals.
  11. Our first view of Kom Ombo
  12. Water taxi.
  13. Small cruise ship.
  14. As we dock you can see the ruins of Sobek.
  15. Kom Ombo means “Mountain of Gold” as this was, at the time, considered the gateway to the southern areas rich in precious metals and spices.
  16. It was pretty warm in southern Egypt. It wouldn’t be fun to stand guard like this all day.
  17. Cruise ships are docking.
  18. Kom Ombo is fairly well preserved. The Temple of Sobek worshiped the Crocodile God.
  19. These columns are very large.
  20. The mud brick wall attaches to the temple.
  21. In this temple is where they worshiped the Crocodile.
  22. Here were found many Mummys of Crocodiles.
  23. It was common for the blocks to be locked together by a bow-tie shaped piece of wood. It is the original wood still in the stone in this photo. These joints helped to keep the blocks from shifting in place from earthquakes or ???
  24. The paint on the temples is in good condition and colorful.
  25. It’s amazing how much detail is in all of the construction.
  1. All perfect in every detail.
  2. The Cobra and the Falcon wings protect this place.
  3. When all of the columns were painted it must have been beautiful.
  4. These are at least five stories high.
  5. Classy French graffiti.
  6. Different types of sandstone absorbed water from the annual inundations differently.
  7. This place, during its time, was a major hub for trade and science. This was also an important place for medicine and medical care.
  8. Interesting design.
  9. Cynthia is checking ingredients for Nile Banana Bread.
  10. Very beautiful wall. Here, the gods are showering the Pharaoh with the symbol of the Ankh which is the heiroglyph for “Life”.
  11. Our guide Tamer is explaining the meaning of the hieroglyphs.
  12. Here the Pharaoh on the left is greeting guests with “Waaaazzzuuuuupppp”
  13. Where the paint is not subjected to the elements it is still well preserved.
  14. More ceiling detail.
  15. Here are more joint detail from the stone blocks. The wood has gone from these.
  16. Some of the stones were taken over the centuries for other building projects.
  17. The detail on the wall depicts medical instruments used for surgeries. The Women seated are in child birth. Birthing from a chair was the practice then.
  18. Dr. Rosalind says “we don’t do it this way now”.
  19. The stone is etched very deep.
  20. The detail in the fingers is intricate.
  21. This is from the “center point” of the entire complex. Here is where a large beam was in place and images were mirrored from this point for right and left.
  22. This stone had been high up on the columns.
  23. Our onboard boat guard.
  24. Sailing away from Kom Ombo.
  25. A small farm on the edge of town.
  26. Many cruise ships are docked at Kom Ombo now.
  27. This sail boat is riding low in the water, he is carrying stone.
  28. Late afternoon along the Nile is beautiful.
  29. Sunset isn’t as colorful as Maui but still nice.
  30. This is a large bridge we go under as we approach Aswan.
  31. I awoke before our guard this morning.
  32. We are now at the granite quarry. This is what is left of a canal that they used to ferry the stone to the river almost a half mile away. The ancients would have to wait for the annual inundation to flood the canal enough to bring boats in and out with the large granite stones.
  33. Cynthia and doc Rosalind would rather be shopping.
  34. I am using a dolomite rock to hit the granite. It was the only thing that was harder than the granite and was used to hack out the stone required. Way too much work.
  35. I’m sure he could make it look easier. (he then rubbed his fingers together = 1 buck for photo)
  36. This would have been the largest obelisk when completed, about 145 feet high and something like a 100 tons. When Queen Hatshepsut was killed the work on the obelisk stopped.
  37. One of the better dressed guards.
  38. A lot of granite had come out of this quarry and was shipped all over Egypt. It is the closest quarry to Cairo which is many days away by powered boat.
  39. This is the general attitude of all the dogs we saw during this trip.
  40. Crossing Aswan Dam. There are two dams that were built for both flood control and electrical power.
  41. The dam project was done with the Russians and this monument, representing a lotus flower, was built as a when it was finished.
  42. The dam is one of the largest in the world but the U.S. has taller ones.
  43. Water is released at a continuous rate and prevents what used to be the Annual Inundation, or flooding, that took place.
  44. This is Lake Nasser which is the largest manmade lake in the world.
  45. We are passing gift shops on our way to the docks. They make it look calm now but when we return we will be like fish in a barrel.
