While driving deep into the desert of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, we sat three hours in a van, which was part of a convoy, apparently to assist other vans in case of mechanical failures or possible attacks from terrorists or unknown assailants. There were many checkpoints along the way, guarded by soldiers and policemen. With us were two very nervous U.S. tourists who spoke ceaselessly of the nearby war that was geographically close, but emotionally felt light years away. The other occupants in the van consisted of a well-versed driver, an official policeman and our highly educated guide, named Salaam, who seemed indifferent to the two very nervous U.S. tourists’ ridiculous rants. After noticing a lone man in the distance, Salaam began a narrative of the harsh desert landscape of endless sand, and the fractured boulders and craggy mountains, which the nomadic Bedouin People call home.

Salaam told us a story, a story which he claimed to a be true: A young Muslim Arab man arrived at the edge of the Sinai Peninsula, and began a trek into the desert. Partway through his journey he took a reprieve upon reaching an older Arabic man. They decided to walk together. The older Arab man asked who the young man was. He replied, ‘Father, don’t you recognize me… I am your son.’ And he really was his son, the 16th son from one of the man’s four Muslim wives, which Salaam reminded us again that the story was true.

But, I’m getting a ahead of myself, for I had spent ten days earlier on the North African side of Egypt, cruising the River Nile on a river boat and touring Cairo’s many museums: the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, also known as the Cairo Museum, which holds the world’s largest collection of pharaonic antiquities, the recently renovated National Museum of Egyptian Civilization that showcases over 50,000 artifacts from all areas of Egyptian civilization, from prehistoric times, through the pharaonic era up until today. And the new Grand Egyptian Museum, overlooking the Three Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza. Also in the mix was the Mosque of Muhammad Ali and Citadel, and the City of the Dead.

When speaking with other tourists, I noticed their excitement when they spoke about the main reason why they had traveled such a distance to Cairo. It was generally for these two things…

THE CAIRO OF NOW

Now, back on the first leg of my tour, I was anxious to experience the grandeur, the blemishes and the contradictions of the Cairo of today. With a population of over 22.1 million people, Greater Cairo is the 12th largest city in the world. The high birth rate in Egypt, especially among low-income families, is attributed to Cairo’s growing population. Egypt’s capital city is a major economic hub and attracts people from all over the country, people who are looking for job opportunities and a higher standard of living. The city’s economy is based primarily on governmental institutions and services, along with a modern productive sector, which includes developments in textiles and food processing, in particular, with the production of sugar cane. Sadly, hyper-urbanization has resulted in homes, roads, electricity, telephone services and sewers at an unacceptable Western World level.

As our van drove to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, we passed Tahrir Square, the site of Egypt’s Arab Spring, also known as the Egyptian Revolution, where a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions had spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. Millions of Egyptians had taken to the streets against then president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted, arrested and his government was overthrown. The revolution was led by Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a former field marshal, which cemented the Egyptian military’s political dominance, with the controversial, hardliner, el-Sissi himself, as president and dictator for life. The Draconian harshness of el-Sissi’s reign is often ignored by the U.S. government; for after all, we are Egypt’s leading trading partner, and commerce is always more important than human rights in any dictatorial realm.

Today, Tahrir Square remains a symbol of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, with annual democratic celebrations and visits from foreign dignitaries. Yet, as we passed the site, it seemed gentrified and depoliticized, with a smattering of a few Egyptian locals, sitting on benches, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. As our tour bus rounded the corner, a British member of our group gave me a nudge, They looked bored and apathetic, didn’t they… with expressions that said, “Was it really all that necesarry to make such a big fuss?”

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali

The Muhammad Ali Mosque is situated on the summit of the Citadel (fort) of Cairo. Considered the father of modern Egypt, Muhammad Ali (Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī) built the Muhammad Ali Mosque between 1830 and 1848 in memory of his eldest son. It holds ranks as the most visible mosque in Cairo, and is considered one of the city’s most important tourist attractions. Muhammad Ali was a military commander in an Albanian Ottoman War who defeated the army of Napoleon I during the French occupation. Ali then rose to power through a series of political maneuvers, and in 1805 was named governor of Egypt, where he and his descendants were granted hereditary rule over Egypt and Sudan. Their rule ended with the revolution of 1952 when King Farouk was overthrown by the Free Officers Movement led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Adbel Nasser, establishing the Republic of Egypt.

