Marhaba (That means hello in Arabic)! After finishing up my Cambridge program, my sister and I hopped on a plane to Egypt for some crazy Middle Eastern adventures. We arrived in Cairo where we were staying for our five day trip. My first observation was that Cairo was very different than what I had expected. On the drive from the airport, I saw million dollar homes and billboards for Marks and Spencer, Toys R Us, and Ikea. These homes soon turned into hundreds of apartment buildings in the process of being erected or unfinished buildings. “Hmm,” I thought. “Some of these apartments have residents living in them but the roofs are incomplete like in Peru.” Turns out that Egypt and Peru share the loophole where if any part of the complex is unfinished, then you don’t have to pay taxes. After arriving at the expat community of Cairo where we were staying, my sister and I ambled down towards the river to see the beautiful sunset, made all the more pretty by the light refraction through the smog. (Going from attempting to figure out ways to lower carbon emissions to seeing all that pollution was rather depressing, but I survived). At this point, my sister and I couldn’t believe we were actually here. We were still in deNile…I apologize for the steady stream of puns. They may be going downhill at this point. For dinner we ate some delicious foul made with fava beans. Sadly the liver and nice chianti were not on the menu, so we substituted an omelet, what supposedly was a green salad although it was actually red and orange, and a dessert of rice pudding.
The next morning we met up with Ibrahim, our guide for the next two days. As tourists in Egypt for the first time, we did the natural thing and went to see…The Giza pyramids and the sphinx! In person, they look much different than in tour guide books. They look even more spectacular up close. Enormous four to five foot blocks of stone arranged in such a way that they are flush to one another. I don’t even think I could have fit a fingernail in between the bricks. Furthermore, the limestone covering is all but worn off on most of the three Giza pyramids, except for a little sliver at the top. In most depictions of the pyramids, this limestone coating is still intact. The sphinx was equally as impressive with its massive front paws stretching toward the viewer, stoic facial expression, and surprising realism for such a massive construction. Although we did not climb the Great Pyramid (we heard that it was long, narrow, smelled of ammonia, and you had to pay…) we did climb inside a few other pyramids and to make it even better, these were free! One such pyramid at Giza has a legend about it that the queen wanted to have a pyramid but she had been unfaithful, so her husband denied her request. She therefore slept with all of the royal officials and asked each one for a brick, then constructed her own pyramid. This is all transcribed on papyrus so it is either true or the scribe was playing a joke…for our purposes we can just assume it is correct.
We visited a few other pyramids in Dahshur later that day. The Red Pyramid, as you can probably guess derives its name on account of the red limestone from which it is made. However, at one time it was covered with white limestone. Like the pyramids at Giza, this white limestone was depleted over time through natural weathering as well as raiding from invaders. Nearby is the Bent Pyramid, which is named for the bizarre bulge at the center. The bottom half is at a 55 degree angle while the top half is a 43 degree angle. The king wanted to have the largest pyramid, hence the 55 degree angle. Sadly, the structure began to collapse so the builders tapered it off. Although not the largest of the pyramids, it does rank among the funkiest, for what that is worth. Also in the vicinity sits the Chocolate pyramid, now in shambles. At the time of its construction, many pyramids were being raided. Thus, it was thought that if an ugly pyramid were built, it would not be ransacked. However the stone was poor quality and it collapsed on itself. Whether from humans or the environment, that pyramid was doomed.
The next day, Ibrahim took us on a tour of Coptic Cairo and Islamic Cairo. Although Egypt is predominantly Islamic, there is a strong Coptic presence as well. Interestingly, there are mixtures of Christianity and Islam evident in churches and mosques. In the Hanging Church, which gets its name from being built on top of a Roman fortress, there is a mihrab, a standard feature in any mosque. Even stranger is that a cross is built into the mihrab. This is the first time I have ever seen a mihrab inside of a church and a cross carved in a mihrab. The church features a pulpit with 13 columns: 1 for Jesus, then 12 for the Apostles, a grey one for Doubting Thomas and a black one for Judas. In the floor of the church are two trapdoors so that Christians could hide from persecutors. In the Hanging Church there is also a mural depicting Simon the Tanner’s story. As legend has it, the Christian community was challenged to move a mountain, referencing the Biblical passage which claims that if you have the faith of a mustard seed you can move a mountain. Well, Simon supposedly showed everyone that if they prayed together it would cause an earthquake which would in turn move a mountain. Now the story is taught not only in Coptic schools but in Islamic ones as well. To further tie the Islamic and Christian communities together, the oldest mosque in Egypt is actually in the Coptic section of Cairo. Apart from the story of Simon the Tanner, there is also a legend that the holy family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) was hidden in Cairo at during Herod’s slaughter of the babies. We saw the room where they supposedly stayed, carved into the rock in a subterranean hollow. And some of the churches we saw even were supposed miracle sites. One woman claimed she was dying and came to a church to pray. According to her account, a ring of light emanated from Jesus’ head in a painting in the church. Miraculously, and to the astonishment of her doctor, she was healed.
