The Widow and the Spinster: The Search for Adventure, Enlightenment, and the Quest for Forbidden food - Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, and New TR Link! 5/23

[franandaj]

The catacombs were really cool!

Yes they were. I wasn't sure if I was going to find it creepy or not.

Must have been a bit scary to have lost Jill!

I was starting to really freak out. I didn't see another path so I had no idea where she had gone!

I can't stand seafood that stares at me either.

Seems we're about 50/50 here with folks who have weighed in.

 

[franandaj]

The fort was built on the exact location of the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

Fun fact added to the TR!

The new Library was built on the exact location of the Great Library of Alexandria, another of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient world. It was burned by Caesar in 48 BC.

Also added!!

I wished the guide would have asked for input on what we wanted. I saw other diners with fried fish and other things that I would have eaten. I'm not a huge seafood fan but fried I can deal with it. He never asked us if we had any allergies or preferences the whole time.

Yeah he asked the day before whether we would rather have all lamb or Mixed Grill. I probably would have preferred something like Fish and Chips or a piece of fish that was fileted.

The hot water felt so good!!!!!

I was so happy to get a bath and use my Dead Sea Salts!

It wasn't the worst pizza I've ever eaten.....

I think I had a slice and it wasn't bad at all! I've been craving pizza ever since I posted that update!

The drama got more uncomfortable after the VM that Alison got. It was very odd and added to the mystery of what Ahmed's deal was.

Yes, that definitely made things weird.....

 

[franandaj]

Yes. I think they're both on Netflix. Possibly Prime. They are also books.

I canceled my Netflix. Just wasn't watching it.

Go! Go! Go!

I am! I am! I am!

The horror. Having to hurry writing about an amazing trip before your next trip to Disney... Awful!

Yeah first world problems. And I'm not having to hurry, I've got updates written for at least three updates in the future, and may have a fourth ready to go after I post the next one. It's the readers who have to scramble!

If it weren't for the condition of the buildings, I wouldn't be able, at first glance, to tell the difference between that and a California or Florida coast city scene.

Yeah, Palm trees are fairly universal!

Like this shot with the colourful boats.

Thanks!

Oh!! I had no idea it was "rebuilt".

Yeah, as Jill said Caesar burned it down. Jerk.

Huh. That's pretty interesting.
What an interesting sign! I had no idea what "AH" stood for. I also thought the plaque was indicating a date range, rather than the same date in two formats.

I did all the research about the Fort itself, but nothing about the sign. I thought the same thing. That it was a date range.

Plus calls to make.

I believe when we found the driver and the van, Ahmed was walking around the parking lot, talking on his phone.

Green! Wasn't expecting that.

I'm sure it wasn't there originally. I bet it was a place where troops drilled.

Unfortunate. You should be able (within reasonable limits, perhaps) to dictate the pace of your own trip. You're not on a tour bus after all.

The problem is that we wouldn't have known what else to do there at the library. It's not like we were working on research projects, or had something we wanted to look up. And what if it was all in Arabic? It would have been better if he had prepared something on it to tell us about.

In a return trip, we would like to stay in Alexandria for some amount of time, and if we do that, then we might check out beforehand what there is to do there, so we can do it.

Took me a minute. At first I thought you were referring to the three spires.

I believe that the three spires are part of the sculpture

I only know what that is because I saw SpiderMan.

I don't get that reference. Which SpiderMan was it from?

That's a really nice view, even better for dining.

ohhh... I'd be trying those first. Although from the sounds of it... I might not eat too many!

I did. I had a hard time finishing it, the pickle was so sour!

That's too bad. It looked really good.

lt was good. You just had to keep picking the little bones out of your teeth. Eventually I tried to pick them out before I put the bite in my mouth.

I'm curious if most people are, or are not? I know I'm fine with it. Actually like it that way if the fish is cooked properly.

Well so far the folks who have weighed in on the TR, it's 50/50. Two OK with it, two not OK with it.

Nice shot of you two!

Thanks! And this marks our presence at the most Northern part of the country (or close enough).

More Disney!
I'm sure it's been approved by them.

ooohhh... Do they have roast squirrel flavour?

You tell the manufacturer of roast squirrel flavor candy......

They had just about everything available......

Hmmm... I can't recall... I'm pretty sure I've had it? I mean... I must have? I just don't remember.

Well I don't know if you guys get it in Canada, but our friends from Austria bring it as gifts when they come to visit.

Ugh.
Very professional.

Poor guy.

Totally different situation. I was wondering if anything had changed.

Good point.

Her other leg must've been tired.

Yuss!

I couldn't wait to take a bath once we found the hot water!

Heh. Wonky tummy and poo-pooed, huh?

I'm just going to walk away from that one.

Those wings look... wet.

Yeah, they weren't good. I chose poorly.

Actually, the pizza looks pretty good.

I believe that I ate a piece and it was!

Very professional... oy.

 

[franandaj]

Finally here and ready to dive in!

I am so happy that you are making plans for yourself as you explore this new chapter in your life.

Thanks. I might be going a tad bit overboard!

The Royal Ontario museum in Toronto has an extensive Egyptian gallery that we always enjoy. I was mesmerized by the Egyptian gallery at the Met in NYC as well. Such a rich and complex culture!

I did not know this. I will have to add them to my list of interesting places to go.

 

[franandaj]

Yesterday we went to Alexandria. Today we had the bulk of the day free to ourselves. I woke up a couple times in the night, but couldn’t go back to sleep the last time when I woke up at 4AM. Finally I gave up at 5AM and got up to play around on the computer.

