Cairo Chronicle, Issue #4, Oct. 10, 1999

Well, hello again!

It's great that so many of you have been writing back to us concerning these chronicles.  It makes us so glad for the wonders of the internet - the world is so much smaller.

I bet you've been wondering when we would finally get around to it, but....we finally went to see the great pyramids of Giza. All three of them. We'd been putting it off until we had a little free time, and until we had our residence visas.  A lot of things are cheaper if you are a resident. But it turned out after all the waiting, that we paid the same as everyone else. Oh well. Our consolation is that when we go to the Egyptian museum, it WILL be less expensive by a LOT. We had the opportunity to see these wonders of the ancient world because of Egypt's Armed Forces Day -- October 6 -- commemorating the same date in 1973 when Egypt won the Sinai Peninsula back from Israel, who had captured the peninsula 6 years earlier. For those who recall the Camp David Accords on the news, and the resulting tension in the Middle East, it was at an October 6 parade that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. The grandstand where Sadat was assassinated is located across the street from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Now to the details of the adventure. The day started by sharing a station wagon taxi with two other AIS teachers, Bob and Sharon Ratzburg.  They had been at the Nile Hilton recently, and had found a driver willing to take us around all day for only 75 LE (about 25 dollars).  We headed out to Giza and finally could see the Pyramids in the distance, even though the air was a bit smoggy.  And there they were, on the edge of the city, with only the desert in the distance.  There are three HUGE pyramids at the site (the famous ones), the Sphinx (also famous), and some smaller ones (not so famous). Our first stop was to a plateau where you could rent camels, buy trinkets and take scenic pictures :-) While there, we overheard a tour guide explaining that apartments and villas had been built on this plateau in the days of Egyptian President Nasser. When Sadat and Mubarak took over power, however, they firmly decided that the pyramids were not just for the rich and well-heeled, but for everyone. They summarily caused these fine houses and apartments to be leveled. As we looked in the direction of the guide's pointing finger, not fifteen to twenty yards away we noticed some steel prongs emerging from the ground and some modern, but weathered-looking, foundations. We both were thankful to Sadat and Mubarak -- we hope you are, too!

We drove around the pyramid grounds with Mohamed, our driver, and he said, "You don't want to go inside, do you?" a doubtful, almost discouraging, tone to his voice.  We all said, "Of course we do! Yes!" and 30 LE and 30 minutes later found out why he sounded that way.  The inside of the tombs are quite hot and stuffy. Not the kind of place you want to be when it's 95 degrees outside. The tombs are preserved to as closely resemble the way they were in the ancient times as can be reasonably done, so there is no air conditioning. Also, the dust and stale air is enough to challenge any asthmatic. To give you an idea about how hot it was inside, the 95-degree air felt rather chilly after emerging from its depths! I'll leave the temperature calculations we endured to your imagination. Furthermore, the tombs are completely undecorated (probably because of tomb robbers and archeologists). But they were interesting. The first (and last) one we entered was the smallest and most distant of the three: the tomb of Menkaure'. In order to enter, you must go down a LONG and STEEP four-foot-high ramp. Your back kinda hurts from the bending you do, and your out-of-shape legs really get a good workout. You descend into an anteroom that has a ceiling about 10 feet high, and about 15 foot square. There are some chiseled designs in this room, but the most interesting is the wooden beam with all the grafitti left over the years. We then ducked (yes, literally) into another corridor that led to a second chamber. It was here we saw the original entrance -- about 20 feet above the floor of the first chamber. I could only imagine the Egyptians who were working on this tomb, having to haul themselves -- and the King's afterlife neccesities -- up and down that entrance. The king's chamber was beyond the entance room, and down another, steeper ramp with what seemed even less headroom than the first! The king's chamber was barren, and about half the size of a portable classroom. There was a small step down into the area where the sarcophagus was housed, but no elaborate ornamentation, except for a domed ceiling cut from granite. The site was disappointing because there were no painted walls, but thrilling because of its history and majesty. The rocks used to make the Pyramids, as you may be able to tell from some of the pictures, are about 3 feet tall. Signs on the outside remind visitors not to climb the pyramids, but that doesn't stop some from (unsuccessfully) trying. We have been told by the Ratzburgs that the step pyramids at Saqqara are much smaller and better preserved, and have PAINTINGS. So, we'll probably go there in November.

