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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Search for an answer to this enigmatic question, I realized that getting a clear response was not going to be possible so I did my reading looking into all the theories no matter how much they made me laugh! The notion that someone can actually believe, publicly announce and expect to be taken seriously something bizarre and unsupported was beyond me. But then again I could be the one in the dark to one of the most unanswered questions in history. So which came first the Pyramids or the Sphinx?!

As a child, I remember always getting excited over the idea of going to the Pyramids. I still feel dwarfed standing at the base of Khufu and looking up. The stone block I’m standing in front of is much taller than I am! So how did they ever build such a thing? How long would it take to get to the top? You could probably see the world from up there!

Although there are records as to how and who built the Pyramids there is little to tell about the Sphinx, the largest surviving statue from the ancient world. It is sculpted out of a large limestone bedrock, a stone soft enough to yield to copper chisels and stone hammers, common Egyptian tools. The actual mystery of the Sphinx at Giza pertains to its very identity. The Sphinx has a head of a man, wearing the Egyptian headdress and a spiraling beard, and having the body of a lion, with two paws resting beneath the head and chest. It rises up 66 ft (20 m) high and the resting leonine body stretching 241 ft (73.5 m) behind. The Sphinx has been most often associated with the Pharaoh Khafre (2558–2532 B.C.), who is represented by and is presumably buried in the second largest of the three Pyramids at Giza. At least two statues of Khafre have been found that bear a striking resemblance to the face of the Sphinx.

The Sphinx at Giza faces due east with a small temple between its paws and is referred to in some Egyptian hieroglyphics as Hamachis, the god of the rising Sun. Later, Hamachis evolved into the name Hor-em-Akhet and until 1925 it was still buried up to the neck in sand.

Believed to be built during the Fourth Dynasty at the same time as the Pyramids, the date of the Sphinx still remains a controversy and even in ancient times, some sources dated it as preceding the Pyramids. It has under gone several restorations even during ancient times. After being abandoned from around 2650 B.C to 1500 B.C King Thutmose IV of the 18th Dynasty, ordered the rescue of the Sphinx from being buried by the desert sands. Ramesses II may have also performed restoration work on the Great Sphinx. But the first modern excavation project was in 1817, lead by Captain Caviglia uncovering the chest, but the Sphinx was finally dug out completely in 1925. The last of the restoration project took place as recently as 2006.

Trying to dig up information about the Sphinx unearthed a lot. Going through all of the theories, suppositions, rumors or even psychics made me realize that common logic was dry and uninteresting compared to the fascinating controversies of more ancient unknown civilizations or even aliens being responsible. Even the most recent claim by the geologists that the Sphinx dates as far back as 9000 years ago probably at the end of the Ice age was based solely on the geological evidence, rather than information from hieroglyphics or other histories. The suppositions are based around the weathering and the water erosion that the limestone has witnessed, not of the making of the actual statue.

Then there are claims of an advanced civilization that once thrived on the continent of Antarctica before it was frozen over during a global catastrophe at the end of the last Ice Age. Or of extraterrestrials coming down to earth to build this monument because mere humans where unable to accomplish such a enormous achievement. To me this seems more of an insult to all of humanity than to the ancient Egyptians that actually toiled to have there names remembered over the passing of time.

But really the most interesting of all concepts was that of a psychic Edgar Cayce! He prophesied a secret passageway leads from one of the Sphinx’s paws to its right shoulder where there exists a “Hall of Records” that contains the wisdom of a lost civilization and the history of the world. During a trance he received reading that the legendary civilization of Atlantis was responsible for many of the accomplishments of ancient Egypt, claiming that the Great Pyramid and Sphinx were built by Atlanteans refugees.

The ancient Egyptians lived, and died building the Sphinx and the Pyramids, leaving behind their documentations, tools, graves and bones. Trying to find another unknown civilization to give credits to is illogical lacking common sense and denigrating to its people. The pyramids are human achievements and one of the Nova projects called “This Old Pyramid” demonstrated that it was actually attempted to construct a scaled down version of the Great Pyramid using techniques which are inscribed in ancient Egyptian temples.

