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Religion played a more than crucial role in the lives of the Ancient Egyptians, and the overwhelming costs and labor needed to produce, transport and erect religious artifacts, such as obelisks and pyramids, was insignificant compared to its final gratification to the Egyptian people and their rulers. Obelisks where placed, in pairs, in front of or into temples, such as the temple of Karnak in Luxor. They were believed to act as antennas that channeled cosmic energy down to Earth.

An obelisk is a single, quadrangular, monolithic stone wider at the base, tapering gently as it rises upwards, ending with a pyramidion summit. Sometimes the pyramidion was covered with a gold and silver alloy called electrum. The electrum cap duplicates the glare of the Sun as it emits its rays to the earth. The four sides of the obelisk were inscribed and decorated with hieroglyphs. The inscriptions were usually dedications to the Sun god, Amun-Ra or commemorations of a life of a king or queen.

According to the ancient mythology of Egypt, and from the belief in the concept of “Ma’at” (harmony and truth), we know that the obelisks came in pairs and that there were two in heaven and two on earth in every age. The obelisk was associated with the worship of the solar cult, and were called tekhenu by the Egyptians. The Greeks were the ones who called them “obelisk” or little spits (items used for roasting meat over a fire). The oldest obelisk was discovered in Abusir, dating back from the Old Kingdom during the reign of King Niuserre (2449-2417 BC), but it was only 10 feet tall.

To be a success the obelisk had to be a giant single piece of rock, if the cosmic energy was to travel down through it. If completed, the Unfinished Obelisk would have been the largest yet at 1,168 tones and standing 137 feet tall. The tallest today is the Lateran Obelisk in Rome, at 105 feet and weighing 455 tons, which originally stood at the temple of Karnak in Luxor. The project of the Unfinished Obelisk was abandoned because during its extraction, a profound crack was discovered near the center of the obelisk. The bottom side of The Obelisk is still attached to the bedrock, giving insight into the stone-work techniques adopted by the ancient Egyptians.

The Unfinished Obelisk is located in the Northern Quarry in Aswan. It was commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut to commemorate her 16th anniversary on the throne, and would have been the world’s largest piece of stone ever handled. The Obelisk if finished would have had to be transported by boat on the Nile, to be erected at the Karnak Temple.

The marks left behind on the rock face by ancient rock cutters and the tools they left behind sheds light on how such an accomplishment was undertaken. To carve out the huge stone block as a single piece, a row of holes were made with wooden wedges driven into them. Water was then poured on to the wood and as the wood expanded it caused the rock to split. The obelisk was then chiseled into shape by workers with dolomite rock, which is even harder than granite. Heated bricks were then placed on the surface of the obelisk and when it was sufficiently hot, water was poured on, causing the uneven parts to flake off, giving the granite a smooth finish.

The quarry site has been recently renovated and equipped to accommodate tourists. Being an open-air museum it is protected by the Egyptian government as an archaeological site. Although The Obelisk never came out of its bedrock it was not a complete failure for today we are grateful, as this Unfinished Obelisk has taught us more than any other monument in Egypt!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

Throughout the history of the Egyptians there where several women who came to rule their people, but none was brave or ambitious enough to assume the title of King and Pharaoh, except for Queen Hatshepsut, or more accurately put…. King Hatshapsu (dropping the “t” of the end of her name made it a masculine name instead). Before Hatshepsut there where queens who had ruled Egypt but until then ….never a female Pharaoh!

Contrary to any ancient culture, where women were expected to stay at home, women of ancient Egypt had a lot more freedom. They were allowed to own property and hold official positions, they were also given rights to inherit from deceased family members and were allowed to present their cases in court. They also played a cardinal role in the religion, where religion was integral to a ruler’s role so royal women acted as priestesses and officiated at the rites in temples.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt between 1479-1458/57. She was a unique and intelligent individual, who brainstormed, not only to legitimize her position as pharaoh but also make herself god-like, to win the complete approval of her subjects. Due to her boldness she may have been the first to start a Feminist movement to seek out prominent women from antiquity and publicized their achievements.

