Is it a fort or is it a castle?

582 This is Caroline, the lady who has been doing the belly dancing demonstrations

631 The Hajar Mountains on the way to Nizwa, dry but colorful.

660 The entrance to Fort Nizwa, the fort on the left the large tower on the right

671 The roof of the large tower.  The square opening the man is looking down into is one of the ports for pouring boiling oil down on invaders. 

673 The view of Nizwa and the Hajar Mountains from the large tower.  No shortage of date palms.

 

Jan 29 – Muscat, Oman.  We've been to Oman before but this is our first time in Muscat.  Last time we landed in Salala.  As is my tradition, the first time I visit a port I include some historical information in my journal.

 

Muscat is the capital of Oman.  The population of Muscat has reached 1.2 million.  Known since the early 1st century AD as an important trading port between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled by various indigenous tribes as well as foreign powers such as the Persians, Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire at various points in its history.  When it matured in the 1700s its influence extended as far as Africa.  Its location in the Gulf of Oman brought Persian tradesmen and settlers.  In the early '70s Qaboos bin Said became Sultan of Oman.  Since then Muscat has experienced growth in its economy and has become a multi-ethnic society.

 

The rocky Western Al Hajar Mountains dominate the landscape of Muscat.  The city is on the Gulf of Oman, and arm of the Arabian Sea and is very close to the Straits of Hormuz.  Muscat's economy is dominated by trade, petroleum and port services.

 

Since the 1600 it has been an Islamic country.  Despite tribal wars and foreign invasions the people of coastal ports such as Muscat prospered from maritime trade and close alliances with the Indian subcontinent.  Eventually this became a source of tension with those Omais living in the interior.

 

The Portuguese arrived in the early 1500s.  They came looking to establish relations with Oman.  However, as the ships approached the port Admiral de Albuquerque they were fired upon.  I guess he figured, "I can play that game to and he proceeded to defeat the Omani forces and burn most of the city. 

 

The Portuguese held Muscat for something like 100 years surviving attacks by Persians and the Turks.  Finally the Turks were successful in taking the city from the Portuguese.  An Omani Imam Nasir bin Murshid al-Yaribi sent his army to Muscat.  They were successful in taking the city and forcing out the Portuguese. 

 

Muscat's naval and military supremacy was re-established in the in the 1800s Said bin Sultan, who entered into a treaty with the USA.  There has been lots of internal strife between various Omani tribes but, with help from the British Qaboos bin Said put an end to this problem and renamed the country the Sultanate of Oman.

 

We have decided to head out of Muscat to Nizwa.  There are some examples of the old forts and castles in that area.  The first part of the drive was through the city of Muscat.  Oman is a very rich, very clean country and Muscat is not an exception to that rule.  There's a sameness to all the buildings with no variation in architectural style.  Square, stucco, flat-roofed buildings are the rule.  There is some variation in color from earth tones to pastel green, pink and blue.  Some businesses have more modern buildings but most of them in Muscat belong to Japanese or German auto dealers.

 

Leaving Muscat we head up into the Hajar Mountains.  The common tree in Oman is a fairly small shrub like plant with very small leaves.  Our guide told us that it only needs rain every 2-4 years and here by the ocean that's good because that's about how often it rains here.  At the higher elevations they get more rain.  Most of the water here is run-off through the wadis (dry river beds most of the time) or from ground water wells. 

 

Nizwa was a former capital of Oman and as such it has an impressive fort and castle.  The distinction between forts and castles here boils down to only one element, a castle is the home of the Imam or his administration, a fort is a garrisoned military post.  That is important to keep in mind because when you look at them from the outside they are architecturally identical.  Really, the castle is a fortification that is also the Imam's home.  This was necessary because before the unification of Oman, the various tribes and Imams often had military conflicts and the Imam's home had to be defensible.  The country is literally littered with forts and castles as each Imam had to have his own defenses.

 

Nizwa Fort was established in the 9^th century AD.  The current fort was built in 1630 by the 2^nd Imam of the Al Ya'rubi Dynasty, Bil'arab bin Sultan Al Ya'rubi, just a few years before my ancestors were driven from Bavaria to Holland and eventually to Penn's Colony in the New World.  It remained the seat of the Imamate until it was dissolved in the 1950s.  It was pretty far inland and of little interest to the seafaring Portuguese, who remained mostly in the Muscat area.

 

Before entering the fort we walked through Nizwa's old souq.  It was pretty well deserted at 11am.  A few men were buying prepackaged food at some of the counters along the edge of the souq.  Many of the fruit and vegetable stands were closed and those that were open had no customers.

 

Nizwa fort has two major parts.  A three-story fortified structure and a 66-foot high, very large, oval shaped tower that provides 360˚ view of the city and its surroundings.  There's a defensive wall surrounding a large courtyard that has several water wells and workshops.  Leading from the outer courtyard into the structure is a fairly long, irregular, guarded passageway.  Inside the structure on the ground level are more wells, soldier's quarters, many rooms dedicated to food storage, an ablution room (to use for ritual cleansing before the 5 daily prayer times) and rooms for the administrative and command staff of the fort.

 

The 1^st floor (Omanis use the European system of labeling floors, Ground Floor is 0, first level up is 1, etc.) has the prayer room just up the stairs from the ablution room, more storage rooms, what appeared to be officer's quarters and meeting rooms.  It also provides access to the small North Tower.  Most of the rooms are fairly small and none of them were labeled.  The 1^st floor does have access to one water well.

 

The 2^nd floor consists of much larger rooms, perhaps for training or the commanding officer's quarters, perhaps even living space for the Imam when he was visiting the fort.  The 2^nd floor has access to two water wells, another indication that it was occupied by VIPs.  Each floor has very high ceilings, maybe 12 feet or so.  That would make the structure's height equal to about 4.5 stories in a typical US building.

