January 13

Today seemed like the first real day of the trip. I had a nice photo opportunity this morning, as Sarabeth and I sat reading some ancient Egyptian excerpts. We just happened to be in a spot that overlooked the Nile—very appropriate for the material. (I was surprised that the texts we read on the legend of Osiris and Isis did not go into more detail.) We hopped on the bus that took us to our ship, the Serenade, in Luxor. The meals provided by the ship are hardly Egyptian, but it’s nice to ease my stomach into completely different foods from my normal diet.
The best part about the day was our trip to Karnac. The temple here is enormous and amazing. Our guide for the Egypt part of the trip (I think his name is spelled Hisham) is very knowledgeable and Prof. Krentz is keeping him on his toes. On the bus ride there we got some basic background to Egyptian history. This temple was first built in the Middle Kingdom (that’s 2000 BCE!), and the additions to the structure continue into the New Kingdom (1500-1000 BCE). The temple is dedicated to the main god, Aman Ra. From our readings and from the inscriptions in the temple, the description of his worship seems very monotheistic, which surprised me. The preservation of this site is unreal. There are even spots where the paint still exists. Though imagining these beautiful structures covered in paint seems wrong to me.
My favorite part of the temple was the obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut. She ruled as pharaoh for about 20 years during the New Kingdom. For whatever reason, most likely religious but possibly political, her inscriptions (made by every pharaoh on the columns and surfaces of the temple) inside the temple were uniformly removed. According to our guide she was “monumentally assassinated.” The obelisk she constructed, however, could not be removed or the surfaces re-inscribed as it is considered to physically represent the sun god himself. The priests constructed a huge wall to hide the obelisk. This wall, meant to diminish the memory of Hatshepsut, actually ensured it as the wall protected the obelisk over time and has helped to preserve it beautifully.
After the trip to the temple, we stopped at a shop that sold real papyrus paper. We even saw a demonstration on how papyrus is made and got to see firsthand how durable it is. (It’s no surprise that documents written on this paper have lasted so long!)
Next, we went to the Temple Luxor. This temple, until a few decades ago, was almost completely filled in with mud, an effect of the Nile’s flooding. The façade of the temple, which was lit up since we went here at night, was absolutely beautiful. I doubt any other place we visit will be able to surpass it. To me, the most interesting part about this temple is how history has left its mark on it. Our guide says its nickname is the “Temple of Humanity.” The structure was built for the most part by two of Egypt most famous pharaohs: Aminophenes III (he used his great wealth to care more for detail and intricacy) and Ramesses II (he put up statues to himself everywhere there was room). When Alexander the Great came in 332 BCE, he had himself coroneted as pharaoh (realizing the way to the Egyptian heart was through religion) and cut away one room’s center columns to construct a chapel, dedicated to Aman Ra and depicting himself as a pharaoh. The Romans left their mark by putting up frescoes over some of the insricbed walls and building two ionic columns, an arch and a niche. When Christianity became the religion of the empire the space was used for a time as a church. And now, with the rise of Islam, there stand a mosque, built in the 11th century CE, basically on top of the temple. Again, because of the mud deposits, the ground level 3000 years later was much higher, so the mosque has been excavated around and now almost falls into the temple.
I am so impressed by Egyptian history. Seeing these sites first hand adds entire levels of depth and richness to the material we are learning. (Like when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified under Ramesses II and the images of the papyrus and lotus flowers, each representing the two kingdoms respectively, were inscribed into these monuments.) The fact that we will be travelling on the Nile, the very heart and life of ancient Egypt, just makes this whole experience all that more amazing.