Ma’at-ka-Ra Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter to Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, the first king and queen of the Thutoside clan of the eighteenth dynasty. Upon the death of her father, Hatshepsut married her half-brother, Thutmose II, and assumed the title of Great Royal Wife. They had one daughter, Neferure, who Hatshepsut groomed to take over the roles she played as queen. Upon his death Thutmose II left behind a very young Thutmose III (born to Isis a lesser wife of Thutmose II) to succeed him. Being too young to assume the tasks of pharaoh, Hatshepsut became his regent not long before she proclaimed herself Pharaoh.

After the Oracle of Amun pronounced that the will of the god Amun was that Hatshepsut should become Pharaoh; she adopted many male attributes. She assumed all the regalia and symbols of the pharaonic office: the Khat head cloth, topped with the uraeus, the traditional false beard and shendyt kilt.

She ruled for about twenty years gloriously, during which Egypt witnessed a long period of prosperity. She was also known to be a strong, fair and just ruler. Besides being the only female pharaoh to erect the most monuments during her reign, the projects she commissioned took Ancient Egyptian architecture to higher standards that set the calibre for the pharaohs that succeeded her. The first and the most beautiful of the temples in the Valley of the Kings was her great mortuary temple Djeser-Djeseru. It is the focal point of the complex at Deir al-Bahari on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor.

Although she was known to be a peaceful queen, she made some conquests notably the expedition to the Land of Punt (perhaps present day Somalia) She re-established trading relations that were lost during a foreign occupation by the Hyksos, bringing great wealth to Egypt. The expedition to Punt brought back myrrh, frankincense, woods, sweet-smelling resin, ivory, spices, gold, ebony, ivory and aromatic trees, this was the first ever recorded attempt to replant foreign trees.

Hatshepsut was also the first Pharaoh to erect an obelisk; she had two erected in front of her temple yet only one still stands today, as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth. She is also the owner of “the Unfinished Obelisk” in Aswan as it establishes how obelisks were quarried.

With all her success and accomplishments she disappeared from history after about twenty years of her reign. To this day no one knows how and when she died exactly, or where her mummy is buried. However, if the recent identification of her mummy in KV60 is correct, CT scans of the mummy indicate that she died of metastatic bone cancer in her 50s.

Depicted in many novels and films, whether as a wicked step mother or a romantic amiable queen, it is undeniable that she was the first great woman in History!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

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It’s evident that ancient Egyptians cared about how they looked just like the rest of us do today, and of course hair was a major concern to them, just like it is for any one of us today. As everything they did with style and flamboyance, so did their headdress, which too was of major significance to the Egyptians. And elaborate hair styles were not confined to royalty even the working labor class flaunted some very interesting hairdos.

Although hair length was not limited to one gender or other, both men and women adopted a wide range of hair styles, ranging from a shaven head to long flowing locks, which to some archeologists was misleading, so was the fact that individuals with a shaven head were automatically assumed to have held religious office which too proved to be misguiding.

Hair styles have always marked different periods in modern time as fashion statements; this was true over the course of history, as Egyptian hairstyles varied over the ages. Evidence of these styles is provided by surviving wigs, inscriptions, tomb scenes and statuary. During the Old Kingdom, men and women alike kept their hair basically short and simple, although there were variations in style. Young girls wore their hair in a pony-tail, down the center of their back, weighed down with an ornament or metal disc or the end of the tail was curled naturally or encouraged to do so by hair irons, which have been found in excavations.

However, in the New Kingdom women wore their hair long or used wigs. Hair was decorated with flowers and ribbons; a favorite was a lotus blossom. Also used for decoration were coronets and diadems made of gold, turquoise, garnet, and even malachite beads, but poorer people decorated their hair with petals and berries which they used to hold their hair back. Headbands or ivory and metal hairpins were also used to hold the hair in place. But to attach wigs or hair extensions Egyptians sometimes used beads to keep them in place.

