Treasury, Petra Jordan
Treasury, Petra Jordan
These photos are from the Jordan segment of a trip to Jordan and Egypt in November and December 2011. The photos from the Egypt portion of the trip are in separate galleries on this web site.
This gallery contains annotations/remarks about many of the photos in the Details section of the gallery.
Written notes about this trip are elsewhere on this web site (under Writings, then Memoirs, then 2010s).
The remainder of this Description is a day-by-day summary narrative (including the Egypt portion of the trip. This narrative is taken (unedited) from the written notes mentionded in the last paragraph (they apprear partway though the written description). Since the following notes are unedited, they may contain cross-referces to other portions of the writtin notes (portions not included here).
November 16, 2011 – Arrived Amman Jordan around 8 pm, local time (7 hours earlier than US East Coast time). Met Jordan “guide” (Murad Ali, called a Vantage Program Manager). Drove by small bus to Movenpick Dead Sea Resort, near northeast “corner” of the Dead Sea, and pretty much crashed (there is an umlaut over the “o” in “Movenpick”). The six people on this part of the tour (the Jordan extension) met each other in the Cairo airport. Slept at Dead Sea Movenpick Hotel this night. Movenpick is a Swiss hotel chain.
Bethlehem is said to be almost directly across the Dead Sea from this hotel, as is the place where the Dead Sea scrolls were found around 1947 (both on West Bank, in area now controlled by the Palestinian Authority). The tour guide pointed out the lights of Jerusalem and Jericho as we drove toward the Dead Sea from the Amman airport (while we were still up on the plateau, before the road dropped down below sea level going to the Dead Sea resort). I think I wrote in one of the e-mails that the airport is perhaps 3000 feet above sea level, while the surface of the Dead Sea (perhaps 30 miles west of that airport) is around 1300 feet below sea level. Hotel’s ground floor was maybe 1200 feet below sea level – it was a pretty long downhill hike to reach the water. They once had sort of a very small train or tram (on tracks) that went part of this distance (in the area where the hillside is steepest) -- looked like maybe no more that 4 passengers at at time could take it. However, it appeared to be permanently shut down. I wondered if salt spray from the Dead Sea had caused corrosion that damaged it.
November 17, 2011 – Visited Dead Sea Museum (overlooking Dead Sea – drive there along shore of Dead Sea was interesting) and Bethany, a Christian religious site primarily associated with John the Baptist. Since at least around the year 500, this area has been believed to be where John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River (BUT there is apparently another candidate spot on the Israel side perhaps 20-30 miles north). It’s also believed to be the wilderness John wandered in (it’s pretty desolate – dry and desert-like). There are about 5 churches in the area (all apparently built or rebuilt within the last ~20 years) and ruins from several much earlier churches – some ruins are from multiple churches built one after the other on the same spot. Bethany is apparently a biblical name. The modern Arabic name of the area is apparently something like Al-Maghtea, which means something like Baptism Site. Also had a Jordanian lunch this day. Slept at Dead Sea Movenpick Hotel.
The reason the churches at Bethany are all fairly new is that this was a closed military area until Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty around 1994. It is RIGHT on the border between the two countries (which, as I understand it, were officially at war with one another between 1967 and 1994 -- or maybe from 1948 and 1994). It’s actually more complicated than that, since the West Bank belonged to Jordan (or was controlled by Jordan) for perhaps 20 years prior to the 1967 war (and, thinking more about it, it’s perhaps even more complicated that I realized – I’m not sure what the country is on the other side of the river, as discussed a couple paragraphs below). There were some high fences in the area (on the Jordan side), but it looked like they were not well maintained. Also, there were couple jeeps with Jordanian soldiers sitting in and around them, but they looked pretty relaxed.
