SJEDS Travels to Egypt

Bright and early in the morning we were greeted by a tour guide and headed out for four stops: the Aswan High Dam and the Aswan Dam, the quarry of the unfinished obelisk, an alabaster factory, and to the island of Philae and the Temple of Isis. We were keeping our fingers crossed that we would finally meet up with Jose and Omar. Armed with our bottled water, camera, sunscreen, and sunglasses we headed out for the tour.

First on the agenda was to view the Aswan and Aswan High dam. It is a little confusing, but there are actually two dams, the old Aswan and the Aswan High dam. The old Aswan dam was built in 1902 and even though quite old, it is still in use today. In 1960, construction of the Aswan High dam, which is located just south of the old Aswan dam, was started. The Egyptians call this their fourth great pyramid as the structure far surpasses the Great Pyramid in size and amount of building materials used. Construction of the High Aswan Dam took 35,000 workers to complete the job. When in Cairo, we had dinner with Summer’s aunt, she told us that Summer’s grandfather had been one of the chief engineers involved in the design and construction of the dam. The Aswan High Dam was one of the greatest engineering feats in all of Egypt. The High Aswan dam was built to solve some serious problems the Egyptians were facing. There was a shortage of power and of fresh drinking water. The High Aswan dam today provides 40 % of Egypt’s electricity so there is currently no power shortage. When the dam was built, the area above the dam became flooded and a lake formed, Lake Nasser. Before the High Aswan dam was built crocodiles existed all along the banks of the Nile. Now there are no crocodiles left north of the High Aswan dam, all the way to Alexandria. All the crocodiles on this stretch were killed and the animals are unable to cross from Lake Nasser through the High Aswan dam to the Nile. The crocodiles that live in Lake Nasser are known for their ferociousness and they are feared by the Egyptian people. More people are killed by crocodiles in Africa, than by any other animal. I have to admit, I was really happy to find out that the portion of the Nile that the cruise boat was on did not have any crocodiles.

Although the High Aswan dam helped solve many problems for the Egyptian people, just like any other intervention by man, some new problems were created. Because of the dam construction, the Nile River no longer annually floods its banks. The silt that was deposited during the flooding created some of the most arable farmland in the world. Silt is thick, muddy nutrient rich topsoil. This posed a problem for farmers, as the land was no longer benefiting from the deposit of the rich silt anymore. Today farmers must use commercially made fertilizers and pesticides to grow crops. The result has been toxins leaking in to the Nile River. When the Nile would flood, the small canals that branched off the Nile would receive fresh water. Now the canals are becoming incubators for microorganisms that are harmful to people and animals. People living in the rural villages rely on the water in these canals for drinking water. This is posing some serious health problems for many Egyptians and rates of cancer and sickness from water borne bacteria is increasing. There must be adequate energy and fresh water and many Egyptians are working very hard to solve these problems.

While in route to our next stop we were able to see the first cataract of the Nile River. A cataract is an area of swiftly flowing water along the Nile and is due to underwater rocks and changes in elevation that cause the current to become choppy and fast. There are a total of six cataracts along the Nile. Only two are located on the portion of the Nile that runs through Egypt. Egypt is the country most often associated with the Nile River, yet this giver of life flows through many countries. The life-sustaining Nile also flows through Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.

Leaving the road along the Nile River, we left behind lush green plant life and came to an area all beige, white, and sandy where there was nothing but stone and sand for miles around. When we were in Cairo and visiting the Egyptian Museum, we were amazed at the huge statues that had been carved out of single blocks of limestone and granite. Our destination was a quarry, where an unfinished obelisk was left, giving us a better picture of how the ancient Egyptians were able to accomplish these impressive structures. An obelisk is a tall thin monument. An example we have in the United States is the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.. Mrs. Tolisano reminded me that there is also a famous “Obelisco” in downtown Buenos Aires, which comes as no surprise… In the quarry a huge obelisk, almost completed, was left behind because prior to completion as it cracked and could not be used. The Egyptians went to the site where the granite or rock was found and carved out their huge statues, obelisks, and monuments.

A stop at an alabaster factory was a natural one after leaving the quarry. In the alabaster factory skilled craftsmen took hunks of alabaster, granite, basalt, and other rock and transformed them into vases, carvings of animals, and candle holders. Starting with a hunk of earthy looking rock, these artists turned the chunks in to beautiful items. You can see some of them below.

We were ready to get back to the water and the scenery along its banks so taking a boat ride to get to the Temple of Isis was quite nice. In Egypt you never have to worry about rain, and the forecast always includes cloudless blue skies and sunny weather. Our tour guide told us that the only rain they get comes about once a year and lasts for about 30 minutes. The blue color of the sky is remarkably clear and bright and presents the perfect backdrop for ancient temples and statues. Every job, no matter how menial, seems to require at a minimum two people, sometimes three or four. The old line of jokes about how many people does it take to change a light bulb came to mind, and the variations on the joke in Egypt would be endless. Our small boat designed to hold about twenty tourists had four workers on board.

We soon realized why, as our tour guide introduced the workers as Nubians with handmade Nubian goods for sale. Quickly their wares were laid out and included items such as camel bone necklaces and letter openers, hematite necklaces, tourist books with the gods and goddesses, and books on hieroglyphic writing, and traditional Nubian hats.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS