Along the Nile by ship to Aswan
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2008
1
6
7
Trip End
Mar 26, 2008
Aswan,
Egypt
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Yet with a staff of 50!
Constant attention, personal service,
But we only get 3 days of this luxury.
Gazing at scenery along the shore
Drives home the point -
Without the Nile to nourish it,
Egypt would just be more Sahara.
Sometimes greenery extends just a few feet,
Even when green goes out for a mile, still
Brown, sandy, barren, hills loom on horizon.
Only the Nile provides life here.
We learned how monastic Christian life started in Egypt:
Desert beckoning those escaping crowded, solied, life.
St. Simeonīs monastery attracted pious basket makers
Until Saracens obliterated them for supporting Crusaders.
Now the ruins are a destination for our camel trek.
Hang on tight as his rump rises, tips me forward.
Then grip even tighter as he un-kneels,
Did they really need such long legs?
Under way, his gait seems more sideways than forward.
Hold saddle horn tight, grip camera as we climb a sand dune.
Now only wind, dust and fellow OATers around us.
An interlude reliving caravan travel thru the sands.
Temples along the Nile show us the changing politics of the ancients:
With Greeks and Romans in control, they did not just enslave,
They encouraged Egyptians to build new temples,
Egyptian themes and gods, but Greek / Roman touches.
So here are temples "only" 300 BC to 100 AD
Still Egyptian: walls of hieroglyphic stories,
Hypostyles - rooms with close spaced massive columns
Look close, those columns have Corinthian capitals!
Edfu - one of those temples Macedonians and Greeks
Had built to show their respect for Egyptian gods
Here it was Horus, the falcon headed god,
The falcon was strong, a fearless fighter, how appropriate for Alexander.
Edfu & Kom Ombo: well preserved by 1800 years of Nile flood!
Never thought of that advantage, how fortunate
Thirty feet of Nile mud and sand
Sealed walls, columns, color, statues, those long 1800 years
