SJEDS Travels to Egypt

Mrs. Tolisano and I were eager to head out to the temple of the first female pharaoh in order to see if Jose and Omar would be there.

The air-conditioned bus ride to Deir-al-Bahri yielded views of rural life as farmers worked the land in the early morning to avoid the intense heat that would soon come.

As our trip moved us from the lush growth surrounding the Nile, we came to a desert plain. Touching the plain and providing an impressive back drop were limestone cliffs and mountains.

It is in one of these cliffs that the temple of Hatshepsut is situated. At first glance the temple looks almost like a modern building that has been built in the desert.

The temple’s original appearance must have been even more exotic as archaeologists know that the temple was vibrant with color, surrounded by exotic trees and plants, and the walkway leading to the temple was lined with small sphinxes. Without these adornments the temple is still impressive and beautiful and has weathered well the damage that it has endured through the years.

Nature has done its share, stripping away most of any color that adorned the temple. Vandalism occurred during ancient times as well as modern. When King Akhenaten, who reigned after Hatshepsut, came to power and decided that people would worship only one god, Atun, all references to other gods were erased from the temple. Early Christians used the temple as a monastery and defaced the carvings of the pagan gods and goddesses. Following Hatshepsut’s rule, her step-son, bitter that she had ruled, attempted to scratch out any references to her name. Yet the temple remains and is still amazing and beautiful.

Look at the view from Hatshepsut’s temple. Can you imagine how hot it is here? Mrs. Tolisano and I are keeping our eyes open for our little bear and camel. No luck so far. Can you spot them somewhere in the pictures?

Hatshepsut, with the help of the Amun priesthood, became one of Egypt’s first female rulers. Having a female ruler was very unusual. One of our guides told us that Egypt had only five female rulers during the Pharaonic time.

Can you name one other female ruler of Egypt?

Depictions of Hatshepsut appear a little strange. Many of her pictures depict her wearing a false beard, which was the tradition for pharaohs. Because she was one of the first female rulers no royal traditional clothing for women had been established. So she wore the traditional wear for a man. Hatshepsut ruled for 15 years during a time of peace.

She is remembered for the expedition to Punt she commissioned.

Punt is located in the modern day country of Somalia?

Can you find Somalia on a map? How close is Somalia to Egypt?

map by googlemaps.com

To get to Punt, Hatshepsut’s caravan had to haul boats over the desert to the Red Sea. Not only did this expedition bring back exotic items such as trees, giraffes, dogs, monkeys, myrrh trees, myrrh resin, ebony, ivory, and exotic wood, but more importantly it brought about an exchange of cultural ideas. Many diplomats returned from Punt to Egypt to share and learn. Reliefs on the temple wall depict scenes from this important expedition.

The Temple was simply amazing, although it was getting hotter by the minute. We looked and looked around, but no Jose in sight. Next stop was Valley of the Kings and Queens. Will we ever catch up with our travel bear.

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