Big Archaeologist Energy

* Warning: This is going to be long post! Our time in Egypt was so jam-packed that I didn't have time to blog, and I I have a lot to say about literally everything! Proceed at your own risk.

Day 1: The Great Pyramids of Giza

After my summer in Turkey, my nerdiness about the ancient world has increased by a factor of about a thousand. You can imagine my excitement then when on our first day in Cairo I found myself stepping off our bus and onto the sand in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza! I've imagined seeing these monuments in person since childhood, and they did not disappoint. Their scale is absolutely massive, but what really blew me away was going inside.

We climbed up the blocks of the Great Pyramid of Khufu to the entrance and entered a short passage in the stone. I couldn't help but reach my hand out to the wall, feeling the cool smoothness and weight of the years radiating into my palm. As we advanced deeper into the pyramid the passages got narrower and steeper, until I was walking bent at the waist. Then, suddenly, we stood up inside the main burial chamber. The room was an impossibly smooth rectangle of red granite with an enormous stone sarcophagus by the far wall. I was in absolute awe. I continued trailing one hand along the wall, wanting to continue this physical connection to antiquity.

After returning to the sun and heat outside the pyramid, our tour guide walked us around the rest of the site, pausing to meet some camels along the way! We learned about the channel used to divert water from the Nile to the foot of the pyramids, the temple where funerary rites were held, and the boats used to carry the bodies of the pharaohs. Next to the second pyramid was a small museum housing one such funerary boat, fully intact. We were able to walk around the entirety of the vessel and I was struck by the fact that I was not only looking at a miraculous feat of engineering, but also wood from the cedars of Lebanon that I've only read about in my history textbooks. Truly the stuff of legends.

That evening I also got to experience some history up close, but this history was my own! My seventh and eighth grade English teacher, Mr. Vaughn, has been living in Cairo for the past three years as the principal of an international school. Thankfully he and my mother have been keeping in touch throughout the years since I've left Laurelhurst, and the two of us were able to arrange a dinner together near my hotel.

Not only was it a treat to see one of my most impactful teachers after so many years, I was also able to talk to him about what it is like to be an educator abroad. Since the theme of Global Semester is education in global contexts, talking with Mr. Vaughn and his girlfriend Kathleen was a great chance to get a sense of how the schools in Egypt differ from those in the states. I was so grateful for this chance to catch up after so many years and I even walked away with some book recommendations! It's looking like I'll be diving head first into Russian literature on my next long flight!

Day 2: Karnak and Luxor

Despite our busy first day, we all woke up at 3am and flew to Luxor. Thankfully we had a few hours at the hotel to get a few hours of sleep in. Then it was off to the Temple of Karnak, led by our extremely thorough tour guide, Mohammad. We saw columns stretching to the sky, numerous pointed obelisks, statues larger than life, and hieroglyphics carved over almost every single surface. Mohammad showed us the various limestone inclusions that were used to make paint in Ancient Egypt and then pointed out the areas where you can still the original colors even after 4,000 years.

It's good to remind myself how colorful the ancient world truly was. So often we think of the simplistic tan stone as being the medium of Egyptian statues, but in reality they would have been painted head to toe. The same thing holds true for much of Greek and Roman art. Instead of austere white marble, just imagine antiquity painted all over with bright circus colors! It's certainly a different mental image, but a good reminder that the ancients were just as vibrant and complex as people today.

From Karnak we drove to the Luxor museum to see some additional statues and carvings, and then ended our day at the Temple of Luxor just as the sun was setting. The Temple of Luxor has had multiple lives as a religious building. First it was an Ancient Egyptian temple, then a coptic church, and finally a mosque that is still in operation today. We heard the call to prayer just as we walked through the front gates of the temple which was honestly magical. I walked around silent throughout the tour, just thinking about how one stone complex could mean so much to such distinct groups of people. When we reached the inner sanctum, I pressed my hand again to the wall.

Day 3: The Temple of Hatshepsut and the Valley of the Kings

Another early morning brought our group to the Temple of Hatshepsut, a beautifully intact stone edifice built straight into the rock of the surrounding cliffside. I was particularly excited for this site because Hatshepsut is one of the most famous women in ancient Egyptian history. She was a pharaoh who ruled for longer than any other woman to take the throne and had what is considered to be a very successful rule. To walk up the steps of the temple gazing up at towering statues of this truly powerful woman was an inspiring experience. So often I find myself having to hunt for stories of notable women in antiquity, but Hatshepsut's presence stands out without trying.

One thing that I've noticed from my time in Egypt is that a person really does adjust to the heat! After my summer sweating in the Turkish sun, I noticed that I wasn't struck by the heat of the desert as much as some of my peers. I don't know what this will mean for when I return to Minnesota in the dead of winter, but for now I'm enjoying this new found tolerance for the sun!

We also visited the Valley of the Pharaohs, the place where pharaonic tombs were built throughout Ancient Egyptian history, including that of King Tutankhamen. We chose not to visit his tomb however because despite the treasures found inside, the tomb itself was never fully decorated due to Tutankhamen's early death. Our guide took us to three tombs, and each one blew my mind with the detail and brilliance of the hieroglyph decorations. The paint was still vivid and showed scenes from The Book of the Dead which instructs the soul how to reach the afterlife safely.

Day 4:

Back to Cairo! Our flight back to the city was only an hour and a half, so instead of going back to the hotel we went straight to the Egyptian Museum. The museum was established in 1902 and houses an incredible collection of antiquities.

The Egyptian Museum as it stands today is unlike any museum I have ever been to. Every hall is filled with artifacts, many of the larger ones without cases or barriers blocking visitors from getting up close. While listening to our tour guide talk about an ancient embalming table I had to leap forward when I suddenly realized that I had been leaning on a stone sarcophagus! The rooms with smaller artifacts are full of crowded cabinets and typewritten labels.

While this museum experience was certainly different from what I have experienced before, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to see the museum as it is. A new Egyptian Museum is in the process of being built near the Great Pyramids, and all the artifacts are being shifted over. The new museum will open in the next year or so, and is planned to be more organized and modern like museums that Western tourists are used to. While I see the benefit of allowing visitors to more easily understand the artifacts without a guide, I think it is a shame that the kind of experience I had will be lost.

In our free time to wander the museum, I was struck with a wonder and curiosity that I have not felt in a long time. When the details aren't always spelled out for you, you are allowed the opportunity to bask in the humble acknowledgement of the vastness of the knowledge you lack. The absence of separation and sterility in the exhibits also allowed me to feel much more connected to the artifacts, like by wandering through the galleries I was discovering them too.

That evening we concluded our time in Egypt with a sunset boat ride down the Nile. Patric had met a boatman by the pool one day, and arranged for him to take us out on his boat which was aptly named "The Scandinavian." Watching the sun stain the sky such beautiful reds, oranges, and pinks was the perfect setting in which to reflect on my time in Egypt. We sipped mint tea and talked about our experiences. While I was looking forward to settling down in Tanzania, I couldn't help but wish for more time in this incredible corner of the world.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for reading.

-GMH