Trip To Egypt, Fall, 2004

The Trip To Egypt, 2004

Jim Hayes' Web Pages

Egypt Home
Day 1, Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Day 2, Pyramids and Sphinx At Giza
Day 3, Dahshur (Bent and Red Pyramid),
Day 3a, Sakkara (Stepped Pyramid)
Day 4, Abu Simbel
Day 4a, Aswan
Day 5, Philae Temple
Day 5a, Kom Ombo Temple
Day 6, Edfu Temple
Day 6a, Esna Temple
Day 7, Luxor, Medinet Habu, Village of Deir El Medina
Day 7a,Temple of Hatshepsut
Day 8, Valley of the Kings
Day 8a, Valley of the Queens, Luxor Museum
Day 9, Luxor, Tut's Tomb
Day 9a, Temples of Karnak and Luxor
Day 10/11, Cairo, Museum, Manial Palace, Churches and Mosque

Day 5, Aswan Dam, Philae Temple

Jan's Notes Jim's Photos And Comments

11/3/04

Saba el full=informal hi. Full=jasmine.
Saba el ishtah; Ishtah=cream)
These are signs of prosperity in the desert.

Aswan Dam
Taha Hussein=top Egyptian writer who wrote Dream of Days. Blind but became minister of Education; enforced free education. Blind due to home "remedy" for eye infection as child. Went to Sorbonne. French tutor became his wife. Got Ph.D. in 4 years when he started out not knowing any French.

Egypt exports electricity to Jordan, Syria, and Morocco.

Committed to African countries along the Nile so they won't dam it. Ethiopia, Sudan help them w/education also to keep their good will.

Memorial to commemorate Russian help with Dam in the shape of lotus. King Farouk couldn't run the country so Nasser led coup. Wanted dam to build morale and help push the British out of country but U.S. wouldn't help so Russia did in 1952. Egyptians didn't like the Russians. They didn't integrate with the people. They left & U.S. jumped in. U.S. wouldn't help originally build dam because did a study & determined Dam wouldn't be good for country. According to Aki dam is good because it stopped flooding, saved villages, and provides power. It's bad because environmentally there's no longer any silt although trying to build that back. U.S. wants to split the Sudan 3 ways by religion to stop civil war but Egypt will never agree because the 2 new countries thus formed wouldn't be bound by the Nile Treaty.

Sadat after Nasser (died of heart attack). Sadat didn't like the Russians because they wanted Russian military base in the Mediterranean in return for assistance and Egyptians wouldn't even have access to their own land so Sadat said no.

Philae Temple 175 B.C. Greek/Roman influence; dedicated to Isis the Goddess of Love. Show Egyptians friendliness. Last temple built in Egypt. After that there were only Christian churches. Temple under water 2 months each year before the dam. After the dam it was under water all year so necessary to save the temple by moving it. Moved from its original island to a nearby island on higher ground. Moved it stone by stone.

Early Christians hid out here at this temple-hiding from Roman persecution. Destroyed faces of some of the Egyptian gods.

Mamlouk=I own. Original mamlouks were kidnapped children that were sold in the Middle East. Some were castrated. Not slaves but your 'shadow' so they must be loyal to you so they willingly serve you. Your wealth was measured by the number of mamlouks you had. Eventually they became very powerful & performed a coup. The fair-skinned Egyptians are descended from the mamlouks of the 14th century.

In ancient Egyptian art size shows importance so kings are always big & enemies are always small. A big "adult" sucking his finger is really a child but if a king as child can't show him as small as that would be disrespectful.

Horus is the falcon god. Isis is the mother of Horus.

More land was needed for the Isis cult and the king agreed. Priests demanded a land contract written in stone, carved in granite to be sure king wouldn't renege.

Coptic Christians took over as a church; Coptic cross which is a cross with all arms equal in length.

The monument to the construction of the Aswan Dam.

Philae Temple from the Nile

A view from the dock

Aki gives us a history lesson.

The beautiful columns at Philae. Karen and Aki discuss the meaning of life, the universe and everything,

When the Christians came and used it for a church, they chiseled the figures that were visible.

Napoleaons troups used it for target practice.

Meanwhile, all the explorers left their marks.

