After a peaceful sleep, next day morning we went walking to the Red sea and had a nice swim. The Red Sea is the saltiest sea of all the seas that connect to the ocean without even one river meeting the sea. Connected to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, the Red Sea laps the shores of eastern Egypt and its beautiful beaches are just over 100 kilometres from Cairo. A popular hypothesis about the origins of the Red Sea's name is that it contains a cyanobacteria called Trichodesmium erythraeum, which turns the normally blue-green water a reddish-brown.
The Red Sea is known for its vibrant coral reefs, diverse marine life, and clear blue waters, making it a popular destination for diving and snorkelling. And that was what we planned for the next day and we signed up for the boat trip that would take us deep inside for snorkelling. And what marine life we got to see there! It was so amazing and clearly visible because of the crystal clear water.
Then we were taken to the Orange Bay Island, which is called
the Maldives of Egypt, where we were given some time to chill out, swim and rest
before heading back to the hotel. It was a great place to relax and to really
enjoy the sun and clear water of the Red Sea.
To Cairo
Now the last leg of our trip – three days in Cairo, pyramids,
here we come!
Cairo, the
capital of Egypt, is a city of contrasts. It is home to ancient ruins,
world-class museums, and bustling markets. When the guide told us that
there are 1000 pyramids around the world, in countries like Sudan (The Nubian
Pyramids), Peru(Chavin de Huantar), Mexico, Iraq, Guatemala, Rome, and China, I
was literally shocked. For me, pyramids and Egypt were synonymous. When we were
in Sudan, nobody mentioned anything about pyramids. But the biggest pyramids
are in Egypt, and there are 140 of them.
The Great Pyramids of Giza
The famous image of three pyramids outside of Cairo is
imprinted in people’s minds across the world. They include the Great Pyramid,
built for Pharaoh Khufu, which is the largest one. Another one was for Pharaoh
Khafre. This temple complex also includes the famous Sphinx statue – a
half-man, half-lion figure. The third one was built for Menkaure.
The pyramids were built to honor certain Pharaohs of the
fourth ruling dynasty of Egypt during a period known as the Old Kingdom, the
first great era of Egyptian civilization that lasted from 2686 to 2181 BCE.
They were built to serve as temples to the Gods and also to entomb the
pharaohs, who were believed to be divine, who would continue to live in the
afterlife. Therefore, it was essential that the body of the pharaoh be
carefully preserved, which was done through mummification. It was believed they
could take their possessions with them, so the rulers were buried inside the
pyramids with items they intended to take with them into the next life. The
ancient pyramids of Giza, known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient
world, were built over 4,000 years ago and are still standing tall today.
The Pyramids of Giza represent the advanced technological
and engineering capabilities of the ancient Egyptians. They used astronomy and
the stars to guide precise measurements and utilized geometry and other
mathematics to build the pyramids. The 3 pyramids are synchronized with the Orion
galaxy. The pyramids are also considered as electricity generators. According
to our guide, the magnetic power of the pyramid is so strong that helicopters flying
above it fall down.
National Museum of Egyptian civilization and
Mummies hall
This
world-class museum houses a vast collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts,
including the famous death mask of Tutankhamun. The museum is unique in its
presentation of the whole history of Egyptian civilization.
Items for grooming
The Royal Mummies'
Hall, considered
the crown jewel of the museum, is specially designed to display the mummies of
the ancient Kings and Queens of Egypt. It is designed in a way to give the
visitor the feeling of strolling down the Valley of the Kings, where most of
these mummies were originally resting. The ancient Egyptian civilization,
famous for its pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and tombs, flourished for thousands
of years, and. contributed to modern-day society with its many cultural
developments, particularly in language and mathematics.
The
Mummies hall includes 20 Royal mummies, 18 Kings and 2 Queens, from the 17th
until the 20th dynasty. In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered
the mummy of pharaoh Tutankhamun in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In spite of several
apparent grave robberies, the tomb was crammed with ancient treasures including
jewellery, gilded shrines and a solid gold funerary mask. Tutankhamun's mummy
and sarcophagus are still on display in the tomb in Luxor.
Anubis, depicted
as a jackal-headed God, was one of the most important Gods in Ancient Egyptian
history and he was said to have invented the mummification process.
Using
special processes, the Egyptians removed all moisture from the body, leaving
only a dried form that would not easily decay. Other steps included embalming
the body, removal of brain, removal of internal organs, drying out process and
wrapping of the body. The heart, representing the centre of all knowledge and
emotions, was usually left untouched inside the body while the brain was often
thrown away. The wrapping served two purposes: the bandages kept moisture away from the body
so it would not decompose, and the wrappings let the embalmers build up the
shape of the mummy, to give it a more lifelike form. The whole process lasted
about 70 days.Those that couldn’t afford embalming generally had their bodies
‘preserved’ through drying in hot desert sands or by covering them with resin.
Alexandria
Next was a full day trip to Alexandria, which was among the
largest and most magnificent cities in antiquity. Founded by Alexander the
Great in 331 BC, palaces and temples dominating the skyline, its architecture
and culture even overshadowed those of the city of Rome. The city’s 130 metres
high Pharos lighthouse represented one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World.
Alexandria was also famous for its huge library with about half a
million roles of papyrus. One of the largest ports on the Mediterranean coast,
Alexandria was a major centre of civilization in the ancient world, controlling
commerce between Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, and has continued
throughout its long history to act as a vital crossing point for merchants and
their trade on the maritime routes between Asia and Europe.
