Egypt Travelogue: Old Cairo - If God willing!

The morning was bright and sunny. Time to visit the  Islamic Cairo and the Museums. The name Cairo means the "city of minarets". Egypt's state religion is Islam. However, Islamic Cairo comprise the sections of old Cairo with the historical mosques, the citadel, and the famous Khan-El-Kahilili market area.  Egypt was conquered by the Arabs in 641 AD and since then Cairo has started accumulating its Islamic monuments. The oldest mosque is the Ahmad Ibn Tulun built on a small hill. There is also the impressive Al Ahzar mosque and the University is the second oldest surviving university built in 972 AD.  Thanks to our guide I could keep record of these historical dates with a probability of  +/- 5% errors!!

The Islamic Cairo is a mix of multiple ethnic groups. Women here dress more conservatively than in other parts of the city.  Our guide said that we must visit the City of the Dead which is a 4 mile stretch close to the Citadel with multi level tombs. There we found people walking and coming out of the tombs! Apparently, many poor immigrants from southern Egypt have taken shelter in these tombs and created a city of living among the dead.  Housing crisis is huge in Cairo and especially poor has no choice but to find whatever place they can find. 

One cannot miss the Citadel on the eastern skyline of Cairo. Saladin the Abbasid ruler used the citadel as a strategic military fort during the crusades. Continuous expansions and fortifications were made during the Mamluk period and finally the Ottoman turks took over it. Today, it lodges museums and mosques. Who are Abbasids? Who are Mamluks?. Well that is your home work to figure out!!

The early Ottoman mosque is the Sulayman Pasha Mosque. Mohammed Ali Pasha who ruled Egypt in the 1800's built the baroque style Mohammed Ali Mosque. We had a long walk in the citadel and now it is time to do some shopping!

A tour in Egypt is not complete if one has not visited the Khan El Khalili market. This is a vast sprawling market from small souveneir shops to expensive jewelery and other items. Here, one can get specialty goods like carpets, cotton material, essential oils and spices. The history of this market goes back to 1382 AD when Emir Khalili established this trading center.

It was quite interesting to walk through the narrow alleys checking out all kinds of goods.  The traders love bargaining. It is fun to bargain and to check with them where they are origianlly from. We met shop keepers from Sudan, Ethiopia, Tunisia, and Aswan area.  The area bustles with locals and toruists. There are Police outpost everywhere to help the tourists if they get lost in the maze of alleys.

Unlike the artisan village or gallery, in Khan Khalili market one can find machine made alabaster vases. Luckily, we made it a point to visit the artisan village in Luxor where the alabaster and onyx artifacts are hand made with stone implements. One can find the artisans in their cotton galabayas proudly showing the wares. Galabaya is a traditional Egyptian garment worn by men. 

We visited the Egyptian Museum at Cairo which is a walkable distance from Ramses Hilton located in the busy Tahir Square.  We saw the famous Royal Mummies and King Tutankhamon’s treasures.  The exhibits are awesome. To my mind, the grandeur and the opulence that the ancients enjoyed cannot be possible without a sophisticated technology which perhaps was lost or modified to suit the social fabric of the following time period.  History cannot tell imaginery stories if there is no evidence or facts, right.  I hope the monuments will be preserved for the future generations. There is so much history and so much for the future. Only peace, tolerance and non-violence will help progress and growth.

It is time to say goodbye to Egypt that fascinated me from my childhood.  This is another place I would like to visit again.  Our hotel staff gave us hugs and said "If God willing"!

Egypt Travelogue: Old Cairo - Merry Christmas

December 24th 2009.  We have decided to spend the Christmas Eve to visit the Coptic section in the Old Cairo.  Egypt is an Islamic state with a Civil Law System based on the Islamic (Shariah) law and the Napoleanic code. But, there are restrictions as to how much one is allowed to practice their religion in public. Our tour guide who is a Coptic Christian mentioned that their ID must mention the religion that they practice for access to education, employment and public services. This section of the Cairo is guarded by armed security personnel.

The remains of the walls of the ancient Fortress Babylon built by the Romans still surrounds the old city. I always feel that I could sense the vibrations of an ancient city be it Varanasi in India or Athens in Greece. It is like checking your Grandma’s old attic and looking at the vintage treasures like silk, heirlooms and antiques with awe and wonder. One cannot miss the fortress walls when reaching old Cairo.  The western tower that dates back to 98 AD was built by the Roman King Trajan.  Does the name ring a bell!  Yes, it was the same Trajon who is famous for the Trajon's column in Rome.