Today most of the world set their clocks back an hour. The US would do it next week. So we actually got an extra hour on this night, I’m just not sure if I used it to sleep or not. We had most of the day off today. We weren’t meeting Ahmed until 3PM when we would go to the Egyptian Museum. Not on our agenda from the tour company was the Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, but this was high on Jill’s list.

This museum is not to be confused with the Grand Egyptian Museum (which still has not opened yet, but we will start planning a return trip once it does.) The Museum of Egyptian Civilisation is where you could see all the Royal mummies that were hidden in a Tomb in the Valley of the Kings by Priests back in Ancient times. Jill was very keen to see the mummies, and it sounded to me like a pretty good way to spend the morning. So the two of us decided that we would use our free time to go see that exhibit.

We went down to breakfast around 7:30AM hoping to get to the museum by 9AM when it opened. I had a waffle and more of the cakes.

I realized that I just ate an entire plate full of carbs, and that I should have some protein. They had refried beans in the bean section, so I got some of those and put cheese on top along with some tomatoes, onions, and oregano. I also got some rice to go with it.

After breakfast we went back to the room. For the most part, we were waiting until we boarded our cruise ship to do more laundry. We had heard that laundry was fairly affordable on the ship, however because one of her pairs of pants now smelled like camel, Jill needed another clean pair of shorts. We were on track to get to the museum close to opening when we called at 8:30 for a laundry pick up, 20 minutes later (10 minutes to 9AM) they still hadn’t arrived to get the shorts. She called again and the guy came right away.

We went downstairs to call an Uber and were on our way to the museum shortly after 9AM.

We went right to the Gallery of the Mummies.

No photography was allowed so sorry no pictures. I couldn’t really even find any on the internets either. I guess it’s disrespectful to take pictures of the dead or something. We saw some really heavy hitters! The hall includes 20 Royal mummies,18 Kings, and 2 Queens, from the 17th until the 20th dynasty. The most famous mummies are Hatshepsut (Maatkare), Thutmose III (Menkheperre), Seqenenre Taa II. There was Ramses II, Ramses III, also IV, V, VI and X. It was really cool! Having seen what we came for, we left just as the crowds were streaming in! Rope drop for the win!

But Wait! Since I care about my readers, I didn’t give up on showing pictures of the mummies. On our second to last day of the trip, in the airport of all places, I was able to pick up a book with pictures. Now I can show you some of the Mummies we saw!

This is Amhose I. who was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. During his reign, Ahmose completed the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos from the Nile Delta, restored Theban rule over the whole of Egypt and successfully reasserted Egyptian power in its formerly subject territories of Nubia and Canaan. He then reorganized the administration of the country, reopened quarries, mines and trade routes and began massive construction projects of a type that had not been undertaken since the time of the Middle Kingdom. This building program culminated in the construction of the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers. Ahmose's reign laid the foundations for the New Kingdom, under which Egyptian power reached its peak. His reign is usually dated to the mid-16th century BC.

Thutmose I was the third pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He received the throne after the death of the previous king, Amenhotep I. During his reign, he campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt farther than ever before in each region. He also built many temples in Egypt, and a tomb for himself in the Valley of the Kings; he is the first king confirmed to have done this (though Amenhotep I may have preceded him). Thutmose I's reign is generally dated to 1506–1493 BC.

Hatchepsut (c. 1507–1458 BC) was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II and the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from c. 1479 BC until c. 1458 BC. She was Egypt's second certain queen regnant, the first being Sobekneferu/Nefrusobek in the Twelfth Dynasty.

Hatchepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Great Royal Wife, Ahmose. Upon the death of her husband and half-brother Thutmose II, she had initially ruled as regent to her stepson,Thutmose III, who inherited the throne at the age of two. Several years into her regency, Hatchepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and adopted the full royal titulary, making her a co-ruler alongside Thutmose III. Hatchepsut's reign was a period of great prosperity and general peace. One of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, she oversaw large-scale construction projects such as the Karnak Temple Complex, the Red Chapel, the Speos Artemidos and most famously, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Several of which you will see later in this TR.

Hatchepsut died probably in Year 22 of Thutmose III. Towards the end of the reign of Thutmose III and into the reign of his son Amenhotep II, an attempt was made to remove her from official accounts of Egyptian historiography. Her statues were destroyed, her monuments were defaced, and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs.

This is Hatchepsut’s successor Thutmose III. He was not her son, but the son of her husband through another wife. He was the sixth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 April 1479 BC to 11 March 1425 BC, from the age of two and until his death at age fifty-six.

Ramesses II commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, he is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, which itself was the most powerful period of ancient Egypt. He is also widely considered one of ancient Egypt's most successful warrior pharaohs, conducting no fewer than 15 military campaigns, all resulting in victories, except one which ended in a stalemate.

For the early part of his reign, he focused on building cities, temples, and monuments. Later on in this TR you’ll see many of the monuments that he created.

There were more mummies than that, but that’s all the pictures that were in the book. It’s better than no mummies! And then we went out to catch another Uber.

After the museum we had time to kill before lunch. It was only 10:30AM so a little early for lunch, so we decided that we would go on a mission. Jenny collects the Starbucks You Are Here mugs. Jill had been able to get her one in the Airport at Jordan, so we were going to try and get her one in Egypt. The problem was today was Friday, the holy day, and none of the regular Starbucks were open. This one in a mall was open so we went there. Sorry about the blurry picture.

Turns out it was just a counter, not a real store. They had hardly any souvenir merch.

So we hopped in an Uber again to MickyD’s for some research into whether or not McDonald’s tastes the same in Egypt as it does in the US.