Islamic Cairo featured a number of mosques, including the Al-Azhar Mosque, Aqsunqur Mosque, Al-Hussein Mosque, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, and the Ibn Tulun Mosque. All of the mosques we saw featured beautiful architecture and were enormous. As we were visiting Egypt during Ramadan, many people were sleeping, praying, or talking in the mosques we visited. For those who are not familiar with the customs followed during Ramadan, one must fast during the day. Mosques prove to be excellent places of rest as well as prayer as many are open air and covered by a roof to allow for a cool spot to lie down. One of my favorite mosques was the Ibn Tulun Mosque. Its unique feature is a spiral minaret (a minaret is the tower which is used to call everyone to prayer). Unlike most of the other minarets I have seen in my life, this mosque featured a spiral staircase around the outside of the minaret rather than around the inside of the tower. Being in Egypt during Ramadan was quite an experience. Apart from seeing people sleeping in a place or worship, the friendliness was pouring out into the streets, especially during Iftar, or the evening meal. During Ramadan, you break the fast at night after sundown. Just beforehand the streets are packed with tables, chairs, mats, and most importantly huge plates of food, such as dates (traditionally you break the fast with a date first) and jugs of juice and water. Everywhere we went people were offering us sustenance. Our first night in Cairo even, families eating dinner were offering us bread and one man even handed us free drinks. The community feel was truly spectacular.
That day we also saw the Egyptian Museum. It is similar to the British Museum in that it has a very extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts, except that these statues, mummies, etc. were not raided by the British. Another main difference is that most of the items in the museum are unlabeled. Having Ibrahim there to tell us what everything was and explain the symbolism found throughout the museum was extremely helpful. For instance, he elucidated the symbols of upper and lower Egypt, the lotus and papyrus respectively, and how the Pharaohs were often depicted wearing the Double Crown which symbolized the unification of upper and lower Egypt. Similarly, he pointed out that if a statue were made of a Pharaoh while alive, one hand lay open on one knee to show that the Pharaoh was merciful, while the other hand was clenched in a fist to show the Pharaoh’s power. If the statue were erected after the Pharaohs death, then the arms were shown crossed over their torso. During the recent Egyptian uprising, some people began to try to loot the Egyptian Museum. Luckily, a group of protestors formed a ring around the museum to protect the artifacts inside. I have a nagging, but completely unsupported, suspicion that those attempting to rob the Egyptian Museum were working undercover for the British Museum, but I guess we will never know. Speaking of the riots…on the way to grab some lunch after the museum tour, we literally stumbled upon Tahrir Square. If you don’t know what Tahrir Square is, please bang your head against a wall five times. As Tahrir Square is a very recent historical landmark, the only marker to even reference the Egyptian Revolution was the ring of guards with riot gear around the square. And the nearby tank. But despite these precautions, everything was beyond peaceful. In fact, many Egyptians could tell that my sister and I were not native to the area and when we said we were from the United States, they proclaimed: “USA, number one country!” I am not quite sure this works since the US propped up Mubarak, but we politely accepted the compliment. To conclude the night, we attended a show of whirling dervishes. I had never seen whirling dervishes before, and it was a rather hallucinatory experience. First a group of men came out in long tunics with drums and hand cymbals. After playing their instruments for a while, they took turns spinning around. As they spun in a circle, so did their flowing tunics, which whirled in circles around them. “Wow,” I thought. “That was pretty sweet!” Then came the guys in multi-colored skirts…and the tricks. During the epic finale, three whirlers took one layer of their skirts off and tossed them up in the air, laid down on stage, climbed partially inside the skirt to form what resembled a top...the dervishes distracted me from the roughly 30 police men who lined up on either side of the crowd for no apparent reason. According to my sister, I was the only one who didn’t begin to freak out.