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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He died 3,300 years ago and we know that he was 19 years of age when he did. We know that he came to the throne at the age of 9 and was too young to have made his own decisions, and that they were made for him by Aye, his vizier and Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of his army. We think he was Akhenaton’s son not from the famous Nefertiti but from Kiya a minor wife. He may have had a brother Smenkhkare, or as some think he could have been is father after all. He did have six half-sisters from Akhenaton and Nefertiti (if Akhenaton was his father really!). He was married to his probably half-sister Ankhesenamun and had twin girls who were stillborn and buried with him in the tomb. But even Ankhesenamun’s fate is unknown, as she was made to marry Aye after her husband’s death then just disappeared out of existence.

We know that Tutankhamun was the King that brought back the old religion after the revolution of Akhenaton, who banned the worship of Amun in favor of the one god Aten (Atenism), which was represented by “the disk of the Sun”. This gained him instant popularity with the priests and the people, so he was a loved king! Contrary to what was concluded that he was buried in haste, clues have shown that the mummification process and burial took their due course.

For some reason when Horemheb came to power he deleted all evidence of existence of his predecessors Akhenaten, Neferneferuaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, and Aye who were erased from the official lists of Pharaohs which instead reported that Amenhotep III was immediately succeeded by Horemheb. This may have been a way for Horemheb to delete all trace of Atenism and of any pharaoh associated with it from historical record. Akhenaten’s name never appeared on any of the king lists compiled by later Pharaohs and it was not until the late 19th century that his identity was re-discovered and the surviving traces of his reign were unearthed by archaeologists.

Before Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s intact tomb in 1922 the world had never heard of King Tutankhamun and the discovery led to a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt. Since then his burial mask has become synonymous with all of Egyptian history. But at the time of discovery Carter and his team basically dismantled the corpse while looking for amulets and other jewelry. The mummy’s head was removed and nearly every major joint severed, furthermore, many of its parts present at the original examination are now missing. But then if Carter hadn’t cut the mummy free from the hardened resin that cemented it fast in the wooden coffin, thieves would certainly ripped it apart to remove the gold.

Archaeology has significantly changed over the years, back then it was more important to discover and collect treasures, not paying enough or any attention to details of life and the intriguing mysteries of death, even if that meant leaving the antiquities badly damaged or in a critical state.

Since 1926, the mummy has been X-rayed three times: first in 1968 by a group from the University of Liverpool led by Dr. R. G. Harrison, then in 1978 by a group from the University of Michigan, and finally in 2005 a team of Egyptian scientists led by Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, who conducted a CT scan on the mummy, acquiring 1,700 three dimensional images during the 15 minute scan.

The early X-rays raised alarms that the deceased was murdered. But did the young pharaoh die from a blow to the head? Well …..apparently not!! After the detailed CT scans taken recently King Tut died of natural causes. Although some Egyptologists and amateur sleuths have long speculated that a stealthy foe murdered Tut by attacking him from behind, the evidence is all circumstantial, with very little reason to believe that murder was the primary scenario.
So lets look at evidence just a tad-bit closer. Among claims that King Tut may have died of the Black Plague (which had appeared at the time), of lung disease, poison or even a brain tumor, the major allegation of a fatal blow to the back of the head have all proved futile.

The damage to the skull that raised cahoots has proven to be due to damage by the embalmers during the mummification process or carelessness of the Carter team. What was actually determined, though speculation, but the most agreed on, is the fact that there was a fracture found on the left leg of the mummy, which did not show evidence of healing, meaning that it was received just before death.