After our tour of the pyramids' interior, we went to the Cheops (or Pharaoh Khufu) boat museum, and saw a funerary boat used for the Pharaoh's journey to the afterlife.  In order to see this wonder of the ancient world, we had to don white slippers over our shoes that reminded me of those Bear-Foot slippers without the brown fuzziness. The boat was quite large. About as big as four or five catamarans laid stem to stern. There were actually two boats, but one boat was ruined. Apparently, the team of archaeologists who found it had wanted so badly to preserve the boat that they covered it with a makeshift housing. But water from a nearby pipeline had seeped in through a hole in the housing, and rotted the ages-old wood. The other boat, preserved in the museum, was put together in the same way that models are assembled: each piece of wood had a number on it, which was connected to another piece of wood with ropes. The captain of the boat sat in the front, commanding two oarsmen at each of the oars to row. The sleek design of the boat, and the way it was manufactured, allowed the boat's wood and rope fibers to expand in the water, naturally sealing all the gaps in the hull. Quite a feat for those ancients, huh? Below the deck, food and material possessions for use in the afterlife were stored. On deck, the pharaoh's coffin would sit inside the hut-like area of the boat with his family and advisors watching over him. The back of the boat was manned by two rudder operators. One would take the left rudder, one the right. It was a delightful museum. Maybe you could take a field trip there one day ;-)

Our final stop at the site was the Sphinx.  It takes going through a temple site to get a closer look, which we happily did. In the temple was a waterless well that people tossed all sorts of money into. We were certain that we saw at least five different kinds of coins. After walking through the temple's corridors, the site of the Sphinx is overwhelming. The head is majestic, and scarred by time. A gateway on the opposite side of the Sphinx is a reminder of what once must have been a majestic entryway to this site. A tablet in hieroglyphics is at the base of the site, but unreadable from the tourist's vantage point. What we noticed that we hadn't in pictures was that the Sphinx has a tail!  It curls up the side of its body just like Nigel resting on the couch.  After we left the Sphinx and headed for our taxi, a military band, all dressed in Pharaonic costume, came by playing _horribly_ out of tune.  Either they had been playing all day, or just didn't bother. I could understand trumpets, and flutes and reed instruments in the band. But since when does a Pharaonic marching band (ahem) play the bagpipes?

The rest of the day was spent going to a papyrus museum/shop where they showed us how papyrus was made, and of course lured us into buying. **MOMENTARY DIVERSION: For those who are curious about papyrus, it is a tall plant -- growing as tall as 10 meters. It was considered a holy plant because of its triangular stem (a symbol of Eternal Life) and its flower, which looks makes the plant look like a feathery umbrella. Its flower looked to ancients like the rays of the sun, a further testimony to its holiness. The stem is edible -- having a sweet taste like sugar cane. The ancients would chew up the stem and spit out the pulp for a tasty treat. In oder to make paper, the stem was cut lengthwise into thin strips and placed in water for six days. After six days, the strips were taken out and lain on a flat surface, usually stone, side by side. The stem's pulp is naturally sticky, and therefore acts as a natural adhesive. After creating one layer of strips vertically, the process is repeated by placing the papyrus strips horizontally across the vertical strips. The papyrus is never woven, but rather made into a thick, two-ply sheet of paper. ** The prices at the papyrus shop were better than the "great" place a teacher had taken us to at the Khan al-Khalili.  And they had beautiful work.  But Bob and Sharon didn't have enough cash on them.  They tried to use their Visa debit card, but the shop would only charge 500 LE of the price.  The owner sent his little boy (about 8 or so) with us to the ATM machine, so that they could pay him and send him back. But we were hungry!  So instead of taking us straight to an ATM machine, Mohamed took us to lunch.  We ate at the famous Felfela restaurant, which serves Egyptian specialties.  The owner's son sat in the taxi with Mohamed while we ate!  Didn't even protest.  We felt bad, but our Arabic wasn't good enough to explain that we could wait to eat until after we'd paid the boy.  We did finally get to an ATM and drove him back.

School is flying along.  We just handed out our 1st quarter progress reports here.  Barbara is working on a Halloween program.  Grades PK-3 are going to have a costume parade, and grades 4-6 are going to sing a song each.  Then the whole group will finish with "The Monster Mash."  Barbara has taught that song before, so it should be fun to see how these kids do with it.  The kids really seem to get excited about programs, and work hard to get them ready. Halloween is B--I--G here in Egypt, and we understand it's especially big at AIS.

We miss you all, and hope to hear from you when you can write.

Ma Salaama,

Barbara and Todd

P.S. For those of you anxiously wanting pictures of Todd & Barbara on Camel-hump or Donkey-back, you'll need to wait for our trip to Saqqara in November. We understand the animals there make for better pictures, and are less expensive to rent.