As our group entered the mosque, we took off our shoes in observance of the Islamic purification ritual of Wundu. Yet, how really pure was it when Wundu requires washing your face, hands, arms and feet. But, I took it as a tribute to Moses, who is mentioned more than any other prophet in the Muslim Quran, who some believe wandered the Sinai Desert for forty years without sandals, for it was God’s command to not have any substance between his feet and his holy land. I would learn much more about the prophet Moses later at Saint Catherine’s Monastery, which houses the remnants of the purported Burning Bush, on the Sinai Peninsula.

The Citadel and Mosque of Muhammad Ali overlooks The City of the Dead, a series of Islamic necropolises and cemeteries spread over four miles, considered one the largest of its kind in the world. Throughout its history, the necropolis has been home to various inhabitants, including religious scholars, gravediggers, and common urban settlers; as a city-within-a-city where people lived alongside the dead. The necropolises and cemeteries felt a little unsightly, almost ram shackled, due to the improvised housing within the mausoleums, as Cairo contiunes to face urbanization and housing shortages.

Since 2020, the Egyptian government has demolished some historic tombs in the cemetery for the purpose of building new highways and infrastructure, eliciting protests and objections from locals and conservationists. Egypt is known for its antiquities of the past, but also keeps its eyes on the future, as it continues to forge ahead into the modern world.

Fast Forward to Luxor: once the capital of Upper Egypt 

The Egyptian school children on field trips were inquisitive and far more polite than what we have in the U.S. They seemed proud and enamored that tourists would choose to visit their country. Instead of asking for money for a photo taken of them, they would excitedly ask permission to take a photo of us, which would be displayed later in their classrooms. I remembered my previous trip to a Muslim nation, where the snake charmers in Morocco’s Marrakesh Bazaar would demand money when there was even a hint of snapping a photograph of them. The youth literacy rate in Egypt today (people aged 15-24) is at the growing number of 92.24 percent. In the U.S., one in four children grow up without learning how to read and write, primarily due to poverty, homelessness and the inaccessibility of many schools for the poor.

As we continued our march, our trustworthy guide, Wael, informed me that, The Valley of the Kings in Luxor is an area where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles under the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. I masked my ignorance and pretense of being the all knowing journalist, and replied, You know, Wael… I think you might be right.

It was the ram-headed creator god, Ptolemy VI Philometor, the Macedonian King of Egypt (180-45 B.C.E), who gave birth to the world’s first creation of a humankind realization, which was completed on his potter’s wheel at the Temple of Khnum.

Witnessing the symbols at the Temple of Khnum was akin to taking a one-way ticket into the ancient past; apparently in a period when written script had not yet been invented — but, it occurred to me that today, written text does exist, yet many of us prefer to use emoji memes to get our messages across. One picture is worth ten thousand words is often regarded as an ancient Chinese proverb, attributed to Confucius, but it’s really taken from an article in a trade journal by the often overlooked, English illustrator, Fred R. Barnard. While trying to understand the history of Egypt, I think of Barnard, and realize it can be difficult to determine what is the truth or what is the false.

Upon leaving many historical sites, our group would walk through the Valley of Vultures, a derogatory name given by tourist to flocks of street merchants, who would grab hold of your arms, desperately trying to sell you a trinket or shirt. I was not annoyed by their presence. In fact, it was fun, colorful and part of the experience. My only annoyance was directed at a few members of our tour group who found it necessary to laugh when I paid one dollar too much for a couple of shirts. I also noticed they felt lofty enough to laugh at the vendors, vendors who called Egypt home, who might be selling their wares to feed their children and families, who may also live in squalid homes. I realized that I would never be able to explain to them, particularly the one wearing an orange baseball hat, that I really wanted to pay that extra dollar too much. Plus, the 100% Egyptian cotton shirts, proved to be a far better substitute for the Sunday best clothing I had packed in my lost suitcase. And all that unnecessary ruckus for just one lousy U.S. buck. (Spoiler alert: my suitcase was found and returned about a week letter).

UNIWORLD’S 10-day Nile Riverboat Cruise aboard the SS Sphynx followed the above attractions, as well as the Sinai Peninsula’s Sharm El Sheikh, Bedouin camels and people, and St. Catherine’s Monastery, but I’ll share my experiences in the next two installments.