 

To access the large tower you had to go all the way down to the ground level and climb stairs that were located just at the end of the guarded passageway.  This stairwell was narrow and every so often there was a wooden riser with a broad stair.  Our guide told us these were covering deep holes.  The purpose of the holes was to catch any invading soldiers by surprise in the darkness of the stairway causing them to fall to their death.  Looking upward from these inserted wooden stairs you could see a long opening above.  This opening comes out on the floor of the tower and they were used to pour hot oil down onto the invading troops, not only to injure them but to insure that they were distracted enough to fall into the holes below.

 

Surrounding the top of the tower roof is 20-fot high crenelated wall.  At the base of the wall were firing ports for cannon.  There are 4 two-sided stairs to the top of the wall located equally around the tower.  As the sun was shining from the south I climbed the north stairway.  This topped me out at a little over 8 floors in a US building.  At 12 floors my legs are starting to feel it.  No telling how many stairs there will be during the castle visit.

 

The view over Nizwa was very nice.  The city is an oasis in the barren Hajar Mountains.  It's filled with date palm trees so it's easy to see why the fort's emergency rations were in the large part dates.  Going back down the tower's stairway was easier than coming up but not by much.  Even though it now has some lighting it's still a dark place and after being up in the bright sunshine it's difficult to judge the somewhat uneven stairway.  Every so often you come to one of those wood covered pits and that riser is about 50% higher than the others.  My night vision is very good, I prefer to drive at night because it's much easier on my eyes, but it was still hard to see some of the stairs.

 

Throughout the fort there were displays of old jewelry, tools and clothing as well as some information about daily life during the fort's lifetime.

 

At the back of the fort are the remains of the falaj, the ancient irrigation system developed by the subjects of the Queen Sheba around 500 BC.  Underground channels were built to transport water from freshwater wells in the nearby countryside, thus providing water even during a long siege.  These channels are still used today in the city and have been replicated elsewhere to water the date palm groves and gardens.

 

We drove downtown to a Falaj Daris, a small hotel for lunch.  They put us in a nice room with a buffet.  They had chicken, beef and fish for proteins, lots of raw vegetables, potatoes, rice, cooked peas, carrots and cauliflower and pita or small rolls for bread.  It was all very tasty.  For desert they had a layer cake, dates, and a warming brazier of something they called 'Arabic Dessert".  Well, you know me; anything different or undefined has got to be sampled.  On top it looked like it might be a form of custard but when you dipped into it there was a definite bread pudding appearance.  It was delicious.  It had a much lighter consistency than the normal bread pudding, the custard was eggy and not too sweet and it included raisins that were very good.  It was the best thing on the buffet.

 

After lunch we had some time to look around and sit in the hotel's very comfortable lobby before heading to Jabreen Castle, residence of the Bil'arab bin Sultan Al Ya'rubi when he moved his capital from Nizwa to Jabreen.  He built it in the middle 1600s.  From the outside it certainly does not represent what Europeans would call a castle.  Except for the lack of a really high tower it looks just like the fort.  It does have two major towers on the North and South.  Of course it has a surrounding wall connected to the building on the east and north corners that forms a large outer courtyard.  This part of the castle is missing and what's been reconstructed is the castle itself.

 

When you pass through the entry door you come to an inner courtyard which has a well.  If you go left from here you find two large rooms for soldier's dorms, the jail, and a passageway leading to the base of the south tower that served as the armory.  Other rooms included the soldier's bath and cannonball storage.  If you go right from the inner courtyard you enter a smaller courtyard that also has a well, with a kitchen on each side.  Behind the kitchen on the left are three large store rooms.  If you cross this smaller courtyard you enter the guard's room.  It has two exits, the one you came in that leads to the small courtyard and the other in the structures wall that led to the large outer courtyard that no longer exists.  A hallway from the guard room leads to the north tower.  It's interesting that a falaj like those at the fort runs under the castle from end to end.  Apparently the Omanis had adopted this technology and used it in their construction as well.

 

When you head up to the 1^st floor on the south side of the building you find two libraries and two reception rooms as well as a hallway leading to the south tower and the castle's command post.  On the north side of the floor there's a waiting area, a conference room, a courtroom (the judicial kind), three dining rooms and a guard post in the north tower.

 

On the 2^nd floor the north half of the building is a lower rooftop.  On this level the north tower has its gunnery platform.  On the south side you have the personal residence of the Imam.  Coming up the stairs you enter a sort of living room/reception area.  Directly across this room is the Sun and Moon Room.  This is where the Imam would entertain important guests and meet with his administrators.  It's the only room in the castle with two rows of windows, the lower ones for the sun, the upper ones for the moon.  If you leave this room by the northern door you cross the living room and can enter a small space called 'The Whispering Room".  If someone has something private to say to the Imam they would leave the Sun and Moon room and go to the Whispering room to have a private talk. 

 

If you make a U-turn to the right as you enter the living room from the main stairs you find a short set of stairs that lead up to the Imam's Suite on the left.  If you turn right you enter the women's suite.  Each suite has a room between it and the stairs that was unidentified.  On this level the south tower also has a gunnery platform.

 

If you go out onto the lower room on the 2^nd floor you find some stairs to go up to the upper roof.  From the upper roof you can enter the Quran School and through the school the open upper roof.  In the corner of the upper roof is the castle's mosque.  On this level the south tower has a second gunnery platform.

 

If you think my explanation of the building's layout is confusing you should try to find your way around.  Some stairways only lead to certain floors, some rooms are reached only by other stairs and in some cases you have to go through a room to get to another hallway leading to other rooms.  In short, it's a bit of a maze.  Before starting to explore the building a docent gave us and explanation of its history and layout.  He particularly mentioned that the Sun and Moon room was the grandest in the castle and told us some stories about the Whispering Room.  Of course everyone wanted to see these rooms so we started exploring.  It was up one staircase, nope that leads to the lower roof.  Up another staircase, nope that leads to the gunnery platform of the north tower.  Up yet another staircase, through a room and up the next staircase, nope that leads to the lower roof.  Up a further staircase, nope that leads to the upper roof and the mosque.  Pretty soon we started running into each other going in various directions each one asking, "Have you found the Sun and Moon Room?"  To which the answer was a uniform, "No!"  Some gave up but many of us continued the search.  The main clues were the two rows of windows and the painted ceiling with god's eye painted on it to remind the people meeting there that god was watching.