Parts of the city’s royal quarter with its temples, palaces,
royal gardens and harbour structures were situated in the eastern harbour,
called the Portus Magnus. Here, on the Island of Antirhodos and the Poseidium
Peninsula, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and the famous Cleopatra 7 used to stay.
After a series of earthquakes and tidal waves, the Portus
Magnus and parts of the city’s ancient coastline sank beneath the sea. For more
than 1,200 years temples, buildings, palaces, statues, ceramics, coins,
jewellery and everyday objects lay untouched on the seabed covered by thick
layers of sand and sediment. Using selective mechanical soundings or through
the use of electronic detection instruments such as nuclear magnetic resonance,
archaeological remains buried under the sediment were located. The
archaeological campaigns have made it possible to develop, for the first time,
a complete panorama of the famous Portus Magnus.
Here I couldn’t help myself from thinking about Dwaraka of
India, which is also buried under sea, as my body was resonating similar to the
way I felt while visiting Bet Dwaraka.
Cleopatra
I have to mention about Cleopatra here. I had a lesson on
Cleopatra during my Pre University Course and the teacher who took the lesson
explained in vivid detail how Cleopatra committed suicide from snake bites,
that I remember it even now.
Daughter of King Ptolemy XII Auletes, Cleopatra was destined
to become the last queen of the Macedonian dynasty that ruled Egypt between the
death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and its annexation by Rome in 30 BCE.
She actively influenced Roman politics at a crucial period and was especially
known for her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She came to
represent, as did no other woman of antiquity, the prototype of the romantic
femme fatale. Most archaeologists assume that Cleopatra's grave is in ancient
Alexandria.
Catacomb
Whereas tombs are basically stone rooms, the catacombs are tunnels
and caves. They are underground galleries used for centuries as cemeteries.
The
catacombs consist of three tiers of tombs and chambers cut into bedrock to a
depth of 35m. The bottom level used to be flooded and inaccessible. But when we
visited, the water was not present and the guide told we were lucky to go to
the deeper level. Entry is through a spiral staircase; the bodies of the dead
would have been lowered on ropes down the centre of this circular shaft. The
catacombs in the Kom al-Shoqafa cemetery are one of the Seven Wonders of the
Middle Ages, due to their combination of the Greek, Egyptian and Roman
civilizations and their walls containing the distinctive inscriptions of each
of them.
Pompey’s pillar
It is believed that the ashes or remains of the great Roman
general Pompey were in a pot at the top of the column. Pompey's Pillar is one
of the oldest and highest memorial columns in the world. It is a 25 meter tall
structure of granite, completed in 292 AD. In Arabic, this pillar is referred
to as ‘Amud El-Sawari’. This is a Roman victory column, which was constructed
to honour the Roman emperor Diocletian, who ruled between 298 AD to 302 AD.
Pompey’s Pillar is one of the few ruins of the ancient Roman
complex known as Serapeum, a temple that was created for the worship of the God
Serapis. The God Serapis is syncretic deity that was created from a mixture of
different Egyptian Gods such as Osiris and Apis, the sacred bull, along with
Greek Gods such as Zeus and Dionysus.
An interesting fact
Though it was just the beginning of tourist season, there was quite a crowd of visitors. To me, Egypt doesn't appear to be back packers friendly, hardly saw any. Bulk of tourism seems to be through agents.
Time to leave
On the next day, we took our flight back. On reaching back,
there was no feeling that we had travelled so much, no tiredness, no jet lag,
nothing. It may be from the fact that on every single day in Egypt, all of us
got deep, peaceful sleep that was very unique!
While I was reading this travelogue after writing it down, I
was surprised at the number of times the word ‘meditation’ was present. Yes,
actually I was in a meditative state most of the time. The visit increased my
love for the country and left me with a desire to do ‘Egyptology.’
References:
1.
https://carnegiemnh.org/egypt-and-the-nile/#:~:text=Every%20aspect%20of%20life%20in,brought%20life%20to%20the%20desert.
2.
https://www.journeytoegypt.com/en/blog/nile-river#:~:text=The%20Nile%20in%20Egypt%20and,civilizations%20in%20the%20ancient%20world.
3.
https://egyptianmuseum.org/explore/greco-and-roman-period-monuments-edfu-temple#:~:text=Built%20from%20237%20%E2%80%93%2057%20BCE&text=It%20is%20dedicated%20to%20the,the%20Ptolemaic%20period%20in%20Egypt.
4.
https://www.archaeology.org/news/3065-150306-karnak-ptah-favissa#:~:text=The%20items%20date%20from%20the,a%20small%20stele%20marked%20with
5.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/pyramids-of-giza-history-facts-location.html#:~:text=The%20Pyramids%20of%20Giza%20are%20the%20largest%20and%20most%20recognizable,from%202686%20to%202181%20BCE.
6.
https://www.skyscanner.co.in/news/tips/ancient-pyramids-around-the-world
7.
https://www.franckgoddio.org/projects/sunken-civilizations/alexandria/#:~:text=Due%20to%20a%20combination%20of,coastline%20sank%20beneath%20the%20sea.
8.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cleopatra-queen-of-Egypt
9.
https://egypttimetravel.com/pompey-pillar
