Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Journey to Egypt 2012
Monday, July 13, 2009
The largest open-air museum in the world
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Through the Lock at Esna
OK, I went away..... but I'm back now. And on to Esna.
Although the Nile gently and effortlessly flows north to the Med without disruption from Aswan, shipping needs a little assistance around the small town of Esna. It is located about 35 miles south of Luxor. Esna's history is long, although not so glamorous. At first, its main function was to service that great Trans-Nile Highway that ran from Er-Rashid over 2000 km to the Sudan. It would become the capital of the 3rd Province (Nome) of Egypt during the Greek and Roman Eras, and a major Ptolemaic Temple would be built here to the Goddess Khnum.
The great French novelist, Flaubert, who wrote Madame Bovary, visited Esna was propositioned by an "almah" who "danced" for him " somewhat not so virtuously"! Wild times indeed.
The barrage, holding lake, and lock were first constructed in 1906, with constant expanding and remodeling to accomodate larger and larger vessels. The Egyptian Dam Authority has been building a second "twin lock" adjacent to the first, for the last ten years. Each year, I am told, it will be finished. As we say, "from your mouth to God's ears!".
It is essential to complete this lock, because travel has swollen incredibly over the past 2 decades- mostly due to the fact that there are nearly 100 cruise ships today on the Nile! Each has to pass through the lock- FROM BOTH DIRECTIONS. The 405 in LA at rush hour is a piece of cake compared to Esna.
At times, the queue can back you up for 5 hrs, as you patiently wait your turn. However, take heart..... there are ways to amuse yourself. If you are lucky, your ship's "Rais", or captain, can tie up along the dock for a bit and allow you to disembark to visit the town. Here, you may find a traditional coffee house and get buzzed with the thick "mud" or smoke some Sheeshah, molasses and tobacco. Or, you may choose something a bit tamer, like getting up close and personal with a snake charmer in the Suq!
But for those who wish to stay onboard and think that they can just relax on the upper deck, read, sun or nap..... as a New Yorker once said- "fuggedaboutit". In the holding lake dozens of hawkers have discovered that they have a captive audience. So, they brazenly paddle out to your ship and their cries pierce the air as they try to peddle their goods. If you can forget the distracting side, and vow not to buy anything, the "show" is quite funny. They will even toss goods up to the boat deck for you to examine, hoping that you either buy or throw it back down. Of course, don't forget, there's WATER all around; so goods get wet, money gets wet, money gets lost, goods get lost. All in all, its an INTERACTIVE BUYING/COMEDY SHOW to help while away the hours.
At last, after hours of waiting in line, the lock can be entered and passed through. Sometimes this occurs during the day; at other times, late at night. Either way, its an adventure that everyone enjoys seeing from the upper deck. Today's cruise ships may be small by ocean liner standards, but there is only about 1 metre's space between the wall of the lock and the typical Nile cruiser- tight quarters to say the least. In these photos, you can see what I mean.
Once you're through the lock at Esna, its smooth sailing til Luxor, just to the north. For generations, the only way to get across the Nile at Luxor was by using a local ferry. These old, leakey, noisy and smelly diesel ferries were a nightmare to take to the West Bank and Qurna. However, they were local, and colorful to say the least.
About 8 years ago, a new bridge was constructed about 7 km south of town, to facilitate travel between the 2 banks of the Nile. The transportation authority deemed it essential to maintain the visual integrity of Luxor and the West Bank; so they opted for the new bridge that far south of town. Today, passing under it marks your entry and approach into this fabulous archaeological community- containing the world's largest open air museum, the Karnak Temple.
This is entering town in style! Next----- Luxor!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Up North, down the Nile
This gives everyone a chance to take a deep breath, relax, and ponder the incredible sites seen so far on the journey. The weather is wonderful, although a bit breezy, as you're heading into the breeze as you move north- thus doubling the windspeed and "windchill factor". However, the sun warms things pleasantly. As Egypt slowly streams past you, the ever-changing views of the countryside are marvelous.
In addition, people have a chance to roam the boat, visit the bridge and learn about how to navigate on the river.
