Egypt Luxor and Karnak Temples (3)

This day, this place, with these people, is one I will visit in my day dreams for the rest of my life.  It was as golden as anything gold.

The light coming through the forest of columns at Karnak was even more heavenly than I could have imagined.  We played hide and seek in the hipostyle hall, deeply carved glyphs and remnants of bright paint all around.

Our Luxor guide, Mohamed, gave Eddy a money prize for knowing the right answer to one of his questions about ancient Egypt.  Mohamed taught the boys how the ancients erected the impressively tall obelisks and we were all pretty fascinated by the architects and construction workers without cranes like the one outside our building.  Davy played throw and catch with his hat ad nauseum.  He was successful catching it on his head a couple of times and we heard his triumph echo through the halls.

The line of rams with my little lambs.  

Collin heard Eddy say, "look, I wrote my name!" and turned around to see he'd graffiti-ed his name--in hieroglyphs inside a cartouche--on one of the columns.  It was on the new concrete part, that helps hold the original in place, but still!

We approached Luxor temple as the sun was minutes from setting.  The temperature had cooled and the children were happy to run around--even barefoot, Eliza!--in the evening glow.  The line of sphinxes used to connect the temples of Karnak and Luxor, running about a mile, where ceremonial processions took place.  Only part of the avenue has been uncovered (until a few decades ago people still lived on top of it, not knowing what was under their homes) but you can visualize how impressive those parades must have been.

Egypt Museum and Old Cairo (2)

A grand new museum is being built near Giza to someday soon house all the artifacts of the ancient Egyptians.  I felt lucky to be able to visit the old museum before it ceases to be.  Often I feel like the museum itself is part of the story of a people and place, just as much as the artifacts in the cases.  I  loved the space that was grand yet ramshackle and crowded.  The old school labels and vintage cases with their antique glass and wood frames, so beautiful.

The Old Kingdom things were on the ground floor and it was fun seeing some familiar faces.  Several of the treasures of that era at the MFA in Boston.

King Tut's things are on the second floor.  You come up the stairs and have a similar reaction to Howard Carter seeing inside his tomb for the first time.  So. Much. GOLD! 

Collin snuck this illegal picture of the mask of Tutankhamen.  I'd purchased a photo ticket for the rest of the museum but inside the special gallery of Tut's most precious objects pictures were not allowed.  He reminded me that I used to have a crush on King Tut.  How funny I'd forgotten that, but it's true!  Now I'm an old mom all I was thinking was how young he was and how sweet and small the sandals were from when he was a little child.

Then we were taken to a papyrus shop and had a demonstration of how to make papyrus paper.  It was quite interesting.  We learned that the papyrus reed stem is shaped in triangle--like a pyramid, whadda ya know!  The natural sugar in the strips of papyrus when they are pressed together glues the bits together and makes it as strong and smooth as it is.  Then we dropped a fortune having our names painted in hieroglyphs on a painting we each chose.  Davy chose a scarab, Eddy the eye of Horus, Liza wanted Cleopatra, and Collin and I got a family tree of life.  Who knows if we'll ever live in a place with any wall space for all of that, but it was good to know we contributed to the economy of Egypt.  They really need tourist dollars.  Davy also drank an entire glass of hibiscus tea that they hospitably brought for the children to try.  That sign of manners and willingness to try a new thing was worth it all.  (He did add three heaping scoops of sugar . . .)

Went briefly into one of the oldest Coptic Christian churches.  It was beautiful and I loved seeing the reminder that Jesus was a little child in Egypt.  We also went down into the cave where the Holy Family is reputed to have lived during their exile in Egypt.  I don't know if those stones under the foundation of the church really were walked on by a toddler Jesus, but perhaps.

The kids were hours past their normal lunch time at this point and a melt down sped us along a little.  It took us a while to figure out how to manage a tour guide, since we'd never had one before and are used to doing things our own (hard but own) way.

After we did have some food in us and things were happier again we were taken to old Cairo to enjoy the bazaar.  We found our souvenirs--an ankh ornament for Christmas decorations and three alabaster pyramids, one to represent each child.  Eliza also came away with a handful of scarabs and extra alabaster pyramids as bribes from sellers to take a picture with her.  She liked getting "free" things the first few times and then was done and we protected her when she said "no" to anyone.

The boys went in a mosque and heard Ahmed give the call to prayer through the adhan (horn).  Eliza and I waited outside, I didn't have a head covering with me and just needed a quiet minute anyway.  But I liked asking the boys after what they noticed same and different about a mosque.

The kids loved the street cats and kittens everywhere.  Had to call them off a number of times.

Ahmed treated the kids to fresh squeezed juice, roasted sweet potato, and, the most well received, a huge cotton candy flower.

Egypt Pyramids (1)

When I was a little girl I saw this picture of my great grandma and grandpa in a pile of old family photos.  I was entranced.  I mean, how incredible is that image?!  I think most kids go through an Egyptian phase--mummies are too cool.  This must have been the first time I realized a person could visit Egypt and see with their own eyes the last standing Wonder of the Ancient World.  Then as a teenager and young adult I loved all the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters and Death on the Nile (the movie especially) by Agatha Christie.  I loved Latin and my classical civilization courses at BYU but was particularly taken with an intensive Egyptian Art class I took from Dr Cynthia Finlayson one summer term.  So much so I looked into Egyptology programs at Brown and Princeton (and would likely have settled for any old institution, but it's so fun to dream!) for graduate school.  Getting married, etc. was the best choice.  I'm just laying the ground work that Egypt was no short lived fling in my life, and I hope that this trip created some deep interest for our children.

This trip was a Very Big Deal around here.  We started researching Egypt with books from the library as soon as we booked our trip.  Every day we would read something about mummies or pharaohs, pyramids or gods.  The boys got quite into it and would even remind me.  They were the cutest little experts on King Tut.

I was packing days before we left, so excited.  I got to bring out the summer clothes again and had acquired proper explorer fedoras.

Our guide, Ahmed, liked the cheesy pictures, the step pyramid being my first realization of what was to come.  Too funny.

We went into a tomb under a pyramid that was anything but impressive on the outside.  It was all sunken and uninteresting.  But walk Indiana Jones style down a ramp and into the dark, narrow, passages and how cool!  Ahmed taught the kids different hieroglyphs on the huge wall in the tomb.  They got to be really good at the signs they learned.  I loved the ceiling of stars in the burial chamber.

It was hot for these English climate kids.  I thought it was actually perfect.  Warm and deserty for a few hours in the middle of the day but very pleasant the rest of the time with absolutely magical golden hours. 

The heat made the pool at the end of the day and the sugar cane juice Ahmed brought us extra great.

The kids were extra excited to sit on a camel again.  I was quite content to keep my feet on the ground.  And Eliza decided when it was a little too late that she wanted nothing to do with the camel experience.  We just stood for a photo then got everyone down again.  

I don't know what these kids will remember--if anything--but I will remember forever walking on the sands of the Giza plateau with the pyramids towering above, holding each kid's hand in turn as the sun began its last descent.  

The epicness of this day would be difficult to ever replicate.  And while I don't think that's necessarily the goal of life, to seek thrill after thrill at whatever expense, I am so grateful to have felt the enormity of the blessing for our family to explore an incredible place and culture together.