At the Great Pyramids of Giza
In June of 1980, I traveled to Egypt. Ostensibly, the trip was an early college graduation present from my grandfather Merton ... but in reality it was to be in the role of porter and escort for my grandfather, since his wife Ann refused to go. She refused to go because she believed that he was too weak to travel and she feared that he would not survive such a trip.
There was some reason for concern. Mert had been a lifelong inebriate and had suffered a number of heart attacks since his first in 1957. He also had a prickly disposition and was often immovably obstinate. He had already seen much of the world, and desperately wanted to see the reconstruction of the Abu Simbel temple and the Aswan High Dam, located in the upper Nile region. In light of Ann's refusal, he concocted a somewhat self-serving plan to have me travel with him as his personal valet. Whatever the circumstances were, I jumped at the opportunity.
As this was my first international journey as an adult, I obtained a passport. The black and white photo shown below was taken at the local AAA Travel Office, and was used for my excursion documents. Mert sent me the photo he used for his passport.
Mert also sent an updated itinerary, flight schedules, and tickets for the journey. He gave my parents instructions on what to do with his body if he were to die in Egypt. This included a list of U.S. Consulates located along the Nile River. If possible, he wished to be cremated in Egypt and have his ashes transferred back to the states. He also told us that he would carry a copy of this letter in his wallet.
In March, I sent my new passport to the Egyptian Consulate in Washington D.C. to apply for a 30 day travel visa. It was stamped and quickly returned to me. I was ready to go!
TWA Flight Cleveland to Paris
Mert and I departed Cleveland, Ohio on our first leg to JFK International Airport. The Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center at JFK was amazing! Completed in 1962, it represented the future of air travel, ingeniously designed with a central main terminal and satellite clustering of gates. It was the first with enclosed passenger jetways, central public address system, and baggage carousels.
We spent six hours there, waiting for our next connection to Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris. During this time, I purchased additional items I thought I needed for the long flights; snacks and magazines. I also obtained two hundred dollars in Egyptian currency (pounds) at the airport exchange.
Sunday, June 8
TWA Flight Paris to Cairo
Nile Hilton
We flew overnight to Paris, making a quick turnaround for Cairo. As we departed CDG, I spotted an Air France Concorde on the tarmac. Four hours later, the view would be much different ... an entire continent with nothing but sand.
Mert seemed tired and lethargic during the flight and it began to dawn on me how difficult the journey might be. My apprehension increased once we landed in Cairo. The baggage area was packed with humanity, hundreds of people shouting, grabbing, and gesturing wildly. It was airport anarchy. Making it worse was a baggage claim area that was located outside, where the temperature (even in the shade) was scorching. Glancing out toward the streets, I could see a constantly-rolling cloud of dust, created by an ongoing scuffle just outside my field of view.
I collected the luggage for both of us and found our driver. Hassan was waiting for us with a sign in his hand and escorted us to his Mercedes. He worked for the Nile Hilton and drove us there, post haste. Right through several red lights. Being severely jet-lagged and watching downtown Cairo go by at sixty miles an hour was a mind-blowing experience.
We checked in, unpacked, and tried to let the adrenaline subside before catching dinner in the hotel restaurant. There, we met our tour guide, Neferu. She briefed us for a few moments about the next day's activities. Shortly afterward, we both called it a night. The next day would be intense.
Monday, June 9
Egyptian Museum
Coptic Cairo
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
El-Khalil Bazaar
Pyramid Light Show
Opening the blinds, the morning view from our hotel window was full of brown, sand colored rudimentary skyscrapers. One building featured a large neon Ethopian Airlines sign on the roof. To my left, I could see the round dome of the Egyptian Museum, our first destination of the day.
As would become a repeating pattern, Mert decided to stay in the hotel room while I took part in the daily excursions. While I hated to leave him alone, it did allow me to travel without the burden of personally escorting him. I purchased tickets for the main museum, as well as a separate exhibit in Mummies Hall.
Frankly speaking, the museum was disappointing. The majority of relics were small and insignificant. This was because, over many centuries, most of the really good artifacts had been filched and were now located in places like the British Museum, the Louvre, and other galleries in the west. Our docents made a point of reminding visitors of this ... delivered with a respectful but noticeable nod.
The mummy exhibit was another matter entirely. Dozens and dozens of dead pharaohs in glass cases were lined up, in chronological order, gazing at the ceiling. We all stood in macabre fascination, surrounded by several millennia of almost-living history.
Photography was not permitted in the museum, but I did purchase a couple of slides they had for sale at the gift shop.
The next several hours were spent driving around Old (Coptic) Cairo, where we observed daily life in the city. Our tour group (eight of us) stopped at a bread cart and purchased a loaf to share in our van.
The bread vendor
We were taken to Saint Sergius and Bacchus Church, also known as Abu Serga. It is one of the oldest churches in Egypt, built in the 4th century, and located on the site where the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus) sought refuge after journeying to Egypt to flee King Herod. The location has become a pilgrimage site for many Christian Egyptians.
Adjacent to this historic landmark was an alley that was stacked with trash more than ten feet high.
We climbed Mokattam Hill in central Cairo to the Saladin Citadel of Cairo. Built during the Crusades (1100 CE), by Salah al-Din, the citadel is one of most important in Islam. It encompasses three primary mosques; Mosque of Muhammad Ali, Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque, and the Mosque of Sulayman Pasha. It had recently been named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1976).
We also visited the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. Built in 1389, it is one of the largest mosques in the world. It was built by al-Nasir Hasan, an extravagant but lesser-known sultan who attempted to seize power and was ultimately assassinated by the Egyptian army.
Adjacent to the Hassan Mosque was the Khan El-Khalil Bazaar, an open-air souq of artisans selling rare perfumes, spices, intricate inlay boxes, and custom jewelry. Many of these were manufactured in small, dimly-lit booths by highly-skilled artisans.
I remember seeing one particular vendor placing tiny pieces of ivory with tweezers onto a box, while his young son quietly watched him at work. I purchased that box.
Neferu advised us to be discriminating with our shopping. She told us to avoid the fake papyrus and plastic Egyptian gods. And, "for goodness sake, if someone tries to sell you an antiquity, it's almost certainly a fake". Instead, she recommended that we look for fine alabaster and mother of pearl inlay, and hand-made silver and gold jewelry.
With Neferu's help, I ordered a specially-made twenty-four carat gold cartouche with Tam's name in hieroglyphics. I would revisit the market in a week's time to pick it up.
Returning to the Nile Hilton, I checked on Mert. He was relaxing with a cocktail. After several minutes of cajoling, I persuaded him to come with me to watch the famous sound and light show, put on at dusk at the Great Pyramids of Giza.
We boarded our bus across the street from the hotel, along the Nile River. I noticed a local policeman walking down the sidewalk and discreetly attempted to photograph him. Sensing my actions, he quickly turned and posed for the picture.
We had been advised not to take pictures of locals unless we were willing to pay baksheesh (a cash tip). Even though I quickly turned away and nervously acted like nothing happened, I heard the inevitable knock on my bus window. There he was, inches away. Looking straight at me with a deadpan expression. I could literally read the engraving on his Kalashnikov.
I slid the window open and slipped him a twenty-pound Egyptian pound tip. He casually stepped back to the curb, lit up a cigarette, and waved goodbye to me.
Our hotel was adjacent to Tahrir Square (also known as "Martyr Square"), located in the absolute center of Cairo. Leaving for Giza and the pyramids, we crossed the Nile on the Tahrir Bridge, and headed southwest to the edge of the city.
The Pyramids of Giza were easy to spot miles away because there was nothing but open desert on the horizon.
The Egyptian Ministry of Culture sponsors the nightly sound and light show at the pyramids. Included in our 200 pound ticket was dinner and premium seating. Try to imagine if Disney were putting on a pyramid show. Lots of dramatic music, terrific and powerful narration, and perfectly-synchronized lighting. Our seats were a quarter-mile away, at least. And our view was framed by huge date palm trees. There were three half-hour shows every evening, each in different languages. Ours was recited by someone sounding suspiciously like Omar Sharif. The authority of delivery was astounding.
It was the perfect opening act for our two-week Egyptian adventure. We would return to the great pyramids at the culmination of our journey.
Tuesday, June 10
Egyptair Cairo to Luxor
Luxor Temple
Karnak Temple
H.S. Tut
Our hotel room was moderately clean. The shower water was tinted brown, as was the tap water. Soap was non-existent. While I was wiping off bottles of water and Coke like a surgeon and avoiding ice at all costs, Mert was drinking water straight from the tap. The more I warned him, the more he did it. I offered him purification tablets, but he refused. He made a point of doing it, and it worried me.
The Nile Hilton was given its name for a very good reason. It was located on Corneish al Nil Avenue, a major downtown thoroughfare that ran alongside the Nile River. (The hotel was sold in 2011 and converted into the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel)
As we flew south, toward the upper Nile, it was very apparent that the river was the lifeblood of the nation. Less than a half-mile in either direction of its banks, the land was essentially uninhabitable. Our flight was very turbulent, even in clear air, due to thermals rising off the desert. The heat from the tarmac leaving the plane in Luxor was stupendous. We were advised to walk to the terminal expeditiously.
Waiting at the terminal was a bus that whisked us to our next accommodations, the Sheraton H.S. Tut. The boat was docked in front of the legendary Winter Palace Hotel, where Egyptologists Howard Carter and Lord George Carnavan stayed while they excavated at the nearby Valley of the Kings. It was also where author Agatha Christie stayed when she wrote the novel Death on the Nile.
After a brief respite to eat and unpack, the group was transported by horse and buggy to the Karnak Temple. Mert, however, chose to stay behind and relax.
Karnak Temple (arabic for "fortified village") was built over many thousand years, beginning in the middle kingdom period, running through new period, and into the Ptolemaic period. It was the historic center of Egypt, being the core of the legendary city of Thebes.
When one thinks of Yul Brunner as Ramses I in the movie The Ten Commandments, this is the place.
Karnak is the second-most visited tourist site in Egypt. The temple's primary feature, Hypostyle Hall, was a fifty-thousand square foot open-air pavilion, with 134 gigantic pillars supporting a solid stone roof (now collapsed). The walls, pillars, and ceiling were covered in etchings depicting great victories in battle and stories of great pharaohs, serving as a proselytization of kingdom ideology.
Here, we were briefed on the basics of ancient Egyptian temple interpretation:
* If a pharaoh is depicted as a statue with one foot forward, the work was sculpted while the subject was alive. If the statue has him with feet together, it is a posthumous work. Same is true when seated.
* Look for hieroglyphics that are encircled by a vertical oblong rope. That is a cartouche, and represents the proper name of someone.
* If a wall carving is flat, it is generally older (pre-300 BC). But if it is done more as a relief, it is a later work (probably Ptolemaic).
* Pharaoh headgear was important. It came in two parts; a lower red-colored band that rose to point in the rear (representing lower Egypt) and a white bowling-pin placed inside the other (representing upper Egypt). A pharaoh with sovereignty over both kingdoms wore both.
* Horus, a falcon (sometimes a human with falcon head), was worshipped as an ancient Egyptian diety. Wepwapet, identified as a wolf (or jackal), acted as a scout to clear the way for the pharaoh's army. Both are frequently depicted on temple and tomb walls.
Luxor Temple was located approximately a quarter-mile from Karnak, and connected by a wide, stone pathway. Some of the people in our group could not walk that far, so we all used carriages.
Built of sandstone in 1400 BC by Amenhotep III, King Tutankhamen, and Ramses II, it is slightly smaller in size than Karnak. The statuary in the temple were built of granite, and thus have maintained much of their original shape. Two large granite depictions of seated Ramses flank the entrance to the temple.
Luxor Temple uncharacteristically did not represent any individual king, but instead represented the power and authority of all kings. It was likely the place where pharaohs were crowned. Alexander the Great claimed to have been crowned at Luxor Temple (but most historians believe it was Memphis, near Cairo).
Three years before my visit (1977), the James Bond smash-hit movie The Spy Who Loved Me was released, featuring an extended chase scene filmed at Karnak and Luxor Temples ...
Wednesday, June 11
The Valley of the Kings
Theban Necropolis
The Tomb of Tutankhamen
Our tour group departed the H.S. Tut early, six in the morning, as the journey would take us across the Nile River, into the desert, and to the Valley of the Kings. We needed to return before temperatures became broiling out there. Mert, probably wisely, decided to stay onboard the boat.
Approaching the Valley of the Kings
We transferred by ferry to a bus on the opposite side of the river and proceeded for thirty minutes over very rocky terrain until we reached the Theban Necropolis. During the drive, our new tour guide, Fathya, shared her knowledge of ancient Egyptian burial traditions.
The royal burial grounds were placed on the opposite (Western) side of the Nile because, like the daily movement of the sun, it represented the completion of the journey of life. The term 'crossing over the river' comes from this belief.
Kings and queens were generally buried separately, in completely different valleys.
Once a pharaoh ascended to the throne, slave labor was used to begin preparing (digging the tomb and manufacturing items) for the ruler's afterlife. Ramses II lived into his eighties, so his above-ground mortuary temple and underground tomb were both huge, with more than seventy underground rooms, and every room was stuffed with treasures.
The ceiling in Ramses II burial chamber (tomb KV5) tells the story of his funeral, including the number of people who attended, the boats used to cross the river, the spirits who assisted in the transition, and even the number of livestock sacrificed in the name of the king.
Large tombs, such as this one, were easily found and plundered. Its huge protective granite sarcophagus proved no match for tomb raiders, among which included a 'scientific' expedition by Napoleon's army in 1798.