There are platforms built on both sides of the Jordan River at that point. River is perhaps only 35 feet wide. Could have easily spoken to the people on the other side, but they were having some kind of religious ceremonies (or, at least, lectures or sermons). There were two groups of people on the west side, where the platform was designed to provide two or three slightly separated areas. The platform on the west side had broad steps going down into the water. Some people participating in the ceremonies were standing on the steps, ankle deep in the Jordan River (and, thinking about it later, the platform might have also been designed to allow total-immersion baptisms – which probably would have been only a symbolic re-creation of a baptism, since I’m pretty sure anyone making a trip for that purpose would have already been a baptized church member). The platform on the Jordan (east) side, where we were, was less elaborate.
At the time, I had the impression the people on the west side of the river were in Israel. However, thinking more about it, they must have been in the West Bank area controlled by the Palestinian Authority. However, since it is, in some sense, an “international” border, and the Palestine Authority is not an officially recognized state, it could be that Israel maintains some kind of military control of the area immediately on the border with Jordan.
November 18, 2011 – I “swam” in the Dead Sea early morning on this day, before breakfast, I believe. Left hotel. Drove (by bus) to Mount Nebo, then had another Jordanian lunch, then St. George Church in Madaba, and then bus trip to Petra. Checked into (modern) Petra’s Movenpick Hotel. Apparently, until a few years ago, modern Petra was called Wadi Mousa (where Mousa = Moses) and the town has springs named after Moses. It’s apparently the traditional site where Moses performed a miracle involving “smiting” a rock (as King James Bible puts it) and water came out of the rock. Slept at Petra Movenpick Hotel. [Added for web site version: Mount Nebo is the place where Moses is said to have viewed the promised land (which he never entered). The mountain has 5 peaks, most of which have a church on them (likely of different denominations, I imagine). I would not be surprised to learn there is more than one view point where Moses is believed to have stood. It was very hazy when I was there. A large labled panoramic photo (taken on a clear day -- or possibly it was a drawing, my memory is hazy now) is at the view point we visited, showing what we could have seen if we could have seen it.]
November 19, 2011 – Toured Petra (including lunch at “city center” -- center of the “old city,” past the narrow canyon containing the carved tombs). Took Turkish bath near hotel. Slept at Petra Movenpick Hotel.
November 20, 2011 -- Early start. Drove to Amman. Tour of city (from bus, except that we got out to visit to the citadel at center of ancient part of city – and across valley from royal palace), then drove to Jerash, which is an ancient walled Roman city, with quite an extensive area of excavated ruins. The ruins are in the middle of the modern city there, so I’m pretty sure a lot of “modern” buildings (in the sense they were built in 1800s or 1900s) have been cleared out. The guide also indicated in the excavations they have gone thru layer upon layer of older structures – including several Christian churches (starting from later Roman era) and also mosques (from the time around 650 and later). It looked to me like they are trying to create sort of a mini-Pompeii, with the layout and many standing columns representing Roman times (maybe from the year 200) – ignoring or removing younger ruins (say, those only 600-700 years old). You can tell that some of the “ruins” are not as-found, but rather have been reconstructed (or at least rearranged) to some extent. You can look at a part-height stone wall and see that some blocks have engraving or carvings on them that do not match up in any way with adjacent blocks. Then returned to Amman and checked into hotel (slept InterContinental Hotel Jordan).
The citadel in Amman is said to be the place King David of Israel sent Uriah the Hittite (husband of Bathsheba) to attack (in Israel’s war against the Ammonites), with orders that Uriah was to be stationed in the most dangerous part of the battlefield, so that he would be killed (making Bathsheba available for David). [I'll add here (for the web site version) a couple things not in the original e-mail. One is that Jordan's royal palace (official residence of the current king) was visible from up on that citadel. Another is that, despite all those years of bible study classes, it was not until this trip that I associated the Ammonites of King David's time with the current city of Amman.]
