Day 4: "i love egypt"

After two great days with the Briers and Mohammed, I didn't know what we would do on Thursday when the Far Horizons group was traveling to Luxor. Luckily, Mohammed had a friend that was also a tour guide. Mohammed set everything up for Mother and me and almost jumped off of the bus on Wednesday afternoon without telling us his friend's name. "I made it easy for you. His name is Mohammed -- you're in Egypt, what did you expect?"Mohammed (Mohammed I's friend) and Mohammed's friend, Moudi, picked us up at our hotel on Thursday morning. Both Mohammeds (okay, honestly, this is turning into an Abbott and Costello routine) arranged a half day of touring Islamic, Coptic, and Old Cairo. As Mother and I set off for the Citadel, we had no idea how much...

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Posted in: cairo,coptic cairo,egypt,giza,islamic cairo,leisure photos,old cairo,walk like an egyptian

Day 3: "and behind this pyramid..."

Let's get this out in the open now: I misspelled the name of one of the largest and oldest necropoli on my Egyptology midterm. There. From this day forward, you can "wake me up in the middle of the night," ask me to spell Saqqara, and I will respond with S-A-Q-Q-A-R-A. Thank you. We can now go fry bigger fish.Our second day with Professor Brier and Pat started a wee bit earlier to accomodate the long drive out to Memphis, the oldest capital of Upper and Lower Egypt. Memphis is in the valley near the Saqqara and Dashur plateaus. Almost everything that remains of the city has been damaged by thousands of years of mud and water. The high water table that allowed Memphis to thrive now jeopardizes the integrity of the artifacts. We visited the open...

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Posted in: bob brier,dashur,egypt,far horizons,leisure photos,saqqara,traveling

Day 2: i'm sailing away with khufu

(A warning for my dear classmate, Benjamin Fisher: This post will discuss a certain solar boat museum. There will even be pictures. Please take this opportunity to prepare yourself appropriately.)What happens when you combine six new friends, two great guides, renowned Egyptologist Dr. Bob Brier, and art historian Patricia Remler? Two fantastic days exploring ancient Egypt! After venturing to the Egyptian Museum the previous day on our own, it was really nice to have not one but three real guides to show us around the Giza Plateau.Mother and I met the Briers and Mohommed, the local tour guide, early Tuesday morning at the Marriott in Zamalek. We were soon introduced to the six other travelers touring with Far Horizons, a US-based tour company...

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Posted in: bob brier,culture,egypt,far horizons,giza,leisure photos,solar boat,traveling