Children wore a special hairstyle during ancient Egyptian history, called the “side-lock.” The hair was shaved off except for a long lock of hair left on the side of the head. This was sketched on hieroglyphic as a symbol for depicting a child or a youth. Both girls and boys wore this style until the onset of puberty. Children decorated their hair with amulets of small fish, presumably to protect them from the dangers of the Nile. Children sometimes used hair-rings or clasps.

Priests had to shave every third day because they needed to avoid the danger of lice or any other uncleanness to conduct rituals. They were required to keep their entire body cleanly shaven and that included eyebrows and lashes.

Near El Deir El Bahari in Luxor excavations have revealed a factory for manufacturing wigs out of natural hair or fibers. Besides being popular and worn by men, women and children, with all their variety, they were a headdress worn on special occasions, such as ceremonies and banquets. If the hair was not dark enough, thick enough or plenty enough, Egyptians preferred to flaunt a wig or risk not being beautiful enough to appear in public! As much as washing their hair regularly was a routine for Egyptians, they were very fussy about caring for their wigs! Wigs were usually made from human hair, sheep’s wool or vegetable fibers. The more it looked like real hair, the more expensive it was and the more it was sought after. Of course the ones made completely from human hair were the most expensive and Egyptians used emollients and oils made from vegetable or animal fat to properly care for and make the wigs last longer.

Egyptians loved coloring their hair as much as the next modern-day fashion conscious person, and certainly something had to be done about hiding gray hair, so “henna” was used. The leaves of the henna shrub are used to make the henna paste that produces a red-orange dye that bonds to protein and so was used to dye hands, nails and hair. In fact henna is still used to date for its vibrant red color and its excellent gray-hair coverage.

Although wigs were popular and saved face for men who were balding, the matter was not taken lightly, balding that is. There were many potions and remedies to stimulate hair growth, the most popular being chopped lettuce patches that were applied to balding spots. The things that people do to keep with the fashion goes back beyond time, back to the roots of humanity!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

Copyright © EgyptHasItAll.com

Just as Cleopatra sailed down the Nile in her luxurious royal barge, the bank along the river Nile probably looks the same for that many years. A timeless picturesque scene, life has not changed much over the years. Buffaloes and cows grazing, farmers working the land by hand, women washing cloths on the waters edge, children fishing or jumping into the water, waving and screaming at the passing boats. Egrets fly over the water surface alongside the boat and a kingfisher hovers, ready to dive down into the water to catch a fish. As an important migratory stopover between Africa and Europe, the banks of the Nile are the perfect place for bird-watching. Lining the banks are date palms, willows, acacias, mimosa and sycamore trees.

The river Nile, the source of all creation, life and beauty, is the life-line of the ancient Egyptian civilization, and the unending source of sustenance to its people. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that ‘Egypt was the gift of the Nile.’ Sailing by the serene beauty on a Nile cruise ship, with all the luxuries of royalty of a Pharaonic barge, is a once in a life time experience. With all the facilities of a land based hotel, Nile cruise ships are fully air-conditioned, with a small swimming pool, bars, restaurants, shops, private baths and TVs.

The large sliding window of the cabin room opens directly on to the waters of the river emphasizing the closeness of nature even further. I can never tire of gazing out at the life on the Nile as it drifts by, and the single-sailed feluccas, that remind me of giant butterflies. My personal favorite is the sun-deck, especially during the early hours of the cool morning breeze.

During the actual motion of the Nile cruise ship there is little sense of motion, so even within the smallest cabin room there is no danger of any seasickness. With an all inclusive package, you can enjoy three meals a day with all the transportation to the tours and temples. A typical cruise will include visits to the Luxor Museum, the magnificent Temple of Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon on Luxor. In Esna the Temple of Esna and at Edfu, there is the Temple of Horus. At Kom Ombo, there is the temple of Sobek, the crocodile god associated with fertility; it is directly on the edge of the Nile where crocodiles were fed red meat in ancient times.