Verdict? It does, maybe even better because it was cooked to order and everything was hot! And the total came to $3.23 when it hit the credit card in US dollars. For a Big Mac meal you can't beat that!

Then we made one final trip back to Drinkies for more wine. This time we only got the bottles with the screw top so we didn’t need any stinking corkscrew to open it.

Then it was back to the room to chill. Jill did some repacking of her suitcase. I got all caught up on the TR notes for this trip.

At some point on this day, we caught up with our room steward. We didn’t realize until after the first day that he made up the room, that when he came back to “ask if everything was OK” that we were supposed to give him a tip. After that first day (when we neglected to tip him) we didn’t see another towel animal. So Jill found him and gave him tips for the couple days we neglected.

And then we just relaxed until it was time to meet the guide and driver.

Up next: The Old Museum

 

[jedijill]

This museum is not to be confused with the Grand Egyptian Museum (which still has not opened yet, but we will start planning a return trip once it does.) The Museum of Egyptian Civilisation is where you could see all the Royal mummies that were hidden in a Tomb in the Valley of the Kings by Priests back in Ancient times. Jill was very keen to see the mummies, and it sounded to me like a pretty good way to spend the morning. So the two of us decided that we would use our free time to go see that exhibit.

The Egyptians have found a great new plan....They are seperating out all their artifacts around different museums in Cairo to charge more admissions. There wasn't much more than the Royal mummies at the Civilization musuem...there were a few artifacts from the more modern Greek and Roman era and Islam but it was spread out on the first floor. I'm glad we went though! The mummies were incredible!

McDonalds was manna from heaven and CHEAP!! I think my credit card bill said the Big Mac meal was less than $4 with the exchange rate. I haven't had food that fresh from McD's in years.


Jill in CO

 

[bcwife76]

The catacombs look sooooo amazing!!

Your view at lunch was gorgeous, the fish staring back though, not so much reminds me of the scene from A Christmas Story in the chinese restaurant "it's smiling at me" lol

That's a weird and awkward message from Ahmed.....hmmmm....

 

[franandaj]

The Egyptians have found a great new plan....They are seperating out all their artifacts around different museums in Cairo to charge more admissions. There wasn't much more than the Royal mummies at the Civilization musuem...there were a few artifacts from the more modern Greek and Roman era and Islam but it was spread out on the first floor. I'm glad we went though! The mummies were incredible!

Yes, that is very smart of them to have three museums (if the GEM every opens.....) it also spreads out the tourists so there are multiple places for them to go and not all mob one museum.

McDonalds was manna from heaven and CHEAP!! I think my credit card bill said the Big Mac meal was less than $4 with the exchange rate. I haven't had food that fresh from McD's in years.

I updated my post with the price. It was $3.23 on my bill. I think yours was the same as well.

MickyD's hint....I always order my Cheeseburger with no ketchup and no mustard, so they have to make it special. It's much better that way. Also Fran and I would always say when we ordered fries, please make sure they're hot, they have a special code for it, but I don't remember since I haven't been eating there since I'm on my own.

 

[pkondz]

I canceled my Netflix. Just wasn't watching it.

Ah. I've considered that... also my Disney+... I'm just not really watching them very much. 90% of my viewing is on Prime.

I am! I am! I am!

Yeah first world problems. And I'm not having to hurry, I've got updates written for at least three updates in the future, and may have a fourth ready to go after I post the next one. It's the readers who have to scramble!

Eep! Yes, I'm trying to keep up with you!

Yeah, as Jill said Caesar burned it down. Jerk.

Well, he didn't mean to. It was an accident.

I believe when we found the driver and the van, Ahmed was walking around the parking lot, talking on his phone.

No way! Really! I'm surprised!!

And what if it was all in Arabic?

That thought had crossed my mind.

I don't get that reference. Which SpiderMan was it from?

2012 one with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. He goes to her place and she asks him if he's ever had Branzino. I'd never heard of it before.

I'm just going to walk away from that one.

 

[franandaj]

The catacombs look sooooo amazing!!

They were super cool. I wasn't sure if they were going to be creepy or not.

Your view at lunch was gorgeous, the fish staring back though, not so much reminds me of the scene from A Christmas Story in the chinese restaurant "it's smiling at me" lol

I've never seen that movie, but I can imagine!

That's a weird and awkward message from Ahmed.....hmmmm....

It was pretty weird.....and awkward.

 

[pkondz]

the last time when I woke up at 4AM. Finally I gave up at 5AM and got up to play around on the computer.

I've had nights like that... Had one just two nights ago, as a matter of fact.

The Museum of Egyptian Civilisation is where you could see all the Royal mummies that were hidden in a Tomb in the Valley of the Kings

I'd go see that.

because one of her pairs of pants now smelled like camel, Jill needed another clean pair of shorts.

No one wants to risk finger pointing and being called camel pants.

We went downstairs to call an Uber and were on our way to the museum shortly after 9AM.

That square is huge!

I guess it’s disrespectful to take pictures of the dead or something.

But perfectly okay to put them on display for tourists to gawk at.

The hall includes 20 Royal mummies,18 Kings, and 2 Queens

The most famous mummies are Hatshepsut (Maatkare), Thutmose III (Menkheperre), Seqenenre Taa II.

I've not heard of any of them. Ramses, yes... but not these.

His reign is usually dated to the mid-16th century BC.

That date just staggers me. So long ago! I was thinking "surely that's a typo"... nope! Incredible just how old Egyptian civilization is.

He received the throne after the death of the previous king, Amenhotep I.

And yet, that one I've heard of. No idea why.

