Daniel and Archaeology

[Hatusu]

Did any of you go to the Cairo museum? Our group only had a couple of hours in there but that was really quite something.
We also went to Giza(of course) Luxor,Saqqara, Karnak, Edfu,Thebes, Memphis, Abydos, the mortuary temple of Hapshepsut, the Elephantine Island, Valley of the Kings and Alexandria (which was my personal favourite). I wanted to go to Abel-Simbal but we didn't have enought time.

I was lucky enough to do all that, except Hapshepsut's temple (from where I got my name). Abel-Simbel is a must next time. And drive, don't fly. I saw rows of what I think were small pyramids in the desert, along the way. Can anyone confirm that?

I sailed on the Nile, passing farms and ancient temples on a Felucca (sail boat). I rode a donkey named Bah, to the valley of the Kings, and an Arabian horse, named Princess, at sunset by the pyramids at Giza. It can't get better than that, ...oh, except for the waiter in Aswan who danced with my birthday cake on his head! Great trip. I want to go back!

[Mr Prophet]

Loved that weird connection - I spenat a year in Wales 1999-2000 and worked...at an Egyptian museum! I also learned Welsh (the Celtic language) - and the Ancient sort of Welsh doesn't look anything like what Daniel found in the newspaper in "2001" - booh! Hiss!

I just realised: This must be how he got the job at the SGC; through the Welsh connection! (Because as everyone knows, the Welsh run the SGC).

[Sparki101]

I saw rows of what I think were small pyramids in the desert, along the way. Can anyone confirm that?

I sailed on the Nile, passing farms and ancient temples on a Felucca (sail boat). I rode a donkey named Bah, to the valley of the Kings, and an Arabian horse, named Princess, at sunset by the pyramids at Giza. It can't get better than that, ...oh, except for the waiter in Aswan who danced with my birthday cake on his head! Great trip. I want to go back!

The pyramids (which are theorised burial chambers) that you saw would only be pyramids if they are on the west side of the Nile. Mortuary sites are always on the west bank of the river because the sun sets in the west (death) and rises in the east(resurrection). That's why normal non-morturary temples and palaces are on the east of the nile. All temples are set on an east-west axis so that the sanctuary catches the rising and the setting sun.
( guess who's cramming for her exams?)

We went on a cruise from the Elephantine Is. to Abydos, then caught a flight to Cairo for the rest of our stay. We also went Bubastis (Bast) and Philae(sp?)(Isis)

Can't say I can top the birthday cake, but I went on a camel at Giza (NEVER AGAIN ) and I also went on a Felucca. Did you try that Egyptian version of iced tea? Can't remember the name but it's made from lotus flower. Tastes suspiciously like ribena, but very refreshing.

[Iskandra]

@Sparki101: The drink is called karkadeh, and I always bring a kilo of the hibiscus flowers home when I go to Egypt....it's delicious! I've been to Lampeter University, one of my friends studied there. I was at Swansea, and the Museum is at the Uni of Swansea, it's called the Egypt Centre. You can always take the coach to get there...and it's free! (the museum, not the coach...)

I've seen a lot in Egypt, though not Abu Simbel, and I can't remeber any pyramids between Aswan and Abu Simbel - they're all located further north or further south in what was ancient Kush (Nubia) and is today's Sudan.

My special Egyptian friend Hassan, who has a little shop in Luxor and is the worst shopkeeper I've ever seen (he actually TELLS people which of his stuff is not "real granite" but plastic....) does have a connection to the past of his country, and I know a few more who do, but as religion today is just completely different from pharaonic times, most people just can't connect to that past emotionally. But there are books about pharaonic "survivals" in popular beliefs, so it's not all gone...

[Bomber]

I just realised: This must be how he got the job at the SGC; through the Welsh connection! (Because as everyone knows, the Welsh run the SGC).

Cymru Am Byth!