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| Me on the Golden Sand |
Another early morning rise and into the car
to get to Dush Temple. We passed the yellow sands, famous in this region, and
stopped off for a photo opportunity. In the countryside, we also saw cows,
which were apparently from Switzerland (among other countries) and gifted to Egyptians in the inner regions in President Nasser’s time to encourage people to
stay in the area and to make a living by farming (if I remember correctly).
Anyway, we arrived at Dush Temple, which was built in the first century AD.
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| Inside Dush Temple |
It
was a religious, military, and civilian complex dedicated to Isis and Serapis.
The ground was littered with broken, ancient pottery (incredible).
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| The Ground at Dush Temple (Pottery Remains) |
After that, it was on to the necropolis al
Bagawat.
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| Approach to Necropolis at Bagawat |
This was a Christian cemetery in use from the 1st to the 7th
century AD. It comprises 263 funerary chapels laid out in streets and a church. It was interesting to see Christian relics after all the Pharaonic remains.
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| Interior of the Chapel of Peace at Bagawat |
The final site of the day was Hibis Temple,
meaning the place of ploughing. It was dedicated to Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. It
began to be built in around 664 BC, although most of its present form is from
around 500 BC, with further additions in the third century BC. It’s an
important temple for understanding Ancient Egyptian religion.
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| Hibis Temple |
The next day, our first stop was Tuna el
Gabel – another necropolis, this one dating from 300 BC. This one is notable
for its baboon and ibis burial grounds. These were regarded as holy animals
representing Thoth. Millions of these animals were buried at this site.
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| Baboon Mummy |
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| Baboon Engravings |
It is also home of the mummy of Isadora
(the Egyptian Romeo and Juliet story) – the daughter of Emperor Pius
fell in love with a young soldier, but her father would not allow them to
marry. They eloped, but Isadora died while crossing the Nile. Her father built
an elaborate tomb and a cult rose up in her name.
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| Isadora |
The rest of the day involved two large
climbs (in hot sunshine!). The first visit was to Amarna, which was briefly
Egypt’s capital in 1300 BC. It is Egypt’s best preserved pharaonic city; the
city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and dedicated to the sun god (Aten). We were
able to visit a selection of the tombs, which were differently engraved from those in Pharaonic times due to
the belief in this era that the dead did not pass on to an afterlife but remained to
warship the sun each day as it rises.
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Tombs in the Hillside (Further Up!)
 | | Depiction of Everyday Life |
|
The second long climb was at Beni Hassan.
On the upper terrace there are 39 tombs cut into the cliff face overlooking the
Nile.
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| View Over the Nile from the Tombs |
Inside, pictures depict everyday life at that time (around 2000 BC). As usual, it's mind-boggling to think how these places were built so long ago and when implements were very basic (supposedly) compared to modern-day.
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| Depiction of Everyday Life |
After that, it was on to our hotel in El
Minya, with beautiful views over the Nile.
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| View from Hotel Bedroom in El Minya |
The following day, we had a long journey back
to Hurghada, but all worth it for a wonderful trip.
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