And this young man was a friend of Akis. He was getting married soon and building his own house, following tradition.

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The Trip To Egypt, 2004 Jim Hayes' Web Pages Egypt Home Day 1, Egyptian Museum, Cairo Day 2, Pyramids and Sphinx At Giza Day 3, Dahshur (Bent and Red Pyramid), Day 3a, Sakkara (Stepped Pyramid) Day 4, Abu Simbel Day 4a, Aswan Day 5, Philae Temple Day 5a, Kom Ombo Temple Day 6, Edfu Temple Day 6a, Esna Temple Day 7, Luxor, Medinet Habu, Village of Deir El Medina Day 7a,Temple of Hatshepsut Day 8, Valley of the Kings Day 8a, Valley of the Queens, Luxor Museum Day 9, Luxor, Tut's Tomb Day 9a, Temples of Karnak and Luxor Day 10/11, Cairo, Museum, Manial Palace, Churches and Mosque	Day 5, Aswan Dam, Philae Temple

Jan's Notes	Jim's Photos And Comments
11/3/04 Saba el full=informal hi. Full=jasmine. Saba el ishtah; Ishtah=cream) These are signs of prosperity in the desert. Aswan Dam Taha Hussein=top Egyptian writer who wrote Dream of Days. Blind but became minister of Education; enforced free education. Blind due to home "remedy" for eye infection as child. Went to Sorbonne. French tutor became his wife. Got Ph.D. in 4 years when he started out not knowing any French. Egypt exports electricity to Jordan, Syria, and Morocco. Committed to African countries along the Nile so they won't dam it. Ethiopia, Sudan help them w/education also to keep their good will. Memorial to commemorate Russian help with Dam in the shape of lotus. King Farouk couldn't run the country so Nasser led coup. Wanted dam to build morale and help push the British out of country but U.S. wouldn't help so Russia did in 1952. Egyptians didn't like the Russians. They didn't integrate with the people. They left & U.S. jumped in. U.S. wouldn't help originally build dam because did a study & determined Dam wouldn't be good for country. According to Aki dam is good because it stopped flooding, saved villages, and provides power. It's bad because environmentally there's no longer any silt although trying to build that back. U.S. wants to split the Sudan 3 ways by religion to stop civil war but Egypt will never agree because the 2 new countries thus formed wouldn't be bound by the Nile Treaty. Sadat after Nasser (died of heart attack). Sadat didn't like the Russians because they wanted Russian military base in the Mediterranean in return for assistance and Egyptians wouldn't even have access to their own land so Sadat said no. Philae Temple 175 B.C. Greek/Roman influence; dedicated to Isis the Goddess of Love. Show Egyptians friendliness. Last temple built in Egypt. After that there were only Christian churches. Temple under water 2 months each year before the dam. After the dam it was under water all year so necessary to save the temple by moving it. Moved from its original island to a nearby island on higher ground. Moved it stone by stone. Early Christians hid out here at this temple-hiding from Roman persecution. Destroyed faces of some of the Egyptian gods. Mamlouk=I own. Original mamlouks were kidnapped children that were sold in the Middle East. Some were castrated. Not slaves but your 'shadow' so they must be loyal to you so they willingly serve you. Your wealth was measured by the number of mamlouks you had. Eventually they became very powerful & performed a coup. The fair-skinned Egyptians are descended from the mamlouks of the 14th century. In ancient Egyptian art size shows importance so kings are always big & enemies are always small. A big "adult" sucking his finger is really a child but if a king as child can't show him as small as that would be disrespectful. Horus is the falcon god. Isis is the mother of Horus. More land was needed for the Isis cult and the king agreed. Priests demanded a land contract written in stone, carved in granite to be sure king wouldn't renege. Coptic Christians took over as a church; Coptic cross which is a cross with all arms equal in length.	The monument to the construction of the Aswan Dam. Philae Temple from the Nile A view from the dock Aki gives us a history lesson. The beautiful columns at Philae. Karen and Aki discuss the meaning of life, the universe and everything, When the Christians came and used it for a church, they chiseled the figures that were visible. Napoleaons troups used it for target practice. Meanwhile, all the explorers left their marks. And this young man was a friend of Akis. He was getting married soon and building his own house, following tradition.