Talkback  Add Your Comment

There’s a famous New Yorker cartoon in which a person runs into the Louvre and says, “Quick, the Mona Lisa. I’m double-parked!”

I know how that fellow must have felt. On a recent visit to Egypt with a Biblical Archaeology Society tour, I kept thinking, “Quick—the Pyramids!” Or the Sphinx. Or the treasures of Tut’s tomb. Or the splendors of the Karnak Temple. Or the dozens of tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and on and on and on. It’s not that we were rushing past all the great sites—on the contrary, our wonderful guide, Dr. Chahinda Karim, carefully explained to us the history and significance of everything we were seeing. But how do you see all the glories of one of the world’s great civilizations and its stupendous architectural and artistic achievements in the space of a few days? Of course, you can’t.

But you can get a good taste of that great civilization if you’re part of a well-planned and well-paced tour and are lucky enough to have a knowledgeable and warm scholar-guide. Luckily, I was recently able to enjoy both, tagging along on the BAS tour to Egypt this past February. Unfortunately, I could join the tour only for the first of its two weeks—enough to get an introduction to ancient Egypt and have my appetite whetted for a return trip some day.

The trip began with a surprise—a very pleasant one. After being met at Cairo’s airport by Dr. Karim and Temma Ecker, the tour’s savvy organizer, our group of 15 was transported through the bustling modern metropolis to our hotel. But what was that distinctive pointy stone structure poking up behind our hotel? We were practically at the foot of the pyramids! We relaxed in the hotel lounge, sipping a refreshing fruit drink and gazing at one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Early that evening we were treated to a stimulating talk on modern-day Egypt by Dr. John Swanson, of the American University in Cairo.

Our first full day in Egypt, a Monday, was uncharacteristically cool and windy, with occasional sprinkles. Our full-sized and comfortable tour bus took us south of Cairo to Saqara, where we saw the elegant tomb of the priest Mereruka and the step pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid ever built. We then partly retraced our steps, stopping at Memphis to view numerous statues and sphinxes, the most impressive of which is a colossal statue of Ramesses II. By early afternoon we were back in Cairo and exploring the great pyramids themselves—three towering structures and their smaller counterparts (which belonged to the wives of the pharaohs) on the Giza plateau.

You don’t appreciate what a staggering project building the pyramids must have been until you stand next to them—the massive stone blocks come up to your waist and you almost fall backward as you squint upwards to see the top, 455 feet above you. We also viewed the ceremonial boat that was unearthed behind the great pyramid of Cheops and scampered up close to the Great Sphinx, which guards the approach to the middle pyramid on the Giza plateau, that of Khafre, Cheops’ successor. To top off this exciting day, we enjoyed a slide lecture from Dr, Ali Hasan, the former director of Egypt’s antiquities department and the man who excavated the bases of the pyramids. Our group was thrilled to be able to ask questions directly of the man who had uncovered so much of what we had just seen that day.

Tuesday morning began with a ride through busy downtown Cairo. Lane markings and other traffic signs seem to be taken by the locals as suggestions rather than as directives with the force of law, but our bus driver negotiated the traffic smoothly, and we arrived at the Cairo Museum to view the treasures of ancient Egypt. Dr. Karim kept everyone’s attention for more than three hours, showing us the many splendors in the grand building, including the famed Merneptah stele, which contains the earliest historical reference to Israel. Though I had seen pictures of the stele many times, I was taken aback by its size—it seemed to me to be a good 12 feet high.

The highlight of the museum for most visitors must be the treasures discovered by Howard Carter in the tomb of the Boy King, Tutankhamun—the only tomb of a Pharaoh yet found that escaped looters in antiquity. The tomb treasures take up several rooms in the museum and hallways, too; in a single hallway, you encounter a huge chest covered in gold; beyond it is a second huge chest covered in gold that had been inside the first, and beyond the second gold chest is a third huge chest covered in gold that had been inside the second and had contained the painted wooden caskets—one inside the other, like nested Russian dolls—that contained Tut’s mummy.

After Dr. Karim’s extensive tour, we had time to wander through the museum on our own. I was particularly struck by the remarkably lifelike painted faces on the coffins of Coptic Christians. After a relaxed lunch in the museum’s restaurant, we headed to the airport for a one-hour flight to Luxor, ancient Thebes. Luxor has the feel of a resort city: a long row of hotels lines the Corniche, the boulevard that fronts the Nile, and many dozens of boat-hotels are docked, sometimes three deep, along the east bank of the river. Our luxurious boat, however, was one of the few docked by itself (and our Nile cruise would last six nights rather than the more common four nights).

The next morning we were off to the Karnak Temple, a huge and impressive structure that was begun in the 16th century B.C. but was continually added to by some 30 pharaohs over the centuries, especially Thutmose I, Seti I and Ramesses II. The temple was dedicated to Amun-Re, the sun god who was the focus of Egyptian worship. The pylons at the front of the temple dwarf the visitor (and Karnak gets many visitors); as you approach the entrance, you are flanked by rows of sphinxes. Once inside you are staggered by huge statues and especially the towering columns; Herodotus wrote of visiting the temple and finding himself in a forest of columns.

