cairo

Older Pyramids and Tombs

Posted January 25, 2020 by carol.fletcher@rocketmail.com

Older Pyramids and Tombs

We returned to Cairo, ending our official G Adventures tour. Now, we were on our own. Our plan was to go see some of the older pyramids and tombs that tell of the lessons learned during construction and also visit what was once the original Memphis.

Tour of Bent Pyramid

In Dahshur, we visited the Bent Pyramid and were the only people there. Astonishing to walk up to that massive structure with no one else in sight. Just the sound of the wind and our footsteps in the sandy gravel. We walked all the way around the large pyramid, observing the angles.

This one had been started at a steep 54 degree angle in the 2600s BC, but it is believed that an earthquake toppled a nearby pyramid…and lesson learned. Halfway up, these designers changed the angle to a more gentle 43 degrees and continued to build. This gives the pyramid it’s name, the “Bent Pyramid”. The outer limestone casing is still somewhat intact. With no one there, we lingered. Gazing west to the Sahara and wandering around the edges of the pyramid to see it from varying distances and angles. It could have been 2020 or 1020 or 1020 BC.

The angle was going to be much steeper. But an earthquake tumbled other structures, and the builders adjusted to a more gentle incline half way up. The Bent Pyramid, Dahshur, Egypt.

corner bent pyramid dahshur egypt — The Bent Pyramid, Dahshur, Egypt.

Panorama of the Bent Pyramid. Dahshur, Egypt.

Tour of Red Pyramid

This pyramid looked imposing from a distance. It is red and smooth. Began around 2590 BC, it is believed to be the first smooth-sided pyramid. And it is big–in fact it is the 3rd largest pyramid behind the two big ones in Giza. This one used to be covered in a polished white limestone, which they say was taken for buildings in Cairo.

There were many steps up to the entrance, and once again we marveled at the lack of crowds. As we stopped to catch our breath on the way up to the doorway, we looked out over the plain and could see an older couple beginning the climb down below. Next, we went 145 steps down into the tomb. We were the only ones in there. We looked up at the perfectly stacked stones, considered how far into the ancient pyramid we were, and boom. Anxiety. We scurried up 145 steps lickety-split. Fresh air never felt so good. The older couple sat at the entrance, preparing themselves to go in after the exertion of getting to the top. They asked questions about what they’d see and waved bye as they began their 145 step descent.

Dahshur Egypt red pyramid — The Red Pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt.

Red Pyramid Dahshur Egypt — Look closely for the entrance to the Red Pyramid, midway up up up. Dahshur, Egypt.

Exiting the Red Pyramid, egypt — That’s Bryan, climbing out of the Red Pyramid…hastily.

Carol exiting the Red Pyramid, Dahshur, Egypt.

Tour of the Step Pyramid

Next we visited the Step Pyramid in Djoser. This is the oldest known stone monument, began around 2650 BC. This complex had more visitors, but still much lighter than in Giza. The skies were perfect, but the sandy wind made for a bleak feeling as we walked around.

First was an walled entry facade, then a walkway flanked by giant columns, which at last, opened onto a view of the pyramid. This one is smaller. It has 6 tiers and though there are chambers inside, the structure has been closed for ~18 years because of earthquake damage. It is believed the pyramid will reopen to receive guests in March.

Step Pyramid walkway saqqara egypt — The Step Pyramid walkway. Saqqara, Egypt.

A horse at the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt.

Panorama of the Step Pyramid, Saqqara Egypt. — Panorama of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt.

Check out this link to see a fascinating and interactive diagram comparing all the Pyramids in the world today

Tombs of Saqqara

We had a brief stop in Memphis to see the giant Ramesses statue, an alabaster Sphinx, and a few salvaged building remnants. We were more interested in the hungry dogs roaming the area. Why don’t people care for the animals? It sickens me to see these sweet faces on skeletal bodies just hoping a tourist will give them a cracker or a crumb. Of course, we emptied our bags of any snacks for the pups. It wasn’t enough to go around. Poor souls.