Our first stop was at the St. George’s the Greek Orthodox Church which has a nice spherical dome. The original church was built in the 10th century on top of a Roman tower.  The present structure was built somewhere in the early 19th century. There is a monastery adjacent to the church. We lighted candles and prayed for the World peace.

When we go down the winding Zuweila alley we will see the Hanging Church. The Hanging Church or El Mullaqqa Sitt Mariam is dedicated to Virgin Mary and our guide told us that this is the oldest Christian Church in Cairo built in the 8th century AD.  Next to that is the Monastery and the Coptic St. George's church.  St. George is a favorite Saint among the Coptics and the Greek Orthodox sects here. Our guide told us even Muslims visit the Shrine of the Chains of St. George on Fridays and Sundays.

During the 1st century AD, St. Mark visited Alexandria and propagated Christianity in North Africa. The first split occured in Christianity with the Coptic Church who consider Jesus as divine unlike the rest who beleive in the dual nature.  Let us move on without spending time on the philosophical differences or the splits that occured in Christianity until the end of middle ages.  Time to concentrate on the beautiful churches and monastery here in Cairo.

The Coptic Museum is a must to see with its splendid collection of ancient Christian relics and artifacts.  Coptic means Egyptian and one can find a distinct flavor of ancient Egyptian influence in the motifs found on the artifacts. Our next stop was the Jewish Synagogue Ben Ezra. Today it is a monument as no religious services are allowed. This Syangogue has an interesting story. It was originally built as a Coptic Church with a basilica structure. In 882 AD, Abraham Ben Ezra purchased the church as the Christians were unable to pay the taxes levied by the then ruler Ahmed Tulun. Ben Ezra converted the Church into a Syangogue.

The Synagogue became famous during the next centuries for the Jews in North Africa to come and celebrate the festivals. It is fairly big to accomodate the men in the main level and women in the upper level during prayers.
In 1892 the deteriorated strucutre was rebuilt with funds received from Jewish community.  When King Farouk was overthrown in 1952, the wealthy and influential Jewish community moved out of Egypt.  Slowly the Jewish population has dwindled and currently there are about 500 or less elderly people live in Alexandria and Cairo.  Hopefully differences are accepted in the future and peace will prevail.  Pictures are not allowed inside the Synagogue.  

When we came outside the guard wanted us to see where baby Moses was found and showed us a passage! But, our tour guide corrected that it is a medieval Geniza an underground hideout where they discovered numerous scrolls and ancient texts from the Middle Ages.
An armed guard showed us the way towards the parking lot. While walking, these questions came up in my mind. Why one group wants to wipe out the history of another group? Why do some people destroy a place of worship?  Is that the instinct we got from our hunting and gathering paleolithic ancestors?  As I was thinking about this and trying to find an answer, the primeval basic instinct hunger saved me!  Time to get some nice Egyptian Vegetarian food!

Egypt Travelogue - Luxor

We flew to Luxor from Cairo by Egypt Air. This saved us a day to spend more time in Luxor.  The ancient city of  the New Kingdom  with its capital at Thebes was dedicated to the God Amon-Ra. Our plan was to visit the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple and the Temples built by Queen Hapshet Sut the first woman pharoh and King Ramses III.  After a brief rest and breakfast we started our journey to the ancient sites. The two statues of Amenhotep III also called as the colossi of Memnon dated 14th century BC welcome us to the necropolis located in the west banks of the Nile. The two statues stand guard at the entrance of the mortuary temple which is now in rubbles and ruins.  Behind the statues are the limestone mountains facing the desert are the tombs of the Kings and Queens. The Egyptians also built tombs for the nobles, and common people.
 There are about 63 tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Tourists are allowed in about 11 of them. We visited the tomb of Tutankhamun and few other tombs. The whole valley is designated as the World Heritage Site and the paintings on the walls are protected by glass walls. One could still see ancient graffitti in some places. The rock cut corridor leads to the chambers. The funerary texts are etched on the walls.
After the visit to the tombs we headed towards the Temple of Ramses III which has beautiful paintings and columns with disfigured statues. 

Another noteworthy temple is the one built by Queen Hapshetsut facing the famous Karnak Temple.  The temple has three levels with huge columns and a big courtyard with colassal statues. This is located in the Valley of the Queens.

The Karnak and Luxor temples are in the east bank of the Nile and are dedicated to the God Amon-Ra. The west bank is the Valley for the dead and the east bank is for the temples. Amon-Ra with his consort Mut and Chon have statues in the Luxor temple. Queen Hapshet Sut has constructed two obelisks in the Karnak temple. These obelisks are the inspiration to the Wshington Monument in DC.

