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| Kom Ombo Temple |
Half a dozen men stood before me holding
out their wares. They were all calling out: ‘Bob, Bob!’ and they joined with me
as I laughed. I was walking out of the Valley of the Kings and it was a lesson;
don’t give your name to a vendor. I did buy some things from them – their souk
was only there for tourists, and although it was 11:30 am, our bus was the only
one in the parking lot.
Many places won’t allow you to take photos
inside; some won’t allow you to take your guide in with you (their voice may
damage the plaster); the Valley of the Kings won’t even allow photos outside
the tombs. Your price of admission gives you access to three tombs – most of
them have a similar layout: a long sloping tunnel leading to a series of rooms
and a main chamber, built almost 4,000 years ago. As you enter, the walls each
side are carved and painted with hieroglyphics (pictorial writing) of spells
from the Book of the Dead giving instruction on the journey through the
afterlife. Deeper in the text gives way to illustrations of the occupant’s
generally heroic life, then finally the illustrations depict the gods and their
efforts to ensure the pharaoh’s eternal life. Weaved through this are evils
spirits making an effort to undermine the journey and the gods battle.
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| Roman painting over hieroglyphs |
Egypt has encouraged the study of
Egyptology in universities and museums throughout the world and has donated
pieces to these countries in return for their efforts in excavating these
sites, although perhaps the finest collection is in The Egyptian Museum in
Cairo.
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| Temple of Philae - Christian scratches on figure & Greek graffiti |
Most of the tombs have been
raided, often soon after they were built, defying the attempts of the pharaohs
to hide their burial place, unlike the earlier, ostentatious, pyramids. And the
tombs and the temples have been defaced over the years, by successive
generations; Romans, who appropriated the temples and plastered over the
Egyptian texts, Greeks with
the earliest graffiti, then Napoleon’s French troops, Gordon’s British troops,
sadly even modern graffiti. In the Temple of Philae,
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| Fishers - Life continues |
But the West Bank tombs celebrate deceased
pharaohs and the Egyptians mummified their pharaohs before burial, in large
temples built exclusively for that purpose close-by. The most impressive one
standing is the temple of Queen Hatshepsut (hat_ship_suit), used only for her
70-day mummification process, prior to her funeral ceremony. It seems they
mummified everything – cats, birds, even crocodiles…
Of course, modern Egypt is 95% Muslim;
modern funerals here are very different. We passed a funeral in Aswan as we
drove between temples. Muslims are buried as soon as possible, generally before
sunset or within 24 hours, in a simple grave. Hussein said: “We try to bury our
dead 3 to 4 hours after death. The body is wrapped in three sheets and tied
with ropes to hold in place – there’s no coffin. Then the body is buried on the
right side, facing Mecca."
The 1957 Mausoleum of Aga Khan III, leader
of the Naziri Ismaili Muslims and grandfather of the current Aga Khan, gleams
in the sunset over the Nile in Aswan. Every day his wife placed a red rose on
his tomb; she’s now buried beside him but she ensured that this tradition
continues.
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| Aga Khan Mausoleum at sunset - Aswan |
Despite the majesty of the tombs...I found the greatest beauty in the photo of the simple fishers. Thank you!
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