Sadly, the next day we were without our most excellent guide Ibrahim. He taught us the secrets of Egypt, got us into various sites for discounts, haggled for us in markets and with cab drivers, and even helped me out with the ladies. You see, he gave me this great pickup line. Go up to a girl with a bowl of dates and say “Hey, want a date?” Then when she says yes, say something like “how about this Friday?” I mean, what can go wrong? I have yet to try it, but I’ll let you know how successful I am…we departed to the Step Pyramid, named because of its receding sides. Rather than having traditional straight, sloped sides, this pyramid looks like a series of squares stacked upon one another. Also nearby are some ancient crypts with amazingly preserved hieroglyphics and pictures complete with paint. There were a number of false doors inside which supposedly allow the soul of whoever is in that crypt to travel through. Our guide was pretty good, and took us into a vault which supposedly is always locked and is closed to tourists. My deduction based on number of different footprints and the fact that there were lights inside suggested otherwise. Nevertheless, my sister and I played along, pretending to creep along and go “shhhhh,” to one another. Inside was a row of three foot tall statues of Egyptian men in tunics. Each mannequin was painted and surprisingly well preserved. Then the guide asked for an obnoxiously large tip. Should have seen that one coming.
After the aforementioned trip to the Step Pyramid, we traveled to the Citadel. Here we saw my favorite mosque, the Muhammad Ali Mosque. Inside, almost everything is covered in calcite, a type of alabaster. Hanging from the center of the enormous domed ceiling was a gargantuan chandelier. Further along at the Citadel was the Egyptian War Museum. It was like something out of a Kubrick film. My sister and me walking through a huge, abandoned mansion with elaborately decorated rooms, many of which were closed off. The exhibits they did have were mainly eerie dioramas with misspelt signs explaining that the Egyptian military is the best. Outside there was an interesting array of military vehicles. A group of Egyptian guys was climbing on top of some of the vehicles, so my sister and I followed suit, and got pictures on top of a captured Israeli M60 from 1973. The Egyptian dudes wanted their picture with me. Not really sure why, but they seemed like pretty cool guys so we had a photoshoot.
Our last full day in Egypt was spent at Alexandria on the Egyptian coast. Alexandria was famous for its lighthouse in ancient times. Now there is a citadel where the lighthouse once stood. While the lighthouse no longer remains, we saw a Roman amphitheater, reinforcing the fact that the Romans owned everything. Now it seems that the British do, or at least about half of Egypt and Greece judging by the British Museum’s extensive collections. Alexandria is also the home of Popmey’s Pillar, yet another Roman construction in Egypt. The colossal column looms over a fairly large Sphinx, testament to the size of the pillar. Just to clarify, the pillar was not actually built by Pompey. The nearby catacombs feature a crypt which shows a number of Romanized Egyptian gods, such as Anibus portrayed with the physique of a gladiator. Apparently it was constructed by a cult which combined Roman and Egyptian gods. If that doesn’t make you want to join, I don’t know what would. After checking out the sites, we headed over to see the biblioteca, which looks akin to a monolithic spaceship out of the X-files. It is a huge disk shaped object lodged in the earth, and has a wall with something written in every language. At least that is what the guidebook said. I was not able to confirm this assertion. Having walked around so much and seen so many incredible sites, out two weary travelers wandered to a nearby fish stand recommended to them by the locals, and purchased a 30 pound (approximately 5 dollar) meal of fried fish, shrimp, oysters, squid, salad, bread, rice, and what we think was kashk (a delectable soup-like dish made from cracked wheat, yogurt, and fermented milk). We dined on the train back to Cairo, thoroughly satisfied by the days accomplishments as well as a delicious, inexpensive meal.
For our final day in Egypt, we checked off the last item on our list: a felucca ride down the Nile. A felucca is basically a large, wooden sailboat. In the case that there is little to no wind, the felucca drifts lazily down the river. I did not mind, as it was pretty much on Moe speed. Plus the captain let me steer the boat by manning the rudder. Guess I can check “commandeer ship on the Nile” off my bucket list…And thus concludes my wonderful trip to Egypt. But don’t worry for all those readers worried about a lack of danger! By the time I got back to England, the London riots had started. Luckily I steered clear of those and went back to Cambridge to collect my belongings and head home. Now let’s just hope for a (relatively) safe senior year…