Wael: UNIWORLD Tour Guide, Extraordinaire

Our tour guide, Wael, held our hands throughout the North African part of our tours. This included the pre-embarkation on the SS Sphynx with museum tours, the riverboat journey on the River Nile and its many land excursions, and the debarkation of the Sphynx, with more museum tours and a day at Giza. Wael was both thoughtful and patience, explaining important information to our group, information which we should have already known.

When my missing suitcase did not appear three-days later on the SS Sphynx, Wael did something that I will never forget – after conducting an all consuming six a.m. dawn to dusk land tour, rather than relaxing and taking a well-earned break, he accessed a car where we drove to an Egyptian clothing store at night. It was not the store of a mysterious cousin; it was a well-known and particularly high-end one, where all garments were made in Egypt with 100% Egyptian cotton from the Nile River Delta.

A few mornings later, I woke up feeling a bit ill, no doubt due to the over-consumption of tasteful barbecued pigeon, a first for me. Wael called and expressed his concern, and was also sad that I would miss that day’s tour. He even suggested that perhaps we could do the tour in the future, with just the two of us. In the evening, and in the next morning, he called me again, for no other reason than to see if I was feeling better.

And this is why I refer to him as, Wael: Tour Guide, Extraordinaire.

POSTSCRIPT

But, before I tackle Installment, Part II, I couldn’t resist including the above photo taken while I was on the Nile riverboat journey. I was surprised that I didn’t see locals swimming and treacherous crocodiles snapping at their heels. An employee on the upper deck held back a smile, Come on, Ed… look at a map. It’s winter down here and nobody swims. And crocodiles can’t make it here because of Nasser Dam.

Later, I really did look at a map, and realized that crocodiles only exist south of the equator, and alligators at its north. Yes, still very much to learn.

Read more about our Egypt adventure:

• A personal interpretation of its land, people and antiquities, Part II.
• Egypt, Part III: Saint Catherine’s Monastery

For more on Egypt, visit Fyllis Hockman’s Egypt: 6000 Years of History Come Alive Throughout the Country – Traveling Boy.

The post Egypt: A personal interpretation of its land, people and antiquities, Part 1 appeared first on Traveling Archive.

I’m in Cairo, Egypt on a hotel balcony overlooking the Nile River, a fantasy land I’ve heard about my whole life – and I’m here. I needed to take a minute – and revel in that. And recognize that thanks to Overseas Adventure Travel’s (OAT) Ancient Egypt and the Nile River Tour, I was about to begin a magical journey through 6000 years of history. And then accept the hard truth. How do you recapture 6000 years of history in 1200 words, the social media-inspired limited attention span requirement that travel editors now impose on their writers? Usually my articles weave a story; this one’s not going to. I think all I can do is let you experience a little bit of Egypt the way I did.

The first introduction – the Egyptian Museum – to hint at the iconic sites yet to come with their incredible stories and fascinating history whose importance to the people who live in the country where they’re located as well as the world is astounding. Over 150,000 artifacts tell the entire 6000-year-old history of Egypt – so many stories, sculptures, statues. Ironically, the one I remember most is that of the Pharaoh Khufu who built the Great Pyramid, the largest stone structure in the world. His commemorative statue is only 3 inches high. I couldn’t help but feel he wouldn’t be very happy about that.

But ah, the piece de resistance – I don’t know how to say that in Egyptian – is all about King Tut – Tutankhamun, who ruled from the age of 9-19 from 1332-1323 B.C.E. and was its most famous ruler (apologies to Ramses II, but more on him later…), only because his tomb was the only one ever to be found intact when it was discovered in 1922. Because all the others had long been subjected to robbery and desecration (more on that later, too), King Tut’s tomb is considered the most spectacular discovery in the history of archaeology. His mummy lay in quiet repose – not really surprising for a mummy, many others of which we saw in the much newer Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Egyptians sought to preserve the bodies of the dead so that the soul could inhabit them for eternity. 6000 years seems close enough…

Among the artifacts of King Tut, numbering about 5000, are gold coffins, furnishings, gold jewelry of all sorts adorning fingers and toes, elaborate necklaces and headpieces – and I thought my 13-year-old grandson was spoiled.