Our first stop is Kom Ombo. Right along the eastern bank of the Nile, it is a unique temple of the Ptolemaic Era.
The Ptolemies were the descendants of Alexander the Great's Greek general, Ptolemy, who would then create his own kingdom after Alex's death. There would be 13 Ptolemies, and several Cleopatras- including Elizabeth Taylor! She would also be known as Cleopatra VII.
This temple, dated to the 3rd Century BCE., would be designed as a dual temple- with worship of the Nile crocodile god, Sobek, and the falcon protector of the pharoah, Horus, taking place side by side.
In essence, the central axis splits the temple down the middle, with courts, hypostyle halls, holy of holies.... all duplicated.
Sometimes we arrive during the day, and at other times in early evening. However, since 2004, the Supreme Council of Antiquities has created a lighting system that makes this visit even more stunning just after sunset!
We'll walk through it next.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The Glory of Ramses II
Saturday, September 27, 2008
On to Old" Aswan
Monday, September 22, 2008
Upper Egypt from modern to ancient, part 1
Once across it, the landscape radically changes. You are truly in the heart of the Saharan Desert now. There's really nothing between you and the Libyan border to the west except sand! This broad expanse of land contains a combination of both sandy dunes and red Nubian sandstone ridges. It is here that the Egyptian government chose to build both the more modern Aswan High Dam and the Aswan Int'l Airport. There's plenty of room for expansion, with no need to worry about airplane noise bothering nearby residents! This view from our plane, looking north as it is coming into the Aswan airport shows the High Dam in the background, Lake Nasser immediately to the south, and the dunes of the Sahara adjacent.
The High Dam itself is called "that thing over there!" by the Egyptians. Today, mainly have nothing but disdain for it, as promises kept never lived up to their expectations and promises made were never fulfilled. In essence, today engineers see it as a mistake, a costly failure. Conventional wisdom now says that a series of smaller dams, staggered downstream in the Nile, would have been considerably smarter and more profitable. But again, this was 1950s technology as built in the 60s with the aid of the Soviet Union. This allowed them to get their foot into the door of the Middle East in an effort to counteract the US influence as it backed Israel.
This style of dam is what is refered to as an Embankment Dam, and was finished in 1970. It is over 3800 m. long and 111 m high. At its base it is 980 m and tapers to only 40 m; with an observation parking plaza on it overlooking both Lake Nasser to the south and the holding lake and hydroelectric turbines to the north. Lake Nasser, formed by backing up the Nile waters, is over 550 km long, 50 km wide and over 80 m deep! Here you can see the slope and, in the distance, the Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument. To me, it still looks like a Soviet missile silo!
The dam's 12 turbines produce about 2.2 gigawatts of electricity, and supplies Egypt with over 15% of the national need. The dam also regulates the rising and falling floodwaters of the Nile, preserving village life and the abundant antiquities in the Nile Valley.
But the disastrous effects were not properly calculated! Over 700 Nubian villages would be flooded by the rising lake's waters, with nearly 700,000 Nubians being relocated to new villages in the Nile Valley between Aswan and Luxor. 16 ancient Egyptian temples would be flooded as well. Were it not for the international efforts of UNESCO, 3 would be physically moved and restored and reconstructed- Abu Simbel, Kalabsha, and Philae Island. The others would perish. And although the annual floods were no longer occuring, destroying villages and lifestyles on an annual basis, there no longer was the deposit of life-giving silt on the fertile farmland of the Nile Valley. This was call for the construction of 5 artificial fertilizer plants in Egypt. Artifical fertilizer means more chemicals in the ground and groundwater. The Dam has caused the river to slow down, creating stagnant areas where the parasites cause Bilharzia, an eye-disease. The dam has seriously damaged river life, limiting one of the major food sources for Egypt. And finally, the slowing of the river has greatly modifed the Nile Delta far to the north, and influenced the shape and nature of the estuary at the mouth of the river- affecting the Mediterannean.
That thing over there..... a good idea with disastrous consequences of execution.