 

Finally, across one on the landings we found an unidentified room that met the criteria and it was the only room we found that did.  The key was, directly across what I've called the living room in my description, from the Sun and Moon Room was the Whispering Room.  It seems that the sign on the Sun and Moon Room was missing.  Having satisfied ourselves we all returned to the main entrance courtyard happy but a little worn out from all the up and down staircases.

 

We drove out of town to see the Bahla Fort.  Built in the 1400s before the coming of Islam, this fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It's huge, much bigger than Nizwa.  I can see why they don't stop here, you'd spend days trying to find your way around.

 

From there we drove higher into the mountains to visit a small village that has been in the same location for 100s of years.  The oldest buildings are made of mud brick that was coated to protect it but, although this area doesn't get much rain up here the do get more and after a while the buildings start to deteriorate.  For the first couple of hundred years they had no choice but to repair them.  Now they build with concrete and the buildings are more permanent.  Since land is not really a problem they old section of the city is left to crumble in its own time and they rebuild further down the hill.  Since internal warfare is no longer a problem they don't have to use the high slopes of the mountains as a defensive technique.  They build on flatter land where their Toyotas can take them directly to their house.

 

Our guide took us for a walk up into the old part of the city.  Here and there a house was clearly inhabited but for the most part it is very much in disrepair.  Once the roof goes on a mud structure the walls are not far behind.  Just a bit more climbing up hillsides but on steep gravely pathways, not stairs.

 

After scrambling around the town for a while it was back on the bus and back to the port.  It was a very enjoyable day of touring.

 

We are not leaving Muscat until 11:00pm so they decided to have an outdoor BBQ around the midships Lido pool.  It started at 6pm and we didn't get back until about 6:45 so we headed to the room, washed up and went up to the Lido.  These outdoor eating events are popular so the seating around the pool was full so we visited the various buffet locations and headed inside the Lido Restaurant to eat.  The food was very good but I'm not sure what some of it was.  I recognized lamb and okra stew and grilled quail, but some of the things were good but unidentifiable.  One of my favorites was a white flaky fish coated with a date mixture and steamed in a wrapper.  It was delicious!  The date mixture and the fish were perfect for each other.  I'm making myself hungry thinking about it.

 

Part way through our meal we heard Arabic music and went out to poolside to find Caroline performing more of her belly dancing repertoire.  Diana got a couple of pictures.

 

After that it was lights out.

On the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, The Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman

 

 

Jan 25 – At Sea on the Red Sea.  Another typical day at sea.  By now you know my routine.  We lost an hour this morning.  I like it much better when Noon becomes 1pm.  This changing at 2am is for the birds.

 

The show tonight was the Rotterdam Cast.  The title was Iris and it was different in that there were no props.  The set up three video screens, a large horizontal one at the back of the stage and two smaller vertical one at the sides of the stage in front.  Three projectors put the images on the screens.  The right and left screens extended the image on the larger screen.  The dancers performed while the images ran on the screens.  The large screen at the back of the stage had a rear-projection system so the cast members did not interrupt the images.  Some were stills, some were video and some of each type were representative and some artistic.  For example, during one sad song the video on the screen was larger than life, slow motion falling leaves.  I wonder how many people noticed that at first they were all ginkgo leaves, then maple. 

 

The most striking number in the show had all the dancers dressed in similar royal blue tops and pants.  The pants were split up the entire leg but the cloth overlapped so they looked like baggy slacks until the dancers moved a certain way.  The dance was performed very slowly with many motions taken from Tai Chi.  All 6 were in perfect unison.  It takes good balance and strength to do the complex motions so slowly.

 

Jan 26 – At Sea Gulf of Aden.  Another typical day at sea except it's a celebration day for me.  We went to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner courtesy of my travel agent, Cruise Specialists.  Thank you Gayle, Marie and all the staff!  When we started going to the Pinnacle grill I would get the 32oz Porterhouse, later I started ordering the 18oz bone-in ribeye, now I get the 10oz filet mignon and it's about all I can eat.  Their crab cake appetizer is great and we got a large chocolate mousse cake for desert.  We had 1/6 each and asked to have it sent to our table in the dining room tomorrow.

 

Rikki Jay, a comedian, performed tonight.  We've seen him before.  He's a frenetic performer, always moving.  His act is a mixture of script and ad lib.  Diana and I think he's funny but his accent is British but in the fast talking letter omitting Cockney style and many people can't understand him.

 

Jan 27 – At Sea Gulf of Aden-Arabian Sea.  Another typical day at sea.  We lost another hour at 2am so we're now on Muscat time with one more day at sea to go.

 

They did a life raft demonstration at the lido pool midships.  They're stored on the deck three promenade area in large white canisters.  They put one in the pool to show us how they opened and pulled out all the supplies so we could see what they have aboard.  Of course these are mainly for the crew to get into after all the passengers are safely aboard the lifeboats.  It usually works that way unless you have a Greek or Italian captain.  From the last few cruise ship incidents with them in charge it seems like their rule is "Captains go first to help supervise the evacuation."  Like anyone is going to believe a story that weak.

 

I did not attend any lectures today.  I'm taking the day off to do nothing.  Well, this is not strictly true.  I'm going to eat, read and write.

 

The show this evening was a Scots lass, Kaitlyn Carr.  Raised in Glasgow, she's actually half Irish.  Her show was mainly Scottish and Irish tunes.  She played the tin whistle, traditional Irish flute and the violin.  Her accent was totally charming and her voice was very good.  Her show is very energetic.

 

Jan 28 – At Sea Arabian Sea-Gulf of Oman.  Another typical day at sea.  The good salmon must be gone because there hasn't been and nigiri sushi at lunch for a couple of days and salmon is the only nigiri they've had.  The rest of the sushi offerings are maki, sliced rolls, and there's nothing raw in them.  They're ok, but they are always the same and after a while it gets old.

 

The show this evening was Luke Burrage, Entertainer and (oh, no) Juggler.  Typically juggling is my least favorite type of show, mainly because there are only so many tricks you can do and I've seen them all.  The juggler's patter is the only thing that changes and Luke is very entertaining.  I enjoyed the show.

