Egypt is probably best known by the pyramids and ancient burial sites of long dead Pharaohs, but there's much more to it than that. While without a doubt the ancient Egypt remains are one of the most astonishing remains of the Ancient world available for tourism, Egypt also has places of natural beauty difficult to find anywhere else, such as the Red Sea or the dessert, and cultural centres such as el Cairo. Many say that once you go to Egypt once you'll be longing to come back, and here are some of the reasons why:
Pyramids and Templates
It's impossible to talk about Egypt and its culture without mentioning the Pyramids and temples, legacy of the ancient Egypt Pharaohs. The most famous pyramids are those at Giza, an ancient necropolis that was the after death home of Pharaohs through the first to the fourth dynasties. The tomb of Pharaoh Cheops is the tallest Egyptian pyramid, 10 meters taller than the Red Pyramid build by his father. Along with the pyramids for the reigning Pharaohs, temples and smaller pyramids for the Pharaoh wives and family, and another of Egypt's landmarks: The Sphinx. Many of those sites are now empty; their treasures stolen over the years of confusion after the fall of the last Kingdom, but archaeologists are still making new discoveries even today. There are many other pyramids and templates all along the Nile, smaller but not less impressive and often less frequented by tourists.
Deserts and Nature
The contrast between the furnace of the Sahara desert and the rich areas bordering the Nile where the Egyptian population centres grow is astonishing. While a trip into the deep Sahara is out of bounds for most casual visitors, a short tour of the dunes with a reliable guide, often on the back of camels, can be an amazing experience that most people won't forget. However, remember that the desert is a dangerous place and you should never go out on your own. If you prefer, you can head for the Red Sea resorts, and enjoy the relaxing beaches, therapeutic springs or even go snorkelling on the Red Sea coral reefs. The Red Sea shores are also home to thousands of migrating birds, making it a heaven for bird watching lovers.
A good way to experience everything Egypt has to offer is to take a Nile cruise and stay package. The Nile is the main artery that brings life to the region, and as such a cruise is like a moving hotel that will stop near most landmarks and interesting places so you have time to visit, provide a nice place to eat and sleep and entertainment when in route. It does beat travelling on an old bus under midday heat, doesn't it?
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Thursday, July 24, 2014
The Ramesseum Temple, Egypt
In front of the ruins of the first pylon, there was once a colossal statue of Ramses, which was over 1,000 tons and 18 meters high! You can still see the remains of today.
Many other kings bunk monuments in the Ramesseum as Mernptah and Ramses III.
The Greeks identified what Memnonium Temple (associating the colossal statue in front of the temple with its legendary hero, Memnon, son of Aurora who's mother, Eos was the goddess of the dawn. Sometimes also called "the grave Ozymandias ", a name that might have derived from the ancient Egyptian word" User-Maat-Ra. "
This huge temple later inspired a poetic verse by Percy Bysshe Shelley: -
I met a traveler from an antique land
who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
standing in the desert. Near them on the sand,
The average cast broken face lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and contempt of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor those passions read,
Still survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Check out my works, ye mighty, and despair not! "
There is nothing left to the side. Round the decay
this colossal, huge, naked ruin
the lonely sands stretch far and level.
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792-1822
The Roman historian Diodorus, had the impression that the temple was built by the legendary king named Ozymandias, and his grave was there. Even detailed descriptions of the tomb of Ozymandias is offered and described the inscription that was at the entrance, which says: -
"I am Ozymandias, king of kings. If anyone wants to know how I am and where I lie, it surpassed any of my works."
The temple is 600 feet by 220 feet. The pylon is the Temple was the main entrance and was once decorated with scenes from the Battle of Kadesh, but is now in ruins! On the right wing of the tower is entries representing 118 cities that Ramses III had acquired during his military campaigns. You can also see scenes of prisoners to the king. On the left side of the tower, there are scenes of the famous battle between Ramses II and the Hittites. After spending the first outdoor patio where you can see many damaged statues. There once was a colossal statue of Ramses II and his feet, read:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair"
In the great hall of columns there are 29 columns still stand, the averages are lower than the sides to allow light in the temple! Here on the left, you can see more scenes of the Battle of Kadesh.
To the right of this room, and outside the walls of the pillared hall, is a much older temple built by Seti I and dedicated to the god Amon Ra. The second cut is a lot better than the first state, and can see both sides, two rows of columns representing Rameses II Osiris. Further south, there is another small hypostyle hall that once had 8 columns papyrus bud. This is the room of astronomy is, where is the first 12 calendar months. This room is decorated with scenes of the offer, and the scenes of the sacred barque of Amun Ra. On the west wall, you will see Ramses II sitting under the tree of life, where God Thoth and the goddess Seshat register your name on the leaves of the tree for a long life.