Towards the end of the reign of Thutmose III and into the reign of his son Amenhotep II, an attempt was made to remove her from official accounts of Egyptian historiography. Her statues were destroyed, her monuments were defaced, and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs.

Did you find out why?

He is also widely considered one of ancient Egypt's most successful warrior pharaohs, conducting no fewer than 15 military campaigns, all resulting in victories, except one which ended in a stalemate.

Pretty impressive.

So we hopped in an Uber again to MickyD’s for some research into whether or not McDonald’s tastes the same in Egypt as it does in the US.

And you were maybe craving just a little bit of home?

Verdict? It does, maybe even better because it was cooked to order and everything was hot!

Huh! Who knew... fine dining at Micky Dee's.

And the total came to $3.23 when it hit the credit card in US dollars. For a Big Mac meal you can't beat that!

Actually... that's what it should be, don't you think? I mean... they churn out so many of those things, the price should be minimal.

This time we only got the bottles with the screw top so we didn’t need any stinking corkscrew to open it.

(By any chance was that a Johnny Dangerously reference?)

The Egyptians have found a great new plan....They are seperating out all their artifacts around different museums in Cairo to charge more admissions.

 

[franandaj]

Ah. I've considered that... also my Disney+... I'm just not really watching them very much. 90% of my viewing is on Prime.

I've got the Hulu/Disney+ bundle and I've been watching Hulu most. Although yesterday I watched Prime and today I'm watching MAX.

Eep! Yes, I'm trying to keep up with you!

Well then brace yourself. Another update is coming today.

Well, he didn't mean to. It was an accident.

No way! Really! I'm surprised!!

That thought had crossed my mind.

Well...there were quite a few things in English, but a lot that we couldn't read.

2012 one with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. He goes to her place and she asks him if he's ever had Branzino. I'd never heard of it before.

No idea if I saw it. I would have to consult my spreadsheet of Marvel movies.

I've had nights like that... Had one just two nights ago, as a matter of fact.

I have a lot more of them now than I used to.

I'd go see that.

It was pretty cool.

That square is huge!

I have a feeling they are expecting long lines.....

But perfectly okay to put them on display for tourists to gawk at.

Sure! Why not?

I've not heard of any of them. Ramses, yes... but not these.

That's why I did a ton of research, I wanted to know who all the players were.

That date just staggers me. So long ago! I was thinking "surely that's a typo"... nope! Incredible just how old Egyptian civilization is.

Yup.

And yet, that one I've heard of. No idea why.

I'm surprised that you hadn't heard of Hatchepsut....

Did you find out why?

Because he's a guy, he can't deal with the fact that a woman could accomplish anything, and he had to do everything that he could to destroy her legacy. Duh. Isn't it obvious?

And you were maybe craving just a little bit of home?

Not really. We had agreed that we wanted to try a McDonald's while we were there. While we did get a little maxed out on Middle Eastern cuisine, there were enough reminders of home, especially since I eat kebabs and other such things fairly often.

Huh! Who knew... fine dining at Micky Dee's.

Well I wouldn't go that far!

Actually... that's what it should be, don't you think? I mean... they churn out so many of those things, the price should be minimal.

Well now that they have to pay the workers $20 an hour, that's where the costs are so high.

(By any chance was that a Johnny Dangerously reference?)

I'm not even sure what/who Johnny Dangerously is, so, no.

 

[franandaj]

It was just about 3PM when we realized that we needed to get down to meet our guide and driver. The van was waiting right in the same spot we met them the two days before. We climbed in and Ahmed was not there.



Curiouser and curiouser….



The driver took us to the Egyptian National Museum. This is not the one we visited earlier. This is the museum that has been there since 1902, founded by Monsieur Maspero of the French Antiquities Department. Now the Museum did not look like this on our visit. There were construction walls up everywhere in front of the museum. I didn’t think to take a picture so I stole this off the Interwebs.

So as I mentioned it was just the driver. Ahmed wasn't in the vehicle. When we got to the museum the driver called him on the phone. Our instructions were to go ahead purchase the tickets and he would reimburse us. Go inside and tour the King Tut exhibit on the second floor and wait for him. He would only be about 15 minutes.

So we went to the second floor and checked out the King Tut exhibit. There was basically a small room with very little (mostly jewelry) to display. All the other artifacts are in the Great Egyptian Museum that still hasn’t opened. No, I'm not bitter about it at all. Also no photography was allowed inside that room, so no pictures.

I did find this picture of the Innermost Gold Coffin of Tutankhamun on the Interwebs which was also in the room.

And later on in the trip, our guide in Upper Egypt gave me a booklet on the Valley of the Kings which has some pictures of his coffins as well.

We did take pictures of the few exhibits outside the little room with the King Tut stuff. I couldn’t find any information on this sarcophagus.

This is the Canopic Shrine of Tutankhamun. Inside this imposing and elaborate gilded canopic shrine was the alabaster chest that contained the four canopic miniature coffins. At each side of this shrine stands an elegant statue of one of the four female divinities in charge of protecting the deceased king, their faces turned slightly to one side and their arms stretched out in a gesture of protection. These goddesses are Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serket.

These are the canopic jars of King Tut. In case you were wondering, the canopic jars are where they stored the vital organs. There are four used for the safekeeping of human organs: the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver, all of which, it was believed, would be needed in the afterlife. There was no jar for the heart: the Egyptians believed it to be the seat of the soul, and so it was left inside the body.

This is the lid for the box.

This is the Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun. This statue of Anubis was fixed on the sliding cover of a casket in the form of a shrine. The shrine rested on a litter which was used to carry the image of the god in processions. The statue was found at the entrance to the Treasure Room with its nose turned towards the funerary chamber. Probably so that its threatening appearance would frighten any intruders.

