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Mysterious relics and ancient monuments abound in its shifting
sands, Egypt - dubbed the "gift of the Nile" by Greek historian
Herodotus - is a fascinating living index of several great
civilisations. The Pharaohs, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the
Turks, the French and the British have all left their mark, as with
the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims, with the latter being the
predominant religious group in modern day Egypt.
aswan
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Avoiding the inevitable crowds at the Great Pyramids in
Cairo, I chose to begin my journey from the other end of the
Nile, namely at Aswan. The southernmost city of Egypt has a
distinct resort feel and a decidedly graceful and laid-back
pace, with its setting of |
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swaying palm trees and
feluccas (white sail boats) gliding lazily on the Nile.
A felucca ride can be had |
| for E£10 but as with
everything else, it is open to bargaining. After getting used
to being "hissed" at, which appeared to be the typical way to
get a tourist's attention, I had a wonderful time exploring
the bazaars and engaging in the all-too-familiar game of
haggling while soaking in the scents of exotic perfumes and
spices.
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The next day brought home to me the mammoth proportions of
the ancient monuments when I embarked on a visit to |
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| the famous twin
temples at Abu Simbel, built around 1250 BC and dedicated to
Ramses II and his wife Nefertari. 280km away from Aswan, it
was a four and a half hour drive in the wee early hours
through the desert, with starry skies giving way to a
beautiful sunrise en route.
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Still, nothing quite prepared me for the spectacular sight
of the temple facade with four colossal seated statues of
Ramses II, gazing out at the blue Lake Nasser, while the mere
mortals (meaning the hordes of tourists including myself)
marveled literally beneath his feet! What was even more
amazing was the fact that the |
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temples, which were
cut entirely from rock, had been moved 225 feet up the
sandstone cliff and 80 feet inland, when they were threatened
with |
| submersion in Lake
Nasser due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The feat
of dismantling and reassembling was performed in 1964-68 in a
dramatic fashion - funding aid poured in from no less than
forty countries after a worldwide appeal through UNESCO.
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It was impossible not to be overawed by the sheer power and
majesty of the temples which were left untouched by later
religions, being uncovered from the sands only in 1817.
Imposing statue columns and superb reliefs detailing the
Battle of Kadesh, and |
| Ramses and Nefertari
consorting with the deities and performing religious rites,
adorn the interiors. Such was the mathematical genius of the
ancient Egyptians, |
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| that twice a year,
namely on the 20th of October and 20th of February, the sun
rays penetrate the length of the Ramses temple into the
innermost sanctuary to illuminate the statues of Re-Harakhte
and Ramses II.
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In the wake of the rising Nile waters due to the High Dam,
another monument which was cut block by block and reassembled
on dry land, was Philae Temple of the Ptolemaic period. The
temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis (consort of the nether
world king, Osiris, and mother of Horus), was moved 550m from
its original |
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home, the submerged
Philae Island, to its present location on Agilika Island which
had been landscaped to match the original site.
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It is a beautiful island with the various shrines and sanctuaries
laid out in celebration of the various deities involved in the Isis
and Osiris myth. I particularly liked the serene Temple of Hathor
(goddess of love) with its intricately carved columns and lovely
arches.
the nile
No visit to Egypt is complete without a cruise on the Nile, and I
decided to do the leg from Aswan to Luxor. It was a pleasant trip,
with the ship meandering down the river and interspersing with other
cruise boats, barges and feluccas, while taking in the sights of the
villages dotting the Nile valley and the fellahin (meaning
country people) who till the soil much as their ancestors did before
them.
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The first port of call was at the Kom Ombo Temple dedicated
jointly to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris, the Good
Doctor and a form of the falcon god, Horus. The Ptolemaic
temple, perched dramatically on high ground beside the Nile,
is famous for its twin entrances, halls |
| and sanctuaries. The
columns and structures are in relatively good condition and
the fine sculpted reliefs include one showing ancient surgical
instruments, bone-saws and dental tools.
