<![CDATA[Asahel's Search For Meaning]]>

<![CDATA[Leaving Kemet/Misr/Egypt ]]> http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080118015817/index.html

It's almost 2 am here in Egypt, and I'm leaving in a few minutes to head to the airport. The trip is winding down.

While I'm thinking about it, here are a couple of groups of photos I don't think I had time to post before. The first is from Edfu Temple:

http://web.mac.com/asahel/iWeb/Site/Edfu%20Temple.html

and the second from the temple to Khnum on Elephantine:

http://web.mac.com/asahel/iWeb/Site/Elephantine.html

Interesting stuff.

I don't really know what to say at this point; "I learned a lot" sounds awfully after-school special Pollyanna-ish. I did learn a lot, but that should be obvious. I will probably return to Egypt (imshallah, as they say here), but not on a tour, I think. A tour is good, I guess, for a basic orientation. I'm done with that now, though, and wouldn't relish traveling around again in the company of 30-something other people for whom I don't particularly care, for the most part.

And that's really it. I'll probably sleep for a few days when we get home; I'll post this when I can.

]]> Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:58:17 -0600 http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080118015817/index.html <![CDATA[Egyptians and Religious Tolerance ]]> http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080114210632/index.html

I'm on the Nile, on a cruising boat. Later tonight we should reach Aswan, our final boat stop. Today we have already stopped at temples at Edfu and Kom-Ombo. But more about that later.

The boat is supposed to have internet access; the folks at the reception desk assure me that it is amazingly fast, but not working right now. There are problems with the service provider in Cairo, they tell me. This matches up with what I have observed; I have a very strong wireless signal, but I can't seem to get it to do anything.

Before I left the land of internet access, however, I noticed this commented question to a previous post:

Do you happen to know how the locals view Kemetic reconstruction?

My answer: I don't know.

I will, however, attempt to analyze the worldview of modern Egyptians, as I have experienced it both now and from previous experiences, to help point you toward some possible answers.

Firstly, there are three main religions in Egypt, and they're the Big Three, the JCI: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Muslims make up about 85% of the population, Christians about 15, and according to our guide there are less than 60 families of Semites in Egypt at this time.

Egyptians are very interested in other religions! It is extremely common for Muslim children to go to Catholic schools, and for Coptic Christian children to go to Muslim schools. The philosophy here is just the reverse of what you see in the United States: here the parents feel that their children get enough teaching about their own religion through the family, and they should be exposed to something different at school. Contrast this to the reactions to that proposed Arabic public school in New York and see what you come up with.

Muslims and Christians get along in Egypt, and they realize how rare and special this is. The Muslims here must get unfairly accused a lot. One described to me one day how their neighbor is Christian, and he is just like an uncle. "Christians and Muslims eat together. We don't shoot each other like people say," he said.

So in general, Egyptians are very open to followers of religions other than their own.

Their reaction to Kemetic Reconstructionists, however, might not be in this same vein. Christianity came to Egypt with Alexander the Great, and Islam arrived around 700 CE. There are no non-assimilated Egyptian populations -- i.e. native practitioners of the original religions. However, because of the amount of time these populations have been here, their national identity is tied up with the ancient Egyptian beliefs, even if it's not their own beliefs. A strong nationalist feeling has developed, mostly recently, and much of it seems to be tied around this cultural heritage which they inherited with their lands.

I personally think that an Egyptian faced with a non-Egyptian Kemetic Reconstructionist would be puzzled at how, exactly, the ancient religion could have meaning outside the country of Egypt. There might be a reaction similar to American Indian groups who object to having their cultural heritage stolen, even if most of them are Christians, nowadays.

Like I said, though, I don't know, and I'm just not quite either brave or socially adept enough to ask properly.

]]> Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:06:32 -0600 http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080114210632/index.html <![CDATA[Asatour: Egypt Yesterday and the Day Before (Alexandria, Memphis, and Sakkara) ]]> http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080112222841/index.html

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.

]]> Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:28:41 -0600 http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080112222841/index.html <![CDATA[Quickie Update ]]> http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080112053852/index.html

I only have a very few minutes. It's about 5:30 AM, and I have to head to the hotel lobby to meet up with the members of our group who are going on a balloon ride across the Valley of the Kings.

Finding time to write entries has been difficult the past few days, but I intend to catch you up, perhaps this afternoon on the boat, on my adventures in Alexandria, Sakkara, and Memphis.

For now, wish me luck and hope I don't fall out!

]]> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:38:52 -0600 http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080112053852/index.html <![CDATA[Cairo Day One Photos... ]]> http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080109154305/index.html

... can be obtained by pointing your browser or RSS reader to http://photocast.mac.com/asahel/iPhoto/cairo-day-one-photocast/index.rss Enjoy!

]]> Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:43:05 -0600 http://homepage.mac.com/asahel/AsahelSFM/B922510240/C1743821831/E20080109154305/index.html