More Egyptian Magic - Kanak's Temple of Amun

431 This is a model of the Temple of Amun at Kanak.  You are looking at the temple from the rear.  The 1st Pylon is at the far end on the right.  The series of Pylons going off to the left lead to the Temple of Mut, wife of Amun.  It's about 300 yards outside the last Pylon.  The lake is the Sacred Lake and the buildings around it served the priests and as storehouses.  We entered at the opposite end at the 1st Pylon.

434 This is the Processional Avenue of the Sphinxes looking toward the 1st Pylon. 

444 This is the 2nd Pylon.  We're standing in the Great Forecourt.  The tall open papyrus column on the right is sole surviving of the 10 columns of the Nubian King Taharka's kiosk. 

457 You can see the surviving reds and yellows of the lintel decoration in the Hypostyle Hall.

468 This is the 4th Pylon and Obelisk of Hatshepsut.  You can see how the upper third is a different color.  That part was covered by her successor pharaoh to try to remove her from history.

475 I'm standing in front of a god and a pharaoh.  The god is just over my right shoulder and the pharaoh is facing him.  The pharaoh in question has the status of god because he's holding and ankh.  He's wearing the crown of Upper Egypt.

478 D is sitting on the base of one of the 76-foot tall Papyrus bud columns in the Hypostyle Hall.

481 D with the 50-foot tall Colossus of Pinudjem.  You can see the small image of his wife tucked safely between his legs.

 

I have to apologize a bit for this entry.  Most of it should probably be in italics.  I do tend to ramble on in a very disjointed manner when I get excited about something.  Remember, I write this journal mainly for my own use.  It's strictly stream of consciousness and unedited for the most part.  I made the mistake of reading this entry over when I saw how long it was but decided publish it anyway, warts and all.

 

Jan 23 – Safaga-Luxor, Egypt-Continued.  We drove from the temple area back to downtown Luxor and ate lunch at the Sonesta Saint George Hotel.  The hotel was right on the Nile.  In fact, our table was on the second floor overlooking the hotel's fan shaped pool and beyond that the Nile River.  As we ate we watched the riverboats cruise past the hotel on their lunch and sightseeing trips.  The lunch was very good.

 

Karnak is more than a temple; it is a collection of temples the largest of which is the Temple of Amun.  It is the largest religious reservation in the world.  In its entirety it would cover one half of Manhattan Island in New York.  The Temple of Amun, (Since Ancient Egypt had a different alphabet everything is transliterated and sometimes it's spelled Amon.  He's also called Amun-Ra, the sun god), just one of the temples in the area, is the largest temple with columns in the world.  To the south they are excavating the Temple of Mut, Amun's wife and to the north they are excavating the Temple of Montu, the god of war.  To give you some idea of the size, Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris, would fit entirely inside Amun's Temple.  The complex covers an area of over 74 acres.  It was started in 1960 BC and was added to over the next 2,000 years.  Inside Amun's Temple there are many temples dedicated to Pharaohs and lesser gods.

 

As you approach the temple area from east, along a processional avenue from the water, the first things you see are the outer walls of the First Pylon of the Temple of Amun.  They have large entryways that allow you to pass through to the next section.  There are ten of them in the Temple of Amun, six in the main temple and four in the annex that goes south toward the Temple of Mut.  When you get closer and can see the base of the walls you find an avenue of ram-headed Sphinxes built by Ramses II leading up to the entrance.  The ram-headed sphinx is the symbol of Amun and each has a small statue of Ramses II between his front legs for protection. 

 

The First Pylon is the largest and probably the newest part of the temple, having been added near the year 1 BC during the Ptolemaic Dynasty.  It's about 125 yards wide, 30 yards high and 16 yards thick, a large structure.  The area between the first and second pylons is an open area called the Great Forecourt or the Ethiopian courtyard.  As you stand just inside the entrance through the first pylon, to the left is the Shrine of Seti II.  It has three chapels dedicated to the gods Amun (ah-moon'), Mut (pronounced 'moot', his wife) and Khonsu (their son and the moon god).  Their sacred barques were stored there for use in various religious processions on the Nile.  This shrine is relatively intact and you can enter all three chapels.  Directly in front of you is the only 70-foot, open-topped papyrus column still standing from the Kiosk of the Ethiopian (Nubian) King Taharka.  This carport like structure, which originally had 10 identical columns in two rows of 5, is where the processional boats were stored.  In the wall to the right, extending outside the wall like a pull out room on an RV, is the Temple of Ramses III, which he built to store his barque.  Large statues of the pharaoh, wearing the crown of the combined kingdoms, flank the entrance.  Inside are chapels of the barks of Amun, Mut and Khonsu.  Are you sensing a pattern here?  No matter who was building, the holy family was being honored.

 

As you walk toward the Second Pylon's gate, past the only remaining complete column of the Taharka kiosk you find the 50 foot tall Colossus of Pinudjem, Pharaoh of the XXI Dynasty and High Priest of Amun in Thebes on your left.  He's protecting a much smaller depiction of his wife, standing on his feet facing forward.  The lateral sides of the Great Forecourt are lined with papyrus-bud topped columns and more of those ram-headed sphinxes that were outside the main entry.  On the left side of the gate in the second pylon is a pink granite statue of Ramses II.  I think there was another one on the right as well but all that's left are the feet so it's not easy to tell.  Only his podiatrist would know for sure.

 

Between the Second and Third Pylons is the Hypostyle Hall, which was a very large covered space.  The central aisle, leading between the pylon gates, is made up of 12 open-papyrus columns, six on each side, 90 feet tall.  This was built by Amon-Ofis III as a simple colonnade in 1375 BC.  In later years the 122 76-foot tall papyrus-bud columns were added by Horenheb, Seti I, Ramses II and finally completed by Ramses IV, half on each side, to form the entire hall.  Notre Dame cathedral would fit within the outer walls.  The sides and ends of the raised center roof along the colonnade were fitted with a latticework of bricks that allowed for a constantly changing look to the entire room.  The lintels, some of which still set across the rows of columns, produce dramatic effects with the light that changed significantly even during our short stay even without the ceiling and the windows.  The pictures I took of the hall on the way in look very different from the ones I took on the way out.  The change in color and feel of the area is amazing.

