Egypt: Day 2 - Memphis and Saqqara / Egyptian Museum

We get up very ambitiously at 7 am, with a view to seeing a sunrise on the Nile. Turns out the sun rises at 5.30 these days. I think sleep is more important. Still we walk down the Corniche-el-Nil behind the Hilton and cross one of the bridges to the other side and look around a bit.

Memphis and Saqqara

Our trip to Memphis and Saqqara is scheduled around 9.30 am. Magic Hotel has arranged for a taxi, and we pile in after breakfast and set off. Memphis used to be the capital of ancient Egypt, especially in the times of Ramesses II. Close by is the necropolis of Saqqara, where the oldest pyramid - Djoser's Step Pyramid - is located. Both of these are 25km from Cairo.

As we drive along the Nile, and later along an irrigation canal, it strikes Satya and me that Egypt is so much like India to look at. The countryside as we drive is scattered with green paddy and vegetable fields, small houses and huts with kids playing in the yard and mothers cooking, electric transmission poles, the obligatory canal on the side... It's amazing. The only thing that tells us that we're in Egypt is the presence of signs and the fact that all the signs are in Arabic.

So we reach Memphis. It's quite unbelievable that this was the capital of Egypt, and the centre of Egypt's culture for so many centuries. Now all that remains is a massive statue of Ramesses II, lying fallen in a building and a few statues mounted in a garden. Overall the scene was quite sad - the whole place was destroyed by floods and sand storms we're told. We tour around the fallen statue, now enclosed by a building which accommodates a steady stream of tourists. Walking around outside, I take a few photos, including one with a couple of 'Tourist Police'. For this I have to tip them 50 piastres each.

Saqqara is more fulfilling. We start off at the tombs of Mere-Ruka and the Pyramid of Titi. This latter monument gives the claustrophobic feeling of entering a pyramid, with its narrow and short and quite steep downward shaft. The bottom is quite bare, but the sarcophagus is still there, and the 'Pyramid Texts' that spell out the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead line the walls. The effect is quite spectacular. At the time. We move on to Djoser's unique pyramid, the Step Pyramid, which was the first pyramid to be built, and at the time of its construction, was the biggest man-made structure on earth. This pyramid, was built by the brilliant architect Imhotep, and set the standards and practices for building pyramids in later centuries.

The Step Pyramid is unique in that it has a massive complex surrounding it. This is complete with a large entrance hall with 44 pillars, and a substantial number of false entrances. A lot of the walls are broken now, but the awe-inspiring effect of the size is undiminished. This hall - the Hypostyle Hall - opens into a large central courtyard, with a few rooms and altars on each. Apparently, every year, the Pharoah would re-enact his coronation with a ceremony in this courtyard, and he would sit on two thrones one after another symbolising his dominion over the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt [Lower Egypt consisted of the areas north of Memphis, and Upper Egypt consisted of areas south of Memphis. The areas were named thus because of their altitude, and obviously not their latitude].

Outside the courtyard we visit a few small tombs of some of the queens and children of the Pharoah and of the Pharoah Unas. The Pyramid of Djoser has one last novelty. As you look at the Pyramid, there's a small room in front which has 2 holes cut into its front wall. Peer into either and you come face to face with a life size image of Djoser himself. Quite eerie indeed...

Leaving this area, we walk around a little more and visit the tombs of Ptah-Hotep and his father who's name I forget. Along the way, I strike something with my toe and pick up a small fragment of plaster with some Egyptian hieroglyphics on it. Looks quite authentic, but I am naturally pessimistic. Can't be the real thing, but maybe it is, so I wrap it in a newspaper and slip it into my bag. We return to Magic Hotel, and take a short rest.

Later in the afternoon, about 2.00, we leave for the Egyptian Museum. This is a short walk from MH, and we take the opportunity to stop at the juice stall and quaff two tall cool ones, one mango and one ‘cocktail’. Feels divine in the heat. Then onto the Museum.

Egyptian Museum

LOTS of exhibits, but they're arranged in what strikes me as a very haphazard manner. Maybe it makes some sort of sense in a deeper way. We wander around for a while, and since the museum is due to close at 4.30, we take in the important exhibits first. Notably the Tutankhamen [Tut-Ankh-Amen] chamber, which contains the famous [and justifiably so] mask of Tut. This is the gold and blue mask that was placed on his mummy prior to closing the sarcophagus. There are also exhibited piles of ornaments which were wrapped together with the mummified body. This whole area is filled with gold this and gold that [ironically, silver was more expensive than gold at the time, I believe]. What really stings is the fact that there was so much treasure in the tomb of a rather minor and unimportant King. It is left to our imaginations to conceive of the untold treasures that have been stolen from the tombs of the really important pharaohs like Ramesses II, Seti I, Akhenaten.

I take a lot of photographs, and hope they will develop properly - flash photography is banned in the museum. I would really have loved to spend a whole day in this place, looks like we made a mistake in our timing... Damn.

We take our second walk along the Nile for the day, and take some interesting photos of the Nile at sunset. Then we return to MH, and take some more rest; our feet are killing us. Then dinner. Today's restaurant of choice is the El Taibi El Domiati. Place looks and feels [and tastes?] like an Indian roadside restaurant – good and oily food and very cheap. We have a salad made up of cheese, tomatoes, moong dal and some rather 'khatta' olives. Then there's the ubiquitous ta'amiya with some dishes such as rajma-like dish, fried brinjal, dal and french fries. Yes, it's a strange combination, I know. Very filling and only LE 8 for each of us!

Sufi Dance

Our next stop is the Sufi Dance. We take the Metro to Attaba station and walk [a long walk] to the Mausoleum of Al Ghouri, which is where the performance is held twice a week. To our disappointment, the place is full [we have to get there 2 hours early! It's that popular]. Dejected, we sit outside and look mournful enough for the doorkeeper to walk up and start chatting. He promises to let us in after a while, and is true to his word. We go in after about 30 minutes.

The dance itself is a truly transfixing spectacle. There is a dancer in the centre who whirls around in a circle for the entire duration of the performance, and a troupe of 5 other dancers with tambourines. These are ably supported by about 6 - 7 musicians with a variety of string, wind and more percussion instruments. And of course there's a singer. The songs and dances are all devotional, and what impresses me most is the look of utter devotion and bliss on the central dancer's face as he whirls. Occasionally he speeds up and twirls the one of the layers of skirts he's wearing above his head and then off in a blur of colour and tosses it to one of the surrounding dancers. In all, he whirls for over 20 minutes - and makes all of *us* dizzy!

Later in the night, we take a minibus back to MH and collapse into bed. End of Day 2. Highlight of the day - we learnt to read and write Arabic numerals. Very very useful, as now we can read bus and train numbers and prices in restaurants, so that people can't cheat us.