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Published On: Jan 15, 2008 02:56 PM
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Published On: Jan 15, 2008 02:56 PM
Asatour: Egypt Yesterday and the Day Before (Alexandria, Memphis, and
Sakkara)
Funny thing about life is that you never get
caught up. There's always more of it unwinding underneath you, even as you try
to type up your notes about the days you've had. This is going to be another
short entry; I'm very tired. Sorry, y'all.
The day before yesterday we traveled to the city of Alexandria, named for Alexander the Great. Before he came along, it was named "Rakotis." From about 372 BCE to the 7th Century CE, it was the capital of Egypt. When the city was being designed under Alexander, the architect designed it with alternating black and white city squares, which had the effect of a giant chessboard.
Alexandria is one of the wetter places in Egypt, and it rained on us most of the day. We visited the Alexandria museum (pictures sometime), the Catacombs where the Greeks and Romans were buried (no photos allowed), and saw other sites such as Pompey's Column and the former site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (fell into the sea long ago). The famous Library is long gone, having burned in.... I think it was the 3rd Century. A beautiful new library has been built, though.
The things we saw in Alexandria were interesting, for the most part. It just seemed like a very long drive (3 hours each way) for very little substance. I won't dwell on it anymore. I skipped the visit to the cotton and linen factory when we returned to Cairo.
Yesterday we first visited Sakkara, spot of the oldest successful pyramid in Egypt -- the 5000 year old step pyramid. It's not considered a "true" pyramid because the sides are enormous stone steps, rather than with lesser gradations. Right next to it is the pharaoh's funerary palace, designed to look exactly like his life palace, only made of stone instead of wood. The idea was that after his spirits resurrected his body, he would go to live in the funerary palace eternally. Beautiful building. I wouldn't mind living there myself, if it weren't for all the tourists and junk salesmen wandering around constantly.
We had lunch at a small outdoor restaurant, where we were greeted by flute, drum and tambourine music, and fed chicken, lamb kebabs and beef, with fresh-from-the-oven pita bread. Along with all this was a variety of stuffed vegetables, falafel, sauces, etc. A very fine meal. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. After lunch we went to Memphis.
Memphis, however, was long gone. It was originally built by Min as the capital of combined Egypt in the Old Kingdom, and named "Min Nefr", or "The Beauty of Min." The Greeks came along and renamed it as they seem very inclined to do "Memphis." Now the ancient site of Memphis is home to a small, poor village called "Mit Rahina." We saw much beautiful stonework here, including the Colossus of Ramses II and the Sphinx of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh.
That's all I feel up to writing tonight, folks. Pictures of some of the above coming soon.
The day before yesterday we traveled to the city of Alexandria, named for Alexander the Great. Before he came along, it was named "Rakotis." From about 372 BCE to the 7th Century CE, it was the capital of Egypt. When the city was being designed under Alexander, the architect designed it with alternating black and white city squares, which had the effect of a giant chessboard.
Alexandria is one of the wetter places in Egypt, and it rained on us most of the day. We visited the Alexandria museum (pictures sometime), the Catacombs where the Greeks and Romans were buried (no photos allowed), and saw other sites such as Pompey's Column and the former site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (fell into the sea long ago). The famous Library is long gone, having burned in.... I think it was the 3rd Century. A beautiful new library has been built, though.
The things we saw in Alexandria were interesting, for the most part. It just seemed like a very long drive (3 hours each way) for very little substance. I won't dwell on it anymore. I skipped the visit to the cotton and linen factory when we returned to Cairo.
Yesterday we first visited Sakkara, spot of the oldest successful pyramid in Egypt -- the 5000 year old step pyramid. It's not considered a "true" pyramid because the sides are enormous stone steps, rather than with lesser gradations. Right next to it is the pharaoh's funerary palace, designed to look exactly like his life palace, only made of stone instead of wood. The idea was that after his spirits resurrected his body, he would go to live in the funerary palace eternally. Beautiful building. I wouldn't mind living there myself, if it weren't for all the tourists and junk salesmen wandering around constantly.
We had lunch at a small outdoor restaurant, where we were greeted by flute, drum and tambourine music, and fed chicken, lamb kebabs and beef, with fresh-from-the-oven pita bread. Along with all this was a variety of stuffed vegetables, falafel, sauces, etc. A very fine meal. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. After lunch we went to Memphis.
Memphis, however, was long gone. It was originally built by Min as the capital of combined Egypt in the Old Kingdom, and named "Min Nefr", or "The Beauty of Min." The Greeks came along and renamed it as they seem very inclined to do "Memphis." Now the ancient site of Memphis is home to a small, poor village called "Mit Rahina." We saw much beautiful stonework here, including the Colossus of Ramses II and the Sphinx of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh.
That's all I feel up to writing tonight, folks. Pictures of some of the above coming soon.
Posted: Sat - January 12, 2008 at 10:28 PM |