If you go later, on the west side, are the ruins of two corridors leading to a library, a linen room and badly ruined shrine, which was dedicated to the god Amun Ra.
South of the temple, Ramses II built a large palace breaking clay where he stayed during his visits to the site. South of this section, is the small temple of Ptah-Mern, the successor of Ramses II. In 1896, the great Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie, excavations made on this site.
Petrie found here a very important Stella known as "Israel Stella," which contained the first reference to the "tribe of Israel." Because of this Stella, many archaeologists believe Mern-Ptah is probably the Pharaoh of the Exodus
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
The Coptic Museum, Egypt
Nobody would ever believe that the foundation of the Coptic Museum goes back to the era of the Persians and a lot of items were added afterwards by the Roman emperors August and Trajan. The famous French scientist Maspero played a major role in the establishment of the modern museum as he spent a long time collecting Coptic monuments from all around Egypt and preserving it.
The founder of the Museum in modern times is Smeka Pasha who requested that the items in the museum to be added to the Egyptian Committee for preserving antiquities and art. This man exerted huge efforts to found the building of the museum that is present right now and which was opened to the public in 1901 with Smeka as the first head of the Coptic Museum in Cairo.
The Coptic Museum today consists mainly of two major sections: the old section established by Smeka Pasha and the new the section that consists of two floors which was opened for the public in 2006 after a huge renovation and restoration period that its cost reached more than 30 million pounds because the museum was affected badly by the earth quake that struck Egypt in 1992. The museum now displays around 1600 items collected from various regions around Egypt and go back to different century in the Coptic history of Egypt and the Coptic Museum is considered to be a complete illustration of the Coptic history in Egypt
The first section of the old museum the visitor goes to is the Ahnasya section, Alnasya is a town that is near Beni Sweif to the South of Cairo and some Coptic Items were discovered in the area that go back to the third and forth century AD.
The second section is the Saqqara section where the ruins of the Monastery of St Armeia is located with a lot of rock structures and a lot of other items gathered from Monasteries from the Fayoum and Upper Egypt.
Monday, July 7, 2014
The Deir el-Bahari Temple, Egypt
It is believed that Senimut, the great architect who built this temple, its design was inspired by the plan of the neighboring mortuary Temple of the 12th Dynasty king Neb-Re-Hept. The temple was built for the great Queen Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty), to commemorate her achievements and to serve as a funerary temple for her, as well as a sanctuary of the god Amon Ra.
In the seventh century AD, which was named after a Coptic monastery in the region, known as the "Northern Monastery". Today it is known as the Temple of Deir El-Bahari, which in Arabic means "Temple of the Northern monastery". It is a theory that suggests that the Temple in the early Christian period, was used as a Coptic monastery.
This unique Temple reflects clear ideas about the serious conflict between Hatshepsut and his nephew and son, Thutmose III, as many of his statues were destroyed, and the followers of Tuthmosis III damaged most of their cartridges, after the mysterious death queen.
The temple consists of three imposing terraces. The bottom two were once full of trees. At the southern end of the first colonnade there are some scenes, like the famous scene in the transportation of two obelisks of Hatshepsut.
On the north side of the colonnade is a scene that represents the Queen offering four calves to Amon Ra.
The second terrace is now accessed by a ramp; Originally, it would have been the stairs. The famous Punt relief is engraved on the south side of the second colonnade. The trip to Punt (now Somalia) was the first graphic documentation of a trade expedition recorded, and discovered in ancient Egypt; until now. The scenes show retail, maritime expedition that Queen Hatshepsut sent through the Red Sea to Punt, just before the ninth year of his reign (1482 BC) This famous expedition was led by his high office, Pa-nahsy and lasted 3 years. His mission was to exchange Egyptian merchandise for the products of Punt, especially gold, incense and tropical trees.
In the south, is the sanctuary of the goddess Hathor. The court which led to the columns of the chapel, where Hathor, who is depicted with his face and ears of a cow, carrying a sistrum (musical instrument) of a woman; in the wall, which is described as a cow. In this part of the temple, King Tuthmosis III erased the names of the queen.
In the north colonnade of the second hand, there is a scene depicting the divine birth of Hatshepsut. The Queen said she was the daughter of Amon Ra God to legitimize his rule.
Beyond the colonnade in the north are the chapel of Anubis, the god of embalming and guardian of the necropolis.
The third terrace is accessed by a ramp! It consists of two rows of columns, the front Osirid take the form (a form of the mummy); Unfortunately Tuthmosis III damaged them. The columns in the back, unfortunately, were destroyed; Thutmose III too!
The colonnade leading to the sanctuary of the temple, was also severely damaged. The sanctuary consists of two small chapels.
