Ancient sites and sand
Temple Architecture One of the things that immediately struck me about temples was the sameness of them all — they are built on the same model, no matter where you find them in Egypt. There’s a “template” that is used for all temples, and although some are more complex than others, the basic layout is […]
Read MoreFood February is harvest for many of the crops grown in Egypt (they grow almost everything except coffee and tobacco in the fertile Nile valley) so there is no shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables. (note, however, that you should definitely follow the rules about eating fresh food while traveling: peel it yourself, or don’t […]
Read MoreTickets In most cases, tickets cannot be bought in advance for the sites — you have to get in line in the morning and get tickets for that day, usually on the site. At Giza, for example, tickets are available to enter the Great Pyramid only on the day you intend to climb inside, and […]
Read MoreTemperature Everyone thinks Egypt — and then thinks HOT. It is hot in Egypt, but not as hot as you might think during the winter. February is actually quite comfortable, which temps in the eighties or so. The nights get pretty cool, and there were a few times I was thankful for a light sweater. […]
Read MoreMythology There are quite literally hundreds of gods in the Egyptian pantheon, although most of them are considered ‘aspects’ of the major gods. The Sun (Re) is the source of all life and it was worshipped under a variety of names and incarnations by the Egyptians. The sun is most often represented as falcon-headed Ra, […]
Read MoreInscriptions Bas-relief vs incised Even after looking at tons of Egyptian carvings in photos and in books, I was still interested to see the differences between bas-relief carving and incised carving. Bas-Relief is done by removing the *background* of the picture, leaving the figures and writing standing above it, making them looked vaguely (or strongly) […]
Read MoreRoyal Titulary Most everyone is familiar with the common names of the pharaohs, and that fact that they are most often seen in the rounded oval of a cartouche. Even thought the cartouche was not used until later dynasties, it is still easy to identify the names of kings in early documents. Kings have a […]
Read MoreKing Lists Trying to unravel the chronology of a five thousand-year-old culture must be a hard gig. With only scanty remains and inscriptions, puzzling out who ruled when and where gets to be a guessing game. But, egyptologists are lucky. Among the inscriptions and carvings and papyrus finds are a number of histories of Egypt […]
Read MoreMastabas Early kings of Egypt were not buried in pyramids, instead they were buried in smaller buildings called Mastabas. The word means ‘bench’. Mastabas are mutli-roomed tombs that are built above-ground. THey can be very elaborate and contain many storage rooms and passageways. Mastabas are usually rectangular, with a flat roof and slightly sloping walls. […]
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