November 21, 2011 – Went to Amman airport to take EgyptAir flight to Cairo. This time, we obtained visas at the Cairo airport and “entered” Egypt. Met our Egypt “guide” (Vantage Program Manager), Ramy Darwish. Had dinner in hotel and met other 14 people in Vantage tour group (who had not taken the Jordan pre-trip extension – they had arrived on a flight from the US earlier in the day). Hotel was Sofitel Cairo, which is on an island in the Nile, probably less than a mile (perhaps much less) from Tahrir Square, where all the major demonstrations have been held. There is a bridge with a pair of lions at each end that goes from the east bank of the Nile over to the island where the hotel was. Hotel was on the south tip of that island, perhaps 300 yards from the west end of that bridge. Tahrir Square appeared to be perhaps 300-400 yards east of the east end of that bridge. Slept at Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 22, 2011 -- Egyptian Museum, Cairo city tour, Mosque of Muhammad Ali, and visit to Khan el Khalili Bazaar. This Muhammad Ali was not the boxer, but was, as I understand it, the ruler who seized power in the early 1800s and began the dynasty that ended when Nassar overthrew King Farouk in the early 1950s. Unfortunately, we went to the section of the bazaar that basically sold tourist gimcracks. Vendors were extremely aggressive so that I hesitated to stop to look at anything (and if I had, I’m sure vendors would have been “all over me” so I wouldn’t have been able to evaluate the product and think about it). I did not realize until we were driving away that this market contained much more than these tourist trinket shops. The other parts of the market (such as where the sold/traded cloth and metalwork, such as lamps and light fixtures) looked far more interesting. Also, as we drove away it was fascinating to see people taking stuff to and from these non-tourist shops with carts pulled by hand or by donkeys. Slept Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 23, 2011 – Drove (by bus) to Sakkara (Step Pyramid), then back to Cairo to see large pyramids (and Sphinx) at Giza. Drives thru city and then countryside (to Sakkara) were fascinating for view (people, donkeys, sidewalk fruit and vegetable stands and goat herds – some small herds even in very urbanized parts of the city). Saw Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid both from a distance of perhaps 2 miles. I think this is also the night where we had dinner with an Egyptian family (a quite well-off one, apparently, but all family members were very much in favor of the January 2011 overthrow of Mubarek). Slept Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 24, 2011 – Went to Coptic Christian area of Cairo, including Coptic Museum and synagogue (which is inactive, apparently only a few hundred Jews still live in Egypt and most of them are in two extended families in Alexandria). There had been disturbances (and deaths) in the area a few days previously. One main street had apparently been temporarily converted into sort of a pedestrian mall. Lots of heavily armed police in view throughout this area that day. Coptic Museum was quite well done (and more modern that I had expected – it’s in what was formerly a large -- and luxurious -- private home). Learned that this museum “owns” the Nag Hammadi codices, which are kind of like the Dead Sea scrolls in that they date from antiquity and were found in Egypt only in 1945 (they may be perhaps a couple hundred years younger than the Dead Sea Scrolls). The content of the scrolls seems to have pretty effectively been suppressed in Egypt itself (they were written by a group of Gnostics, who both the catholic and orthodox Christian churches regard as heretical). The display case for this topic contained several leather covers from the documents, but only one (untranslated) page from them was on view. Slept Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 25, 2011 – Flew from Cairo to Aswan. Had lunch in Movenpick Hotel in Aswan (on north end of Elephantine Island). Then boarded bus to Abu Simbel, arriving there after dark. Bus ride was thru sand, sand, sand. At Abu Simbel, boarded Lake Nassar Cruise ship (Omar El Khayam, which is not unlike a large squarish houseboat). However, ship remained docked until the next morning. Slept on Lake Nassar boat.