At Aswan the sites to see include a visit to the Aswan High Dam, Lake Nasser, the Unfinished Obelisk. The Temple of Philae is on one of the most romantic and beautiful site on Earth. It had become the center point to the worship of the cult of the goddess Isis. Optional is a relaxing felucca trip to the Botanical Island and a visit to a Nubian village as you float past the Elephantine Island and the Agha Khan Mausoleum.The cruises range from a quick, three-night cruise usually departing from Aswan to Luxor, to a moderate four-night cruise usually departing from Luxor to Aswan. The seven-night cruise either starts from Luxor to Aswan or Aswan to Luxor, this trip is for those who seek full relaxation.

Besides the day visits these cruise ships have active night life including cocktail parties, Nubian shows, belly dancers and whirling tanoura dancers, there is even a night where guests have a dress up parties putting on traditional Egyptian costumes. The meals onboard most Nile cruisers are usually buffet style and include a variety of international and local cuisine.

The best time to book your Nile cruise is between October and mid April, when the weather is cool and the locks along the Nile at Esna are all open. These locks will be closed around mid April because of the water levels. However there are cruise boats operating all year round, but due to the closed locks, cruise operators will arrange boats on either side of the locks, and a transfer must be made between boats. Although a visit to the Pyramids and the Sphinx maybe the pinnacle of your trip to Egypt, there is nothing like floating down the Nile on a cruise boat, truly an unforgettable and magical experience.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

Of all the ancient temples, the sacred temple island of Philae is said to be the most beautiful. As it is on an island it is reached by boat. From the level of a small boat it captivatingly rises up from the calm deep waters of the Nile like a mirage. Its serene aura reaches you even before you set foot on its stone floor. The placid ambiance may not only be due to its scenic location but more to, the secrets the pillars and walls have witnessed over time. They seem to be willing to share stories and events but only at their leisurely calm pace. The Temple of Philae or “The Jewel of the Nile” in ancient days was the center of the worship of Isis, and the last outpost of the nearly 4000 year old ancient Egyptian religion.

It was told that Isis managed to trick the all powerful sun god Ra into telling her his secret name (the name that held all his divine power). By creating a magical serpent that bit Ra. She was called upon to cure him but to do so she had to know his secret name, which he finally divulged giving her power equal to his own and so she became divine and as powerful as Ra himself.

The end to this religion came in 535 A.D. when the Roman emperor Flavius Anicius Justinianus ordered the closure of the temple, forbad the art of reading and writing hieroglyphs and imprisoned its priests. This put an end to the religion that had spread beyond the lands of Egypt and spread all across the Mediterranean.

Isis was the sister-wife of Osiris and the mother of the god Horus. Osiris was a great and just king who was loved by his people and wife, but he was hated by his brother Seth (the god of the underworld). Seth was jealous of his brother so he devised a plan to get rid of him. He secretly obtained Osiris’ measurements and had a magnificent casket of the rarest wood and decorated with ebony, ivory, silver and gold made to fit him exactly. He then held a great feast in honor of Osiris where he offered to give the casket to whoever fit it exactly. With the aid of 72 of his wicked friends they tricked Osiris into trying it for size, but as soon as he lay in it they nailed the lid shut and threw the casket into the Nile.

On hearing of this Isis was devastated and set out to look for him throughout Egypt. Isis learnt from the children who played near the riverside the direction of the floating casket. She followed it until she learnt that the chest had come to rest near a tree near the city of Byblos (modern day Lebanon) and because of Osiris’ presence the tree shot out branches and grew leaves and flowers, and soon became a famous tree. The king of Byblos cut the tree down and fashioned it into a pillar for his palace. Isis told the queen of Byblos of her plight and was allowed to take the casket out of the pillar. She returned to Egypt and hid the chest in the marshes of the delta.