Next, we spent some time wandering around the tombs. I was mad at humans. Walking around these tombs, remembering the dead and what’s left behind, gave me a strange melancholy. We are nothing. Never will be. We take nothing with us but our soul. We may leave behind giant pyramids, a tomb carved with reliefs of the things we loved in life, or only our bones and the bones of the animals we ate.

I’d later learn that in area near here they recently uncovered a tomb with 8 million dog mummies. WTF? Ancient Egypt or modern places, humans disappoint me. I don’t understand people and I guess I never will.

Steps down into the tombs at Saqqara, Egypt. — Climbing down into the tombs at Saqqara, Egypt.

Ancient word bubbles in hieroglyphics at a tomb in Saqqara, Egypt.

Reliefs in a Saqqara tomb oxen — Reliefs detail how men got the oxen to follow them across the river…snatch a calf and worried family follows. 🙁

Kohl black dogs in the tombs in Saqqara Egypt.

In a tomb there is much to read. Saqqara, Egypt.

Saying Goodbye

We rode back to Cairo along a channel for the Nile. The fertile fields of the Nile Valley as green as green could be. Fields and fields along the way. And trash piled into the irrigation channels. Life goes on and on and on here.

Our flight to Heathrow left Cairo just after dawn on January 25, the anniversary of their 2011 revolution. From the plane window, I could see the brown land below, and the patches of green lining the Nile. Same as it was in the times of the Pharaohs, or the dictators. Goodbye Egypt.

Dawn From the airplane over Egypt. — Leaving Cairo, bound for London’s Heathrow.

Thank you for reading

If you’re interested, select photos are available for sale on Etsy.

Finally, if you liked this post and would like to stay in touch, please…

Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Posted January 13, 2020 by carol.fletcher@rocketmail.com

The Great Pyramid of Giza

It is said it was built before the wheel. When Moses was found in the bulrushes of the Nile, these pyramids were already 1,000 years old. The Great Pyramid (or Cheops Pyramid), tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, was built 2584–2561 BC and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. At 481 feet high, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 3,800 years.

Also in the same 13-acre complex are two other great pyramids–Khufu’s son Khafre and grandson Menkaure, plus numerous smaller pyramids, and the Sphinx. They sit in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, west of the Nile, and at the eastern edge of the Sahara desert.

three pyramids giza cairo egypt — At a distance, the Giza Pyramids. Cairo, Egypt

horse buggy giza great pyramid cairo egypt — From the bus window, a horse and buggy pass the Great Pyramid.

dog-stray-homeless-giza-pyramids-cairo-egypt — A stray dog waiting for anyone in the Great Pyramid’s parking lot to acknowledge his hunger. Why do animals suffer so?

Gateways to the Afterlife

The tombs were built west of their civilization, nearer to the mysteries of the setting sun. People believed that the pyramids were gateways or staircases to the afterlife. And the dead kings and pharaohs had their tombs stocked with earthly things they might need in the next life. Of course, over these last 4,500 years, people have raided and stolen whatever was once there. Either that, or the dead did indeed take their stuff with them.

giza-pyramid-cairo-egypt — Looking up at the Great Pyramid. People stand near the entrance. The building blocks are “as high as a dinner table” said Mark Twain. Yes, indeed.

stairs inside great pyramid giza cairo egypt — Inside the Great Pyramid. Hot, close, strangely humid amid all those stones. Up, up, up.

Click HERE to see a cross-section diagram of the inside of the Great Pyramid.

To see a diagram of how tall the Great Pyramid is compared to other travel icons, click here.

And for an interesting circa 1912 visual comparison of the Great Pyramid’s height to the length of the Titanic, click here.

Pyramids-giza-cairo-egypt-khufu-khafre — The Great Pyramid of Khufu in the foreground, and his son Khafre’s Pyramid behind. Khafre’s pyramid is 9 feet shorter, but sits on higher ground giving it the appearance of being bigger than his dad’s pyramid. It is the only one with some of its limestone casing still intact near the top.

great pyramid cairo egypt — Bryan and Carol on the side of the Great Pyramid.