 

The walls of the First Pylon and the outside wall of the Second Pylon are not decorated with pictures or hieroglyphs.  However the inside walls of the Second Pylon are carved from top to bottom as are the columns and the lintels.  Some of the original color still remains on the underside of some of the lintels.  Lots of room to tell a story.  The largest pictures are of the pharaoh offering Amun and Mut food and performing other acts of worship.  You can identify the gods in these carvings pretty easily; they all have an ankh (life in hieroglyphics, a cross with a loop at the top) held by the loop in their right hands.

 

Between the Third and Fourth Pylons is the Court Amenophis III.  The space created is more of a large transverse hallway.  It originally held four obelisks in pink granite, two each for Thutmosis I and III flanking the gates through each.  The only one surviving is on the south side of the Fourth Pylon, and is of Thutmosis I.  If you turn left here you will be heading toward the Temple of Montu.  If you turn right here you will be heading toward the Temple of Mut after passing through the Seventh (Thutmosis III), Eighth (Thutmosis II and Hatshepsut) and Ninth (Horemheb) Pylons on the way out of the Temple of Amun.  These pylons are much smaller than the ones in the main temple area.  The only interesting thing in this area is a chapel with an alabaster shrine and offering scenes of Ramses II.

 

From this point on each of the pylons in the main temple gets increasingly smaller than the previous one.  The first and second pylons are similar in size with the second being just slightly shorter.  The third pylon is about 60% as high as the first but just as wide.  From the fourth on each one gets about 10% shorter and 25% narrower than the previous one.  The last pylon is just in front of the sanctuary.

 

The Fourth Pylon is the entrance to the heart of the Temple of Amun.  Between it and the Fifth Pylons (both of Thutmosis I) is the vestibule of the temple in which stood two obelisks of Hatshepsut in pink granite.  Only the one on the north is still her.  It is 100 feet high and weighs 200 tons, the largest ever erected.  Hatshepsut was the first female pharaoh and the pharaoh who succeeded her had her name chiseled over with his name on all her monuments.  This obelisk is a slightly pinker color starting about two thirds of the way from the top.  This is because he didn't carve over the cartouches of her name on this obelisk, he covered the top and that prevented it from losing its pink color over the years.  The bottom is unfinished in that only the symbols in the center are carved and her name didn't show at the bottom, only on the top.  The remainder of the vestibule is colonnaded.  Between the Fifth and Sixth (Thutmosis III) Pylon is a small colonnaded area and through the Sixth Pylon are two pilaster-style granite stelae, one with the symbol of upper Egypt (the papyrus) and one with the symbol of lower Egypt (the lotus) at the top.  A stele is a stone tablet or post carved with historical information or a tribute to someone.  These are square posts.  Most I've seen are in the shape of a common grave marker like you see in the National Cemeteries, but usually much larger.

 

Through the Sixth Pylon is the Sanctuary of the Sacred Barks, the naos (the inner sanctuary of the temple) built of pink granite.  The interior walls are carved with scenes from the daily ritual worship of Amun and the ceiling is covered with gold stars on a blue field.  Through this sanctuary, and across a very small courtyard is the Sanctuary of the Middle Kingdom.  These sanctuaries are mostly intact with a great deal of the ceilings and all the walls standing.  The ceilings of both are covered with stars and painted blue.  The walls are filled with images of the gods and pharaohs interacting.  Mostly the pharaohs are making offerings and giving gifts to the gods.

 

From here we returned to the Court Amenophis III and turned south towards the Temple of Mut.  In between the Gate of Ramses II and the Seventh Pylon is the Cachette Courtyard.  In 1903 a large cache of statues was discovered here, 700 in stone and 17,000 in bronze.  No one is sure how they came to be here all in one place.  It took 4 years to uncover them all and most are in the National Museum in Cairo and some are in the Luxor Museum.  Most are from the New Kingdom through the Ptolemaic Period and while some are figures of royalty most are figures of priests performing their duties at Karnak.  These statues provided invaluable information on the clergy and the rituals of the temple.  Some of the statues were 'block-statues'.  In this type of statue the finely carved head of the subject emerges from a cube shaped body.  This style of carving provides a lot of space for carving historical and biographical information about the person and his times, as well as ritual scenes and requests to the priests for offerings on his behalf.  The far end of the courtyard is the 7^th Pylon (The first 6 pylons run east to west.  After turning south out of the Court of Amenophis III, this part of the temple complex runs north to south.  The 7^th Pylon is the first of 4 pylons going south from the main Temple of Amun toward the southern temple are of Mut.) 

 

Across this courtyard and further down the hill we could see the Temple of Mut but time was limited so we had to take a quick look at the Sacred Lake (used in ritual ceremonies) and start the trek back through the temple.  On the way out we stopped to take a closer look at many of the things we had glanced at on the way in. 

 

This place is fantastic.  Almost every inside surface is covered with figures, hieroglyphics, cartouches and symbols.  Just the size of it was impressive.  All the more so because it was carved, carried and erected with human labor, no machines at all.  Double yikes!!  It would take days to do this place justice.  I was sad to leave but that's life touring from a ship.  It can't be helped.

 

Epicurean's Note:  While in Egypt do enjoy the lamb, fish, chicken and squab (pigeon), they are great.  Be careful of the fish, as they are not as thorough as they could be deboning it, although it might just be the fish in the area are bony.  The chicken is a bit of a challenge, as they do not follow the USA custom of cutting chicken at a joint.  They cut it in chunks right through the bone and as I've said before this leaves some sharp points on the bones that can inflict a painful cut if you aren't careful.  Finally, do not eat the beef.  We've had it several places and it is uniformly tough and stringy.  Their cows must be fed mostly on grass and other low-fat feeds and I don't believe it is well or even moderately marbled and tends to be low in flavor and hard to cut and chew.  Even the rare roast beef slice I had, which was cut very thin, was hard to cut.  I asked our guide about that and he said that the only place to get a good hamburger that he knew of the TGI Friday's in Cairo.  Apparently only the well to do eat there, as it is expensive, but the hamburgers are great from his point of view.  I guess they're expensive because they have to import the beef from elsewhere.