And when no one was looking she opened the chest and turned into a bird called the kite and flapped her mighty wings. The wind created by her wings gave Osiris the Breath of Life for one day, during which she conceived her son Horus from him. Seth managed to find the casket again and after opening it he rented the body into 14 pieces and scattered them along the shores of the Nile for the crocodiles to eat. Isis seeking the help of her sister Nephthys and Anubus the son of Nephthys, who was said to take the form of a jackal to find all the pieces of Osiris. All the pieces were recovered except for one. She stuck the pieces together and wrapped him in linen making him the first Egyptian mummy. Not able to return in a human form, Osiris was sent to rule the underworld, being the only person to live after death.

Isis then returned to raise her son Horus, who often took the form of a hawk. Horus eventually avenges the death of his father and manages to defeat Seth. Horus was then given the privilege of taking his father’s place and ruling Earth as Osiris had once done.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

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Picking up from our previous post about culture houses, we decided to follow with festivals. The festivals range from art and book festivals to fishing and horse festivals.

Of the most popular annual festivals that draw crowds in the millions is the Cairo International Book Fair. The first book fair was held in 1969. The Book Fair takes place in mid January and lasts for two weeks. The Fair is one of the biggest in the Middle East and during the course of the exhibition, there are lectures, seminars and special displays held on the grounds.

The Cairo International Film Festival is also another major international attraction, to be held annually in early December, and has been for the past 26 years. Besides the regular competition the festival includes tributes, controversial films, seminars and appearances by international artists, which over the years have included Matt Dillon, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren.

The Experimental Theater Festival is held in September at the Cairo Opera House. This festival allows young artists from many parts of the world to present experimental theatrical performances based on freedom of thought, creativity and experimentation. And this years13th Ismailia International Festival for Folk Arts attracted 24 troupes from 17 countries, performing on 9 stages, also proved to be a success.

Cairo holds three international music festivals. During the month of August Cairo hosts the International Song Festival, which attracts not only Arab performers but talent from the international scene. The second being the Arab Music Festival which is held in the Cairo Opera House during the month of November and celebrates a tradition of Arabic music. In its 11th year the festival boasted the live performance of 44 singers during the course of 18 concerts. But the most popular is the Citadel Music Festival held in late July early August. It features beautiful voices like the Algerian Souad Massi and this year witnessed the appearance of the Grammy and BBC Award winner Fathy Salama, among others.

The Arab Horse Festival, which is being held at the moment in El-Sharkya Governarate, on the Cairo-Belbas road, includes competitions for show-jumping, horse beauty and horse manners. Another sure attraction held Mid June at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, is the annual Belly Dancing Festival. The most recent of festivals which has rapidly gained good reviews is the International Yoga Festival. The last event was themed “the Wonders of the World”, taking participants from the Khufu Pyramid, in Cairo through the Jordan Rift Valley to the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea. Still on the agenda is the Health and Beauty Exhibition taking place from the 8-11 this coming October, and the seventh Egyptian Marathon on the 13th of February 2009 and the second Alexandria Run in October 2009.

Considered to be second only to the famous Dakar Rally, the annual Pharaohs Rally is a seven-day, seven-stage event across the Sahara. The race starts on the Pyramids plateau and in the shadow of the Sphinx in Giza. It is a race a grueling 3,000km (1,850 miles) circular course that ends up back in the bustling capital. A test of endurance for drivers and their vehicles, this tough event attracts more than 130 vehicles and 100 motorcycles from all over the world. This year it starts on the 5th and ends on the 12th of October. The sport of fishing has two popular festivals during the year. An International Fishing Festival in Hurghada that takes place during the month of February and a National Fishing Festival in Sharm El Sheikh that takes place in November.