One of the highlights of the Karnak Temple is the panel in which Pharaoh Sheshonq (called Shishak in the Bible) boasts of his conquests in Canaan, including his capture of the city of Megiddo. Sheshonq’s campaign took place in 925 B.C., about five years after the breakup of the United Israelite monarchy led first by David and then by Solomon.

Much of the afternoon was devoted to relaxation as we boarded our Nile cruiser and headed north. The relaxation, though, was balanced with learning as Dr. Karim lectured us later in the day on the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The next morning we took a side trip by bus to Abydos and toured the well-preserved temple of Seti I. You cannot appreciate the craftsmanship of the ancient Egyptian artisans until you see undamaged examples of their work. At Seti’s temple, much of the artwork is indoors and has been protected from the elements; the scenes on the walls are deeply carved, and many sections still preserve their original paint. That afternoon we visited the temple of Hathor, the Egyptian fertility goddess, at Dendera. Her temple, too, contains huge columns that remind one of a forest of columns.

Our boat, in the meantime, had headed back to Luxor and we returned there via bus. In the evening Dr. Karim and Temma Ecker (or “Mrs. Temma,” as the locals call her) took us to a reputable shop for some souvenir and gift shopping.

We headed to the east bank on the Nile the next morning, with the Valley of the Kings as our first stop. Dr. Karim pointed out that the very top of the mountain that looms over the valley had been carved into a pyramid shape, making the entire mountain, in effect, a giant pyramid. Into the sides of that mountain had been carved the tombs of dozens of pharaohs, including the one discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 that had belonged to Tutankhamun.

It was in the Valley of the Kings that we enjoyed a real coup: We were given a private tour of the tomb of Seti I. The tomb is closed to the public for preservation and because archaeologists have discovered a passage underneath the room in which the mummy had lain and are investigating where the passage led. Thanks to good contacts, though, we were able to view this well-preserved tomb without the press of the crowds at the other tombs. And what an impressive tomb it is: steep, narrow passageways leading further and further down, occasionally opening up into a larger room before continuing further and ending in a vaulted burial chamber (with the vault representing the sky).

Almost every inch of Seti’s tomb is well preserved, even better preserved than his temple in Abydos because the tomb was sealed and underground. The carved reliefs stand out in clear detail, and the paint on them is still vivid. In some areas, though, the artisans did not have time to finish their work and you can still see the various stages of their efforts: some areas are completely blank, others have only the outlines of scenes that would have been carved later by more skilled artists, and yet other areas have carved scenes that were never painted.

Admission into the Valley of the Kings includes visits to three tombs, so after our private tour of Seti’s tomb our group fanned out to explore on our own (guides are only permitted in privately opened tombs such as that of Seti I). I visited the tombs of Thutmose III, Ramesses IX and Ramesses IV; the latter features a huge stone sarcophagus. I assumed, because of its size, that the sarcophagus must have been carved from the tomb chamber itself because I could not imagine how it could possibly have been transported from somewhere else, but Dr. Karim told me I was wrong: The sarcophagus is not made out of local stone and had to have been brought from elsewhere.

We then moved on to another section of the Valley of the Kings, the mortuary temple of Hahshepsut, the female pharaoh who reigned in the first half of the 15th century B.C. Hatshepsut selected the site herself, and her temple-tomb was the first tomb built in the Valley of the Kings. The temple is approached by a long, sloping ramp; the perfect symmetry of the temple predates that of the Parthenon by a thousand years. We also saw the much more modest tombs of the workers who had built the magnificent structures of their rulers. One tomb, for the chief artist, contained a small room with a vaulted ceiling that recalled the more grand burial chambers of the pharaohs. We wondered whether that skilled artist had designed his own final resting place.

Our busy day was topped off by a tour of the Luxor Museum and by a true highlight: an evening visit to the Luxor temple. Built by the long-ruling Ramesses II (thought by many to have been the pharaoh of the Exodus) in the 13th century B.C., the Luxor temple was the site of annual fertility ritual in which a statue of the god Amun was brought down the Nile from Karnak to be with his consort Mut. The 80-foot-high first pylon is guarded by two massive statues of a seated Ramesses II; many scenes in the temple depict his military exploits, particularly the Battle of Kadesh.

We arrived at the Luxor Temple in late afternoon; as our tour progressed, the sky slowly darkened and the carefully arranged lights around the complex dramatically lit up the ancient remains. It was a memorable visit and a great way to end my portion of the tour. I wish I could have continued with the group to enjoy a leisurely cruise further down the Nile (actually, up the Nile because the river flows north) and to see the riches of Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan, Abu Simbel and Christian and Muslim Cairo. Next time…