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December 2021

More Egypt

A 26-day adventure by skip's retirement travel Read more
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    December 5, 2021
    skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelMore Egypt

    Siwa Amun Temple

    December 8, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Perhaps the best known story about Siwa has to do with Alexander the Great. While building Alexandria, he came here to visit the famous Oracle of Amun whose temple which dates to at least the 7th century BCE when the present temple was built.
    This post follows a hypothetical version of Alexander's visit. The 1st picture looks over the well of purification and up to a part of the temple. Ritual cleansing was required to enter the temple, and it seems right that Alexander would not have been excepted from this. Amazingly, there is still water in this well.
    The 2nd picture looks through the series of gates into the progressively holier portions of the site.
    Finally, in the 3rd picture, Alexander reaches the Holy of Holies, the Oracle chamber where he tells us that the Oracle proclaimed him a son of Amun and rightful pharaoh. This is also an astronomical space. The window to the left would mark the equinox when the light fell exactly on the stature of Amun that would have been in the center of the room.
    The 4th picture looks across the temple. This is likely the remains of the sight Alexander would have taken in after receiving the Oracle's message.
    The final picture looks across the coronation chamber where Alexander received the crown of Egypt    Read more

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    Siwa Oasis

    December 8, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Siwa is a remote oasis not far from the border with Libya. Settlement here dates to at least the 10th millennium BCE.
    My 1st impression is that it is far larger than I imagined. It is about 80 km by 20 km. So it's a lot more than the romanticized pond or spring surrounded by palm trees, though all those things are here just on auch larger scale.
    The 1st picture looks over a portion of the oasis to give a sense of the extent and scale if this place.
    The 2nd picture looks through a stand of palm trees like those visible in the 1st picture. I can understand the attraction of such places: it is noticeably cooler in there.
    The 3rd picture is the so called Cleopatra's Spring, though there is no record of the famous Cleopatra coming here. It is probably the best known of the springs around the oasis. I'm told there are as many as 240 springs here.
    The 4th picture is in the old city in that section seen in the picture taken from Shali Fortress (see another post). There are efforts under way to revive the old town for tourism. Hints of that effort can be seen here.
    The 5th picture looks across the park in the main square. For me, this pictures typifies Siwa as the combination of sand desert and oasis that it is.
    The last picture is in a different section of the oasis. These are Ronan tombs carved into the cliff face. I'm told that that is is also where the Roman settlement had located their administrative facilities and religious temples too (at least the funerary temples).    Read more

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    Siwa Lakes

    December 8, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    There are many (some say hundreds) of salt pools and lakes around the Siwa Oasis. There are 4 main lakes with varying degrees of saltiness.
    The 1st picture looks over a small part of one of the large lakes with some high ground typical of the area. The 2nd picture looks across another area with another rise.
    One of the main industries here is salt. There are hundreds of evaporation ponds all fed with water from the lakes. The 3rd picture looks over the flats where ponds are, with one visible. It isn't only an industrial activity. The 4th picture shows raked up salt by one of the lakes where the water level has dropped    Read more

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    Great Sand Sea

    December 9, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The great sand sea is the name given to the area of the eastern Sahara located in western Egypt and eastern Libya. By far, most of this desert is covered by sand dunes from which the name derives.
    The 1st picture is a dune typical of most of the area. But there is more than just sand here, albeit in relatively smaller proportions. The 2nd picture overlooks an obviously popular hot spring. The 3rd picture is another small spring: this one cold fresh water.
    The 4th picture looks at some of the rock that gets exposed. It is mostly limestone and can have a almost moonscape appearance.
    The 5th picture is another interesting landform.
    And, of course, no set of desert pictures would be complete unless there was a desert sunset.    Read more

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    Mountain of the Dead, Siwa

    December 10, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The mountain of the dead is a significant archaeological site in Siwa. It dates to the same period as the Temple of Amun (see another post) and was an important necropolis of the 26th Pharaonic dynasty. Burials here extend well beyond that time and include Greek and Roman tombs as well. As with many things, the higher on the hill the tomb is located, the more important the tomb occupant would be.
    The 1st picture looks up to the main part of the hill from across a portion of the site. Some of the carved tombs are visible. The 2nd picture looks from the top of the hill over the area where the 1st picture was taken. You can see many tomb sites that have been excavated and backfilled.
    The last 3 pictures were taken in tombs that were excavated and are open. These tombs are carved down into the rock on the level where the 1st picture was taken. Local legend being what local legend can be: one such legend suggests that Alexander the Great's tomb may be here, but there is no evidence to support that, at least not yet.
    In the 3rd picture, the "box" to the right is a mini olive press for the deceased to use in the afterlife.
    The 4th picture seems to me to be an Egyptian tomb as the pictures on the back wall are Isis and Osiris.
    The last picture is another tomb decorated in Egyptian motifs.    Read more

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    Shali Fortress

    December 10, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    This fortress was started in the 11th century and was the center of the Oasis until the early 20th century when unusual rains and flooding devastated the structure. People were still living in it's dwellings until that time. Construction of the fortress was with soil/salt blocks called kershef cut from nearby that were stacked together with rock and plastered using clay.
    The 1st picture looks up to the fortress from the street that winds from the modern town. The tower is the minaret of the old mosque completed in 1203 as the worship space for the town. The 2nd picture looks over the well to some of the lower level dwellings in the fortress. The dungeon is down below where the people are sitting. The 3rd picture is taken from the top of the fortress and looks over the ruins of the old town inside the fortress walls. A major renovation project is under way.
    The 4th picture looks down on the main courtyard of the fortress, and the last picture looks over another section of the fortress. The minaret is again visible.    Read more