November 26, 2011 -- Got up pre-dawn to leave ship and walked to the two temples at Abu Simbel which were built by Ramses II. These two temples were carved into the side of a cliff. They were moved in (roughly) the 1960s, to prevent them from being submerged when the Aswan High Dam was constructed and what is now Lake Nassar formed behind the dam. All the temples we saw during the next several days had been moved. However, these two (and perhaps one other) were especially difficult to move because they had been carved out of the side of a solid-rock hillside cliff face. The solid rock cliff had to essentially be cut into blocks in order to move the temple. These temples face toward the east. We were visiting them as the sun came up in the east. Quite dramatic.
Once back to the ship, learned the departure from Abu Simbel would be delayed – for a sad reason. One of the ship’s crew, a bartender, died in his cabin during the night. He was only in his late 20s. Several of the people in the tour group had been to the bar that first night, and had met him (although I had not).
Once ship started out, cruised past ruins of an old fortress at Kasr Ibrim. Then stopped at Amada, a site that three structures have been moved to. One of them also (like the two at Abu Simbel) was also originally carved into a cliffside. The one carved into the cliffside had some carvings on interior walls where finely-detailed painting still exist on the carvings. One of the three structures is small and may be a tomb, rather than a temple. The places where we went ashore on this day, also on the 27th, and the first place visited on the 28th did not have harbors or piers where the Omar El Khayam could dock. My memory is that, at all of these locations except one, we went ashore in a small ship’s boat and landed on a beach. Slept on Lake Nassar boat.
The Lake Nassar shoreline we could see from the ship was desolate and seemed almost totally unpopulated. I noticed perhaps 2 or 3 small villages and maybe 5 or 6 isolated single buildings (not sure if the isolated buildings were occupied) in the three days on this lake. There were many small open fishing boats on the lake. It seemed there were often one or two small fishing boats (like rowboats) in sight as we moved down the lake toward the high dam. Also, there seemed to be rows of small barrels floating in many places, which I suspect have something to do with fishing nets (and the boats were collecting fish caught in the nets, perhaps).
Story we saw in Nubian Museum, visited later, (and maybe also heard told to us by Ramy) indicated that several dozen Nubian villages had been relocated in preparation for the lake forming after the dam was constructed. It was interesting that (with a very few exceptions) these villages were not relocated to where the new shoreline was expected to be. I presume that many of the villages had been on the banks of the original course of the river, and fishing may have been a primary means of making a living for the villagers.
Ramy had said we would be in the middle of nowhere, and it seemed that way with so few structures visible on the shore of the lake. Also, no cell phone service once we were a few hours out of Abu Simbel (or internet – perhaps also nothing on TVs in the cabin, I don’t remember about the TV).
It’s confusing when I say were at Amada. The place we visited is the current site of the Amada temple. It’s original site was some kilometers away. Looked like they had sort of grouped the relocated temples together. I think I heard the Amada Temple was maybe 4 kilometers from its original location. However, the other two structures now near the Amada Temple had been moved perhaps 20 to 30 kilometers from their original locations.
November 27, 2011 – On ship. Visited Wadi El Seboua, an area on shore of Lake Nassar that three temples have been moved to (again, one is small and may be a tomb rather than a temple). There is a short double row of sphinxes leading to the pylon of one temple (this row of sphinxes was impressive at the time, but was less so after I saw the much longer rows in the still-being-excavated-and-reconstructed “Avenue of Sphinxes” a few days later at Luxor). This is where several of us rode camels (for perhaps 300-400 yards total). Ship went on afterwards and docked at west end of Aswan High Dam during the night. Slept on Lake Nassar boat.
When we woke up on the morning of Nov 27, ship had already stopped (anchored?) off the Wadi El Seboua temple (which I understand means Valley of the Lions – the lions being the sphinxes). Had been awakened that morning by a rooster crowing. There is a tiny village (maybe 5 or 6 houses, as best I recall) on the shore of the lake – the opposite shore from where the temple is. Ship was very close to this village. This was one of the very few villages on the lakeshore visible from the Lake Nassar boat.
November 28, 2011 – Started day on ship, which was docked at west end of high dam when we woke up. Got up early in morning and took ship’s boat to Kalabshah, which is an island (only a few hundred feet from the high dam -- on the lake side of the dam) that three (I think) temples have been relocated to (the arrangement of this place was a bit confusing to me – for one thing it looked like some miscellaneous prehistoric rock drawings and inscriptions, not part of a specific temple, had also been relocated there). Then we left this ship for good and checked into the Aswan Movenpick Hotel (same place we had stopped for a lunch the day we flew to Aswan). Later, after checking in, went to the Nubian Museum around sunset. I’m not certain, but I think items that were in an older museum near the south end of Elephantine Island have been moved to the Nubian Museum. The older museum is mentioned briefly in the book version of “Death on the Nile.” Slept at Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel night of this day.
November 29, 2011 -- Aswan. Went to Philae Temple this day. This temple had been moved, but it had a unique history. The other temples that had been moved were upstream of the Aswan High Dam. This one was upstream of the Aswan low dam. Slept at Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel night of this day.
Philae Temple had been in an area where the ground level was below the water level after the low dam was built (initially completed in 1902) – or perhaps the ground level became submerged when the low dam was made higher (in 1912 and again in 1933). However, the temples were never completely submerged. The upper portion of them stuck up out of the water and could be visited by small boats (a fictional visit to this temple in ~1936 was briefly mentioned in the book version of “Death on the Nile”). In the 1970s, they built a cofferdam around the temple, pumped the water out, and moved the temple, piece by piece, to a nearby island (in the now-small lake behind the Aswan Low Dam – between the two dams). The rocky surface of the new island location was reconfigured to resemble the original location (as it appeared before construction of the low dam).
The Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel was originally built around 1960 as housing for Russian workers building the Aswan High Dam. After dam construction was completed, the structure was modified to convert it to what is claimed to be a five-star hotel (I suspect considerable modifications were needed – Russians are not known for luxurious housing, especially in that era). A key feature of this hotel is a tower (it’s like an observation tower, on stilts (concrete pillars) – there are no sleeping rooms in most of the lower floors of the tower – you can see blue sky between the pillars). The upper floor of the tower is now a bar and the floor below it has rest rooms for bar customers. The floors on the elevator going to the bar are numbered something like: G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 13 (5 thru 11 do not exist).
I suspected the tower was used so that Russian managers could observe construction of the high dam without all of them going to the construction site each day (dam site is perhaps 8-9 miles south of town). We went up there for high tea one afternoon (and to see the sunset). If the High Dam was visible that day, I could not spot it. (This, of course, was “high tea” in at least two senses of the term.) Slept at Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel night of this day.
November 30, 2011 – Checked out of hotel, with luggage going to the second ship (for a Nile cruise). Took motorboat to Nubian Village on Elephantine Island (going, in effect, from one point on the east shore of the island to another point on the east shore). Village had Nubian Goats running around – seemingly loose, on their own. Village also had a lot of flies. Visited a school at the village.
In English, we read left to right. Arabic is read the other way, right to left (except when you come to a number, which is read left to right). At the school, it was interesting to see a math instructor teaching algebra. He wrote/solved the equations consistent with the way Arabic is written (right to left), again, opposite of what I am accustomed to. I’m not sure if “greater-than” and “less-than” symbols are the same as ours, or if the meanings are reversed. The numerals we use (01234565789) are generally called “Arabic numerals”. Ramy said it is historically correct to call them Arabic numerals. However, perhaps more commonly used there is a different set of numerals, which (according to Ramy) were imported from India. I am writing the initial drafts of this long e-mail with Microsoft Word, planning to incorporate into an e-mail via cut-and-paste. I have found these “Indian” numerals (apparently commonly used in Arab countries) within the symbol set included with my version of Microsoft Word. I’ll put them in this paragraph, but I suspect the symbols will not carry thru the processes of cut-and-paste and e-mailing. Those Indian numerals are: ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩. To me, only the “1” and the “9” look “right.” The Indian number that looks sort of like a “7” is actually the Indian numeral for “six”.