And again from what we learnt of his life painted on the walls of his burial chamber, like all Pharaohs, King Tutankhamun studied reading, writing, mathematics, geology, astronomy, a foreign language and for fun and relaxation he learnt, archery, wrestling and how to drive a chariot. But as it seems he had a deep infatuation with hunting, which may have been the root cause of his demise. Whatever caused the fractured thigh bone is likely to have also caused an open wound that was serious enough to cause an infection, fever and death. Although the break itself would not have been life-threatening, but gangrene caused by a badly broken leg was the most likely culprit. So was it a hunting accident that brought the end to a Dynasty of Kings? We may never know.

Many questions have yet to be answered about the life and death of the Boy-King, and may even remain a mystery buried under the sands of time like many still unsolved mysteries of the Valley of the Kings.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

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Was it a natural death or was he murdered? After almost 3,000 years and with very little evidence and so many conspiracy theories it’s hard to determine exactly how the boy-king died! 28 years ago after X-rays were taken of his mummy by the anatomy department of the University of Liverpool everyone was convinced that Tutankhamun died of unnatural causes, presumably a blow to the back of the head.

The main suspect was Aye, his vizier in conspiracy with Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of the army. Seeming to gain from the king’s death, Aye succeeded, ruling Egypt for 4 years before he died and was then succeeded by Horemheb. Both were powerful men who were present during the reign of King Tut. But they both would have had no reason to murder him since he was young and did not hold much authority and they were probably making the decisions any way. And as it happened, Tutankhamun had no enemies; he was loved by the priests and the population because he was the one to re-establish the religion of Amun-Re after the death of his heretic father Akhenaten, who outlawed it, replacing it with the monotheistic worship of Aten.

Tutankhamun belonged to the Eighteenth dynasty and ruled Egypt at a time of turbulence. Originally Tutankhaten, meaning the “Living Image of Aten”, was changed when he came to power to Tutankhamun, meaning the “Living Image of Amun”. Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten also known as Amenhotep ΙV, and his minor wife Queen Kiya. He came to reign at the age of 9 and at the age of 13 married Ankhesenamun, who was probably his half-sister, as it is recorded that Ankhesenamun as one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. At the age of 19 the king died suddenly and was buried in a crammed tomb in the “Valley of the Kings”, now known as Al-Amarna. The Valley of the Kings was declared a World Heritage Site in 1927, it lies on the west bank just across the Nile from Thebes (modern Luxor), and is the valley where, for 500 years, tombs for kings of the New Kingdom were constructed.

KV62 (the tomb of Tutankhamun) was first discovered, by the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, who came upon it by chance. The tomb remains the only royal Egyptian tomb discovered in modern times virtually intact. The rubble that concealed the tomb and its occupant protected it for over 30 centuries, preserving its treasures from grave robbers of antiquity who looted so many other tombs. His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but from the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, it is clear that these robberies took place within several months at most of the initial burial.

The tomb of Tutankhamun consists of 3 chambers within which is crammed thousands of masterpieces of jewelry, furniture, and art objects. Over 5000 artifacts, the treasures included four nested boxes, or shrines, of gilded wood, then three mummy-shaped coffins (two gilded and one of solid gold) all inside a red quartzite sarcophagus. But the most significant finding was the mummy of King Tut himself, with a stunning mask of gold covering his head and shoulders. More so this was a first in modern history, the discovery of the mummy of an Egyptian king, lying intact in his original burial furniture.

To remove the jewelry and amulets from the body, Carter and his team had to cut up the mummy into various pieces: the arms and legs were detached, the torso cut in half and the head was severed. Hot knives were used to remove it from the golden mask to which it was cemented by hardened embalming resin. This had taken its toll on the mummy’s condition and is one of the reasons why it is difficult to conclude how Tutankhamun died exactly.

King Tutankhamun still rests in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, in a temperature-controlled glass case. But his world tour “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” back from London this August, is currently touring the U.S.A, starting this 15th of November it will be at the Atlanta Civic Center through to May of 2009. The exhibition is organized by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. The tour’s proceeds will help raise money to preserve Egypt’s treasures, including the construction of the new Cairo museum (the GEM) which is expected to house 100,000 exhibits making it larger than the British Museum.

About the Author:

Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours