by Ruth Hay
Unlike Alina, I enjoyed the temple the most. Dedicated to two gods, it is unique in Egypt. The people feared crocodiles immensely. Before the High Dam was constructed, crocodiles were common on this stretch of the Nile and they often ate unsuspecting children or animals. The temple to Sobek, the croc god, was placed here to placate the crocodiles and live ones were worshipped. A channel from the river was dug right into the temple and crocodiles swam in to be fed. No live ones now, thankfully, but a museum with mummified crocodiles shows their size. Kids would love this!
The clever thing is that the other god was Ra-Herakhty (sp?), a sun god of great power and the idea was to cancel out the evil of the crocodiles by balancing their power with that of a good force.
This temple had columns supporting what was left of the roof. Right on top of these columns, shaded from the sun, were splashes of colour and vulture birds with spread wings showing their original black, red and blue paint were on the roof beams. I craned my neck to see the capitals and recognized the flower and plant shapes I had seen before at Philae. Figures circled the rest of each column; the usual gods and pharaohs meeting and receiving offerings. These seem to be standard everywhere but there was one area on walls far back from the river that was unique.
I only learned what the carvings meant by listening in to a guide who was instructing a group of scholars.
Behind the wall, priests hid and answered questions put to the gods of the temple.
There were no colours left on this wall but the carvings were deeply incised and undamaged.
Just about eye level there was a rectangular hole with eyes and ears carved on each side. The questions and answers came through here. You could imagine the concealed priests sitting on a stool, waiting for petitioners.
Below were figures, representing to people who could not read, that the gods were watching (the Eye of Horus) and would tell the truth (a feather with legs). The hawk shape of Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, hovered over the scene. Weird but informative.
Note: Alina will need to read this later as she spent the entire time examining clothing on the temple walls and making sketches.
EDFU was quite different. First we needed to take a garry (horse-drawn carriage) to get there from the ship. I was very proud of Elaine. She dismissed two drivers who used their whips on the poor horses. The drivers were arguing with Elaine about this treatment, but, as there were many more carriages in line they had to move away in the end. We cheered!
E said Edfu was like the King’s Palace, similar to a castle with outer wall, enclosed yard, and keep with private apartments. It was deep beneath a present-day village and must have been excavated at some point. The exterior walls were huge. I wandered away by myself and found a complete story carved into a long unbroken stretch of rear wall. Even I could interpret it as I had read the outline in a book. It was like an ancient Egyptian cartoon!
Set, the evil brother of Osiris, conspired to have him cut into many pieces. Isis restored him to life by magic means and thus Horus was born. Horus became his father’s avenger and pursued Set, represented by a hippopotamus, another feared Nile creature. Horus’ success was underscored by the hippo figure becoming smaller and smaller to the end of the wall as he was attacked by Horus’ spear. It was clear that good won over evil, at least that time!
Back to the ship. The timing is vital. Everyone had a slip of paper instructing them which numbered carriage to take and when to meet it. This scheme ensures the men will receive payment. We could see a group of ships waiting to use our dock space, so we had to leave quickly to keep our prime position at the head of the flotilla. Fortunately, I had found my way back to the group by departure time.
* * *
Elaine informed the travellers during afternoon tea that the ship would pass through the Esna lock system that controls water flow. This would happen during the night. Those who wished to watch the procedure could come on deck but others should not be worried by hearing the crew running from one point to another. E warned there could also be a certain amount of shouting noise.
Alina shrugged her shoulders and observed to Anna that it was unlikely she would be awakened by anything. The combination of sun and stimulating things to see and do, meant she was tired out by the end of the day. Anna agreed. She consulted their itinerary and informed Alina that the next stop would be Luxor.
“So, what can we expect in Luxor that we haven’t already seen?” she asked.
Anna hardly knew where to begin to explain the majesty of Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt. It was unlikely they would see everything, but as it was the last place on their tour, they would make every effort to experience as much as possible until their physical strength ran out.
It was good to know they would soon connect with Philip, and possibly Nigel also. Anna was still a little apprehensive about the latter encounter, but refused to let this worry spoil the upcoming highlights of the entire Egyptian adventure for Alina.
The final day on the MS Prince Abbas began with an early morning sail into Luxor.
Anna and Alina were stationed on their balcony with coffee in hand to watch the parade of hotels, town buildings, car and horse traffic on the Corniche. They were intrigued by the tops of massive temples glimpsed behind high outer walls or rows of clipped trees.
After checking on the top deck, Alina confirmed that the west bank of the Nile was quite different from the spectacular views they had seen already. “It looks more rural and there’s the most delicious smell of wood smoke drifting over to us.”
“The west is for the city of the dead, Alina. “The temples of Karnak and Luxor are some of the most extensive complexes in all Egypt. They belonged to the living pharaohs. The dead were buried in the Valleys across the Nile, near the setting sun.”
“Sounds spooky to me!” announced Alina with a shiver, not entirely due to the cool air.