When it was found, it was wrapped in a linen cloth dated to the seventh year of the reign of Akhenaten with only the head left uncovered. A finer piece of cloth, a scarf and a garland of lotus and lily flowers encircled the statue’s neck. Between the front paws there was a scribe’s ivory tablet that had belonged to Meritaten. She was one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

The golden throne of Tutankhamun is a unique work of art. It is considered to be one of the most significant and well-preserved pieces of furniture from ancient Egypt. Its colors have not faded over three thousand years, which serves as a testament to the high skill of the ancient Egyptian craftsmen.

The luxurious armchair is distinguished by the complexity of its technique and an abundance of details. Two projecting lions’ heads protect the seat of the throne while the arms take the form of winged uraei or rearing cobras wearing the double Pschent crown of Egypt and guarding the cartouche names of the king.

Now there were two of these statues found in King Tut’s Tomb.

I know because I took this picture when the Exhibit toured the US back in 2018. This statue looks slightly different than the one that was at the Egyptian Museum. The first guy looks a little bit more like a deer in headlights.

I found this on the website for the Egyptian Museum.

This is one of the two life-size guardian statues placed on either side of the door that gave access to the burial chamber. Originally the statues were wrapped in sheets of linen. This statue wears a wig called khat, has a gilded bronze cobra uraeus on the forehead, and clasp a stick in its left hand and a mace in the right hand. The black color assimilates the king to the god Osiris whose face often is black.

This is the Ceremonial Throne of Tutankamun. The high curved back is fitted to a stool with crossed legs carved to represent the necks and heads of ducks. The deeply curved seat (designed to hold a cushion) is inlaid with ebony and ivory in imitation of a spotted animal skin.

The glory of this chair is the back; it is made of wood covered with gold foil and is inlaid with semi-precious stones and colored glass. On the upper part of the back, we see the vulture goddess with her outspread wings protecting the names of the king. It seems that this throne was made early in the reign of Tutankhamun because of his name, which is written in the royal cartouche as Tutankhaten.

Twenty-Five minutes later and after we finished the King Tut exhibit, he still had not shown up. Now this museum is over 100 years old, and built before the advent of Air Conditioning. It has never upgraded, and large the room was stifling. While there were two floors, the museum was open for the most part. And the hot air flowed through the entire building.

However, it was even more concentrated in the areas where there were busloads of tourists with no sense of personal space (most countries outside of America). Jill and I found a bench at the other end of the museum and sat down. We began to speculate about his absence. At first we thought that he just wanted to have the day off because it was Friday, the day of rest in Islamic culture.

However, as things were stacking up.

• his absence when the driver picked us up
• his further delays in meeting us
• the whole thing of wanting to switch our tour to the evening
• the mysterious phone calls
• his admission that his (ex?) wife was “legally squatting” in his apartment
• the strange voice message from the night before

We decided that he must have been in court that day, trying get back his apartment and potentially visitation rights with his kids. The phone calls were probably with his legal team discussing strategy. The driver knew it and didn’t want to be out on Friday night, but since he has to do what the client and guide say, he had to go along with it. We decided that was what they were fighting about when Ahmed sent us down the seawalk for a “nice walk.”

I’m sure if they were arguing even in a foreign language we could have recognized that.

Finally we heard from Ahmed, he was entering the museum and was just a minute away. He met us where we were sitting near the elevator. When he arrived it was just like nothing had happened, no “sorry I left you sitting here in the heat”. No explanation, no nothing. Instead he told us that we would go back to the King Tut portion of the exhibition for our tour.

On our way back to the King Tut area, he pointed out this Colossal Statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye. It also depicts three of their daughters. It is the largest known Ancient Egyptian family group ever carved. The almond-shaped eyes and arched eyebrows of the figures are of typical late 18th Dynasty style.

Amenhotep III wears the nemes' headdress with the uraeus or royal cobra, a false beard and a kilt. He is resting both his hands on his knees. Queen Tiye is sitting on his left, with her right arm placed around her husband’s waist. Her height is equal to that of the king, which shows her prominent status. She wears an ankle-length, close-fitting dress and a big wig with a vulture headdress.

See how the first floor opens up to the second floor. The area we had just come from and were going back to was just behind the heads of those statues.

We got the whirlwind tour of the museum, which was OK because we wanted to get out of there, I was sweating like a pig. Jill probably was as well.

This elaborate chest was found by Carter in the Annex of King Tut’s Tomb. The chest had already been ransacked when the officials of the necropolis restored order to the tomb. Since neither wardrobes nor closets were in use in Egypt until much later, boxes like these, varying in size and design, often served the same purpose. The detailed treatment of the outer surface of this piece suggests that it contained garments for ceremonial occasions.

Made of a red wood, almost every part of the outer surface is either inlaid, gilded, covered, or veneered. Ebony, ivory, faience, calcite, and gilt are the materials that richly decorate the surface and adhere to it by means of glue and, in a few cases, copper nails.

In the center, surrounded by borders of stained ivory, is a scene depicting the king and queen in the marshes. Tutankhamun sits on a cushion on a chair while shooting arrows into the thicket before him. Fish are depicted in the pool, while birds flutter around the vegetation. Ankhesanamun, seated on a cushion at his feet, holds his next arrow in her left hand, while an attendant in the lower right retrieves a speared fish and bird. A similar, but much less cluttered scene, is embossed on the left side of the golden shrine. The string of the bow in both cases passes, not in front of, but behind the face of the king, unlike the bowstring used by Tutankhamun in the ostrich hunt.