 

After that it was 3.5 hours back to Safaga the same way we came.  I just reread this day's description and I have to apologize for the somewhat disorganized form and the alteration of my usual style.  Actually that's about how I felt.  Totally overwhelmed by what I had seen and very grateful that I had seen it.

 

 

Jan 24 – At Sea on the Red Sea.  Typical day at sea again, breakfast, devotional, presentations, lunch, read a bit, write a bit, work on the pictures I took yesterday, the evening show and back to the room to relax.

 

Dan Jones' presentations are informational and given with a healthy dose of that understated English humor I like.  Today his talk was on the burial practices of Ancient Egypt.

 

Our entertainer was Frank in Person.  His actual name is Frank and he does a show of Sinatra music.  The music was nice and he did sound a little like Sinatra, in short, enjoyable.

Back to Ancient Egypt, Luxor and its Temples

317 A typical farmer's compound.  So far three storys but their working on a fourth. 

325 Two of the dual-donkey carts loaded with sugar cane.  Just behind the last cart you can see the little black three-wheeled vehicles that serve as taxis in the rural area.

344  The Southern entrance to the Luxor Temple.  You can see the remaining obelisk.  It's partly hiding the second seated statue of Ramses II.  The walls are the tallest and thickest pylons in the temple.

371 D in front of the Temple of Ramses II inside the court of the same name.  You can see the carved fluted columns representing the bundled reed columns of the wood construction days.  The column on the extreme left is a closed bud papyrus column.

392 This is the restoration work going on in Amun's Sanctuary.  The remaining color is not very vivid but it's been on the walls for 3,600 years.  I guess it's lasted pretty well.  The crown on the Pharoah's head represents Upper Egypt.  His stance with flail and spear in hand while advancing suggests the story on the wall might be one of conflict.

394 Alexander the Great's cartouche.  The bird = A, the lion = L, the cup or basket = K, the slash with the bump in the center = Z, the saw-like line = N, the hand = D and the eye = R.  The slash at the bottom is the number 1 or I.

 

Jan 22 – Exiting the Suez Canal and Sailing the Red Sea.  By the time I got up, 7am, we were well out of the canal and sailing at a stately 8 knots toward our destination.  It's about 200 miles from the canal to Safaga and the Rotterdam is fast but she won't do 50 knots.  This gives us time to sail slowly.  The temperature is rising quickly as we head south, right now it's 73˚F.

 

We had our regular at sea morning and afternoon.  The Red Sea is a fairly narrow sea and consequently we are seeing a lot of shipping and oil platforms.  Quite a congested area from a navigation standpoint. 

 

At lunch, Caroline performed another style of belly dancing, Saidi.  In this dance she had a short stick and her dress covered her shoulders and legs down to the ankles.  It had tassels that were the same color as the dress at the hips, knees and shoulders.  This style comes from Upper Egypt, around Luxor where we will be tomorrow.

 

Our entertainer was Adam Wescott, a classical and flamenco guitarist.  They put a TV camera on his guitar and projected the image on a large screen so you could appreciate the speed and dexterity of both of his hands.  He was excellent.

 

Tomorrow is an early morning.  It's a three hour drive from Safaga, the port, to Luxor.  We are going to visit the Karnak and Luxor Temples.  We've been to Karnak before and there's so much there that I am really looking forward to going again.  The Hypostyle Hall is large enough that the entire Cathedral of Notre Dame could fit inside, spires, flying buttresses and all.

 

Jan 23 – Safaga-Luxor, Egypt.  It was an early start and a long dusty warm day.  I've chosen to get the bad news out of the way first so I can enjoy telling you about the sights we saw.  Perhaps I should also repeat my previous warning about things I write in italics.  Travel related things will be in my normal Times New Roman.  Anything in TNR Italics is probably politically incorrect, something that only interests me and I want it in my journal or a rant about something that happened.  The next two paragraphs probably fall into the second two categories.

 

Irritation #1  Half way back to the port the air conditioning on our bus stopped working.  Nothing much anyone could do about that but nevertheless it was an irritation.  After tinkering with it for a while, the driver opened the windows at the front of the bus, the only ones that could open, and the cool breeze from outside kept us very comfortable.

 

Irritation #2.  We arrived back at the ship later than we should have.  Again, not really anyone's fault, just one of the realities of travel.  Here comes the irritation.  Every HAL ship we've ever sailed on, and it's quite a few, has held the Lido restaurant open for those who arrive back late from a HAL sponsored tour.  Either HAL has issued new instructions or the MV Rotterdam has chosen to take a little bite out of the word Service.  I arrived at the Lido at 8:35pm hoping to grab some bread and cheese or meat to make a sandwich to take back to the room because what I really wanted was a shower, a snack and bedtime.  No such luck, the Lido was closed and had just closed at 8:30.  The significance of that is, behind the little curtains that they lower and the little trays they put up, almost all the food was still in place and it would have been a simple thing to let me peek under the curtain and get something to eat.  The manager there told me in no uncertain terms that the Lido was "CLOSED" and I had to wait until 10pm to get something to eat in the Lido.  Or he offered helpfully, NOT, that I could eat in the dining room.  Now tell me honestly, who of you, hot and sticky, dusty and tired from tromping around Luxor all day would want to go sit in the dining room in that condition for 1.5 hours to eat dinner?  Well I wouldn't.  I can hear some of you saying, "Order room service!"  Sounds like a good plan until you realize that I will be in bed asleep long before room service could be delivered.  There, I've had my cathartic little rant and can enjoy the rest of my evening.  I'm not one to hold on to irritations so in a day or so this will probably be a fond memory, but right now I'm hungry, tired and like all little children, cranky.  Thanks for listening!