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The next stop was at Edfu, for a visit to the magnificent
Temple of Horus, dedicated to the falcon-headed sky-god who is
the ruler of the day. As the temple was three kilometres away,
I took a horse carriage after haggling over the price as
usual. The shaky ride whirled me through narrow and colourful
bustling streets of old, past mud-brick houses, natives in
flowing robes, and plenty of |
camels, goats and
donkeys - it was as if I had returned to ancient Egypt!
The temple, also built during the reigns of the six
Ptolemies, was grand and impressive and certainly one of my
favourites. This is the best-preserved cult temple in Egypt
and the main building includes a |
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| great Hypostyle Hall.
Numerous reliefs decorate the walls and include depictions of
the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting and the annual reunion
between Horus and his wife Hathor. Strangely enough, certain
features of the high walls and roof structures reminded me of
ancient Chinese temples.
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After the reign of the great Pharaonic generals, Ramses I, II and
III, and Seti I, during the New Kingdom (1552-1069 BC), the empire
fragmented in the Late Period (1069-332 BC) when the Greek
conquerors arrived in the form of Alexander the Great. What followed
was a period of massive building of elaborate architecture under the
Ptolemaic kings (332-30 BC) who were the followers of Alexander. The
temples at Philae, Kom Ombo and Edfu all belong to this era. The
Greek rule finally ended in 30 BC with the soap operatic suicide of
Cleopatra and Marc Antony, upon which Egypt became part of the Roman
Empire.
luxor
My cruise ended at Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes; its layout
though similar to Aswan was a lot more crowded and busy due to its
preponderance of world famous archaeological finds.
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The Karnak Temple, occupying huge sprawling grounds, is
actually a series of temples. During the New Kingdom, the
original temple of Amon-Re, king of the gods, was rebuilt and
enlarged and thereafter it was added to and changed by almost
every king during the rest of the era. |
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Its famous Great Hypostyle Hall, with over one hundred 42-feet
high columns, was especially impressive with its vividly coloured
reliefs on the ceiling structures and the deeply cut carvings on the
columns. Begun during Ramses I, continued under Seti I and completed
by Ramses II, the reliefs contain symbolism of
Creation.
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Also found in the grounds are the Sacred Lake, used for
purification of the souls, and a few important obelisks,
including that of Queen Hatshepsut at 97 feet and 320 tonnes.
The obelisk, |
| sacred symbol of the
sun, is a four-sided pillar tapering to a miniature pyramid at
the top and carrying carvings |
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| of the kings'
triumphs. Another enduring image of the grandeur that had been
are the long rows of sandstone sphinxes which used to line an
avenue linking Karnak all the way to the Luxor Temple.
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The Luxor Temple was built mainly by Amenhotep III and
Ramses II. It was a setting for rituals of the Opet festival,
which were meant to reconcile the human aspect of the ruler
with his divine office. A pity though, much of the structures
had been destroyed and the statues defaced by subsequent
religions. |
Across the Nile on the west bank lay a number of attractions,
beginning with the beautiful temple of Deir el-Bahri with its series
of terraces surrounded by colonnades and connected by ramps. This
was the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, one of Egypt's few
female rulers. The reliefs include depictions of her miraculous
birth, her Red Sea expedition to Punt (land of incense) and the
transport of obelisks by barge to Karnak.
The Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC) and the Middle Kingdom (2040-1785
BC) had seen a flourish of pyramid tombs being built. When these
failed to protect the royal burial from robbery, the form was
abandoned in the New Kingdom and the kings were now buried in tombs
cut deep into the rock cliffs at Thebes. The limestone temple of
Queen Hatshepsut is an excellent example of this.
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Alas the scourge of burial thefts was not eliminated. All
the numerous discovered tombs at what are now called the
Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens had been
plundered of their treasures, save for one - the tomb of
Tutankhamen, the insignificant little boy king who occupied
the throne for only some nine years. The incredibly elaborate
and immense riches of golden treasures, funerary mask and
equipment, gilded shrines and |
trappings, excavated
by Howard Carter and which now lie in the Egyptian Museum in
Cairo, only fuel the imagination of many a scholar as to the
riches that must have been in the tombs of the great Pharaohs
like Seti I and Ramses II.
