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You may not get this in time for the meeting but I’m sending it anyway to let you
know about my trip to Egypt. It was brilliant of course. The first day we went
to The Valley of the Kings and the Tombs of the Nobles. At the entrance we had to
run the gauntlet of locals trying to sell home made ornaments for rock bottom
prices. Having had nobody to sell to for over two months they where particularly
persistent.
However in the Valley itself we had the place to our selves, except for a group of
French who were on a guided tour by The Director of Antiquities himself. John
Johnson had met him when he came to Manchester to give them talk, so after a quiet word we
got to see the tomb specially opened for them. This was the tomb of Seti I.
One of the biggest in the Valley and never completely finished, so you are able to see the
full process of tomb decoration. Starting with the rough out line in red, then
tracing over more accurately in black and finally chiseling out of the inscription, all
the stages are preserved on the walls of the uncompleted side chamber.
Temples and Tombs
On subsequent days our nine strong gang visited the tombs in The Valley of the Queens,
the workman’s village, Queen Hapsepsut’s temple and the mortuary temples of
Rameses II, III and Seti I. What was remarkable about these temples, apart from the
colourful inscriptions and ignoramus statuary, was the use of mud brick in the outer
administration buildings, including granary arches which have survived nearly three and a
half thousand years.
Karnak
The highlight of the holiday, however must be our visit to Karnak temple.
This complex, dedicated to Amon-Ra, is huge with its 15 pylons, 122 columns and 8 obelisks
two of which still stand 30 meters high and weighing over 200 tons. What was special
for me was the sanctuary of Alexander the Great. He came here in 4th century BC to
claim his divine heritage and built this small shrine with his cartouche on the walls to
confirm it.
The Gurn
One morning before the sun got too hot John arranged with a guide for myself, Barry his
son and Mike Booth, to walk to the top of the Gurn. This is the pyramid shaped hill
which looks over the Valley of the Kings. At 1326 feet the view from the top is
stunning with River Nile winding through the desert and the flood plain stretching out on
either side. On the way up the guide took us to see the entrance to a tomb hidden
away in a cleft in the rock half way down the cliff face.
Aswan
As I left for home on Thursday the rest of the team were preparing for a cruse down the
Nile to the Aswan Dam, visiting temples at Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae on the way. Of
particular interest will be the cracked obelisk at the Aswan granit quary. This
gigantic monalith over 400 tons was abandaned half way through extraction when a crack
developed in the upper section.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Society will be this Wednesday 4th March at the history shop at
7.30 p.m. as usual. This month’s speaker is Fred Holcroft who will be talking
on the Bayeuax Tapestry.
Hope to see you there - B.A.
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