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    Jebel Musa

    December 14, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Jebel Musa means Mountain of Moses in Arabic. It is also traditionally understood to be Mt. Sinai or Horeb where Moses received the 10 Commandments. There is some debate about that, but this is the best known traditional site.
    The 1st picture is of Jebel Musa. It's the one farthest back. The 2nd picture is taken from the trail up the mountain and looks down the valley over St. Catherine's Monastery (see another post). The next picture is farther up the trail and looks off another side. You can see a school hidden in the valley. A few Bedouin families live there, too. The 4th picture looks down the side of the mountain at the twisting trail that leads up to where I took the picture. The 5th picture is Elijah's Basin, just below the summit. The building was a hermitage for monks.
    I did not make it to the summit for a number of reasons, including strong winds. It is still amazing to walk where tradition says Moses walked.
    The last picture is not at Jebel Musa. It is nearby. We were told that this is the site where the golden calf was placed. While it can't be verified, it is interesting that there seems to be a calf carved in the face of the rock by where the girl is standing, and the top of the rock is a large flat space. My thought is that it's unlikely but not totally impossible.    Read more

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    St. Catherine's Monastery

    December 15, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    If there is a bucket list for people interested in church history, this place is surely on it. It has certainly been on mine. It is a privilege to be here.
    The monastery dates to the 6th century and is one of the oldest active monasteries in the world. It also has the oldest library that contains many extremely important manuscripts and church art. It is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai or Jebel Musa (see another post), the traditional place where Moses received the 20 Commandments. The site is sacred to all 3 monotheistic religions.
    The 1st picture is taken from outside through the door into the church as photography isn't allowed inside. The place is spectacularly beautiful.
    The 2nd picture is a large shrub that is believed to be the burning bush that attracted Moses' attention, and the 3td picture is an ancient well called Moses's Well. This is believed to be the well where Moses rested after fleeing pharaoh and where he met Jethro.
    St. Catherine's is also famous for its collection if religious art and icons, a few if which are in the 4th picture. Some of these date to the 6th century. Of equal importance is the library with critically important manuscripts in many languages. The 5th picture shows 4 manuscripts, one each in Slavonic, Georgian, Latin and Syriac.
    Perhaps the most important document that had been kept by the monastery library is the Codex Sinaticus, one of the most important books in the world. It dates back over 1600 years and contains what is probably the oldest known complete copy of the New Testament. The last picture is of part of that.    Read more

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    Deir el-Medina

    December 22, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Deir el-Medina is the craftsmen's village dating to the 2nd millennium BCE where the artisans and workers building the tombs in the Valley of the Kings (see another post) lived. The site is located centrally among the Valley of the Kings, the valley of the Queens and an area of funerary temples and tombs, mostly of nobles, all of which are places where these artists worked. The name means Monastery of the City, named for the monastery constructed here on an older temple to Hathor (see another post).
    The 1st 2 pictures look at the village which has been excavated and well studied, providing one of the best understandings of ancient village life anywhere.
    Adjacent to the village and built into the hillside are a number of tombs of the village elites, mostly supervising artisans. The 4 remaining pictures are taken in 3 of those tombs. I'm not going to try to describe the pictures, except to say that these tombs house some of the most incredibly preserved art, showing the original colors.    Read more

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    Deir el-Medina Monastery

    December 22, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Yes, I recognize the redundancy in the title of this post that literally means Monastery of the City Monastery. I did that just to distinguish this part of the archaeological site from the rest. The 1st 2 pictures look at the remains of the Coptic monastery.
    The monastery was built around a Temple to Hathor that itself was built upon several earlier temples. The small but rather well preserved temple dates to the Ptolemaic period, with construction beginning in the 3rd century BCE.
    The 3rd picture looks into the temple through the hypostyle hall. Notice the columns with papyrus capitals. The door to the rear leads to a hall with 3 chapels, the central one that is dedicated to Hathor, is in the 4th picture.
    The 5th picture is of a sacred scarab being worshipped by 2 women. This is identified as Greco-Roman as the women are naked. In earlier Egyptian art, the women are clothed.
    The last picture is of some more of the wall art. At top of the picture are the goddesses Maat and Hathor. Below them is the god Anubis and pharaoh.    Read more

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    Dendera Temple

    December 22, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Dendera is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. Evidence has been found that suggests that temples existed here at least as far back as the 3rd millennium BCE. The existing temple dates to the Ptolemaic period with construction beginning in the 1st century BCE and continuing in the Roman period.
    The main building here is a temple to Hathor. All these pictures are taken there except the 1st which shows one of the original temple gates and the mud brick wall that surrounds the temple complex.
    The 2nd picture is taken in the mummification room here. You can see numerous depictions of Anubis, the god of the dead (among others things) as well as the process of mummifying a body.
    The 3rd picture is the back wall of the main temple. This is significant as it one of the few places where Cleopatra VII (the famous Cleopatra) is depicted. Also here, though not in the picture, is her son Cesarion, fathered by Julius Caesar.
    The final 3 pictures are more examples of the exquisite artwork, carving and painting in this temple.    Read more

    Trip end
    December 30, 2021
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