 

Upper Egypt's, the site of Luxor, historical monuments date from the New Kingdom (1550-1076 BC) and are newer than those of Lower Egypt (Cairo and the Nile Delta southward), which are from the Old Kingdom (2670-2150 BC).  Wait, you say!  What happened between 2150 and 1550 BC?  Three things actually, first, a period of decline from 2150-2056 BC, called the First Intermediary Period, second, the Middle Kingdom (2056-1650 BC, third, the Second Intermediary Period (1650-1550 BC) also a period of decline.  Egypt is the only major culture to survive two complete breaks in its history only to reform essentially intact, albeit with some changes.

 

Geographer's Note:  The designations of Upper and Lower Egypt are somewhat counterintuitive for most North Americans as Upper Egypt is south of Lower Egypt.  We're used to thinking of North as up.  Here, Southern Egypt is called Upper and Northern Egypt is called lower for two reasons.  First, Southern Egypt is at a higher elevation than the north.  Second, to get to Southern Egypt from Northern Egypt you have to go 'up' the Nile River that flows from south to north.

 

The port city of Safaga is primarily a tourist town on the Red Sea and a port for the shipping of locally mined phosphates.  Because it's in a desert, the beaches are not only very fine sand but among the widest in the world as they extend 100 miles inland to the Nile River at the closest place.  Imagine carrying your lounge chair, umbrella and cooler of beer across that, not to mention the Red Sea Mountains in between!  Better bring a lunch too.  Just kidding. 

 

The reason we are docked here is that it is the most direct way to the treasures of Southern Egyptian Kingdom in Luxor.  We are going to visit Luxor (the city) to see the Temple of Luxor and the Temple at Karnak.  The modern city of Luxor is on the ancient site of the Necropolis of Thebes, a major center for worship of the Ancient Egyptian gods.  A host of pharaohs built temples there.  The east bank of the Nile was seen as the side of life and the west side as the side of the dead.  The temples where worship took place were on the east (ex. Temples of Karnak and Luxor) and the burial sites were on the west (ex. Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens).  The drive from Safaga to Luxor is 3.5 hours each way.  We leave at 8AM and are not due back until 8:00PM so if you subtract the 7 hours driving time we still have over 5 hours of touring in the Luxor area.  That's not bad really.  We've been on shore excursions that lasted only 9 hours that had 6 hours of driving

 

Ever since the terrorist attacks on tourists in the late 1990s the tour companies cannot move foreign nationals across the southern desert without a security escort.  To facilitate the availability of these escorts, movement is arraigned into convoys.  Our convoy from Safaga to Luxor leaves at 8:30am.  They travel with security on each bus and often take a tow truck and one empty, spare bus in case of breakdowns.  This is the second time we've been here and I didn't see the tow truck or empty bus this time.  Along the way there are several security checkpoints.  These involve both police and military and are often accompanied by an armored car.  We had a security agent, politely called a Tourist Policeman, named Ramadan on the bus with us.  He had on a nice suit and tie but if you looked closely you could see the mini-machinegun creating a bulge in the back of his loosely fitting jacket. 

 

After leaving the port we immediately began to climb the Red Sea Mountain range.  The landscape is a rocky, sandy desert with mountains of granite or basalt rising out of it like islands in an ocean.  The contrast between the two is striking, as the mountains are much darker than the sand.  We are in the eleventh out of twelve busses in our convoy and it's interesting to watch them wind around the curves of the highway as we ascend to the top of the mountains.  Along the way we passed some Bedouin encampments.  They are mainly shepherds and their flocks roam the area until the grass is gone and then they move on to greener pastures, as it were.

 

About 50 miles later we entered the town of Qena.  It's a small town on the edge of the desert.  The area is largely agricultural and there are large canals carrying water from the Nile to Qena a distance of some 35 miles or so.  The canal runs right along the road we took after we turned to the south off the main highway.  This road is not as smooth as the main highway coming over the mountains and some parts of it are unpaved.  After leaving Qena we drove through mile after mile of farmland, mostly wheat, clover and sugar cane.  Here and there we saw patches of other vegetables, tomatoes, grapes, beans and melons.  Every few miles we would pass through a small village where kids and some adults would wave and smile if you waved back.

 

Farmers here, like those of the Pennsylvania Amish, add to their homes when a son gets married but instead of going out, they go up.  The Amish add a new wing to the house so you can count the gables to tell how many generations are living there.  The farmers here add a story to the house for the new family.  Three and four story houses are not uncommon.

 

Every time we came to a road that crossed ours there was some kind of security posted.  Sometimes it was the Army, sometimes the Tourist Police and sometimes a man in a white turban and long gray nightshirt like robe with a shotgun on a sling over his shoulder.  The latter was usually seen in very rural areas where a small farm road crossed the highway.  Mostly they appeared to be Remington 860s or Mossbergs, the old reliable pump action 12 gauge shotguns.  They were all black and appeared to have synthetic furniture.  Since private ownership of guns is rare in Egypt I'm assuming these gentlemen are some sort of militia or rural guard.  They were all dress the same, gray robe and white turban and the shotguns were so uniform.

 

The donkey is still a major mode of transportation out here, both ridden and pulling a cart or wagon.  The donkeys were not large by any standard but they were doing a Herculean job.  I saw one wagon, full of sugar cane with 4 men on it being pulled by one small donkey that looked like he weighed less than any of the men on the wagon.

 

In the rural areas there would be a rope drawn ferry every few miles to let people cross the canal.  Essentially it's just a six-sided metal tub that has a rope attached to each end.  These ropes are threaded through rings suspended from a cable that is permanently stretched across the canal, very much like the rings that hold a shower curtain to the shower rod.  As the boat is pulled across the canal the rings follow the rope to collapse against the other bank.  Meanwhile the rope on the other end of the boat, also suspended on its own set of rings, extends across the canal so that if the next passenger is going the same direction as the current one he can pull the boat back to get in.  Very efficient and inexpensive to maintain.

