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Egypt

April - May 2021
  • skip's retirement travel
A 29-day adventure by skip's retirement travel Read more
  • skip's retirement travel

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  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Old Cairo

    April 11, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    These are mostly various street scenes of part of the old city. What impressed me is the presense of Coptic, and Greek Orthodox churches, synagogue and mosques all together. The churches are covered in following posts. Ben Ezra synagogue doesn't allow photos, but can be found online. They say that they have the basket Moses was found in preserved in the center of the sanctuary. The last picture is the 1st mosque in Africa. It was closed for a funeral when I was there.Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Alexandrian Catacombs

    April 12, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    The catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa dating to the 2nd century is a necropolis of the pharaonic funeral cult with several cultural influences from Greece and early Rome. I confess to being surprised to find underground structures this close the the sea.
    The 1st picture is the central access shaft around which a spiral staircase leads down into the catacombs. The rest of the pictures are in the catacombs, showing structure, niches and decoration.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Pompey's villa

    April 12, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Pompey was an important general and rival of Julius Caesar. This is the location of his home in Alexandria. While mostly in ruins a few structures remain. The most well known is his pillar in the center of the site (1st picture). The next 4 pictures are various looks at the remains and archaeological work.
    The last picture is of a Serapeum, an underground temple of the Greco-Egyptian cult of Serapis based on the worship if the sacred Apis Bull.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Citadel

    April 12, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    This is a 15th century fortress on the end of a peninsula where the ancient lighthouse, The Pharos, was located before it was destroyed by an earthquake. The current structure is sa reconstruction.
    The 1st 3 pictures are the building as it is now. The other 3 look at the view from the walls, looking at the east harbor, the breakwater at the harbor entrance and the Mediterranean Sea.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Roman Amphitheater Complex

    April 12, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This complex dates to the 4th century and differs from the many such sites I've seen, especially in Turkey (see several posts in the Turkey 2 section). What makes this site different is that, in addition to the theater itself, there are auditoria or small lecture halls, a large bath, and a residential area.
    The 1st picture overlooks the entire site. The 2nd picture is an auditorium or lecture hall. 3rd is the remains of the baths, and the 4th is the entrance to the hypocaust or heating system for the baths. The 5th overlooks the remains of the residential section. The last is a preserved floor mosaic of birds.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Aswan High Dam

    April 13, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Major water reserve and hydroelectric power station built by the Soviet Union during the 1960s. At the time, it was the longest earthen dam.
    The first 3 pictures look at the dam from the top, facing down stream. The 4th looks across Lake Nasser, upstream of the dam.
    The last picture is of the garden planted along the top of the dam. The waterproof core of the dam was built with local silica. In oder to remain waterproof, the silica must be kept wet. They accomplish this by watering the garden with the excess percolating inside the dam to maintain the core's to integrity.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Philae Temple

    April 13, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    One of the dozens of temples relocated to preserve them after the building of the Aswan High Dam (see another post) and the subsequent flooding of Lake Nasser. The temple is on an island between the older British built low dam and the newer high dam. It is primarily Greco-Roman in style, linking it most closely with the Ptolemaic dynasty.
    The temple was dedicated to the worship of Isis. The 1st 4 pictures are of the temple and some details of the carvings.
    After the 4th century and Christianity became the religion of the Roman empire, the building was repurposed as a Greek Orthodox Church. The 5th picture is the stone altar for the church.
    Lastly, this was the site of the upstream "nileometer" used to guage the annual floods (see another post coming later, I hope). The last picture is that gauge. It is a series of steps, each one is one Egyptian Arm, their unit of measurement.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Nilometers

    April 13, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    I have known that the pharoahs had a gauge near the 1st cataract to measure the height of the Nile, especially during the annual flood. I had understood this to be a means of knowing whether the flood would be in the optimal range for good crops, too low meaning drought and bad harvests, or too high with destructive floods. It turns out this is only partly true. They were also used to determine taxes, and every city had its own nilometer to gauge the flood in that specific location to accurately determine taxes based on local conditions rather than a generalized single reading. Apparently local conditions varied enough to make this locally important.
    The 1st picture is of the one I knew about, one of the 2 at the Philae Temple (see another post) near Aswan below the 1st cataract. The others are at Kom Ombo, Edfu and Hatshepsut's temple on the west side of the Nile at Luxor, respectively. These are all located at temples (see other posts).
    I note that the nilometer for Luxor (east bank) would likely be at Old Luxor. As that location has only recently been discovered, excavation is ongoing and not open to visit.
    In case you're wondering, one of my responsibilities in a "previous life" involved work in both surface and groundwater hydrology. Hence my interest in 4,000 year old approaches to the science    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Rose Granite Quarry

    April 13, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Rose granite has been quarried in Aswan for millennia. This is the stone used in the pyramids, for bases under statues, and more. The most significant may be as the material from which obelisks were made.
    The 1st 3 pictures look at the quarry and at some of the marks showing where the stone was worked. The figure to be cut was marked then drilled along the line with copper chisels. The drill holes were filled with wood then soaked. The wood then expanded and the rock cracked along the line. A similar procedure was used under to free the piece. In this case, a lot of wood was used, which at least partially floated during flooding, lifting the stone after breaking it free.
    Probably the best known piece today is the unfinished obelisk in pictures 4, 5 & 6. The long crack was the problem. The transverse cracks occurred later during an earthquake. There are markings from the works that may be hard to see, including the beginning of the underneath cut.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelEgypt

    Abu Simbal, Rameses II

    April 14, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Famous rock cut temple in upper Egypt/Nubia. This was carved out of the native rock in the 13th century BCE as a commemoration of Rameses victory in the battle of Kadesh. Most of the wall decoration shows this. This is probably the most famous of the temples raised above Lake Nasser after the high dam (see another post) was complete and would have flooded the monument.
    The 1st 2 pictures are of the famous facade. The 3rd is the doorway into the temple, the 4th shows the statues in the 1st hall inside. The last 2 are examples of the carving and painting on the walls.    Read more

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