Egypt Recap

Egypt Photos

Of the Must See items in Africa - a wildlife safari (Tanzania), Sahara desert (Egypt), Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe), and Cape of Good Hope (South Africa.) - we could fit the first two in our schedule this time.  Tanzania possibly being THE starting point of prehistoric human migration, and Egypt being one of the oldest civilizations were quite a combination.

Ideally, crossing the Sahara by camel could be the ultimate trip (or not!) - or at least the part of it that is in Egypt.  But instead, we ended up on a river cruise along the Nile, traveling in luxury and immersed in the history of Egyptian Civilization over the centuries.

Although undoubtedly in Northeast Africa and extending in to adjoining Sinai Peninsula in Southwest Asia, neither Egyptians nor Africans consider Egypt as part of Africa.  This is even when Africa - more specifically, Tanzania - supplied the both human species and the water that allowed the ancient civilizations of the Nile Valley to establish and flourish in Egypt.  Egyptians then and now look nothing like Africans, as you know.

There is so much history here - a lot of it preserved by the harsh dry environment of the Sahara desert, but a lot of it is lost due to plundering by subsequent Egyptian kings, then Romans, later by European archaeologists (because Egyptians didn't care), not to mention locals themselves.  What remains is still pretty impressive and worth the trip, though the political climate is not that stable, as we later discovered.

Egypt has one of the longest histories of any modern country, emerging as one of the world's first nation states in the tenth millennium BC.  Considered a cradle of civilization, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanization, organized religion and central government.  Iconic monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well the ruins of Memphis, Thebes, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, reflect this legacy and remain a significant focus of archaeological study and popular interest worldwide even today.  

Egypt's rich cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which has endured, and at times assimilated, various foreign influences, including Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and European. One of the earliest centers of Christianity, Egypt was Islamized in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Muslim country, albeit with a significant (Coptic) Christian minority.

Cairo and surrounding areas in the North, such as Memphis served as the capital of Egypt for much of its history.  Cairo is the logical entry point for international travel, for the Old Kingdom sights in the north and the New Kingdom sights 400 miles south all the way to border of Sudan 700 miles away - all along the Nile river.  In fact, Egyptian Civilization owes it all to the Nile - then and now.

For centuries, Nile river cruises was the way to see Egypt.  But there are only enough sights to see going one way, and nothing on the return, trip.  Nowadays, with the advent of short hop flights, cruises make even less sense.  

River Cruise industry responded to this by having tourists fly from Cairo to Luxor and begin 5-day cruises there.  You really needed only 3 days - either downstream from Aswan or upstream from Luxor - to cover Upper Egypt, and then 1-2 days in Cairo and surrounds depending on your specific interests.

The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found at Saqqara, northwest of Memphis. The earliest among these is the Pyramid of Djoser (constructed 2630–2611 BC) built during the third dynasty.

All three of Giza's famed pyramids and their elaborate burial complexes were built during a frenetic period of construction of the fourth dynasty, from 2550-2490 BC.  The pyramids were built by Pharaohs Khufu (Cheops), his son Khafre (Cephren) and grandson Menkaure (Mykerinos), the three successive Pharaohs as tombs for themselves.  Of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only one still exists today - the Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu.).

The 1977 James Bond movie The Spy who loved me was filmed on location in Egypt and captures all the highlights of Cairo and other famous sites of Egypt - for your viewing pleasure.  The Sound and Light show at the Pyramids starts at 27:30 of the movie, which plays the SAME soundtrack you hear today!

After the Old Kingdom (or Age of Pyramids,) the action moved south to Upper Egypt near Luxor and the ancient city of Thebes, the capital of (Upper) Egypt during the New Kingdom.  Although the political and military importance of Thebes faded during the Late Period, as the city of the god Amon-Ra, Thebes remained the religious capital of Egypt until the Greek period.  Amon-Ra's great temple at Karnak, just north of Thebes, was the most important temple of Egypt right until the end of antiquity.

Tidbits

• Because it seems counter-intuitive, we had to stop-and-think every time it came up:
• - Africa is the second largest continent after Asia.
  - Half of Africa is in the Northern Hemisphere - which includes the entire Egypt (as well as the entire Sahara Desert.)
  - It has the Nile River flowing down from South (called Upper Egypt because of its higher elevation) to the North in to the Mediterranean (Lower Egypt.)
  - In fact, the longest river Nile originates near Lake Victoria which is at the Equator.
• Like most ancient cultures, Egyptians prayed to celestial objects such as the Sun, and animals around them like snake, falcon, crocodile, beetle (or the Underworld god - jackal)  They are memorialized in their paintings and carvings - and hieroglyphs.
  
• Five times daily, all mosques everywhere make prayer calls (these days via loudspeakers) with "Allah O Akbar."  If there are many mosques in the vicinity of each other, they take turns to make those announcements.
  - Even on the state-owned Egypt Air, before the standard airline announcements (about seat belts, emergency exits, oxygen masks and life vests,) prayer was recited with a picture of a mosque being displayed on TVs.  After that, Arabic and then English announcements.were made.  Imagine that happening in the USA!!!
  - At the time of our trip, these were the prayer times: FAJR 04:55 am, SUNRISE 06:21 am, DHUHR 12:08 PM, ASR 03:26 PM, MAGHRIB 05:54 PM, ISHA 07:11 PM, QIYAM 01:14 am
• In Egypt (true also in many other Muslim countries), women must cover their heads when entering a mosque (and they sit in the back.)  
  - In Egypt (and Turkey), men didn't have to cover their heads, but in India, they do - a simple handkerchief on your head does the trick.
  - Before entering a mosque, you also have to take off your shoes, or cover them up, or carry in a plastic bag.  This is also true in Hindu Temples (and even homes.)  Surprisingly, Monasteries in Tibet did not require shoes to be removed - possibly because of the harsh climate there.
• Egyptians and Indians look a lot alike (and Cairo looks and feels so much like Mumbai - roads, buildings, shops, etc.); however, everyone identified me as an Indian (and not a US citizen) instantly.  This was even more true with people who deal with tourists all the time - like police, security, immigration, airline employees, and shopkeepers.
• Probably for the right reasons, US based tour companies discourage US citizens from traveling to Egypt.  Before the 2011 revolution, 250,000 US tourists visited Egypt annually; now the number is more like 5,000.  For security, we were being tracked the entire time - that wasn't a fun experience, though it did not affect any of our sightseeing and thankfully, nothing happened to us.