“Well, it was meant to be very spooky but that didn’t prevent robbers from looting most of the tombs that have been discovered to date.”
“All except Tutankhamen’s tomb,” Alina pointed out. “It must have been well hidden.”
“I guess so. I am not sure we will get a chance to see it. King Tut is very popular and there will be a queue a mile long, I think. Too bad we missed the Cairo Museum this time around. The tomb treasures are there.”
“Aha! So you are anticipating another tour of Egypt, Anna?”
“We’ll see! When things calm down we could visit Cairo and the Great Pyramids. That quick glimpse we saw from the plane merely whetted my appetite, but first, we have to survive another long day here.”
“Let’s get started then!” declared Alina. “If we survive, we’ll be in the Sheraton Hotel tonight, and every night, until we leave for home.”
The tour of the temple complexes began at Karnak. The 250-acre site was overwhelming in many ways. The pylon gateways were huge compared to any others they had seen.
The famous Hypostyle Hall with its 134 towering columns, deeply incised with Ramses the Great’s cartouche, was simply astounding in size and impact. The scale was close to frightening.
Elaine’s Egyptologist guide for the day, Khalid, asked the group to try to encircle one of the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall. It took seven of the tourists with arms outstretched to make it around. This one feature is larger than any European cathedral, Khalid explained. He said Karnak was dedicated to Amun and this god was so important that each succeeding pharaoh would add a section to declare his piety.
“Ramses gets in everywhere!” commented Anna, who could now recognize his name cartouche. “I guess when you reign for so long you have many more opportunities to add your signature!”
Khalid made a good attempt to answer questions and teach history to the group, but it was a futile task. The series of temples, chapels, colossi and obelisks was seemingly unending. There was just too much to take in and the sounds of a variety of languages filtering over from nearby groups did not help their concentration.
At
this point, Anna and Alina decided to venture off on their own, after learning the assembly point and time for their group.
They found the large sacred lake and sat down on benches arranged on one side to listen to a presentation about its purpose. Focussing on one element made the information easier to absorb.
They learned that the rectangular lake contained holy water for the use of the army of priests who served the Karnak complex. During certain rituals, the barque of Amun, a ship that conveyed the statue of the god, would be floated on the lake. At the annual Opet festival the barque would be sailed upriver in a great procession to the Temple of Luxor where Amun would meet with his wife Mut’s statue, thereby renewing the fertility of the land itself.
After their rest at the lake, Anna and Alina moved away from the crowded sections of the complex and wandered around looking at walls and broken structures. Rounding a partial column they came upon three archaelogists dusting hieroglyphs with soft brushes to remove stone particles.
“Work still progresses here,” said Alina, “although how they work in this heat is beyond me.”
The women sipped from their water bottles and struggled on looking for shade. Everywhere they turned they could see abandoned stones tumbled around on grassy hillocks or pieces of broken statues that must once have been enormous.
Standing by the huge legs of one of these statues, Alina began to quote lines from a poem she had learned at school.
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
And on the pedestal these words appear –
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Anna recognized the poem, although she had not heard any part of it for decades. She applauded Alina for choosing the perfect speech for the location and promptly took a photograph to commemorate the moment.
“Do you think Shelley came here and read the hieroglyphs on these legs of stone and then wrote the poem?” Alina was walking around the remains and examining the carvings.
“I doubt it!” replied Anna. “How I wish I could read these hieroglyphs. It is like suddenly finding you can no longer understand your own language. It is immensely frustrating!”
Around a rocky hillside that might once have been a temple wall, they found a small square building with an open entrance flanked by two columns. As they looked at the paintings on the portals where some tan-coloured body paint still survived, a figure in a long, white robe popped out from the pitch-black interior and completely surprised them.
“You wish to see Sekhmet?” asked the man, bowing low and indicating it was permitted to enter.
Anna was not sure this was approved behaviour for tourists but she happened to be curious about Sekhmet. Mohammed had told her story in one of his Nubian lectures.
When Alina saw her partner moving toward the dark entrance she grabbed her hand and whispered urgently, “What are you thinking? This could be dangerous.”
“Look, I heard the story. It has intrigued me ever since. I want to see the statue.”
“What story are you talking about?”
Anna began to tell her. The man waited impatiently, looking around for tourist guards.
“Sekhmet was portrayed as a lion-headed goddess crowned with a sun disk and snake and called The Powerful One or The Destroyer. She was one of the oldest deities in Egypt and thought to be of Nubian origin.
Ra, the sun god, wished to punish mankind for not obeying his laws. He sent Sekhmet, (Hathor, as a lion) to Earth, where she went on a killing rampage until the fields ran with blood.
Seeing this wanton destruction Ra repented, but Sekhmet was consumed by bloodlust and could not be halted.
Ra poured 7000 jugs of beer, stained red with pomegranate juice, in Sekhmet’s path.
She gorged on the beer, thinking it was blood, became drunk, and slept for three days after which she had recovered her sanity. Mankind was saved.
When she awoke she saw the god Ptah and fell in love. Their union (creative and destructive forces) gave birth to Nefertum, a god of healing so the balance of the world, called Ma’at, was re-established.”
“So, you do know the story! I am impressed! But why do you want to take this risk?”
Anna had remembered the story because of the female connection and because it had echoes of other myth stories. She knew lions were feared and respected in Upper Egypt. She had hoped to see an image of this powerful lioness and this was her chance.
Alina decided to stay outside in case Anna needed help. She was not happy with her friend’s decision but watched to make sure Anna was safe.
The dark-skinned man with the white turban mimed to Anna to wait at the entrance but to have her camera ready. He disappeared for a moment or two then sunlight shone down from the roof and illuminated an unusual and powerful-looking statue of a seated woman with an ankh symbol in her hand and a lion’s head wearing a sun disk crown.
Amazed and delighted, Anna lost no time in taking pictures, hoping the contrast between light and dark would not spoil the effect she was witnessing.
When the man reappeared she gave him several Egyptian pounds and thanked him.
As they walked away, Anna asked Alina if she knew how the trick was done.
“He just climbed up on top of the structure and removed a stone, I think. It was quite remarkable. I’ll bet no one else in our group has seen this.”
“That reminds me. We had better head for that assembly point Elaine mentioned. I would hate to get lost here when darkness falls.”
The very thought gave energy to the women and they headed to the northwest corner of the complex where Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s obelisk marked the location of a gigantic scarab beetle statue. As instructed by Khalid, the group circled the scarab three times for good luck and the promise of returning to Egypt one day.
Chapter Nineteen
LUXOR (THEBES).
What an incredible day! Karnak was excellent, although overwhelming. My pictures of Sekhmet were superb, thank goodness. I will have to think how to display them. Perhaps a whole wall can be devoted to Egypt when we get home.
The day went on forever and we all began to flag by the time we reached Luxor temple.
This was somewhat of an anti-climax after the splendours of Karnak but the plan to re-connect the two across the three miles between them, should make an impressive entrance. For now the partial avenue of sphinx-like ram statues with a tiny Ramses (here again!) between the front legs is remarkable. The ram is the animal symbol of Amun.
Once again Ramses dominated this temple, from the remaining three (of six original) statues at the entrance, through to the scenes of his great battle with the Hittites which we had seen before at Abu Simbel.
It was interesting to see wall carvings of the Opet festival in action. Amun’s wife Mut and their son Khonsu made up another trio of gods; father mother and child, which is traditional here. Perhaps the common people could better relate to these distant gods if they were formed into families. The idea of parading statues, dressed in clothes and make-up, through the streets is peculiar to me but, on reflection, there are some religions that do this even today.
I think we must have been delayed in our tour schedule. It was hours since we had had breakfast and Alina was not the only one complaining of fatigue. She gets hypoglycemic if she goes too long between meals. Elaine was smart to cut the tour of Luxor short at this point and take us by bus to the Sheraton Hotel where we had lunch served to us immediately on arrival.
The quick glimpse of the hotel was a good start to our stay. We were welcomed at the entrance by a band playing local instruments and ushered through the two-storey marble foyer to a spacious terrace overlooking the circular hotel pool with the Nile visible beyond it. We sank down gratefully and were plied with food and drinks until we had to ask them to stop.
The thought of moving to our rooms was more than some of the group could contemplate.
Washr
ooms were near at hand and Alina and I just sat at our table admiring the views until we had recovered and the temperature had finally begun to cool. The staff left us in peace so it was quite late before we approached the reception desk and requested our keys. A charming young lady escorted us onto the elevator, along a quiet hallway and opened the door to our room.
The luggage was waiting (always a pleasant surprise when it has been out of our control for so many hours), but we strolled past it and straight out to the marble-floored balcony where we had a fabulous view of the Nile traffic and right over to the west bank where the hills had turned eraser pink in the afterglow of the sinking sun.
Honestly, our accommodations have been in all respects superior. When we had absorbed some of the amazing view and turned to thank the receptionist, we found the door closed, the air conditioning turned on and terrycloth robes spread out on the beds ready for us.
All this rejuvenated us completely and we hugged each other in delight.
Alina was anxious to shower, change, and look around the hotel, our home for the next week.
I agreed and let her go first while I caught up with my journal which I wrote while seated on the balcony watching the light change. I am more and more certain these notes will be invaluable for keeping track of our trip highlights.
* * *
The next day was an ‘at leisure day’ on the schedule. Elaine had arranged a list of choices for those who wished to venture out of the hotel grounds. A few people took the suggestions and set off after breakfast. Anna and Alina declined.
The Karnak restaurant had a buffet set-up, similar in style to The Old Cataract. They decided to take it easy for most of the day, and sampled fresh-squeezed orange juice, cereals with a variety of fruits, followed by delicious pastries and copious amounts of coffee which they drank from the carafe on their table until it was empty.