In the Ptolemaic period, added a third chapel of the sanctuary, which was also decorated with scenes, the most notable being representing Amenhotep, son of Habo (18th Dynasty), which, like Imhotep of the third dynasty, was another genius architecture of ancient Egypt.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
The Great Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx, Egypt
There are three main Pyramids here, which were built in the fourth dynasty (about 2550 BC). The pyramids of ancient Egypt were built as tombs for the kings (and queens), and it was a privilege to have a Pyramid tomb. However, this tradition only applied in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Today there are more than 93 pyramids of Egypt; the most famous are those of Giza.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops:
Great Pyramid of Cheops Great Pyramid KhufuThe is by far the most famous Pyramid in Egypt, the biggest, the tallest, and most intact. After its construction, has become one of the "seven wonders of the world", and today is the only one that remains. Over a period of 4300 years, the Pyramid was also the tallest building in earth, until the French built the Eiffel Tower in 1889 to make that distinction.
The Pyramid of Cheops is built entirely of limestone, and is considered an architectural masterpiece. It contains around 1,300,000 blocks ranging in weight from 2.5 tons to 15 tons and is built on a square base measuring about 230m (755ft), covering 13 acres! Its four sides face the four cardinal points precisely and it has an angle of 52 degrees. The original height of the Pyramid was 146.5m (488ft), but today is only 137m (455ft) high, 9 meters (33 ft) that is missing is due to the theft of the fine quality limestone covering stones, or the housing , by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century AD, to build houses and mosques of Cairo.
You will find the entrance to the pyramid is on the north side, as well as almost all Pyramid in Egypt. On this side there are actually two entrances, one is the original, and is 17 meters (55 feet) above ground level, and the other is a man forced entry through below. Founded in the ninth century by the Caliph Al-Mamun, who was seeking the treasures that he thought were within the pyramid. He sent stonemasons to open a ticket, and got halfway, passing through the center of the north coast. Their tunnel goes almost 35m into the Pyramid, and was crudely cut, and eventually connects with the original inner corridors of the Pyramid. Nothing was found inside, as it was plundered in antiquity. Today visitors to the site, use Mamoun's entrance to access the pyramid, as it is considered really a shortcut.
Note: If you try to go inside the pyramid, you have to look all the way up to the burial chamber!
From the main entrance of the pyramid, there is a long, narrow corridor with a low ceiling that drops more than 100 meters (330 feet), which leads him to a room, located about 24m (79ft) below ground level, what is an unfinished burial chamber with very little in the fresh air, and is currently inaccessible.
Almost 20 meters (66 feet) in the corridor there is another corridor connected to it, which takes you to the heart of the pyramid. This ascending corridor ends in much of the Great Pyramid, the "Grand Gallery"! It is a big moment, living room, rectangular, which is 49m (161ft) long and 15 meters (49 feet) high, with a long tunnel at the bottom, which takes you to the second room, which is well known for be the "Queens Chamber". It has, in fact, nothing to do with a queen, and was given this name in the early Arabs, who were inside the pyramids and gave his name. It is commonly believed that served as a magazine or a storeroom, inside the Pyramid.
When mounting the "Grand Gallery" you will find at its end, an entry to the third bedroom, which was the royal burial chamber of King Khufu, and this is where the stone sarcophagus, which was made from a block of granite is located. You will find that this place was really amazing, it is rectangular in shape, has a flat roof, and is built of granite that was brought from the city of Aswan, which is located 1000 km (625 mi). The roof consists of 9 blocks of granite; Each estimated that about 50 tons of weight! Above the roof of the burial chamber, the ancient Egyptians built 5 small discharge chambers to enormous pressure, over weight, is not cause the burial chamber to collapse. These five rooms are granite, and are about 1 m (3 ft) above the other. The vertices of the first 4 are flat, the fifth with a pointed to divert the enormous pressure of weight away from the burial chamber lid.
Both the north and south walls of the burial chamber two small tunnels with rectangular entrances. They are small, and once thought to go all the way through the outer sides of the pyramid, but there were no exterior openings and are considered "stars" of trees that have served a purpose in ancient cult connecting king with the stars.
For more information on these small tunnels, and their relationship to the stars, it's a long story! Guess you'll have to come to one of my lectures !!!
One last thing! The Great Pyramid is the Pyramid of the great Egyptian King Khufu. The name "Cheops" is also associated with this King and his Pyramid, the name given by the Greeks. Although both names are generally accepted, Khufu was used in this description, as it was his birth name! The same goes for Khafre (Chephren in Greek) and Menkaure (Mycerinus), and pyramids are described below.