It was also not uncommon for a succeeding pharaoh to purloin the goods from a previous one, for their own benefit.
I was struck by how well the walls and ceilings had been preserved. The ceiling looked like it had been painted yesterday, even though it was thousands of years old. I asked how they were able to see so far down into the burial chambers to do such work. The guide said that they could not use torches, as they consumed precious air and sooted the walls. Instead, they used a series of rudimentary mirrors to distribute light deep into the tombs.
Ramses II sarcophagus
Not far away was the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the second female Egyptian pharaoh. The architect of the structure was Senenmut. Its classical design marked an important shift away from megalithic geometry and toward a more modern classical form. It was also a work of incredible technical engineering.
The above-ground temple was set to an azimuth of 116.5 degrees, thus aligned to the winter solstice sunrise. On that day, sunlight passes through the rear wall of the chapel, and illuminates two Osiris statues at the entrance to the inner chamber.
In addition, Hatshepsut's underground tomb (KV20) was not laid out in a grid pattern, but instead featured five curved descending corridors, each of which terminated at individual sarcophagus chambers.
Hatshepsut's mortuary complex was undoubtedly the most innovative and interesting in the necropolis. It's sophistication contrasted in almost every way from the heavy, massive stonework of prior pharaohs.
The tomb of King Tutankhamun, who died suddenly at eighteen years of age, was relatively small, with no above-ground temple or other exterior markings ... which is why it was not discovered until 1922 by Egyptologist Howard Carter.
Working on a hunch, Carter wanted his team to resume excavation on a mound at the location of two prior digs that had yielded nothing. A young water boy working for them inadvertently stumbled on something that turned out to be the top step of a set of stairs leading downward into the bedrock. The hastily completed and filled tomb had been covered in gravel and abandoned. Carter continued to dig downward until he found a mud-plastered doorway. The door handles were fastened with a rope and sealed in wax with the cartouche impression of 'Tutankhamnun'.
Boring a hole in the door and using a candle to illuminate the interior (and to check for possible noxious gases) Carter peered into the tomb. Inside he saw gold ... gold tables, gold jewelry, gold figurines ... gold flickering in all directions.
Carter's associate, Lord George Carnarvan, asked him, "Can you see anything?" To which Carter replied, "Yes. Wonderful things!"
Carter was extremely meticulous with his excavation. The burial chamber was not opened until February of 1923 (a few days later, Lord Carnarvan suddenly and mysteriously died). The sarcophagi were not opened until 1925, the main treasury in 1926, and the annex containing additional relics was not opened until 1927.
As I approached the tomb, I was mindful of the Curse of Tutankhamun. Other members of Carter's excavation team inexplicably and mysteriously died soon after discovering the tomb. This phenomena was documented on a number of occasions, including in the New York Times. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, hypothesized that Tutankhamun's priests likely placed 'elementals' around the tomb to protect its contents.
Wikipedia even lists "Deaths popularly attributed to Tutankhamun's curse" on its 'Curse of the pharaohs' webpage.
With trepidation, I entered the tomb. It was tiny, particularly in comparison to the others. About the size of a one car garage. The tomb was pristine, as if it had been built yesterday. The walls, covered in vibrant paint and gold leaf, were as stunning as they were the day Carter discovered it.
When I was there, the tomb was empty. The body of King Tutankhamun has since been returned to his tomb, and lies encased in a climate-controlled glass box (see photos).
I waited for the other tourists to leave, then briefly stood by myself in the center of the sarcophagi chamber. I slowly turned 360 degrees, trying to make a permanent mental picture in my mind and thought to myself ... 'right now, I am standing alone in King Tut's tomb!'
To preserve the integrity of the tomb and its artwork, photography was not permitted inside the tomb (the interior shots presented here are commercial slides).
As we left the tomb, our local tour guide gathered us together to demonstrate how hot it was getting in the desert. He fried an egg on a nearby rock. The air temperature as we boarded the van was climbing beyond 125 degrees. The handrails going in and out of the tombs were getting much hotter.
As we departed the Valley of the Kings, we passed by the Colossi of Memnon, two huge seated statues of Amenhotep III. They were facing east, guarding the royal necropolis from outsiders.
I returned to the boat and found Merton as cantankerous as ever. For the rest of the day, as we began sailing up the Nile River, the two of us loudly debated the legitimacy of the United States Social Security system.
Next stop ... Esna.
Thursday, June 12
Esna
Khnum Temple
Edfu
Temple of Horus
By sunrise, we had traveled twenty-nine miles up-river, and docked at the city of Esna. Once again, our excursion left early (and once again, Mert decided to stay onboard). Our destination was Esna Temple, dedicated to Khnum (god of the source of the Nile).