The Abu Simbel Sun Festival at Aswan, is observed twice annually on 22nd of February and on 22nd of October. These dates mark the birthday and the ascension to the throne of the Emperor Ramses ΙΙ. On these days, shafts of sunlight enter into the temple and illuminate the face of the statues of the great King Ramses II and the two Sun gods Re-Horakhte and Amen-Re seated beside the Theban god Ptah, the god of darkness. As the temple remains in absolute darkness through out the year and receives sunlight on these two very special days, the rare phenomenon is a scene that you just cannot afford to miss. Celebrated in a big way by the locals, undoubtedly the Sun Festival at Abu Simbel is one of the most uncommon and astounding festivals in the world.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

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A tour in Cairo would probably include dinner on a boat floating smoothly down the Nile, the deep dark waters lite up, reflecting back the lights of Cairo by night. Sounds enchanting and mesmerizing, well it defiantly is. But on a trip like this that won’t be the only sight to spellbind you. The program would also include, among other things, a belly dancer and a tanoura dancer (an Egyptian folk dance derived from the Sufi religion) as entertainment.

And after a visit to the Pyramids, the Citadel and the enormous Egyptian Museum of Antiquity, you’ll probably go home impressed. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg. A people whose ancestors left behind a culture that has always captivated the world, and who over time have been exposed to a myriad of invasions by foreign cultures, must have more to show, and they do!

There are quiet a number of places with significant cultural importance, and an endless list of annual festivals and exhibitions, but we’ll only mention the most popular ones.

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquity displays 136,000 items with a couple of hundred thousand others in its basement store room, making it home to the most expensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. With the new Grand Egyptian Museum being built near the Pyramids area, many more of these stored items will finally be displayed and get the attention and glory they deserve.

The old Khedive Opera House or Royal Opera House was built in November 1, 1869 and burned down on October 28, 1971. Seventeen years later on October 10, 1988 the National Cultural Center (Cairo Opera House) was built with the help of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), making Egypt the soul country in the region with two opera houses built within one century. The Cairo Opera House has recently hosted concerts by the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and Bolshoi Theatre of the Republic of Belarus.

A not too known place of historical interest is The Cairo Geniza. The Geniza holds almost 200,000 Jewish manuscripts. These have been found at the Ben Ezra Synagogue (built in 882) in Fostat (now Old Cairo), the Basatin Cemetery east of Fostat and some were bought in Cairo in the late 19th century. These documents date back from 870 to 1880 AD.

Not to be missed are the beautiful gardens of Al Azhar Park. The sunset over the panoramic view of the old city of Cairo is an unforgettable site from one of its green hills. The park has running streams, waterfalls, restaurants, Islamic archways and lush landscaped gardens. Al Azhar Park is located near Darb Al-Ahmar district. It was a gift to Cairo from His Highness the Aga Khan, as his ancestors were the Fatimids who founded the city of Cairo in 969. During the development of the park parts of a 12th century Ayyubid wall was discovered, which has led to a major project for the restorations of several mosques, palaces and historic houses.

Erected on the same site as the ancient library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in October 2002. The main reading room is striking with its glass-paneled roof that resembles a sundial. The library has shelving space for eight million books, with the main reading room covering 70,000 m² on eleven cascading levels. The complex also houses a conference center; specialized libraries for the blind, for young people, and for children; three museums; four art galleries; a planetarium; and a manuscript restoration laboratory.

With the building of the Aswan Dam, the UNESCO attempted to salvage and recover many temples and reallocate them to higher grounds. A large quantity of artifacts was saves and was finally displayed at the beautiful Nubian Museum. The architecture of the Museum and the building walls were intended to evoke traditional Nubian village architecture, as it was along the Nubian Nile before the region was flooded by Lake Nasser.

As-Sawi Water Wheel (in arabic Saqiyet As-Sawi), is a popular cultural center. Located in Zamalek, the center hosts theatrical, musical and cinema performances, plastic art galleries, seminars and training courses. It has become a doorway to unknown artists finding a place on Cairo’s culture scene. Holding awareness campaigns (2008 being “The Year of the Minds”) it’s intent is to protect the freedom of thought and the freedom to enjoy culture.