From the village we left the island by felucca (sailboat) to go to a second island (west of the first one), Kitchner Island, where the Botanical Gardens are now (Kitchner, a British Army general active in the era from around 1885-1915 once lived on this island – his house is now a museum or visitor center). This was our only chance to go on a felucca.
After the garden, went back on small motorboat. Cruised slowly around the south end of Elephantine Island, then past the Cataract Hotel (now called Old Cataract Hotel – or at least that’s a name I saw on one building facing the river). This hotel was featured in both the book and movie versions of “Death on the Nile.”
Checked onto second ship for cruise down Nile River, from Aswan to Luxor (a portion of the river below or downstream of the Aswan High Dam, the previous cruise had been on Lake Nassar, a now-flooded portion of the river upstream of the high dam). However, this boat did not leave until late that night. Before it set sail, we left the ship again to go to Philae Temple for the nighttime light show there. Slept on Nile cruise boat
There are only between 7 and 10 tourist boats cruising Lake Nassar (I heard both numbers). However there are perhaps 300 cruising the Nile River itself – most of them on the stretch between Aswan and Luxor. At both places (Aswan and Luxor), they dock for about two days (“parallel parked” along the bank of the river). There is not much wharf space at either city, so they sort of triple, quadruple, and quintuple "park". Often to get from your ship to the shore, you have to walk thru the “main lobby” of 3 or 4 other ships that are “parked” between your ship and the shore. Similarly, if you are sitting in the lobby, you might see passengers of other ships, passing through – sometimes pulling rollerboard luggage.
December 01, 2011 – Cruising down the Nile. Stopped at Kom Ombo to visit Sobek Temple. Later stopped at Edfu to visit Horus Temple (going from ship to the temple by horse carriage). I believe the boat docked in Luxor very late this day, while we were asleep. Very peaceful to see farming, villages, donkeys, camels, etc. along the banks of the Nile. Wish it had been a bit warmer so could have spent more time comfortably on the top deck observation area. While on Lake Nassar, shoreline and everything in distance was basically sandy desert (except for a few scruffy-looking plants right at the waterline in some locations). Along the Nile, everything is a lush green. However, in many places it’s clear the lush part of the valley is only perhaps 2-3 miles wide on one side (or both sides). The hills off in the distant background are sometimes dry and desert-like. Slept on Nile cruise boat.
December 02, 2011 – Ship stayed docked to Luxor all day. This was a busy day. There was an optional (extra cost) sunrise hot air balloon ride, which I skipped. There was a very early wake-up to go to Valley of Kings (picking up “ballooners” from the tour group near the statues, or Colossi, of Memnon – those who did the balloon thing had to get up super, super early – and received a “box breakfast” to eat after we picked them up). Then toured Valley of Kings, then back to Karnak Temple in Luxor. Then, in evening, went to Luxor Temple – seeing it by artificial illumination, which was quite striking. Slept on Nile cruise boat.
Drive to Valley of Kings was thru lush green Nile Valley farmland (perhaps the richest-looking farmland I’ve ever seen). However, the Valley of Kings itself (in hills that start at the west edge of the Nile Valley) are about as desolate-looking as anything I’ve ever seen – zero vegetation in Valley of Kings.
December 03, 2011 -- Got up super early to leave ship to travel to Luxor Airport. Took flight to Cairo. Checked into a Ramada Inn near the airport there. Had farewell dinner with tour group and Ramy at that hotel that night. Hotel room window looked out over apartment buildings. Rooftops of these building were lined with TV satellite dishes. Areas not occupied by these dishes seemed to often be used for storage of excess construction materials -- and sometimes what just appeared to be trash (we had seen similar things at other places earlier in the trip). I’ve written more about these apartment structures below. Slept in Ramada Hotel near airport.