  46. We board a small boat for a trip to Philae. This Temple was completely covered in water when the dam was completed. A wall was built around the temple and the water pumped out, then the temple was disassembled rock by rock and reassembled, on an island, as it had been before.
  47. Lots of small boats take people to the island. Very beautiful here.
  48. Approaching the island.
  49. The temple is large, it must have been a huge project to move.
  50. They feel that this is what it must have looked like thousands of years ago.
  51. The temple share this island with some other small ruins.
  52. Temple.
  53. There were around 44,000 pieces that had to be numbered, removed and reassembled.
  54. You can see the water stain from the Annual Inundation. People, back then, would have to move up to three miles away from the river during the floods. The move back a few months later.
  55. Long rows of colums line the walkway to the temple.
  56. Ramp to the temple.
  57. The temple is many stories high and reflects the architecture of many different influences. By this time the Roman and Greek influences were here.
  58. Offering room for the gods.
  59. Here you can see a cross on the wall from early Christians taking refuge here.
  60. Graffiti from the Romans.
  61. This metal button is numbered and is how they kept track of each stone during its relocation.
  62. We are in front of one of the temples of Philea.
  63. Milling wheel for grain.
  64. Greek influence.
  65. The stones have cut outs for holding the stones together with wood.
  66. View as we sail away.
  67. This is a small taxi in Aswan. We saw as many as four people hanging on to the back.
  68. I don’t think I would be comfortable on wood scaffolding like this.
  69. I’m still back on the boat trying to figure out how they did it all.
  70. We sail a bit further and pass more tombs cut into the hillside.
  71. We arrive at a small island where the Aswan Botanical Gardens are very pretty.
  72. The we sail on towards the Nubian Village.
  73. There were some boys having fun with small boats. In Maui it would be called Personal Watercraft and be expensive.
  74. We are below the dam by about a mile and the water moves around lots of rocks here. This is one of the “cataracts” or places that a boat could no longer navigate.
  75. It reminded us of a Walt Disney Jungle Ride and we kept waiting for the Hippo or a Crock to come to the surface.
  76. The water was moving pretty swift here and it took a strong breeze to allow us to go up stream.
  77. The banks turn to more of a desert look as we approach the village.
  78. As we approach you can see many camels. These will be our ride into the village.
  79. Fresh off the boat we look for a good camel. We just wanted one that doesn’t have that bad spitting habit we’ve heard about.
  80. This one looks good and has a kind face.
  81. This guy makes it look easy.
  82. This guy doesn’t make it look as easy.
  83. We are up and on our way. Cynthia’s camel is named Jimmy. Go figure!
  84. The village is colorful. When the lake was created all of the Nubian people that lived along the Nile had to be moved. Egypt supplied them with land to live on and this village was given to them as well.
  85. Walking through the village we pass a spice shop.
  86. It is a large village and the people were very friendly.
  87. Camel garage.
  88. More village.
  89. The small domes draw air up to help cool and the ceilings are woven mats.
  90. Hey, this doesn’t look like a gecko.
  91. Cynthia’s little friend has a mom.
  92. We were invited into a home to see how they live. This is the bedroom.
  93. This is the kitchen.
  94. The next morning we get ready to board another plane, this time to Abu Simbel. Cynthia and Jim with guide Tamer and Doctor Rosalind.
  95. At the airport. Yep, kind of small.
  96. Abu Simbel is another place that was covered by water and eventuall removed one stone at a time and rebuilt. This project was very large as the temple was cut into the mountain. The entire face of the mountain was cut and removed. This huge project included the main temple of Ramses II and the smaller temple for his wife Queen Nefertari. This photo shows the massive mound that was built for the face of the temples.
  97. View of lake Nasser as we walk to the temples.
  98. First view of Temple of Ramses II.
  99. Temple of Queen Nefertari.
  100. The lake is beautiful but it has crocodiles. No thanks on swimming.
  101. This is a huge temple.
  102. The baboons at the top greet the sun every morning.
  103. The guard let Cynthia hold the key to the temple. (followed by a bit of finger rubbing)
  104. These statues are around sixty feet tall.
  105. The small carvings at the feet of the king represent his children.
  106. Here are depicted many different races in captivity showing that the king ruled over many different lands.
  107. This is the first fancy bike I have seen. In the U.S., one of the nice brands of bike is “Indian” this one, a Chinese version is a “Ninjian”. I had to laugh.