Time to go beyond the academic remnants of ancient Egyptian society to the actual tombs, crypts, statues and pyramids that belie belief and challenge the imagination.

Amid miles of monochromatic monotony lies Sakkara, a sprawling complex of temples, pyramids and crypts. The largest of the many tombs is the Step Pyramid of King Djoser, the first pyramid to ever be built in 2650 B.C.E. and remains the oldest stone structure in the world. Although excavation of ancient sites began in the early 1800’s, they still continue to this day with new archaeological discoveries being made all over Egypt.

The statue of Ramses II in Memphis, dating back 3200 years, is also of an intimidating size – about 36 feet tall – and that’s without his legs. Egyptian antiquity is by definition big, overwhelming, powerful and very old. Ramses II, Egypt’s longest reigning pharaoh and its most prolific builders of temples, served for 67 years. More impressive though, I thought, were his 55 wives and 115 children.

The Valley of the Kings, located outside Luxor, literally takes you deeper into the tombs of the most famous of Egypt’s rulers. So, no surprise, eventually the original tombs were ransacked. Stressed-out pharaohs later decided to build their own tombs in this protected area where the new tombs were chiseled deep into the sides of desolate cliffs on the Nile’s west bank. Success followed and because they’ve been sealed for so long – Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered here – the walls have retained colors so vibrant as to look freshly painted and deeply etched carvings depicted in hieroglyphic symbols describing the journey to the afterlife still visible as if recently crafted. Fortunately, our guide, Hussien, speaks fluent hieroglyphics and could read the walls like a storybook. Thus we learned of the royal lives of the kings and everyday lives of the villagers from 5000 years ago – and our country boasts of the historic lives of the colonists who lived 250 years ago in Williamsburg. Perspective, anyone?

Pyramid. An elusive image. Concept. Visual. Always a fanciful figment far away and so long ago – but nothing I could personally relate to. Until now, when I was actually standing on one of the huge boulders of which it was made. The fact that it was even made of huge boulders seemingly randomly thrown together was nothing I could have imagined before.

Mountains moved and reshaped to the ego of one person, depleting the physical and economic resources of the current city to ensure the pharaoh’s safe journey into his next along with all the accoutrements – jewelry, foodstuffs, furniture, chariots, weapons – he has acquired. The Pyramids of Giza pretty much define Egypt. No matter what else you see, all of which will be astounding, this probably will be where’s your mind’s eye returns whenever you look back on the trip. The Great Pyramid, at 480 feet tall and built more than 4500 years ago, is the last of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World to still stand. Again, the colors embedded in the greater than life-size paintings of male figures seemingly shine.

I could literally see each of the 2-3 million huge boulders placed round the clock over a 20-year span and could imagine the 10,000 workers sweating and panting from strain to create this monstrous edifice in honor of the pharaoh Khufu. Did I mention the stones were brought in from limestone quarries 20 miles away? From afar, the surface of the pyramid looks smooth. As you get closer, you can see the enormity of each stone, several feet in diameter, randomly placed beside and atop the other. As I climbed newly embedded stairs onto the pyramid itself, I wondered if Khufu would take offense. I might add that to look at the pyramids from atop a camel added a whole new level of authenticity not usually associated with standard sightseeing options

I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be impressed by the size of anything else anytime soon. And then we came to the Sphinx – the inscrutable and mysterious Sphinx, equally as old, carved from almost one piece of limestone, seemingly part of the mountain itself. The head of a man and the body of a lion represent the combination of intelligence and strength attributed to the pharaohs. “Take some time to revel in the history embedded in every block of stone and the incomprehensible size of each structure standing tall in the desert sand,” admonished Hussien.

And there’s a Cliff Notes-edition of my Egyptian tour. Though indeed, the tour took a deeper dive into other famous temple complexes as well as a much-deserved emphasis on Egyptian lifestyle and culture. Still archaeologists in Egypt just announced mid-May that they had uncovered another trove of ancient artifacts at the necropolis of Sakkara, including mummies and bronze statues dating back 2,500 years. Didn’t I tell you they were still discovering stuff?

I suspect this itinerary is similar to that of other tour groups but that’s where the comparison ends. OAT is totally unlike other tour groups, which will be the subject of my next 1200-word article.

For more information, visit Ancient Egypt and Nile River.

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