Near the corner of the Great Pyramid. All the hustle goes on up front where tourists enter.

tourist hijab pyramids — The three pyramids align precisely along their southeast corners. Despite centuries of speculations, calculations, and wonderment, no one knows to what they are aligned…could it be Orion’s Belt? the stars at equinox? the ancient city of Heliopolis? ruins in South America? the alien spaceship runway?

The Pyramids, the Camels and the Sahara

When I should have been admiring the ancient pyramids right in front of me, when I should have been marveling that I had just exited a 4,500-year-old tomb, I instead became obsessed with the circus of tourists, the camels eating lunch, and the endless horizon of the Sahara.

Stretching for another 2,700 miles west, the Sahara is the largest desert in the world. A world foreign and dangerous. How long until one saw nothing but sand and mirages in all directions, until a living being dehydrated like a raisin? The camels–who most certainly knew the answer–sat with their legs tucked under, munching on their greens.

camels eating giza pyramids cairo egypt — Camels break for lunch. The Sahara stretches for another 2,700 miles behind.

camel lunch sahara giza cairo egypt — A camel has lunch in the Sahara near Giza’s pyramids.

Please, please, don’t ride the camels

Sadly, the camels are there for the typical tourist photo opportunity. Repeatedly, big and small paid good money for fifteen-minute rides. I groaned to see the camels bellow when their knobby knees unfolded slowly with the burden of two large humans weighing them down. It made my knees hurt to watch.

Minutes later, I laughed when one camel got away from his keeper–don’t worry, he was riderless. He ran like a little kid around and around his kneeling herd of friends, making a giggle sound and eliciting excited giggles from his compadres. It was a game to him.

But not to the human boss-man herdmeister, who eventually grabbed the prankster’s reins. I yelled at the idiot man who used a stick to beat the camel’s front knee caps until he knelt down. What absolute assholes humans can be.

Please, please, don’t ride the camels. Yeah, I know…it’s income for the poor human. But seriously, why do obese tourists need to ride on a long-suffering camel who has had his knees beaten for horsing around? Makes me sick. Full disclosure, I rode a camel once, for a full day in Jordan’s Wadi Rum. Her name was Lulu and she was with her family. The bedouin scratched her ears and neck, cooed to her, and laughed at her 5-year-old antics. They loved her, I’m sure. Nevertheless, I’ll never ride an animal again. It’s beneath their dignity.

giza-pyramid-hill-cairo-egypt — Ah, …to have been an early explorer. Hills near the Pyramids. Giza, Cairo, Egypt.

Mark Twain and The Sphinx

The Sphinx was buried in sand up to her neck in the 1860s when Mark Twain met her and gushed in The Innocents Abroad:

“After years of waiting, it was before me at last. The great face was so sad, so earnest, so longing, so patient. There was a dignity not of earth in its mien, and in its countenance a benignity such as never anything human wore. It was stone, but it seemed sentient. If ever image of stone thought, it was thinking.

It was looking toward the verge of landscape, yet looking at nothing–nothing but distance and vacancy. It was looking over and beyond everything of the present and far into the past. It was gazing out over the ocean of Time…It was thinking of the wars of departed ages; of the empires it had seen created and destroyed; of the nations whose birth it had witnessed; whose progress it had watched, whose annihilation it had noted; of the joy and sorrow, the life and death, the grandeur and decay, of 5,000 slow revolving years…

It was MEMORY–RETROSPECTION–wrought into visible, tangible form.”

Lady or Lion?

Now, the Sphinx’s body and paws are uncovered, bolstered with new bricks, and she is cordoned off from touchy tourists. Surely, she is stunned by the silliness of human attention. Today, she gazes out at a sea of folding chairs positioned in neat rows for the nightly light show/concert. Far beneath her ancient dignity. Maybe she enjoys the concerts, the spotlights, the audience. Maybe she was lonely out there, relegated to watching Cairo from a distance–albeit a lessening distance as civilization creeps closer.

And yes, my dear Mr. Twain, I feel confident she is a she.

sphinx-giza-cairo-egypt — “The Sphinx is grand in its loneliness; it is imposing in its magnitude; it is impressive in the mystery that hangs over its story. And there is that in the overshadowing majesty of this eternal figure of stone, with its accusing memory of the deeds of all ages, which reveals to one something of what he shall feel when he shall stand at last in the awful presence of God.” Mark Twain,1867.