The avenue of the sphinx, the obelisks, the corridors, ritual tank which has an underground pipe connecting to the river Nile and the huge pillars are amazing. The colassal artifacts which dates back to 14th century BC to 900 BC make us feel humble.  The remains show us a glimpse of the past, a civilization that flourished and pushed the humanity to the present century. 

My head bowed in silence and I thanked those ancient artisans, architects, and sculptors.

Egypt Travelogue - Alexandria Library part II

Our informed guide gave  us the history of the library interspersed with the local beliefs and myths.  The library had a continuous history of burnings. Plutrach's records indicate that the library was accidentally burnt by Julius Caesar. Another myth or truth not confirmed is the burning by the coptic Archbishop in 391. The temple of Serapis was supposed to hold most of the library.  Then another burning took place during the Islamic invasion. Currently, the library of Alexandria is located in the site of the old library. 

The library is a combined initiative of the Alexandria University and Presdient Mubarak.  UNESCO conducted a design competition which was won by a Norwegian firm.  The main reading room use the solar lighting as much as possible with glass panes tilted like a sun dial. 


The walls surrounding the library are built with granite brought from Aswan and the letters from all the languages are etched randomly. 

The library organizes regular tours.  Our guide showed so much enthusiasm and pride about being an employee there. I also felt like joining the Alexandria University atleast for a semester just to enjoy the visit to the library.  The library has a very good internet site where one can access the ancient manuscripts and books.

The internet archives is supported by the Sun super computers. The Library is organized with six specialized libraries and four museums. The library has the 6th largest collection of books. A copy of every book published anywhere in the World is available in this library. Recently in 2009 France donated a huge collection of French books to this library. The Planetarium has an interesting structure.

After visiting the permanent exhibits we bid farewell to Alexandria.  On the way we stopped at a Papyrus art gallery where they demonstrated how paper is made in the ancient way and painted. The longer the papyrus is soaked in water the color turns into more deeper brown. We slowly moved away from the city towards the desert road leading to Cairo.

Egypt Travelogue - Alexandria Part 1

The walk and the camel ride in Giza made us to crave for food. We enjoyed a great dinner with Falafel, Khosheri (lentils cooked with rice) fresh salad and dates.  We managed to go around the shopping mall near Hilton and enjoyed the Nile walk.  Our plan is to visit Alexandria the next day. Again it was quite an excitement to talk about the ancient city Alexandria which kindled memories of childhood when our Mother used to tell us about the great library of Alexandria, Ptolemy, Alexander, and the burning of the library.  There is always some connection some expectation about Alexandria as if I have lived in the past centuries as a scholar walking through the aisles of that ancient library. The hotel arranged a personal tour guide with the van to take us by road the next day.

Sharp at 7.00am we started our trip from Cairo. The driver took the desert road which again makes you think about the caravans of the olden days and the exotic tales of the desert and the people. Now, the desert is getting modernized. We could see the tech city with its glamorous corporate offices and a huge military training ground on one side and on the other side palatial farms and villas. The desert is shrinking.  Wayside rest area called Transit is clean. Remember to keep some Egyptian pounds in small denomination as there is a fee to use the rest rooms. Alexandria was built by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. We also passed through the modern toll gate to enter the city like the old caravans from the south did centuries ago.


The Mediterranian breeze welcomed us when we entered the city. The first stop is to look at the catacombs. This area used to be the ancient port of Alexandria. The tour guide told us an interesting story about how a donkey cart fell down into a hole and thus the catcombs were discovered. However there are different theories on that from the scholarly circle. Leave that contorversy aside, the catacombs are created from solid limestone rock in three levels. The dead bodies used to be lowered into the stairwell by ropes. The inner chamber or the rotunda is supported by eight pillars. The sarcophagi or a offering room where the food was kept for the dead and the visiting families used this as a dining room. The catcombs dates back to 2nd century AD and one can find both Egyptian and Roman influence in the carvings around the chamber. Around the rotunda in the hallway are the numberous burial chambers. Photography is not allowed inside the catcombs.

The Pompey's pillar and the Roman Theatre are the next attractions. The pillar is made up of pink granite and there are three sphinxes guarding the acropolis. This area used to be a temple dedicated to the Roman God  Serapis. The pillar is roughly about 30 M tall. More excavations are going on. In the 2nd century Alexandria has accomodated the Pharonic Egyptian, Hellenistic, Jewish, Roman, Coptic and later centuries by Islamic groups.  The Theatre shows the murals and the seatings. It is not extensive like the Greek Theatre found in Epidarus but still one can imagine the vast field with galleries in the ancient times.