The Nile River was notorious for flooding in ancient times, and Egyptians frequently prayed to Khnum for protection and relief from such disasters. In order to pacify Khnum, anyone entering the temple had to comply with strict rules of purity. According to the hieroglyphics on temple walls, all visitors had to cut their nails short, remove all body hair, wear white linens, and refrain from sex for several days.
One of the things I immediately noticed were that the well-preserved walls featured three-dimensional reliefs, signifying that the temple had been constructed during the Ptolemaic period.
Another thirty miles south, up-river, was the Temple of Horus, located at Edfu. This was another example of Ptolemaic architecture, built between 200 and 50 BC. It was the most complete and well-preserved temple of any that I visited in Egypt. There were few areas of damage, and it chiefly occurred during the reign of the Roman Empire (circa 391 AD), when pagan imagery was scraped from public buildings and ancient temples by Christians.
The temple was protected for many centuries by drifting desert sands and river silt that covered the structure to a height of nearly forty feet. It was not excavated until 1860, by French archeologists.
In the photo above, with the statue of Horus, is Fathya (our tour guide). The photo below, is of someone sick with malaria.
We returned to our ship and proceeded forty more miles south to Kom Ombo, where we would dock for the night.
Friday, June 13
Kom Ombo
Sobek Temple
Kitchener's Island
Aga Khan Mausoleum
Felucca Sailing
After another wonderful and seemingly endless evening of contentious debate about supply-side economics with my grandfather, I awoke to a cabin still filled with tension. I climbed down from my bunk and headed to the galley to get something to eat.
Breakfast for me on the H.S. Tut consisted of dry bread, a small piece of thoroughly-cooked meat of some type, and a bottle of Coke. I avoided anything undercooked or raw like the plague. Mert ate and drank everything. I prayed that he could make it another few days without a problem.
After breakfast, I joined the group and headed for the Temple of Kom Ombo. Located on a stone outcropping overlooking the Nile, the temple was visible for miles. This temple, like the others we toured along the river, were built in 200 BC (Ptolemaic) with granite flooring and structural members, making them stronger and better-preserved. This temple was dedicated to the crocodile-headed god Sobek.
Peering inside one of the outdoor storage closets at the temple, I could see dozens of two-thousand year old mummified crocodiles and other relics. Fathya sadly told us that Egypt was not wealthy-enough to preserve everything at their historic sites.
By this time, all of the ancient temples were beginning to look alike, and it was becoming difficult to maintain a handle on five thousand years of Egyptian history. How many Ramses were there, for god's sake?
We boarded the boat one last time for the final three-hour jaunt to Aswan, arriving early in the afternoon.
After lunch, a few of us boarded a small felucca sailboat and traversed the Nile and surrounding islands for several hours.
Kitchener's Island was originally named after Lord Kitchener, British Secretary State for War and former Consul-General to Egypt. He was also a accomplished horticulturist, planting a wide variety of plants and trees during the tenure of his ownership. When the small island was returned to Egypt, his estate became the Aswan Botanical Gardens. Kitchener's Island was ultimately renamed El Nabatat Island.
What can I say? It was a botanical garden. I hardly remember any of it.
Slightly further south, and precisely located along the Tropic of Cancer, Elephantine Island stood at the border between Egypt and Nubia. Ancient Egyptians built several temples and a fortress on the island, establishing a southern outpost on the Nile.
We disembarked on the west bank of the river and rode camels up the steep sand dunes to the Aga Khan Mausoleum. From the hilltop, our view to the east, toward Aswan and the land beyond, was simply sublime.
Our return back to ship was delayed, as the rigging of our sail became entangled. The pilot of the boat nimbly climbed the mast and straightened everything out.
From the deck of the H.S. Tut, we enjoyed a spectacular sunset view over the Nile River. We all savored strong cocktails and good conversation until stars covered the sky.
Saturday, June 14
Cleopatra's Needle
Aswan High Dam
Egyptair Flight Aswan to Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel Temple
Egyptair Flight Abu Simbel to Cairo
A quick breakfast at seven, then into the vans for another day of discovery! Mert joined us for this segment of the tour.
Our first destination was Shellal, location of one of the primary stone quarries used to build the ancient temples and sculptures. The site was rich in red, grey, and black granite. It would be cut, placed on flat barges, and sent downstream hundreds of miles (as the river flooded) to be used at Luxor and points beyond.
Cleopatra's Needle was collected from the Shellal northern quarry, as were the Colossi of Memnon, Djoser sarcophagus, and burial chambers, sarcophagi, and columns used at Giza.