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With Global Warming becoming an eminent threat there is growing awareness to going green. The need to save mother Earth, conserving its resources to share with future generations as live experiences and not stories of the past. Warning calls by Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio for preserving the only planet we have is more than a cause but a need for it to be a way of life.

Every bearing of our lives is going eco-friendly, from energy saving light bulbs and carpooling to eco-friendly pajamas and hair spray. Since the late 1980s the increase in environmental awareness and the obligation to protect eco-systems, gave birth to ecotourism, responsible tourism or also called sustainable tourism.

For centuries only 6% of Egypt’s land has been frequented by tourists, seeking the historical aspects that have been overemphasized through novels & chronicles. With the remaining 94% considered lifeless, barren wastelands. These areas included three magnificent deserts (the Sinai Desert, the Eastern Desert and the Western Desert), mangroves, lakes, mountains and 2,700 km (1,678 m) of unspoiled coastlines. Since the evolution of ecotourism and the demand to explore and enjoy this hidden side of Egypt, there has been a demand for more environmentally conscious eco-lodges, and higher maintenance and preservation over natural protectores.

But what exactly is meant by ecotourism? As defined by the world’s oldest and largest ecotourism organization and the global source of knowledge and advocacy in ecotourism, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) states that it is:

Experiencing the fastest growth of all sub-sectors in the tourism industry, this popularity represents a change in tourist perceptions, increased environmental awareness, and a desire to explore natural environments. Such changes have become as much a statement affirming one’s social identity, educational sophistication, and disposable income as it has about preserving the Amazon rainforest or the Caribbean reef for posterity. And for ecotourism to be successful certain guidelines and principles must be followed:
· minimize impact
· build environmental and cultural awareness and respect
· provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
· provide direct financial benefits for conservation
· provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
· raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climate

The concepts of ecotourism maybe obvious in that they need to minimize the negative economic, environmental and social impacts, while preserving and improving the condition of the local people and their heritage. These very concepts are often used as a marketing tool to promote tourism which is related to nature. These greenwashing habits (disinformation by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image) only use labels like “green” and “eco-friendly”, to mislead tourists and manipulate their concern for the environment. So just because a hotel is located on a splendid landscape does not mean it’s eco-friendly until it fulfills its obligations, behaving in an environmentally responsible way.

This may have been happening in Hurgada and Sharm el Sheik, but in recent years legislation has been enforced by the Egyptian Affairs Agency to prevent new development from destroying the coastline, coral reefs or tidal flats. Becoming the major focus of investment by the Egyptian government and the World Bank to protect what is left of the unique heritage that was once plagues by thoughtless development.

Since the hosting of Sustainable Tourism Egypt (STE) 2003, the International Conference on Tourism Development in Environmentally Sensitive Areas there has been major endeavors and strategic plans to conserve and protect the unique, abundant natural treasure of Egypt’s heritage. There is also concern for these protected areas to pay their way to generate revenue that can be use to fund for the management of its conservation. Moreover to provide the residence of these areas with additional income and establish community businesses.

In the wake of the declaration of Wadi El-Hitan as a World Heritage site by the UNESCO, there are more restrictions to number of visitors and stricter enforcemnt on regulation and guidelines to protectores. In the Nabq protected area, there are rehabilitation initiatives to recover its sensitive eco-systems. The largest mangrove stand in the Gulf of Aqaba and the northernmost mangroves in the Indian Ocean/Red Sea area front the shoreline of Nabq, making it the largest coastal park, at 600 km2 of protected area of outstanding natural beauty sheltering a variety of ecosystems.

There has been a campaign to crack down on hunting in Egypt in the Siwa Oasis and around Lake Nasser, Egypt’s primary water reservoir. Furthermore, there have been negotiations with government authorities to reduce the bureaucratic restrictions on deep desert tours and safaris. The numerous bureaucratic obstacles and procedures are time consuming but these problems are not experienced by tourists, as they are taken care of before their arrival.