Thank you for reading

If you’re interested, select photos are available for sale on Etsy.

Finally, if you liked this post and would like to stay in touch, please…

Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

Cairo’s Mosques and Churches

Posted January 12, 2020 by carol.fletcher@rocketmail.com

Cairo’s Mosques and Churches

I write too much. It’s too much to read, even for me sometimes. Who cares? What–if anything I create–will last so long? And does it even matter if I leave a trace on earth?

So I’ll write just the words I wrote at the time–things to remember, to bring back the sounds, smells, and atmosphere of the moment. From this cool morning in January 2020 in Cairo walking through Islamic and Coptic Cairo.

Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun, Mosque of the Citadel

“Shoes off please”, as we walked into the open air mosque. Shade. Intense quiet inside these walls. Sunbeams by the mihrab. East goes the qibla.

Cold stones and still-dewey rugs. A momentary smell near the middle, something dead? Sounds of sweeping, sweeping, sweeping. A breeze. Lanterns swaying on long chains. Imagine them candlelit! The corinthian columns…so many, all different. Salvaged from other churches, other mosques, other forgotten or fallen-out-of-favor buildings. One column with a sundial–now in the wrong place to work. This one with crosses, also useless in a mosque. Some white marble columns, some red granite, a few of black stone. These ancient columns from the Pharaohs, the Byzantines, the Copts. How did the architects in 1300 figure out how many bricks to use to even out the different heights and level the ceiling, the arches?

Out onto the patio. On a clear day, we’d have seen the Pyramids for the first time. Today, we gazed into the distance, and saw only haze. A sandy smog blowing in from the Sahara. We looked out over the Cairo neighborhood. Down there was the Madrassa, and the mosque where the Shah of Iran is interred. The stone floor of the Citadel patio–two overlapping squares form an 8-pointed Islamic star. A manicured tree keeps watch at the precipice. Sunshine, and the faint sounds of Cairo’s traffic below.

Sweeping-carpet-mosque-Al Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun — The mosque of Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun. The columns are each unique–salvaged from other buildings when the mosque was constructed in the early 1300s.

Mosque of the Citadel, Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun, Rub el Hizb, al-Quds star, Cairo, Egypt. — Outside the Mosque of the Citadel, aka the Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun mosque, the Islamic 8-point Rub el Hizb or al-Quds star, is in the floor design. Cairo, Egypt.

Minaret-lantern-Al Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun — Minaret and hand-painted lantern at Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun.

Manicured tree at Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun mosque. Cairo, Egypt.

The Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha

A mosque made of alabaster? Can it be true? Imagined silky cold white, translucent, glowing. Didn’t imagine the Sahara’s sand.

The outer courtyard of the Alabaster Mosque aka the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha.

Sahara sand coats the alabaster of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha.

Light at the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, The Alabaster Mosque. I tried to imagine the birdsong from 1867, the fluttering wings, and the light.

The great delicate and dusty chandeliers at the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, The Alabaster Mosque. — The ghosts…great delicate and dusty chandeliers at the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, aka The Alabaster Mosque.

Oh my. The many minarets. And then inside the great hall…the chandeliers! Oh my at the chandeliers. Ghost like in their dusty elegance. I remembered the words of Mark Twain on his visit to Cairo in 1867:

“the little birds have built their nests in the globes of the great chandeliers that hang in the mosque, and how they fill the whole place with their music and are not afraid of anybody because their audacity is pardoned, their rights are respected, and nobody is allowed to interfere with them, even though the mosque be thus doomed to go unlighted.”

Oh to hear bird songs here. Is this the same dust that Twain saw? Many visitors sat on the floor–I wished to linger too, maybe for hours. I wished to sit…no, lay on the floor and stare up at that ceiling, at those chandeliers. Hours, yes.

Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan

Red carpet entry into a vast courtyard. Four nooks representing the four sects of Islam–presumably where each sect sat for learning their spin on the scriptures. The floors, the light, the ablution fountain, and the unbelievable height of the arches, and length of the lantern chains. What scale!