The royal couple, portrayed in the informal attitudes introduced during the Amarna period, is relaxing in a lush garden. The floral motif is continued in the other decorative panels, which depict a variety of animals in pursuit of their prey. The lid shows the queen offering flowers to the king, while below them attendants are plucking flowers.

In 1905 British Egyptologist James Edward Quibell discovered Yuya’s Tomb now labeled KV46 in the Valley of the Kings. He was found alongside his wife Thuya. Yuya was interred within a rectangular wooden sarcophagus placed against the north wall; its lid was shaped like the vaulted per-nu shrine of Lower Egypt.

Yuya was a courtier from Akhmim, Egypt, with titles such as “King’s Lieutenant Master of the Horse Father-of-the-god”, Yuya was a prophet of Min, the chief god of the area, and served as this deity’s “Superintendent of Cattle”.

Yuya & Thuya’s tomb was the most famous “untouched” tomb until 16 years later with the discovery of Tutankhamun’s (Thuya & Yuya’s great-grandson). The tomb of Yuya and Thuya was, until the discovery of Tutankhamun’s, one of the most spectacular ever found in the Valley of the Kings despite Yuya not being a king.

While the tomb had been robbed of most of the valuables contained therein, the Sarcophagi and mummies were largely intact. Their mummies were in multiple layers of sarcophagi like Russian Nesting Dolls.

Here are the outer boxes for their burial. These are nearly six feet tall. I don’t remember which one was whose, but they had them on display so that as you passed through the gallery, you went from the outermost burial box, to the innermost burial box.

These were their canopic jars.

This was the next level in the burial vessels.

And another level….

And the final level where the mummy is displayed.

These were the funerary beds that were in their tombs. The various animal motifs (including the legs) are both protective of the sleeper and ensure the rebirth of the deceased in the afterlife.

These are their funerary masks. If you noticed these were pictured on one of our tickets.

These are some more canopic jars on display at the museum.

This was another display from a different tomb. You can see the canopic jars in front of the Sarcophagus in the middle. To the left of those you see the Ushebtis. These were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as servants or minions for the deceased, should they be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife. The figurines frequently carried a hoe on their shoulder and a basket on their backs, implying they were intended to farm for the deceased. They were usually written on by the use of hieroglyphs typically found on the legs. They carried inscriptions asserting their readiness to answer the gods' summons to work.

After this we headed down the stairs to the first floor.

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

These two statues of Ramses II actually welcome you into the museum, but we went right past them since we were instructed to head up to the Tut exhibit on the second floor. Ahmed gave us some information about these statues.

I think this was a tomb that was removed and reconstructed here.

This side of the museum on the bottom floor was divided into the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom. We visited the Old Kingdom section first. Now both Jill and I have many more pictures of artifacts. We looked at so many things, but I’m just trying to show you pieces that I could a) find some pertinent information on or b) I remembered what Ahmed told us about them.

Statue of King Djoser
This statue was found in a closed room called Serdab (a narrow chamber of the ancient Egyptian mastaba either concealed or accessible only by a narrow passage and containing a statue of the deceased), northeast of the funerary complex of King Djoser at Saqqara. It is believed that the statue of Djoser is the oldest known life-sized Egyptian statue. It depicts King Djoser himself, seated on his throne and enveloped in a jubilee cloak.

He succeeded his father, Khasekhemwy, the last king of the 2nd Dynasty, and his mother was the queen Nimaathap. Hetephernebti was the only known wife of king Djoser. Djoser, also spelled Zoser, founder of the 3rd Dynasty of ancient Egypt, who undertook the construction of the earliest important stone building in Egypt, the Step Pyramid of Saqqara. His reign, which probably lasted 19 years, was marked by great technological innovation in the use of stone architecture.

The fact that Djoser was able to end a famine and build such a large monument suggests that during his reign, Egypt was politically and economically stable.

Today, at the site in Saqqara where it was found, a plaster copy of it stands in place of the original. The statue was discovered during the Antiquities Service Excavations of 1924-1925.

Another wall from a tomb depicting hunting.

This sculpture shows king Khafre enthroned, wearing the royal headdress, known as the nemes, and a false beard, both of which were symbols of kingship in ancient Egypt. It is is considered one of the iconic masterpieces of ancient Egyptian art.

Immensely famous ever since its discovery in 1860 by Auguste Mariette during excavations at Khafre’s mortuary temple complex in Giza, near the Great Sphinx, it is known for its exceptional craftsmanship and artistic detail. The funerary statue of Khafre Enthroned represents the apotheosis of the sculptural skill of the court artists applied to the sublimation of royal divinity. The King is portrayed on a cubic throne carved entirely with symbols of royalty.

Khafre’s face is characterized by a serene expression and idealized features. The sculptor aimed to capture the king’s eternal and divine qualities rather than a realistic likeness. The statue represents Khafre’s role as a divine ruler and his connection to the gods. It was believed that the kings were intermediaries between the mortal world and the divine realm.

Littlest (and only) statue of Cheops the builder of the Great Pyramid. Ahmed placed his hand behind the statue so that you could see the scale.

This sculpted triad, a three-person statue, shows King Menkaure between two ladies.

The goddess Hathor is on his right and the personification of Cynopolis, the 17th nome of Upper Egypt, is on his left. He wears the crown of Upper Egypt and has a false beard. He wears the short pleated Shendyt kilt and holds two small cylindrical objects.

The two ladies wear tight fitting dresses and have three-part wigs. They each hold in one hand the Shen sign of power and embrace the king with the other hand. Hathor wears her usual crown, composed of the sun disk between the two cow horns, while the other lady is placed beneath a jackal, the symbol of her nome.