Of particular interest was the 'unfinished obelisk', originally ordered by Queen Hatshepsut to be placed at Karnak. It would have been the largest obelisk ever made (137 feet high and weighing 1,200 tons). But as the obelisk was being carved out, it began to crack. The half-quarried project was abandoned.
We were able to walk on top the obelisk to observe the ancient process up close. This was accomplished by driving shafts of bamboo into circular holes, then wetting it. As the bamboo expanded in the heat, it acted like a splitting wedge. Laborers did this with near-pinpoint precision, and with great success.
Boarding a small ferry, we cruised past the island of Philae. This tiny archipelago is historically important, because it is rife with examples of both pharaonic and greco-roman structures. The most prominent of which was Trajan's Kiosk, built by Roman emperor Trajan (or possibly earlier by Augustus). The hypaethral temple was moved in the 1960s to avoid inundation by the rising waters of the Aswan High Dam.
As we were leaving the island, we could see a funeral procession taking place. Family members, all dressed in black, carefully transferred remains from their ferry for burial on Philae.
Driving back the dusty and barren roads to the H.S. Tut, we could easily see dozens of lattice towers carrying high-voltage transmission lines in all directions. These tension lines led to the Aswan High Dam, a hydroelectric embankment dam built to contain the floodwaters of the Nile.
The dam was negotiated and built over a ten year period (1960-1970) by the Hydroproject Institute, a Moscow-based technical firm.
In the mid-1950s, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was attempting to establish Egypt as a regional political power. The construction of a large hydroelectric dam would provide the power needed to modernize the country and put it on stronger economic footing.
To achieve this, he needed financial and engineering assistance. He was willing play the United States and Russia against each other at the height of the Cold War in order to gain Egypt's strategic favor.
Nasser was simultaneously attempting to assert himself militaristically in the region. He nationalized the Suez Canal, ultimately instigating the Suez War. Considering Nasser's aggressive and erratic actions, the U.S. determined that it could no longer provide economic support.
The Soviets stepped up and financed the Aswan High Dam to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars. For the time being, Egypt and the Soviet Union were allies. In fact, Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev attended the ground-breaking ceremonies, calling the project "the eighth wonder of the world!"
The Aswan High Dam is, indeed, a wonder. It is two and half miles wide and 43 million cubic meters in volume. It can handle up to 11,000 cubic meters of water per second. The reservoir formed behind it (Lake Nasser) is 340 miles long and 22 miles wide.
Through the generation of electricity, the dam paid for itself in less than two years. It also eliminated the ravaging effects of periodic flooding. Environmentalists, however, believe that the dam has done more harm than good.
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Back at the boat, we grabbed a quick lunch, packed up our stuff, and checked out. At noon, we bid adieu to the H.S. Tut.
Our next destination would be the one that Mert had been waiting for ... Abu Simbel.
As our van headed to the Aswan Airport, Fathya gave each of us a sample of papyrus with her name written on it, in English and in Arabic. It was a very kind and gracious gift. We hugged and thanked her before heading into the terminal.
We boarded a special charter Egyptair 737 for the 180 mile flight south to the border. Before landing, we circled the Abu Simbel site, giving us an excellent view of where it had been excavated and moved to higher ground before the Aswan Dam created Lake Nasser.
We landed on an isolated air strip with no services whatsoever. No building. No bathrooms. No fuel. Nothing except a bus that pulled up beside the jet, picked us up, and drove away.
Abu Simbel is located only twenty-four miles north of the Sudan border. It is located south of the Tropic of Cancer, meaning the sun is located directly overhead most of the year. Rainfall is less than 150 inches per year.
Abu Simbel rose to significance in 1959, when its two temples (one for Ramses II and the other for his wife Nefertari) became endangered as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam. In 1964, under the direction of UNESCO, a team of archaeologists disassembled both temples and reconstructed them, in their entirety, on nearby higher ground (65 meters higher). The monuments were cut into large blocks, some weighing twenty to thirty tons each, and carefully moved for reassembly. It is considered one of the greatest engineering challenges in archeological history.
All of this was accomplished for the few hundred tourists per day who can make it to the desolate location. I could appreciate why Mert wanted to see it so badly.
We exited the van, and everybody headed straight inside the temple, as recommended by the guides ... except me. In temperatures exceeding 130 degrees, I proceeded to take several exterior photographs of both temples.
I eventually headed inside and could not find Mert. I asked other people in our group. They said they had not seen him either. I checked the bathroom, I checked the bus, I checked outside. I hoped that he hadn't accidentally fallen into nearby Lake Nasser. In a full panic, I ran back inside, where I found Mert hitting on the gift shop clerk.
That pretty much explains it. Nothing else needed to be said.