We had lunch in a restaurant with the view of the mediterranean sea. I was thinking perhaps Marcus Aurelius, Cleopatra, and Ptolemy would have seen the same sea from their fort too. The Mediterranean sea with its turquoise blue water was gently sending waves as if nothing happened in the past and everything is fresh like its cool breeze.

The citadel or the Fort Qaitbey is the location of a naval museum and defense complex. The fort was built in the 14th century and also subsequently Sultan Al Ghoury constructed the outer walls.  The fort's main tower was built on the site where the ancient lighthouse tower once stood.  We found many stray cats near the pier, Who knows may be they have a royal ancestry of one of those Cleopatra's cats!!

Oh..h it is getting late. We have to go to the Library of Alexandria.

Egypt Travelogue - Pyramids of Giza

Next morning we began our journey to Giza. The traffic was heavy but the driver was smart to glide through the maze.  The famous Sahara desert holds the ancient Pyramids in its nest.  The three Pyramids looked glorius in the western desert side.  The Pyramids of Giza belong to the Middle Kingdom somewhere between 2000-1700 BC. The most famous and the largest Pyramid belongs to the Pharoh Cheops. The second largest one belongs to his son Khafra. The enormous stone blocks were aligned with such precision and master craftsmanship. In the Saqqara Pyramids  the chambers still retain the writings and the paintings but the Pyramid at Giza is empty as it was again and again looted for centuries. 

The highlight of the trip was the camel ride.  It was fun to have our guide haggle with the camel keepers.  My sister and I decided to take a ride. With a mix of fear, bravery, adventure, and laughter we manged to climb the camel and instantly felt like a Queen! It was quite a comedy when the camel owner's son asked us to hold on to the camel and my brother seriously videotaping the fun.

The Pyramid complex also has the Solar Boat exhibit. The ancient texts found in the Pyramids always mention about a solar boat to take the souls to their God Amun-Re. 

When we completed marveling the great Pyramid, our guide took us to the Pyramid built for Khafra. This is where the majestic great Sphinx sits and guards the valley temple. Ancient Egyptians believed that life begins in the east along with the rising sun and ends with the setting sun in the west. Hence, the Pyramids and the mortuary temples are all located in the west towards the desert and the temples dedicated to Gods were built in the eastern side facing the sun. The great sphinx looks magnificent inspite of the disfigured face. Still excavations and renovations are taking place in this side of the plateau.

The valley temple was built  with  massive granite slabs and limestone. The remains of the temple suggest to us that how this temple would have been in the past with a large square courtyard and offering place for the god Horus. A small dove perched on the column looked at us as if reminding that life must goes on even after the mighty Pharohs!

The sun was slowly descending into the western horizon. Tired, but happy and contented we walked in silence towards the bus. I was thinking about the tales of the Pharohs, their concept of life and death, significance of the pyramids and temples, the integrated life and civiliation with the river nile and ofcourse the question "What happened? Can we ever find the real facts?"

"Well Ladies and  Gentlemen, we have concluded our tour to Giza and the first stop is Ramses Hilton", our tour guide announced.

Egypt Travelogue - Pyramids from the Old Kingdom

Wow, second day in Egypt.  We woke up early in the morning with all excitement for a long day  tour to Memphis and Giza. The pyramids of Saqqara at Memphis belong to the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The remains of the colonnade leave us to imagine what a massive structure it would have been in its heydays.  The step Pyramid is the predecessor to the big pyramids at Giza. 

The majestic alabaster sphinx greets us in Memphis.

The colassal statue of Ramses II is in the Memphis museum. The face and the broad shoulders are intact eventhough parts of the limbs were mutilated.

With the tour of the Memphis museum we concluded our trip to the Pyramids of the Old Kingdom. 

There were other pyramids around Saqqara and excavations are still going on. Some of the artifacts from the black pyramid and others are now in the Cairo Museum.

Saqqara is about 25 Km from Giza. On our way to Giza we visited a carpet factory which employs the locals and the carpets are hand made.  The arist who runs this factory told us that they do follow the child labor laws of Egypt. The smiling children looked happy which made me think that learning a craft is also a part of education and we should not immediately jump into conclusion that these children must be in school.

The country side looks green and our tour guide reminded us the famous saying "Egypt is the gift of the Nile".  We found children and adults use the donkeys as a means of transportation along with carts and cycles. 

Next stop is Giza.