Looking back at the entry into the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. Cairo, Egypt. — Looking back at the entry into the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. Such incredible scale is lost in a photo.

The quiet courtyard of the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. Cairo, Egypt. — The quiet courtyard of the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan.

The ablutions fountain and decorative floor of the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. Cairo, Egypt. — The ablutions fountain and decorative floor of the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan.

Hand-painted lanterns hang on long chains from a massive arch in the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. Cairo, Egypt. — This is one of the largest arches in a mosque that non-Muslim people can visit. Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan.

Intermission

Lunch at Aikhan Cafe = soft gooey rice with a ramekin of stewed eggplants and peppers. Tea, tahini, babaganoush, pickled veggies and a pita. Filling, light, and wholesome. Next up, Coptic Cairo.

The Hanging Church

Coptic Christians represent about 10-15% of Egypt. The hanging church hangs over a former fortress. Mosaics line the courtyard entry–telling the story of Simon the Tanner and moving a mountain. Inside it’s cozy, close together pews. The vaulted ceiling frees the eyes upward, built to resemble Noah’s ark. The pulpit’s 15 columns–1 for Jesus leads the way, 14 others follow. One each per disciple, plus two followers who were not titled “disciples”. A black column for Judas, and grey ones for Doubting Thomas, and followers Mark and Luke.

Candles danced before St. Luke’s “Mona Lisa” painting, now an icon, respected, visited. I lit a candle there…for hope, for grace, for art that survives so long. I tried reading the notes and prayers left in a glass box by St. George’s icon. I studied the 40 faces of martyred nuns in another painted icon. A column here is said to weep and have images of Mary materialize. Fish are carved into the wooden pews. Incense burns. And that ark ceiling lifts the eyes up. Are we gathered two-by-two?

mosiac-Hanging Church-Cairo-Egypt — A mosaic in the courtyard of the Coptic Hanging Church (Church of the Virgin Mary) in Cairo, Egypt.

A mosaic in the courtyard of the Coptic Hanging Church (Church of the Virgin Mary) in Cairo, Egypt.

Wood detail in the Coptic Hanging Church (Church of the Virgin Mary) in Cairo, Egypt. — Wood detail in the Coptic Hanging Church (Church of the Virgin Mary).

Icon in the Coptic Hanging Church (Church of the Virgin Mary) in Cairo, Egypt. — Icon in the Coptic Hanging Church (Church of the Virgin Mary).

St. Luke's Mona Lisa icon at the Hanging Church in Cairo, Egypt — St. Luke’s Mona Lisa icon at the Hanging Church in Cairo, Egypt.

Columns of the Hanging Church's pulpit, representing Christ's disciples — Columns of the Hanging Church’s pulpit, representing Christ’s disciples

Submit your prayers and offerings at this icon in the Hanging Church, Cairo, Egypt. — Submit your prayers and suggestions at this icon in the Hanging Church.

St Sergius & St Bacchus Church

"The first church", a nave in the basement of St Sergius and St Bacchus Church in Coptic Cairo, Egypt. — “The first church”, a nave in the basement of St Sergius and St Bacchus Church in Coptic Cairo, Egypt.

Ancient texts. Hanging Church, Cairo, Egypt — Ancient texts. St Sergius & St Bacchus Church. Cairo, Egypt

Coptic cross tattoo, Egypt — Coptic cross wrist tattoo, Egypt. Coptic Christian children receive a wrist tattoo around the age of four. It is between the size of a dime and a nickel.

Jewish Cairo? “No Jews are left in Egypt”, says our guide.

No photos are allowed in Ben Ezra Synagogue. But what beautiful moments sitting and sketching the windows, shaped like the ten commandment tablets (as if I know the shape) with old glass of warped clear, blue, and yellow. Intricate alabaster, mother of pearl, and carved woodwork filled the center of the main room. Many religious texts survived because they were hidden and preserved here. Throughout history, what is saved and what is destroyed? What is lost and what is found? And what paths have we set out on as a result of these edits?

Thank you for reading

Select photos are available on Etsy.