 

Egyptologist's Note: What follows is a discussion of what I saw and how I understand it.  Much of Egypt's history is not 'carved in stone'.  Well, actually a lot of it is literally carved in stone, but some of it has been altered by carving over older inscriptions and most of it was carved at the order of the person being represented or spoken of.  As with most autobiographical material, it should be read with a healthy dose of skepticism.  For example, some of the texts I've read imply that Narmer and Menes were the same person, while other sources represent them as two different individuals.  I believe that the former is probably the correct view, but it is difficult to be dogmatic about some of the aspects of Ancient Egyptian history.  With that caveat in mind, here goes!

 

A short while later we arrived in Luxor, site of the Luxor and Karnak Temples.  An almost two mile long, stone paved processional avenue connects these two temple areas.  It is lined with sphinxes, on the Karnak end they have the heads of rams and on the Luxor end they have human heads like the Sphinx in Giza.  We are visiting the Luxor site first and after lunch, Karnak.

 

We've never been the Luxor Temple.  We drove by it last time we were here, but on that trip in addition to Karnak we visited, the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut's Temple (the first female pharaoh) and Colossi of Memnon.

 

The Temple of Luxor was begun by Amenhotep in the 16th century BC and expanded by other Pharaohs, including Ramses II.  It's very linear, that is all the major spaces are in a straight line.  There are two major spaces, the Court of Ramses II and the Court of Amenhotep III.  They are connected by the Colonnade Hall of Amenhotep III & Tutankhamon, two horizontal rows of seven Open-topped Papyrus columns.  Passing through the Court of Amenhotep III you come to the much smaller Roman Sanctuary and King's Chamber.  By going through the doors on either side of the front wall you enter the Amun Sanctuary.  The only way out is to retrace your steps to the Southern Entrance Pylon leading to the Court of Ramses II.

 

Although much smaller than Karnak, there are many very interesting items here.  The most interesting to me was the cartouche of Alexander the Great.  It's the round cornered rectangle of the cartouche with the hieroglyphs of ALKZNDR I inside.  When we think Ancient Egypt we often think only of the Egyptian pharaohs and omit the last three 'dynasties' the Persians, Greeks and Romans.  After Alexander conquered Egypt he proclaimed himself pharaoh and the evidence is here, carved in the backside of a wall of Amun's Sanctuary. 

 

The Southern Gate was flanked by two obelisks dedicated to Ramses II however one of them was taken to Paris so only one remains.  There were also 2 at the entrance on the other side.  Those are also gone, one to the USA and one to Britain.  The Southern Gate is also flanked by two large statues of Ramses II seated, wearing the combination crown that has the elements of both Upper and Lower Egypt's crowns showing that during his reign the two countries were united. 

 

Also in front of the right pylon (the name they use here to signify the large walls that separate portions of the temple) is a standing statue of a pharaoh.  The face has been broken away but since he's wearing the white, cone-head shaped crown of Lower Egypt it's probably not Ramses.  As always, the statue is posed with his left foot forward to symbolize the society moving forward under his rule. 

 

Inside these large pylons is the Court of Ramses II.  The quadrant of the court to your left as you enter has been used to build the Abu El-Haggag Mosque.  Unfortunately just as our guide started his narration, the loudspeakers of the mosque's minaret began the Noon call to prayer.  There must be two other mosques nearby because soon one than another also started the call.  For almost the entire time we were there the calls continued making it difficult to hear the guide's information.

 

The quadrant to the right is partly used to build a temple to Ramses II.  Over the main entrance to this space Ramses is shown on the right wearing the crown of Upper Egypt and on the left the crown of Lower Egypt.  In both images he is shown making offerings to Amun.  The columns in front of this small temple are fluted to resemble the reed bundle columns used when temples were made of wood.  Inhotep, the architect for Pharaoh Zaser was the first to use this technique.

 

The balance of the court is open space surrounded by papyrus bud topped columns with lintels connecting them.  This column and lintel style of construction has been in use since Stonehenge and before.  You might remember that we saw that style of construction on Malta in the monoliths (built about 3600BC) which are more than a thousand years older than the pyramids of Giza (built about 2530BC).  The temples of Luxor date from 1960BC so column and lintel have been in use at least 1,600 years.  Some large statues stand between the columns.  They have cartouches carved on their clothing but I'm not able to read them.

 

Passing through the next set of smaller pylons you enter the Colonnade Hall of Amenhotep III & Tutankhamun.  The hall's sides are formed by 14 very tall, open topped papyrus columns, seven on each side.  The opening in the pylons is flanked by two more seated statues of Ramses II.  On the side the statue on the left is a scene of two workers stripping papyrus plants as the first step in making papyrus paper.  Between the workers heads is a depiction of Ramses II receiving an ankh from Amun on the right and it looks like Hours on the left.  On the right he's wearing the crown of Lower Egypt and on the left the crown of Upper Egypt.  Once surrounded by walls the columns are all that remain of the hall. 

 

Leaving the hall you enter the Court of Amenhotep III.  This large space, almost equal to Ramses II Court, is surrounded by a double row of reed bundle columns on three sides.  The far side is slightly elevated, like a stage but is filled with four rows of eight columns each with a wide hall between them.

 

This hall leads to the Roman Sanctuary & Kings Chamber.  Two Roman Columns stand flanking what in a church would be the apse.  If fact, during the Roman occupation of Egypt that how this space was used.  At that time all the original wall carvings were covered with plaster.  They are in the process of carefully removing the plaster to expose the original carving.  I'm sure it's not a coincidence that the cartouche of Alexander the Great is also in this area on the outer side of one of the walls forming the sanctuary and therefore never plastered over.  The entire sanctuary is enclosed in the much higher wall of the Luxor Temple.  So in this one room there is evidence of both the Greek and Roman occupations of Egypt.  Never did find anything Persian.  Or more probably, I did see some Persian things but didn't know that's what they were.

 

At the base of the apse is a small door leading through a short hall to the Amun Sanctuary.  Every surface of the hall and the sanctuary is covered with hieroglyphics and pictures.  In one area they are doing some restoration work which is bringing out some of the original colors.  When all the surfaces of this entire temple were painted it must have been an awesome sight.  It's pretty awesome as it is.