Copts

February 1, 2003.Reading time 1 minute.

Coptic Christianity Many of the non-muslims in Egypt are Coptic Christians, a branch of the Christian church that is based on the teachings of St. Mark, who came to Egypt in 50 CE. They are related to the Greek Orthodox church, but they have their own leadership and administrative structure. Copt, or Coptic, is merely […]

Amun-min

February 1, 2003.Reading time 1 minute.

Amun-Min Amun-Min is the god of fertility, and has only one arm and one leg. This is because while the other gods were off fighting, they left him in charge of the tombs and the temples — he made every woman left behind pregnant. They cut off his arm to punish him. They went to […]

Whirling Dervishes

February 1, 2003.Reading time 2 minutes.

Whirling Dervishes One of the interesting side-trips we took in Cairo was to a “show” featuring Whirling Dervishes. While we all packed into the small hall at the Citadel, sitting on folding chairs, the group played music and drums. It’s an odd-sounding music to western ears. Then, the dervishes — sufi mystics — began to […]

Animals

February 1, 2003.Reading time 4 minutes.

Animals One of the things that we’re not used to seeing is the huge number of animals that are being led around, driven in herds, ridden, or pulling carts. You’re quite unlikely to see a donkey cart in New York, but here they are more common than cars or trucks, it seems. We saw water […]

Driving

February 1, 2003.Reading time 3 minutes.

Driving Cairo is a huge city, with an enormous number of cars, carts, motorcycles, pedestrians, and animals. If you choose to try to drive here, you’re a braver man than I, Gunga Din. It was nerve-wracking just being a passenger! There are modern traffic signals all over Cairo now, but they appear to be mostly […]

Famous Egyptologists

February 1, 2003.Reading time 13 minutes.

Egyptologists The study of Egyptian History is termed Egyptology — many of the men and women who have delved into the history of egypt have been archaeologists, sociologists and historians interesting in Egyptian history. Others have been tomb robbers, intent only on plundering the riches found in the Egyptian desert. In many places in this […]

Temple Architecture

February 1, 2003.Reading time 5 minutes.

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 […]

Food

February 1, 2003.Reading time 6 minutes.

Food 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 […]

Getting Tickets