Egyptian Experience - Day Four

 

Day Four

Bird calls woke me up to this view. Our hotel was really in the middle of The Nile. It wasn’t a dream. After 3 days, we had the luxury of an unhurried morning. The views made me linger over the sumptuous breakfast spread. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, got into a ferry, got out of it to board a bus that took us to the jetty to board another ferry to the Temple of Isis at Philae. The Temple Run had started.

Egyptian Pantheon

Imagine stepping into a Hindu Temple without being able to differentiate between Vishnu and Shiva or Hanuman and Ganesha. A rudimentary knowledge of who is who in the complex and often confounding Egyptian Pantheon is necessary to appreciate their ancient temples. Our guide handed out A4 sheets and provided an overview of the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Atum-Ra, the Sun God created the world. Shu and Tefnut personified air and moisture respectively. Their children were Geb, the earth God, and Nut, the sky Goddess. Their four offspring were – Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. These 9 Gods and Goddesses constitute the Ennead tribunal.

The mythology gets more interesting now. Osiris, the God of fertility and afterlife married his sister Isis, the Goddess of magic and motherhood. Seth, the God of chaos was jealous of his brother and killed him, dismembering him into 14 pieces. Isis reconstructed Osiris to conceive a child Horus, depicted as a falcon-headed God. Osiris also had a relationship with his other sister Nephthys to create Anubis, the jackal-headed God of mummification.

Horus married Hathor, the cow-headed Goddess of love and joy. The battle between Horus and his evil uncle Seth symbolises the eternal conflict between order and chaos. Other key figures in the pantheon are Thoth, the God of wisdom, Sekhmet, the lion-headed Goddess of war and healing and Ptah, the God of craftsmen and darkness.

Philae Temple

After going past a horde of vendors who were beginning to lay down their wares at the jetty, we boarded the ferry that took us to the Philae Temple located on Agilkia island. The temple was relocated block by block to escape flooding after the construction of the Aswan Dam. It is a short ferry ride and a panoramic view of the temple lit up gloriously in the early morning sun emerged after some minutes.

Built during the Ptolemaic period (circa 300 BC), Philae temple is dedicated to Goddess Isis and it was the last active temple of the Egyptian religion. It continued to function as a centre for the Isis cult till 6^th C AD. The last known hieroglyphic inscription was found at this temple.

The temple was beautifully lit up in the mellow morning sunlight. We entered a colonnaded courtyard. The row of columns adorned with floral capitals leads our eyes to the pylon, the characteristic gateway to ancient Egyptian temples. The pylon consists of two massive, tapered towers interconnecting a central entrance. The towers are decorated with reliefs of larger than life-size figures. The Pharaoh can be seen grasping captives by their hair with his left hand and the right hand poised to deliver a crushing blow, the characteristic smiting pose exemplified in the Narmer Palette. In other reliefs, the king is making various offerings to Isis, Osiris, and Horus. Isis can be identified by the horned sun disc on her head and Horus by the falcon head.

Beyond the first pylon is another courtyard flanked by colonnades and a slightly smaller second pylon that leads into the inner shrine. The walls of the inner shrine have many intricate reliefs portraying the various stories. In one very stark relief, Isis is shown with large outstretched wings protectively wrapped around Osiris. Many of the reliefs bear chisel marks on the faces, evidence of vandalism by Coptic Christians. The Christian Cross can be spotted on some columns. The statue of Isis itself is missing on the pedestal. 

Aswan Dam

About 15 km from the Philae Temple anchorage lies the Aswan Dam, arguably more important to modern Egypt than all the ancient monuments put together. 111 meters tall, it is a pygmy in comparison to many other dams in the world but plays a crucial role in flood management of the Nile. Before the construction of the dam, Egypt experienced seasonal floods and droughts. The dam was built in cooperation with the then Soviet Union after USA withdrew its financial support. There is a tall monument commemorating this cooperation. The dam took 11 years to construct and was ready in 1970 with a hydroelectric power generation capacity of 2100 MW. We spent about 10 minutes admiring the “scientific monument” that is bringing prosperity to Egypt

Aromatherapy

Commercial breaks are important for sustaining travel and tourism. The aromatherapy centre cleverly promoted essential oils as nourishment for the Seven Chakras of our body. My olfactory sense went into a tizzy, but I enjoyed a free hibiscus tea, the staple feature of marketing stops.

Unfinished Obelisk

About 15 km from the Aswan Dam is the intriguing site of the Unfinished Obelisk. Obelisks were important totems in ancient Egypt. Reaching towards heaven, they appeared to confer divine powers to the rulers. Most obelisks were carved from granite extracted in the quarries of Aswan. The “Unfinished Obelisk” was commissioned during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (circa 1450 BC) and was intended to be the largest obelisk ever built with a height of 42 m and weighing 1200 tons. Cracks began to appear as it was being carved from the bedrock and it had to be abandoned in situ. The archaeological site is of great importance as it offers insights into Egyptian quarrying techniques. Dolerite, being harder, was used to chip away at the granite.

Interestingly, the authorities have converted a pedagogical site into a ticketed monument complete with souvenir shops and a spice bazaar. Kudos to the tourism ethos of Egypt. (Lesson for Gilbert Hill in Mumbai).

Cruise Check-in

We checked into the cruise at 1.15 for lunch. Time management could not have been better. The salad and dessert spread at the buffet would have put any five-star hotel to shame. The opulence of the lobby and the spaciousness of our rooms belied my expectations. The sailing was 24 hours away. The cruise would be our home for the next 3 nights. 

Nubian Excursion

After a well-earned siesta and high tea on the upper deck, it was time for a joy ride along the world’s longest river. We boarded a felucca, accompanied by souvenir sellers who broke into a song and dance, and alighted at Kitchener’s Island and strolled through its underwhelming botanical garden, and then took a motor launch going past Aga Khan Mausoleum atop a cliff and the “Old Cataract Hotel” of Agatha Christie fame before negotiating the First Cataract. Watching the boat navigate expertly through the series of rapids gave me the best thrill of the evening.

We finally docked at a touristy Nubian village with garish colours on mud brick walls. There was a carnival ambience. We stepped into the Rabih family home and gawked at crocodiles kept in a glass enclosure. Some intrepid souls amongst us posed holding up a baby crocodile. The animal’s jaws were taped and appeared to be in distress, but incomes need to be raised by pandering to the whims of tourists. They also treated us to Egyptian flaky pie made in ghee, and hibiscus tea. I was surprised to hear “ghee” uttered by a non-Indian tongue. Everyone had a good time. The crocs must have been relieved to watch us leave.