Coptic Cairo and King Tut

Egyptian museum of antiquities

By Claire
Today began with a visit to the Egyptian Museum which has 136,000 items. We worked our way through with Samir, our wonderful Egyptologist and guide, taking us to the most interesting displays and explaining them in detail. We spent 3 hours and it included the King Tut exhibit with 17,000 items and the Mummy Room with about 12 mummies. No photos were allowed in the museum so you’ll just have to imagine, or better yet, come to Egypt. It was all quite fascinating. The sheer number of things found inside King Tut's tomb is staggering even if it is considered a small tomb. The mummies were the first I had ever seen and very interesting. But to think that we saw Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut is thrilling.

After a great lunch in central Cairo at a place where I’m pretty sure we were the only tourists, we enjoyed Koushri again, this time with rice pudding for desert. Lunch was Samir’s treat.

We drove to Coptic Cairo, which is part of old Cairo and the Christian area of the city. 10% of Egypt’s population is Coptic Christian and they have their own pope. We started with the St. Sergus Church which was built above the cave where Jesus, Mary and Joseph stayed after fleeing Herod who ordered the death of all male children under two years of age. Once again, no photos allowed.

In the shell of a 4th Century Church is the 9th century Ben Ezra Synagogue. Tradition holds that this is the spot where the profit Jeremiah gathered the jews in the 6th century after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Jerusalem temple. This is also the place where the pharaoh’s daughter is said to have found Moses in the reeds and where Mary drew water to wash Jesus. We were able to hear the chanting of a service going on upstairs.

With Samir--his height makes him easy to follow!


Roman Water Gate


The Hanging Church dates back to the 9th century and has a collection of saint’s relics and an icon of Mary. It is incorrectly called the Hanging Church—it is simply built on top of the Water Gate. The interior geometric designs are only distinguishable from Islamic designs by the tiny crosses in the pattern. We found it interesting to see how similar the Christian church, the Jewish Synagogue and the Muslim Mosque are. They all had the tongue and groove wood work designs and marble columns. We were lucky to observe a service in progress—delivered in Arabic and Coptic.

Hanging church


Hanging church inside


Amr Ibn Elaas Mosque is a large, but simple mosque, the first built in Egypt and in Africa. We sat with Samir and talked at length about Islam. He is so knowledgeable and open and makes the subject very interesting.

Samir--what a gentleman


The women stay behind the wooden partition or in the back during prayers, this being more comfortable than bending over and praying in front of the men.



Some images around Cairo:







Expenses for today:
Egyptian Museum, €15.50
Mummy Room, €20.64
Samir and driver, €150

If you are interested in having Samir guide you, check out his website, Real Egypt. He is worth every penny.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

City of the Dead, Garbage People and Islamic Cairo

By Claire
Today's tour started with Islamic Cairo. We were picked up this morning by Jim and our driver Tarek. We headed for the Citadel, a huge complex built by Salah ad-Din in 1176 to guard the city against the crusaders who never came.

We visited several mosques, walked through the area exclaiming over the gorgeous architecture and beauty of this amazing city. Have I said "amazing" just once two often? The thing I noticed right off as we flew into Cairo was how tan it is. Everything is sand colored and it has a very desert feel with palm trees here and there but mostly building after building in various shades of tan.

Mohammed Ali Mosque


The Citadel


Mosque interior. It's hard to see but that's a fifties style rectangular clock just under the circular Arabic caligraphy.


Tongue and groove wood work in mosque


This guy guarded our shoes when we were inside the mosque. He thinks he looks like Omar Sharif.


Door being restored. Note the dark section that hasn't been restored.


Man loading potatoes and onions


We were so lucky to be able to go up inside a minaret. A guard came with us to keep us safe--from what?


View of the city from minaret


View from minaret


View from minaret


We next drove to the City of the Dead. This is an entire community within the city made up of a cemetery full of tombs. The tombs had rooms for family to come and visit. Pressures for cheap housing caused people to move in with the understanding that they would care for the tombs. The area now has a complete infrastructure with schools, mosques, electricity and plumbing. It goes for miles in this city of 22 million.







This is a one pound note with a picture of the mosque we went into in the City of the Dead.


This is the dome of the mosque on the one pound note.


We had heard about the garbage people who take care of all the trash. They separate it and recycle it by selling it, making it their living. Pictures can't quite capture what this neighborhood is like.







Finally, lunch. We wanted an authentic but safe place to eat, health wise. Jim knew about a place serving Koushri, a one dish meal consisting of macaroni, chick peas, lentils, rice, spaghetti, and fried onions with tomato sauce. Delicious and filling! LE 27, €3.38.

Koushry


Bread delivery


Fortified, we drove to the Khan al-Khalili, a 14th century shopping bazaar. We loved it. Chuck wanted a Gallibiya, an Egyptian caftan and I needed a card. Jim knew where to take us.



Gallibiya salesman



We bought a few things from this very elegant, sweet man.


That's an iron on the left and notice the numbers on the telephone.








Tired but very fulfilled, we headed for the famous Fishawi Ahwa (coffeehouse), an institution for over 200 years, for tea and coffee.



Sheesha--fruit flavored tobacco


Mint tea and coffee


Walk like an Egyptian


I can't say enough about how great it is to be picked up, driven around the city and guided by an expert. All we have to do is show up and ask questions, and we had plenty! We are learning so much about this wonderful city, Islam, architecture and history.

Expenses for today:
Guide and driver: €150
Citadel: €6.50 each
Lunch: €3.38 for three
Tip for guide and driver (each) €6.50


Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language. ~ Walt Disney

The Pyramids! Cairo, Egypt

By Claire
We made it through passport control! In fact, everything went smoothly even if it did take the entire day to get to our hotel, the flight being only 2 hours of it all. We are staying at the Mayfair Hotel, LE 220 (Egyptian Pounds) or €28 including breakfast and free WiFi. It's basic but clean and in a great location on the island of Zamalek on the Nile just across from Cairo. We are avoiding the chaos and noise of the downtown city and enjoying Embassy Row in this quieter area. We walked around last night and spotted some places to eat for the week to come.



Breakfast on the terrace.


We were picked up by our driver, Asim, and Egyptologist, Samir, at 8 am in the lobby of our hotel. We spent the next 9 hours visiting all the pyramids.

Step Pyramid--World's earliest stone monument, 2650 B.C.


Bent Pyramid, my favorite--it's cute and it isn't perfect (they were practicing).


We were almost the only people there and Samir naturally knew the police who offered to let me ride one of their police camels. I jumped at the chance and I loved it. We tipped the guy LE 50 (€6).




Coming in for a landing--I was told to lean way back.


Next we saw the Red Pyramid and Samir suggested that this was the pyramid to go inside because there are far fewer tourists here than at the Great Pyramid, the other one that allows you to go inside.

Long, long steps leading down, down, down going backwards. This is a shot coming back.


The guy who told us how to go down the inside of the pyramid.


Next stop: The Great Pyramid




Solar boat--ancient cedar wood vessle, dating back to 2570 B.C. built to accompany Pharaoh Cheops to the afterlife. It was discovered by accident in 1954.


Guess who?






I always wanted to know what it cost people who visited Egypt so I'm including this information. We have a private guide and driver for this week.

Expenses for today's tour:
Egyptologist, €150
Driver-tip, €5
Lunch, €16 (included Asim and Samir)
Entry fees: €49
Camel: €6


If you actually look like your passport photo, you aren't well enough to travel. ~ Sir Vivian Fuchs