  108. More wood supports on a construction site. Looks a bit iffy.
  109. Looking out from our room at the Basma Hotel in Aswan.
  110. The Nile is very busy here.
  111. We had a beautiful view of the cataracts.
  112. Dusk over Aswan.
  113. Early morning.
  114. These school girls were fascinated by us, maybe because of tattoos and shorts. They were warm and wanted to talk to us and find out where we were from.
  115. I like the name of the bus. Sorry.
  116. The hotel overlooks some other ruins that don’t appear to create much interest.
  117. In the morning the staff picks flowers from the grounds and makes the floral decorations throughout the Hotel.
  118. The air is much cleaner this morning as we fly back to Cairo.
  119. Flying over the step pyramids.
  120. Cairo is huge with a current population of 25,000,000. That is a lot of people.
  121. A Harley Davidson store.  We had to get tee shirts.
  122. A poster for the local Harley Owners Group of Cairo.
  123. We are back at the Grand Hyatt Cairo. Evening view is great and we love this hotel.
  124. Our morning excursion takes us past the pyramids.
  125. We will visit them tomorrow.
  126. Typical fruit stand.
  127. Very interesting architecture.
  128. If they had road signs like this in California there would be accidents happening from taking the time to read it.
  129. These are pigeon huts. Pigeon is a popular dish in the middle east and there were many of these that we passed.
  130. It was a two hour drive by private car to get to Alexandria which is located on the Mediteranian Sea and Nile Delta. We are going into the Alexandria Museum.
  131. This is a mosaic floor from the Roman era.
  132. The museum is still bringing in new items as they are found.
  133. We drove passed the most fascinating bizarres and street shops.
  134. These people are getting ready for prayer you can see all of the rugs out.
  135. Old style trollys are used as well as buses.
  136. Anything you can imagine seemed to be on sale here. This is a rug merchant.
  137. Clothing.
  138. Donkey cart moving rugs.
  139. This street was mostly foods.
  140. This street is clothing.
  141. Used auto parts.
  142. Smoke shop, bong store, head shop, take your pick.
  143. Inlay wood parts were very beautiful. Craftsmanship is incredible and done by hand.
  144. Passing small fishing boats and transports.
  145. Yacht building??
  146. We end up at Qaitbay Citadel. This Citadel is built over the old ruins of the lighthouse of Alexander the Great which was, at one time, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This Citadel was built in 882 AD.
  147. This place guarded Egypt from being attacked by the sea.
  148. Looks heavy.
  149. Many battles were fought here.
  150. Looking north over the Mediteranian.
  151. The city of Alexandria is modern and large. A lot of Egyptians vacation here as it is much cooler during the summer.
  152. The bay is very large here and it is hard to imagine it being filled with Roman warships.
  153. Inner courtyard.
  154. Looking up at one of the ceilings.
  155. The fish market didn’t smell very nice.
  156. I love some seafood but decided after this that maybe a nice lambchop would be good for lunch.
  157. Another visit to a Mosque. This one particularly ornate and beautiful.
  158. Alabaster walls were all carved.
  159. These are rides for children. (like in front of the market here)
  160. The more I see the wood scaffolding the more I think OSHA would not like it.
  161. There are major food chains. Our driver, Badr, loved to ask us if we knew what KFC stood for. Kentucky Fried Camel. He thought that was hilarious. Even the fifth time.
  162. McDonalds were everywhere. The drive through lanes were labeled “McDrive”.
  163. We saw lots of people being transported this way, it looked like they were heading to or from work.
  164. This smiling guy like that we were taking a photo of his cow.
  165. Once out of the big city and back into small villages of Cairo the lifestyle changes. This man is walking with his water buffalo.
  166. This is a common site in all of the villages. Water jugs are out for public use and evaporation through the clay pots keeps it cool. There is a community cup on top that people use.
  167. Water is still brought up by pump in a lot of places.
  168. Our guide says that based on how many animals this man has, he is considered wealthy.
  169. Colorful building.
  170. We are visiting the ancient city of Memphis. There are few ruins left and a nice small museum. The area is also know for carpet production.
  171. I guess that this guard has lots of confidence in the safety mechanism of his gun.
  172. The museum at Memphis has some of the oldest pieces. The ancient city has been built over and is mostly farmland now.