Finally, if you liked this post and would like to stay in touch, please…

Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

Egypt Time

Posted January 10, 2020 by carol.fletcher@rocketmail.com

Egypt Time

We booked Egypt in the summer, when things were happy and light. In the fall, things dimmed. I caught a cold in September, and coughed viciously into November. A heavy snow fell in early October. How odd it looked, the still green leaves collapsing into the snow. The holidays came and went. And suddenly, it was Egypt time. We should have been elated. But Trump started saber rattling, taunting Iran. Would there be a war? Would we be targets in Egypt? Was it safe? Things felt ominous, imminent. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon; ill winds stirred. I reckoned it was a cocktail of worry for my parents, for us in our old age, for the environment, for the world consciousness.

Waiting for the el the night we left, we debated whether or not to even go to O’Hare. Walking onto the plane, we considered a different final destination–maybe Paris, or maybe just stay in London. We stood in the Harry Potter shop at Heathrow examining the wands and joking how it felt like the death eaters were hovering. We needed a Patronus charm to protect us. But, we said the important things on calls home, and got on the overnight plane to Cairo.

We landed at the empty Cairo airport at 3:25 a.m., Egypt time, on January 9. It would be a day of rest after 20+ hours of travel and many days of worry.

After a nap, we headed to the banks of the Nile on our first walkabout. The life-sustaining, illustrious NILE. The longest river in the world! The storied River Nile–market of nations, where a touch of a staff turned the river to blood, where 14 cows walked forth–seven fat and seven gaunt–predicting feast and famine years, where Moses was pulled from the bulrushes. The NILE…IMAGINE!

The River Nile

Yet, I did not imagine the traffic, the pollution, the haze from the Sahara’s sand, the congestion and chaos of a 3,000-year-old city inhabited by 17 million people. It is said that “he who has not seen Cairo has not seen the world.” That magical sentiment missed me. Cairo is like every other big city. Cars. Trash. People. Fast food. Desperate stray animals. Noise. Pollution. Crime. Concrete high rises shade the beautiful old buildings with turn-of-the-century craftsmanship.

We crossed 4 “lanes” of traffic along the corniche and a sidewalk chalked with 100 years of dust, to stand at the river’s concrete barriers. Trash collected beneath trees and bushes all the way down the bank to the brown water. We walked up the chipped concrete steps of the October 6 Bridge –an overpass highway built in a massive circle around the city–above the narrow streets and alleys that for eons defined the madness and majesty of old Cairo. And there, we could see an expanse of the river, the notorious, nourishing Nile. I felt sorry for her. Dammed, tamed–ORDINARY. I had expected something grand and profound–like I’d felt at the Ganges. This could have been Tennessee’s Cumberland River.

Nile River in Cairo — The 4,132-mile River Nile as it flows around Gezira island in Cairo, as seen from the October 6 Bridge.

Expectations and Reality

We made our way back to the cafe next door to the hotel. Middle Eastern techno music tingled our table as I watched an Egyptian girl nurse a hot tea, read her book, and smoke sweet-smelling shisha. Christmas decorations still lit the front of the cafe. I took hot tea with mint and lentil soup, warm and comforting in its foreignness.

Months before leaving, I’d absorbed the 1860s Cairo of Twain, the 1900s Cairo of Mahfouz, and the 1920s Cairo of Carter. Magnificent tales of early eras. I’d expected to see the Nile of the Pharaohs. Of course, those days are gone. The world IS Babel–more homogenous, more McDonald’d every day. Fading away are the days of “exotic” travel–where the imagination’s romantic notions aren’t interrupted by “progress”. It occurred to me that weird night, that perhaps I’m best left to the type of traveling done in an armchair, time traveling of sorts.

But, here we are. In the real life Cairo. Time to dust off, adjust my attitude to the “see” position, and carry on.

First Impressions of Cairo

Christmas decorations in Cairo, Egypt — Christmas decorations on the streets of Cairo. Egypt is 85-90% Sunni Muslim and 10-15% Coptic Christian.

Saving a parking space — Parking attendant “office”. Cairo, Egypt. In Chicago, we’d call this “dibs”.

Sampling shisha — Bryan sampling the shisha in Cairo’s market, Egypt.