December 04, 2011 -- Got up at a fairly reasonable time to get bus to Cairo airport for (long) flight back to US, via Egypt Air. After that, went thru US immigration and customs at JFK airport (not nearly as painful as my last few entries to US at international airports -- at Detroit, Miami, and Atlanta). Then had wait in JFK for flight to Atlanta, then a ~3-hour drive back to Aiken – arriving here around 2 AM on Dec 5. I don’t remember what that corresponded to on my personal “clock” – but I think it was, again, something around a 26-hour trip in all, counting the various airport waits and layovers and the drive. Slept AT HOME!
I had intended that all fo these galleries would have access to the Original photos (for possible downloads of detailed images for printing on paper, seective cropping to magnify portions of the image, etc.). However, apparently due to my lack of understanding of how the program works, I was not initially (as of May 2016 -- although I actually did much of the work in construciton these galleries in 2012, 2013, and 2014) able to make that happen. I may try to re-do these galleries at some future time to (again) try to the those full-pixel versions onto the web site).
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These photos are from the Jordan segment of a trip to Jordan and Egypt in November and December 2011. The photos from the Egypt portion of the trip are in separate galleries on this web site.
This gallery contains annotations/remarks about many of the photos in the Details section of the gallery.
Written notes about this trip are elsewhere on this web site (under Writings, then Memoirs, then 2010s).
The remainder of this Description is a day-by-day summary narrative (including the Egypt portion of the trip. This narrative is taken (unedited) from the written notes mentionded in the last paragraph (they apprear partway though the written description). Since the following notes are unedited, they may contain cross-referces to other portions of the writtin notes (portions not included here).
November 16, 2011 – Arrived Amman Jordan around 8 pm, local time (7 hours earlier than US East Coast time). Met Jordan “guide” (Murad Ali, called a Vantage Program Manager). Drove by small bus to Movenpick Dead Sea Resort, near northeast “corner” of the Dead Sea, and pretty much crashed (there is an umlaut over the “o” in “Movenpick”). The six people on this part of the tour (the Jordan extension) met each other in the Cairo airport. Slept at Dead Sea Movenpick Hotel this night. Movenpick is a Swiss hotel chain.
Bethlehem is said to be almost directly across the Dead Sea from this hotel, as is the place where the Dead Sea scrolls were found around 1947 (both on West Bank, in area now controlled by the Palestinian Authority). The tour guide pointed out the lights of Jerusalem and Jericho as we drove toward the Dead Sea from the Amman airport (while we were still up on the plateau, before the road dropped down below sea level going to the Dead Sea resort). I think I wrote in one of the e-mails that the airport is perhaps 3000 feet above sea level, while the surface of the Dead Sea (perhaps 30 miles west of that airport) is around 1300 feet below sea level. Hotel’s ground floor was maybe 1200 feet below sea level – it was a pretty long downhill hike to reach the water. They once had sort of a very small train or tram (on tracks) that went part of this distance (in the area where the hillside is steepest) -- looked like maybe no more that 4 passengers at at time could take it. However, it appeared to be permanently shut down. I wondered if salt spray from the Dead Sea had caused corrosion that damaged it.
November 17, 2011 – Visited Dead Sea Museum (overlooking Dead Sea – drive there along shore of Dead Sea was interesting) and Bethany, a Christian religious site primarily associated with John the Baptist. Since at least around the year 500, this area has been believed to be where John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River (BUT there is apparently another candidate spot on the Israel side perhaps 20-30 miles north). It’s also believed to be the wilderness John wandered in (it’s pretty desolate – dry and desert-like). There are about 5 churches in the area (all apparently built or rebuilt within the last ~20 years) and ruins from several much earlier churches – some ruins are from multiple churches built one after the other on the same spot. Bethany is apparently a biblical name. The modern Arabic name of the area is apparently something like Al-Maghtea, which means something like Baptism Site. Also had a Jordanian lunch this day. Slept at Dead Sea Movenpick Hotel.