  173. This sphinx is about 3500 years old.
  174. These hieroglyphs are beautifully detailed.
  175. The detail of human form is perfect on this granite piece.
  176. During a small refreshment break our guide eye the smoking section.
  177. Construction of this shelter here is totally of date palm trees.
  178. It’s not Starbucks or Kona coffee but its what they have.
  179. This is façade was made with semi precious stones and must have been beautiful as a complete wall.
  180. Made from alabaster it resembles a cake plate. Maybe they had cakes.
  181. Carved fish of alabaster.
  182. Alabaster bowls and cups.
  183. Statue of a scribe. A scribe was a very important position to have.
  184. Small sarcophagus beautifully painted.
  185. Carved wooden sarcophagus.
  186. Now we move on to Sakkara and the step pyramid of Zoser.
  187. Guards are always present.
  188. These are the oldest of the pyramids.
  189. This one is really old.
  190. This is a very large complex and one of the oldest in Egypt. It was from here that the idea of using stone for buildings came about. Prior to this time everything including the step pyramids were made from mud brick.
  191. They would stack manageable pieces of stone and then carve them.
  192. This is a complex of 12 rooms that King Zoser used to bring back his youth. He would run from one enclave to another chanting his magical whatever and then be younger. Nice trick. If you stand in one of these it sounds much like a jet engine. Very weird.
  193. I ran, I chanted, I’m old. Oh well.
  194. There are still places in Sakkara that are being uncovered and explored.
  195. Here in Sakkara is where the oldest written text in the world is.
  196. When we leave the Step Pyramids we stop by one of the Carpet Factory’s to see how they are made. Girls start working here at age 8 (grrrrrrr) because their fingers are small. They, by hand, weave some beautiful silk rugs and carpets.
  197. They enjoy having their photos taken. (finger rubbing)
  198. This three wheeler is a taxi, we saw a lot of these.
  199. This is a very popular way to travel too.
  200. Another travel option.
  201. At our lunch stop, our guide, Mourad, gets the pipe loaded up. It is a mixture of tobacco and molasses. I prefer the Maui Wowie.
  202. Mourad seems to enjoy this so maybe he is coming clean on the ingredients.
  203. We are finally at the “famous” pyramids.
  204. Wow! This sucker is huge. Gynormous. Look at the size of each stone.
  205. I’m the guy in the red tee shirt. I got yelled at for standing on the wrong stone. I should have followed the traffic.
  206. I guess the camel had seen them before.
  207. Here’s some history. A boat was found buried beside the pyramid completely disassembled. It was considered to be a funerary boat for a symbolic journey across the sky by the king. The boat was found in this large trough carved out of the rock and was covered with huge stones.
  208. The odd shaped building is a museum that houses the reassembled Solar Boat.
  209. Rope that is 5,000 years old, it looks in good shape but I wouldn’t rock climb with it.
  210. Rope rigging.
  211. Cynthia and Mourad are showing off the required footwear in the museum.
  212. This is an exact model of the Solar Boat.
  213. This is the actual boat and you can see that it is huge. A minimum crew of 12 plus king or cargo.
  214. Our guide points out that everything about the boat shows that it was actually a working boat and NOT built specifically for the tomb. Yes a very large boat. 
  215. We can see that the gang plank or loading platform is quite worn as are other parts of the boat. It appears that an actual boat was taken apart and stored for use of the king in his after life.
  216. As a side note, is was just under sixty degrees and very low humidity in the Solar Boat Museum, it felt very nice as it was close to a hundred degrees outside and no shade.
  217. Over the years the pyramids have had their outer stones stripped away for other building projects. It was easier to take from here than to quarry stones from miles away and have them brought. The largest pyramid is missing over 44,000 large blocks.
  218. It would be impossible to get a feel for the size and majesty of this without standing at its foot.
  219. All three pyramids together.
  220. Down to the Sphinx.
  221. The Sphinx is at the temple complex at the entrance to the Pyramid.
  222. The way the stones interlock is fascinating and explains why it is still here after 5,000 years.
  223. The floors here are alabaster.
  224. I expected the Sphinx to be larger. It was still cool.
  225. There had been a canal, thousands of years ago to allow access by boat to the complex. This is all that is left now and is in front of the sphinx.
  226. Crossing the bridge back into town we can see our Hotel with a revolving restaurant on top.
  227. Great Hotel.

Jim and Cynthia.

Part 3 will begin as we land in Israel.

Thanks for watching and Aloha,

Jim and Cynthia.