This is a similar statue, but the person on King Menkaure’s left is taller. I can’t seem to find information of what differentiates these two statues, but there clearly is a difference.

Head of King Userkaf - Userkaf was the first King of the 5th Dynasty under whose reign the cult of the sun god Ra began to gain unprecedented importance.
He chose to build a new type of temple dedicated to the cult of the sun, and Abusir, a few kilometers north of Saqqara. He was the first king to initiate building activity at Abusir. This statue head, found in his sun temple, represents him wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. When it was discovered, it was first attributed to the goddess Neith of Sais since the red crown is one of her insignia. However the occurrence of a slim moustache on the upper lip, proved that the head was a royal portrait of the king.

Here’s another tomb door, with the slit in the middle so that the spirit can come and go.

Seated Statues of Rahotep and Nofret. Discovered in 1871 by French archaeologist Albert Auguste Mariette, Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret’s life-like painted limestone statues are considered among the most famous private statues from ancient Egypt. The statues were discovered in the mastaba tomb (a tomb in the form of a rectangular platform) of Rahotep, north of the pyramid of Snefru, in Meidum, dating to the reign of King Snefru of the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2575-2551 BC). They are currently housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Rahotep (121cm) and Nofret’s (122 cm) figures are classic manifestations of the strict rules that governed the art of this period. Unlike Greek sculpture, that is carved to be viewed from all sides, these seated statues are sculpted to be seen from the front. As is typical of most ancient Egyptian sculpture, these statues are idealized representations of their subjects. Rahotep and Nofret are depicted as youthful: the form they wanted for eternity. Abiding by the conventions of ancient Egyptian art, Rahotep’s skin is painted a reddish-brown while Nofret’s is a pale yellowish-beige, reflecting the active, outdoor lifestyle of men, versus the more domestic existence of women, sheltered from the darkening rays of the sun.

I don’t remember who specifically this is, but like almost every other statue, the left foot is stepping out which is indicative of power and forward movement.

Group statue of Seneb and his family in a noos shrine.
Seneb was an Egyptian with dwarfism who attained a high position in the Royal Court. He was a priest in the funerary cults of Kings Khufu and Djedefre of the 4th Dynasty. He was also chief of all the palace dwarfs charged with the care of the royal wardrobe. His affectionate wife was priestess of Hathor and Neith. While the couple is portrayed in a realistic way, the two children, standing in front of Seneb, are depicted as archetypes. They are shown in the typical pose of Children in ancient Egypt, naked, with the index finger held to their mouth, and with the side lock of childhood. This group statue was found inside a small limestone naos shrine.

Servant Statue of Niankhepepikem.
Niankhepepikem was overseer of Upper Egypt, chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, overseer of prophets. Here is shown carrying a backpack, the earliest representation of this type of bag. In his tomb at Mier, in a hole in the burial chamber, were hidden the largest number of servant figures so far found in an Old Kingdom tomb.

Not exactly who these statues are, but it’s a cool shot.

Seated Scribe
The Egyptian title for Scribe is sesh. Scribes recorded the stocks of food, court proceedings, wills and other legal documents, tax records, and all the things tht happened in everyday life. Scribes were near the top of the social pyramid. This statue shoes and unknown scribes in the traditional position in ancient Egyptian art - seated in a cross-legged pose, with a papyrus scroll over his knees.

The right hand was intended to grip a stylus or reed and is balanced over the the open papyrus in the act of writing.This iconic statue is represented on the 200 LE note.

Here we move to the New Kingdom and these are two statues of Akenaten.

A colossal statue that represents Akhenaten standing with his arms folded, holding the flail and heka scepters. He is depicted with his particular realistic features; long face, narrow eyes, the long protruding chin, and the fleshy lips. The king is shown naked, without any distinctive sexual organ, which is thought, by some Egyptologists to represent the king as "the primordial god considered as the father and the mother" of the people.

The two colossi were sculpted at the early period of his reign before he transferred his capital from Thebes to Tell el-Amarna.

This is a Head of Nefertiti

We took our pictures with Hatchepsut's Sphinx before we exited through the gift shop. The first time this trip where someone had paid attention to the Disney model of marketing.

We were super happy to get out of there. While there was a lot of fascinating stuff and information, it was a super hot day. With no AC and a ton of people, the place was absolutely stifling.


Up Next: How did we get talked into this?

 

[pkondz]

Well then brace yourself. Another update is coming today.

No idea if I saw it. I would have to consult my spreadsheet of Marvel movies.

Why is it not weird you have that??

I have a lot more of them now than I used to.

Me too.

I'm surprised that you hadn't heard of Hatchepsut....

I should have?

Because he's a guy, he can't deal with the fact that a woman could accomplish anything, and he had to do everything that he could to destroy her legacy. Duh. Isn't it obvious?

That was my first thought but wondered if maybe she had some unpopular laws or did something terrible or…

Well now that they have to pay the workers $20 an hour, that's where the costs are so high.

There is that…

Back later to read the update

 

[jedijill]

e took our pictures with Hatchepsut's Sphinx before we exited through the gift shop. The first time this trip where someone had paid attention to the Disney model of marketing.

You can tell by the look on my face how freaking hot and done I was. It was stifling in there....and I was annoyed at Ahmed. The Egyptian Museum is very cool but many of the exhibits are just artifacts placed in glass cases with very little explanation. There are some more "modern" exhibits that are more similar to the ones we are used to in US museums. I'm glad we had a guide to steer us towards the "greatest" hits. The new Great Egyptian Museum will be amazing if it ever opens.

Jill in CO

 

[pkondz]

We climbed in and Ahmed was not there.

Maybe he had a phone call to make.

Our instructions were to go ahead purchase the tickets and he would reimburse us.

Did he?

All the other artifacts are in the Great Egyptian Museum that still hasn’t opened. No, I'm not bitter about it at all.

But then again, you're planning on going back, so...

I did find this picture of the Innermost Gold Coffin of Tutankhamun on the Interwebs which was also in the room.

You (or at least I) can't even tell that the beard was broken... and then poorly repaired for a time.

I couldn’t find any information on this sarcophagus.

I can help! It's for a dead person.



You're welcome.

This is the Canopic Shrine of Tutankhamun. Inside this imposing and elaborate gilded canopic shrine was the alabaster chest that contained the four canopic miniature coffins.

Thanks for explaining what canopic meant. Had no idea what that was!

There was no jar for the heart: the Egyptians believed it to be the seat of the soul, and so it was left inside the body.

Huh. Did not know that.

The golden throne of Tutankhamun is a unique work of art. It is considered to be one of the most significant and well-preserved pieces of furniture from ancient Egypt. Its colors have not faded over three thousand years, which serves as a testament to the high skill of the ancient Egyptian craftsmen.

Very impressive. Actually the whole museum is.

While there were two floors, the museum was open for the most part. And the hot air flowed through the entire building.

We decided that he must have been in court that day, trying get back his apartment and potentially visitation rights with his kids.

Did you ever find out for certain? Presume you couldn't really ask.

When he arrived it was just like nothing had happened, no “sorry I left you sitting here in the heat”. No explanation, no nothing.

Perhaps a cultural thing?

Instead he told us that we would go back to the King Tut portion of the exhibition for our tour.

How did you feel about that? "Good! I have questions" or "We already saw it when you weren't here"?

we wanted to get out of there, I was sweating like a pig. Jill probably was as well.

Their mummies were in multiple layers of sarcophagi like Russian Nesting Dolls.

I wonder if the nesting dolls maybe have a distant root from that?

My goodness! His hand is huge!

The two ladies wear tight fitting dresses and have three-part wigs. They each hold in one hand the Shen sign of power and embrace the king with the other hand.

They're embracing the king in the second photo. In that first one their arms are at their sides.

Here’s another tomb door, with the slit in the middle so that the spirit can come and go.

I think that's such a cool feature.

This is a Head of Nefertiti

Wasn't she considered one of the most beautiful women in the world? Or am I getting her mixed up with someone else?

We took our pictures with Hatchepsut's Sphinx before we exited through the gift shop. The first time this trip where someone had paid attention to the Disney model of marketing.

You can tell by the look on my face how freaking hot and done I was. It was stifling in there....and I was annoyed at Ahmed.

Poor Jill.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

While I would have been super annoyed with the issues of your guide - I am kinda enjoying the tea and speculation at this later date. Poor guy has some personal issues that seems he may have caused himself.

Interesting items in the museums even if they are terrible at having explanations for you.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hey Alison! Remember me?

I found a little time so I'm starting to work on catching up! At this point I don't know if you have any other TR's going at the moment but I at least wanted to read about Egypt!

About 30ish years ago I met my wife Fran. At the time I didn’t realize we were destined to spend a good portion of our lives together, but after a couple years of carefree romance, she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. This just slowed her down a little bit, we continued to have all sorts of adventures, and about 15 years ago, I started sharing them on the DIS.

If you’ve followed us, you know she had all sorts of medical issues, but she fought on and tried her best to enjoy life. So why don’t I have a bucket list? Since her passing last Spring, I’ve realized that I spent so many years making her dreams come true, I never really thought about my own.

And you did a really good job of it, too. A life well lived.

Glamping in a Bedouin tent in the desert? Um, yes!

Pyramids at Giza, Memphis, Sakkara, and the Sphinx? How cool is that?

Catacombs in Alexandria? Wow!

And it all ends with a cruise up the Nile visiting Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel, and all that then!


Sign me up!

This all does sound pretty amazing! Suspiciously like a bucket-list type trip. Just sayin'.

Hey, I know her! Hi Jill!

If you’re worried about the unrest in Israel, the Egypt/Israel border isn’t even shown in that picture. It’s way on the other side of that land mass on the right side. And that’s a demilitarized zone with limited access in and out, so even if Egypt is near the unrest, it also really isn’t.

I'm sure I would have found a way to worry about this. My parents took a trip to Israel about 6 months before everything went crazy there.

In this tomb, the first part is depicted on the left wall (not shown) where the man faces a number of questions about his sins….Did you ever lie? Did you ever steal? There are 42 of these, and he must confirm that he is sinless.

Yeesh. Sounds like a tough final exam.

Here’s a close up, what they did to preserve the teeth and everything is beyond me!

Pretty amazing!

Bastet was a fierce lioness goddess worshiped as early as the 2nd Dynasty (2890BC). She is my favorite goddess. As well as Hathor the goddess of music and pleasure.

I was always partial to Wonder Woman, myself.

And what good is a trip without a little joking around?

This is basically my entire philosophy on travel.

You’re in for the long haul, or should I say the whole hog?

Mmmm...bacon.

 

[franandaj]

Why is it not weird you have that??

Well, I have a spreadsheet for everything, just about.....

I should have?

I dunno, she's kind of one of the most productive female rulers in Egypt. Maybe she wasn't as pretty as Cleopatra or Nephertiti.....

That was my first thought but wondered if maybe she had some unpopular laws or did something terrible or…

Hadn't thought of that.....

Back later to read the update

Okey dokey.