I abandoned Mert at the gift shop and joined our tour, deep inside the larger temple. The inner sanctum of the Great Temple featured four seated statues of divinities, perfectly positioned on the solar axis to enable sunlight to enter the room and illuminate three of them twice a year. The fourth statue, Ptah (god of the underworld), is positioned so that it is never bathed in light.
With the conclusion of our tour of Abu Simbel, we accomplished my grandfather's long-desired objective. Check.
Keeping a watchful eye on Mert, we boarded the bus and returned to the landing strip, where our plane was still idling. We immediately took off for Cairo, arriving at sunset. The group returned to the Nile Hilton, where together, we ate a late dinner.
Sunday, June 15
Memphis
Saqqara
The Great Pyramids of Giza
The Great Sphinx
With Mert safely ensconced in the hotel room, I joined our scheduled day trip to Memphis, Saqqara, and Giza, a short jaunt twenty miles south of the city.
The city of Memphis is one of the oldest sites we visited, founded by Old Kingdom pharaoh, Menes. It was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch (one of the oldest names for Lower Egypt). Believed to be under the protection of Ptah (also known to be a patron of craftsmen), it is the site of many of Egypt's earliest structural ruins, some built more than five thousand years ago.
Over the centuries, Memphis became one of the most pillaged regions in Egypt, and many of the ruins that remained were so broken that they were of no interest to casual observers. Two works caught my attention, however.
The Sphinx of Memphis, carved from white calcite in 1500 BC. At twenty-six feet high, it is the largest calcite statue ever carved.
The huge statute of Ramses II, built to protect the entrance to the temple of Ptah, lies (with legs broken off) in an open air pavilion. The meticulous details of both of these works revealed fine ancient Egyptian artistry.
Nearby Saqqara basically looked like a giant ex-pyramid wasteland. As far as the eye could see, there were hundreds of eroded mounds bubbling out of the sand. These were the first experimental pyramids, where ancient Egyptian engineers tested various slopes, substrates, and styles. The most famous of these was the stepped Pyramid of Djoser. Constructed 4700 years ago, the pyramid featured six mastabas of diminishing size and with varying slope. It was originally clad in white limestone.
Various other burial buildings and vaults were created in the Saqqara necropolis, primarily for pharaohs of the Old Kingdom.
Although historically significant, Memphis and Saqqara were merely precursors for the mighty Great Pyramids of Giza, lurking in the distance.
The Great Pyramids of Giza consists of four main structures; Cheops pyramid, Chephren pyramid, Mykerinos pyramid, and the Great Sphinx.
Cheops pyramid is also known as the 'Great Pyramid of Giza'. It is, by far, the largest of the three pyramids. It is also the oldest of the three.
Its volume is two and half million cubic meters and it weighs six million tons.
It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain intact. As such, it is one of the world's greatest tourist attractions, facilitating hundreds of opportunistic entrepreneurs, like those offering camel rides.
With foundations on solid bedrock, the 4500 year-old pyramid took twenty years to build, using mostly skilled labor (not slave labor, as initially thought). At 481 feet in height, it was the tallest structure in the world for nearly four thousand years. Like the early pyramids at Saqqara, Cheops pyramid was encased in white limestone (almost none of it remains).
To get inside the pyramid required climbing approximately fifty feet up the north side of the exterior to a small access opening that led to a small internal vestibule.
The vestibule conjoined two opposing diagonal internal passageways; a small, unfinished one leading down several hundred feet underground (closed to tourists) and another, called the Grand Gallery, that led up to the two burial chambers. The gallery's tapered ceiling was 30 feet high and extended 160 feet upward into the structure. It was one of the most visually-fascinating places I have ever seen.
The upward-leading Grand Gallery
The downward-leading passageway
At the top of the passageway was a tight corner with low overhead clearance (maybe five feet high). It led to the king's burial chamber, a rectangular room, roughly 20 x 30 feet in dimension. The passageways and burial chambers were constructed as the pyramid was being built, thus requiring significant engineering skill.
Exploring the Great Pyramid of Giza was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I will never forget it.
The two smaller pyramids, Chephren and Mykerinos, were not open to tours. They were also once lined with limestone, until a thousand years later, when Ramses II had them stripped to build a temple in Heliopolis. Some of the original fascia remains at the apex of the Chephren pyramid.
The sculpture of the Great Sphinx, located in front of Chephren pyramid, combined the body of a lion and the face of pharaoh Khafre. This was difficult to know for sure, since it is believed in some circles that Napoleon's army used its face for artillery target practice, blowing its nose and beard off.