In fact, I gave King Tut's tomb a miss |
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| as it was supposed to
be very small given his short reign. The few tombs I visited,
which included Ramses VI, Ramses I and Queen Titi, were simply
beautiful with extensive and detailed coloured reliefs
depicting the after-life and text from the Book of the Dead.
All this while, the scholar's question - as to the magnitude
of the plundered treasures that once occupied these large
tombs - echoed in my mind.
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cairo
Departing from Luxor, I finally arrived by train at the mad
chaos, otherwise known as 'Cairo'. It is a massive city with a
quaint mish-mash of modern office buildings and earthen houses, a
bizarre confusion of honking cars and donkey carts, and a bustling
mixture of western-clad folks with others in long flowing robes and
turbans. The intoxicating disarray of Cairo took some getting used
to after the relaxing pace outside the capital.
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Again putting off a visit to Giza, my first stop was to the
Egyptian Museum to fill in the 'links' to the various
archaeological spots which I had visited thus far. It is an
amazing treasure house with enough antiquities (over 120,000
objects) to fill several museums! Exhibits range from the Old
Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, the |
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New Kingdom to
Greco-Roman artefacts.
The obvious highlight is the burial treasure of King
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| Tut and what an
awesome and mind-boggling collection it is. As with the other
visitors, I was spell-bound by the sparkling gold and blue
funerary mask and numerous beautiful accessories and precious
jewellery, the layers of richly-detailed mummy coffins, the
splendid canopic chests and magnificent chambers, and the
multitude of intricate accompanying items which include fine
thrones, funerary beds, head-rests, model boats, lovely
chests, alabaster jars, vases, lamps and a wide array of
impressive statues.
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Egypt is 90% Islam and 7% Christian. Cairo offers a fascinating
insight into the legacies and influence of these two great religions
on the people living on this ancient site.
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Islamic Cairo, the old medieval quarter, takes one back
several centuries with mud-brick houses and tiny alleyways
crowded with hawkers and animals. There are several prominent
mosques here, including the Ottoman-style Mohammed Ali Mosque
located in the Citadel of Salah al-Din, the grand |
| Sultan Hassan Mosque,
and the Ibn Tulun Mosque built in the classical courtyard
style.
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Coptic Cairo was originally built as a Roman fortress town
and is a holy place for the Jews, Muslims and Coptic
Christians. Highlights include the beautiful Hanging Church
and the excellent Coptic |
| Museum with its fine
collection of manuscripts, icons, textiles, unique woodwork
and metalwork, paintings and pottery.
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At long last, I embarked on a visit to the Great Pyramids of
Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus at Giza, built between 2660 and 2560
BC and considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Despite
having seen numerous images of this famous site, to finally stand
before them filled me with an overwhelming sense of wonder and
awe.
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It is trite to repeat the many theories expounded about
their construction, but the magnitude of the feat of cutting
and transporting the huge blocks of limestone to the site and
setting them in place with no cementing mortar is a tremendous
attestation |
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to the amazing prowess
and intellect of the ancient Egyptians.
The architectural wonders represent the peak achievements
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| and culmination of
earlier efforts and experiments beginning with the Step
Pyramid at Saqqara, designed as a tomb by one Imhotep for King
Zoser during the beginning of the Old Kingdom. Before long,
the familiar form developed with different sizes and continued
to be built throughout the Middle Kingdom - over eighty of
them in all - before its demise in the New Kingdom.
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I ended my visit at the inspiring Great Sphinx, carved from a
single piece of limestone rock and said to be in the likeness of
King Chephren. The epic sculpture exudes a pervasive sense of
mystery and power on all who lay eyes on it and provided an
unforgettable climax to my Egypt trip, as with the indelible images
of the majestic temples, colossal structures, remarkable artistry,
and of course, the impossible-to-ignore pyramids.
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