Khafre's pyramid: The pyramid of Khafre
The Pyramid of Khafre, or the second pyramid, is easily recognizable by the layers of the original stones are always near the top layer and this with the fact that he is a top of the tray, gives the impression that is larger than the Great Pyramid. An optical illusion, as it is only 136 m (446 ft) high, with sides of 214.5m (704ft), an area of 11 hectares and an angle of 53 degrees. He also lost some of its original height through the years, once being 143.5m (471ft) high.
The only similarity to the pyramid entrance to his father in the same north side location,. No hallways leading to the heart of the pyramid, the burial chamber are buried, and down a long corridor to be negotiated to reach it. This entry is 50 feet (15 m) above ground level, which leads to the narrow path that descends at an angle of 25 degrees in the large burial chamber, measuring 14.2 m by 5 m by 6.9 (46.5 16.5ft by 22.5ft by ft). To support the weight of the pyramid, the top of the camera is set at the same angle as the face of the pyramid. A huge black sarcophagus is in this room.
A lower corridor is directly under the upper corridor, and once contained a portcullis could be reduced to prevent entry and an unfinished burial chamber, which was cut into the rock, it is believed, unused. Since the upper corridor, this has a slope of 25 degrees, then was in levels, rises slightly, and eventually the two of them together. The united passageway leads to the burial chamber.
The pyramid of Menkaure:
Khafre's son, Menkaure, the smallest of the three main pyramids on the Giza plateau built. It was just a 65.5m (215ft) high, currently 62m (203ft), with sides of only 105m (344ft) and an angle of 51.3 degrees. It is believed that this pyramid was modified during construction, and did much more than originally planned. The original, smaller Pyramid had a simple descending corridor burial chamber, but when expanded, a new corridor was built with 3 tiers and a small paneled room. Later, another burial chamber, with a storeroom were added at a lower level. This pyramid, like its neighbors, has an entrance facing north.
Apart from the size of the pyramid Mykerinos differs from the other two in the choice of coating pebbles. While the pyramids of his father and grandfather were completely cased in fine white limestone from Tura, the pyramid of Menkaure was only partially coated Turah limestone, about 15 m up! The first 15 meters were cased in pink granite, which had come from Aswan, the last of which was taken by Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805-1848), who use them to build your arsenal of Alexandria.
The Great Sphinx:
The Great Sphinx, or as the ancients knew, "Shesib Ankh" or "the living image", has to be one of the most recognizable buildings in history. Think of the Sphinx and automatically think of Egypt and the Giza Plateau. The Great Sphinx
Carved into the soft sandstone, many believe it would have disappeared long ago had it not been buried in the sand for so many moments of his life. The body is 60 meters (200 feet) long and 20 m (65 ft) tall. His face is 4 m (13 ft) wide with eyes measuring 2 m (6 ft) high. It faces the rising sun, and was revered both by the ancients built a temple in front of it.
The 18th dynasty king Thutmose IV installed a stele between its front paws, describing how, when Thutmose was a young Prince, who was hunting and fell asleep in the shadow of the Sphinx's head. Thutmose had a dream where Ra Hor-Akhty the sun God, talking through the Sphinx, spoke to him, telling the young Prince to remove sand because the Sphinx was choking him. Sphinx told him that if he did, he would have become king of Egypt.
Thutmose cleared all the sand and s after 2 years, the god fulfilled his promise and the price was made king of Egypt
Today, part of the "uraeus" (the sacred cobra on the forehead) and nose are missing (not shot off by Napoleon's men as many believe, but were destroyed by Al Sa'im Dahr, a fanatic Sufi Khanqah of Sa'id Al-Su'ada.
In 1378, upon finding the Egyptian peasants making offerings to the Sphinx in the hope of increasing their harvest, Sa'im Al-Dahr was so outraged that he destroyed the nose!). There are small parts of the beard in the Cairo Museum and the grand British Museum in London, belonging to the famous Sphinx, but many Egyptologists deny, as the style of beard found, does not address the "Nemes" that door Sphinx - different dynasties!
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Sharm El Sheikh City, Egypt
Four miles south of the southern part of the city sits on a cliff overlooking the harbor. and is an excellent point.
Naama Beach is one of the tourism centers. Located just north of Sharm, this area has become a tourist city itself. Most hotels in Naama Bay have their own private beaches with comfortable amenities such as chairs, shades and even bars.
Shark Bay is also nearby, and again is a seaside community on the rise and more and more to offer, along with several diving centers.
The little known as Sharm el-Moiya port is located next to the civil harbor has accommodations for boats, and includes a Yacht Club with rooms.
For those who live to shop, the commercial center of Sharm El-Sheikh has shops with local and foreign products, including jewelry, leather goods, clothing, pottery and books.
It has been said that this is a must visit for all diving enthusiasts. There are many diving sites along the 10 mile beach between Sharm el-Sheikh and Ras Nusrani.