Cairo balconies decorated with wallpaper, laundry, and satellite dishes. Apartment buildings are often left unfinished in order to expand if necessary. When children marry, parents can add units to the top for their growing families.

Cairo satellites, skies, and a lone dog in muezzin scaffolding — Cairo: the city of a thousand minarets…and maybe a million satellite dishes. Hazy skies and a lone dog in the minaret’s speaker scaffolding.

Mint bouquet — Egypt time is best savored with hot mint tea and lingering in a seat with a view.

A welcome taste of the past at the Egyptian Museum

I’d read that the Egyptian Museum was relocating. The grand old place was said to be in need of modern security, better lighting, some organization and labeling, and more space for her collections spanning thousands of years. The desert rose-colored building, opened in 1902, holds unmarked ancient relics in hundreds of original wooden curio cabinets, stacked and jammed into dimly-lit rooms. Sarcophagi and statues crowd into other rooms, lit by dusty sunbeams. The old museum is a treasure trove to wander through, and thousands more artifacts are said to remain packed away in basement rooms. I’d read that the fancy new museum was opening soon near the Giza Pyramids. When we discovered that the legendary old pink lady was still receiving guests, well…you can imagine what that meant to me and my romantic travel notions. It was like stepping back in time.

Sunbeams, statues, sarcophagi, and security lines at the old Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum is being packed up, like Indiana Jones' house being prepped for a move. — The Egyptian Museum is being packed up, like Indiana Jones’ house of treasures being prepped for a move.

A duplicate of the Rosetta Stone. — A copy of the Rosetta Stone. Written in 196 BC, and discovered in 1799 by Napoleon’s army, It was a decree, written in 3 languages: hieroglyphics, ancient Egyptian/Coptic, and ancient Greek. In 1803, Jean-François Champollion realized the cartouche for Ptolemy was outlined in all three scripts, thus breaking the code for how to read hieroglyphics. Currently, THE Rosetta Stone resides in the British Museum. Requests for repatriation to Egypt have been denied.

Canopic jars of alabaster — At embalming, canopic jars individually stored the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver. The heart was left in the body so it could be weighed against a feather. Lighter than the feather, the dead person became eternal. Heavier than the feather, and he/she would be fed to the monster.

A stone sarcophagus at Egyptian Museum. In the 1850s, so many mummies were ousted from their tombs by grave robbers that the wrappings were sold for paper and the mummies were rumored to be burned as locomotive fuel.

Moon goddess on the inside lid of the sarcophagus — Egyptian moon goddess on the inside lid of the sarcophagus

Dwarf sarcophagus casket top — In ancient statues, people are represented as Gods perfected. On the sarcophagus, truth is depicted.

A golden nesting shrine from the tomb of King Tutankhamen, protected by four 3-4 feet tall goddesses.

A room of wooden curio cabinets filled with relics at the Egyptian Museum — A room of wooden curio cabinets brimming with relics at the Egyptian Museum

Thank you for reading

Select photos are available on Etsy.

Finally, if you liked this post and would like to stay in touch, please…

Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

Older Pyramids and Tombs

Tour of Bent Pyramid

Tour of Red Pyramid

Tour of the Step Pyramid

Tombs of Saqqara

Saying Goodbye

Thank you for reading

Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

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The Great Pyramid of Giza

Gateways to the Afterlife

The Pyramids, the Camels and the Sahara

Please, please, don’t ride the camels

Mark Twain and The Sphinx

Lady or Lion?

Thank you for reading

Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

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Cairo’s Mosques and Churches

Al-Nasser Mohammed Ibn Kalawoun, Mosque of the Citadel

The Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha

Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan

Intermission

The Hanging Church

St Sergius & St Bacchus Church

Jewish Cairo? “No Jews are left in Egypt”, says our guide.

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Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

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Egypt Time

The River Nile

Expectations and Reality

First Impressions of Cairo

A welcome taste of the past at the Egyptian Museum

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Carol Fletcher is a traveling, dog-loving, tree-hugging, coffee-addicted, Nashville born-and-raised photographer living in Chicago. To see more photo essays and projects, please visit www.carolfletcher.com.

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