The sphinx was originally carved as a monolithic work from bedrock. Some of the excess stone was used to build the pyramids. Origins of the sphinx remain a mystery, with some historians believing that it represented a solar diety, which explains it's position, facing directly east toward the rising sun. This theory, however, is still being debated.
The lower part of the sphinx was being restored (rather clumsily) during the time of my visit in 1980. The front legs were rebuilt again, with slightly better results, in the 1990s.
It goes without saying (like virtually everywhere I went on this trip) that the great pyramids are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mert and I ate dinner together at the hotel rooftop restaurant. Looking out the window, the sun was slowly setting across the Nile, sliding alongside a distant minaret. I photographed it for posterity.
Here I was. Twenty years old. In the span of one week, I had climbed the great pyramids ... I had sailed the Nile ... I had stood alone in King Tut's tomb. It was hard to absorb the significance of it all.
Monday, June 16
El-Khalil Bazaar
Our last day in Egypt.
Mert was not feeling well, so he stayed in bed, while I returned to the El-Khalil Bazaar to pick up Tam's cartouche. I had some money to spare, so I went to Al khalili Bazaar, in the Nile Hilton hotel lobby, where I found a ceremonial camel saddle that I purchased, crated, and had shipped back to Ohio.
The rest of the day was spent packing and watching Mert. We had room service and went to bed early.
Tuesday, June 17
TWA Flight Cairo to Rome
TWA Flight Rome to New York
TWA Flight New York to Cleveland
Our wake-up call came at two in the morning. We gathered our luggage, staggered through an empty hotel lobby, checked out, and proceeded to the front curb, where Hassan was waiting for us. Mert and I piled into the Mercedes. Hassan raced through the desolate streets of Cairo with his headlights off. He approached ninety miles an hour at one point, before screeching to a stop at Cairo International Airport. I gave him the last of my Egyptian money as a tip.
Walking into the terminal, Mert confessed that he was starting to feel seriously ill.
At the TWA counter, we learned that our inbound flight from Paris had been cancelled and that we had already been booked on a flight to Rome, leaving at six. I didn't care where we were going, as long as it was out of Cairo and to somewhere in the real world.
Mert tried to sleep on the flight to Rome. Once there, I found the TWA Ambassador Club lounge and got him relatively comfortable during our layover.
During the flight to JFK, Mert went to the bathroom at least twenty times. Landing back in the United States brought a huge sense of relief. Mert was fading fast.
Flight 741 from JFK to Cleveland was brutal. Mert had lost all bowel control. We landed, poured him into the car, and drove to Ashland. My grandfather had contracted dysentery (and I was pretty sure I knew why). For several nervous days, he slowly recuperated.
At least he survived the trip.
Mert brought an 8mm movie camera along and filmed roughly thirty minutes of silent footage during the trip. I edited it slightly, and identified locations. Its pretty raw but worth a look ...
POSTSCRIPT
Merton Franklin Olin never recovered fully. He remained in poor health until passing away a few months later. I am convinced, having spent so much time with him, that he was on a premeditated self-destructive path. I am glad that he was able to see Abu Simbel, and I am grateful that he enabled me to experience everything I did on the trip. Thank you, Mert.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by his own army the following year, while watching a military parade. This act officially ushered in a continuing period of political terrorism and jihadist violence that is still prevalent in Egypt today.
In recent years, foreign tourists have become primary targets for terrorism in Egypt, with the focus turning to airlines, resorts, and historic sites. In 1997, 62 tourists were shot and killed by islamic terrorists at the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Kings.
Tourism to Egypt after Sadat's assassination dropped by twenty-five percent. Tourism of the pharaoh's tombs in upper Egypt declined by eighty percent.
The assassination of Anwar Sadat
The camel saddle I had crated and shipped the day before I left, arrived two years later. It had been shipped (by a very slow boat apparently) through both Indian and Pacific Oceans. The crate had been stamped by shippers in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. It arrived in perfect condition, but did not last. It eventually became a footstool and fell to pieces.
I do wish that I had taken more pictures of myself during that trip, but essentially, I was traveling alone. 'Selfies' didn't exist back then. I took all but a half-dozen of the shots used in this blog. The pictures were originally slides that were converted to digital images, thus the black 'framing' around the photos. I used an Olympus OM-1 35mm camera and Kodak 200 Speed Ektachrome Slide Film.
Finally, the most important tangible evidence that remains of the trip is the custom-made gold cartouche with Tam's name in hieroglyphics. She wore that pendant as a necklace for many years. The 24 karat gold actually turned out to be 4 karat gold ... but it's really the thought that counts.
"So let it be written, so let it be done!"
Yul Brenner, as Ramses I in
The Ten Commandments
Around The World With The Olin Family