The location of the Stromer’s Tidal Giant dinosaur in Bahariya Oasis is now under protection as farmers are trying to use the land for agricultural purposes and presently, there is a focus on saving the Petrified Forest protectorate east of Cairo, as there have been attempts to initiate urban development projects in the area. The selling of the Red Sea’s protected Giftun Island was successfully halted. The Egyptian government rejected the proposal for a multi-million development plan and an international campaign “Save Giftun” helped rise public awareness to preserve Egypt’s heritage.

Efforts to save the Spinner dolphins of the Gulf of Samadi (in the vicinity of the town of Marsa Alam in the Red Sea) have been also successful. The Samadi is a horseshoe-shaped reef that forms a shallow lagoon in the center, and constitutes an important natural habitat for spinner dolphins, where tourists get the magical opportunity to swim with wild, free, friendly dolphins.

21 km north of Hurgada, is the first independent touristic town. El Gouna (or Lagoon) has its own electricity plant, a sewage treatment plant, roads, lagoons, and has installed satellite phones, a transportation network, two marinas, a Nubian-style village, an airport, a hospital and an international school. More investors are being encouraged to build eco-lodges in protected areas such as the Red Sea’s Wadi El-Gemal, and Qarit Umm Al-Sagheer, north of Siwa. The government and developers have significant roles to play in adopting and implementing environmentally sound policies and practices to avoid the degradation of the natural heritage of Egypt for the sake of current and future generations alike.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

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Abu Simbel was unheard of in the Egyptological world until J. L. Burckhardt in 1813 stumbled on the upper part of a temple façade almost covered by sand. The entrance leading into the temple was discovered four years later by Giovanni Battista Belzoni and since then it has attracted many who have been awe-struck by the colossal façade of the temple.

Although the temple attracts tourists all year round its worth everything to visit this 3000 year old inspiring rock mountain on the 22nd of February and the 22nd of October, when the Sun illuminates the sanctuary statues.

The temple was actually built further down the Nile, in the same relative position, but due to the rising waters of Lake Nasser that grew behind the Aswan Dam, the temple had to be moved on the desert plateau 200 feet above and 600 feet west of their original location. In a massive archeological rescue plan by the UNESCO in the 1960s the complex of temples was moved to its site today from the original locations that are presently underwater.

Abu Simbel lies 280 km south of Aswan and only 40 km north of the Sudanese border. Archaeologists have concluded that the immense sizes of the statues in the Great Temple were intended to scare potential enemies approaching Egypt’s southern region, as they traveled down the Nile from out of Africa.

The massive façade of the main temple is dominated by four seated colossal statues of Ramses II himself. Each statue 67 feet high is seated on a throne and wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and all are sculpted directly from the rock face. The thrones are decorated on their sides with Nile gods symbolically uniting Egypt. Between the legs and on each of their sides stand smaller statues of members of the royal family. The smaller statues of relatives were of his wife Queen Nefertari, his mother Tuya the great wife of Seti Ι, and of many of his children.

There are two main temples, that of Ramses II dedicated to sun gods Amun Ra and Ra-Harakhte and the smaller was built in honor of Nefertari, his wife and dedicated to the goddess Hathor. The temples are as impressive in the day as they are by night, since each night there are three Sound and Light Shows in seven different languages.

The Abu Simbel Sun Festival is one of the world’s most unique events to date. This week the Solstice occurrence can be witnessed again by crowds that pack into the temple before sunrise. The two dates, February and October the 22nd commemorate King Ramses’ ΙΙ ascension to the throne and his birthday respectively.

The Sun Festival starts at dawn as the visitors watch the shafts of light slowly creep into the temple lighting up this sanctuary. Curiously enough the sun illuminates the status of Amun-Ra, Ra-Harakhte and Ramses the god; whilst the statue of Ptah, the god of darkness remains in the shadows.

So on the 22nd of this month unlike any of us, Ramses will not be having candles lite up on his birthday, but the first rays of the Sun will light up his face before it lights up his architectural phenomena and the rest of Egypt!

About the Author:
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Egypt Tours