Egyptian Splendor
You may not get this in time for the meeting but I'm sending it anyway to let you know about my trip to Egypt. It was brilliant of course. The first day we went to The Valley of the Kings and the Tombs of the Nobles. At the entrance we had to run the gauntlet of locals trying to sell home made ornaments for rock bottom prices. Having had nobody to sell to for over two months they where particularly persistent.
However in the Valley itself we had the place to our selves, except for a group of French who were on a guided tour by The Director of Antiquities himself. John Johnson had met him when he came to Manchester to give them talk, so after a quiet word we got to see the tomb specially opened for them. This was the tomb of Seti I. One of the biggest in the Valley and never completely finished, so you are able to see the full process of tomb decoration. Starting with the rough out line in red, then tracing over more accurately in black and finally chiseling out of the inscription, all the stages are preserved on the walls of the uncompleted side chamber.
Temples and Tombs
On subsequent days our nine strong gang visited the tombs in The Valley of the Queens, the workman's village, Queen Hapsepsut's temple and the mortuary temples of Rameses II, III and Seti I. What was remarkable about these temples, apart from the colourful inscriptions and ignoramus statuary, was the use of mud brick in the outer administration buildings, including granary arches which have survived nearly three and a half thousand years.
Karnak
The Gurn
One morning before the sun got too hot John arranged with a guide for myself, Barry his son and Mike Booth, to walk to the top of the Gurn. This is the pyramid shaped hill which looks over the Valley of the Kings. At 1326 feet the view from the top is stunning with River Nile winding through the desert and the flood plain stretching out on either side. On the way up the guide took us to see the entrance to a tomb hidden away in a cleft in the rock half way down the cliff face.
Aswan
As I left for home on Thursday the rest of the team were preparing for a cruise down the Nile to the Aswan Dam, visiting temples at Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae on the way. Of particular interest will be the cracked obelisk at the Aswan granite quary. This gigantic monalith over 400 tons was abandaned half way through extraction when a crack developed in the upper section.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Society will be this Wednesday 4th March at the history shop at 7:30 p.m. as usual. This month's speaker is Fred Holcroft who will be talking on the Bayeux Tapestry.
Hope to see you there - B.A.