The reason the churches at Bethany are all fairly new is that this was a closed military area until Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty around 1994. It is RIGHT on the border between the two countries (which, as I understand it, were officially at war with one another between 1967 and 1994 -- or maybe from 1948 and 1994). It’s actually more complicated than that, since the West Bank belonged to Jordan (or was controlled by Jordan) for perhaps 20 years prior to the 1967 war (and, thinking more about it, it’s perhaps even more complicated that I realized – I’m not sure what the country is on the other side of the river, as discussed a couple paragraphs below). There were some high fences in the area (on the Jordan side), but it looked like they were not well maintained. Also, there were couple jeeps with Jordanian soldiers sitting in and around them, but they looked pretty relaxed.
There are platforms built on both sides of the Jordan River at that point. River is perhaps only 35 feet wide. Could have easily spoken to the people on the other side, but they were having some kind of religious ceremonies (or, at least, lectures or sermons). There were two groups of people on the west side, where the platform was designed to provide two or three slightly separated areas. The platform on the west side had broad steps going down into the water. Some people participating in the ceremonies were standing on the steps, ankle deep in the Jordan River (and, thinking about it later, the platform might have also been designed to allow total-immersion baptisms – which probably would have been only a symbolic re-creation of a baptism, since I’m pretty sure anyone making a trip for that purpose would have already been a baptized church member). The platform on the Jordan (east) side, where we were, was less elaborate.
At the time, I had the impression the people on the west side of the river were in Israel. However, thinking more about it, they must have been in the West Bank area controlled by the Palestinian Authority. However, since it is, in some sense, an “international” border, and the Palestine Authority is not an officially recognized state, it could be that Israel maintains some kind of military control of the area immediately on the border with Jordan.
November 18, 2011 – I “swam” in the Dead Sea early morning on this day, before breakfast, I believe. Left hotel. Drove (by bus) to Mount Nebo, then had another Jordanian lunch, then St. George Church in Madaba, and then bus trip to Petra. Checked into (modern) Petra’s Movenpick Hotel. Apparently, until a few years ago, modern Petra was called Wadi Mousa (where Mousa = Moses) and the town has springs named after Moses. It’s apparently the traditional site where Moses performed a miracle involving “smiting” a rock (as King James Bible puts it) and water came out of the rock. Slept at Petra Movenpick Hotel. [Added for web site version: Mount Nebo is the place where Moses is said to have viewed the promised land (which he never entered). The mountain has 5 peaks, most of which have a church on them (likely of different denominations, I imagine). I would not be surprised to learn there is more than one view point where Moses is believed to have stood. It was very hazy when I was there. A large labled panoramic photo (taken on a clear day -- or possibly it was a drawing, my memory is hazy now) is at the view point we visited, showing what we could have seen if we could have seen it.]
November 19, 2011 – Toured Petra (including lunch at “city center” -- center of the “old city,” past the narrow canyon containing the carved tombs). Took Turkish bath near hotel. Slept at Petra Movenpick Hotel.
November 20, 2011 -- Early start. Drove to Amman. Tour of city (from bus, except that we got out to visit to the citadel at center of ancient part of city – and across valley from royal palace), then drove to Jerash, which is an ancient walled Roman city, with quite an extensive area of excavated ruins. The ruins are in the middle of the modern city there, so I’m pretty sure a lot of “modern” buildings (in the sense they were built in 1800s or 1900s) have been cleared out. The guide also indicated in the excavations they have gone thru layer upon layer of older structures – including several Christian churches (starting from later Roman era) and also mosques (from the time around 650 and later). It looked to me like they are trying to create sort of a mini-Pompeii, with the layout and many standing columns representing Roman times (maybe from the year 200) – ignoring or removing younger ruins (say, those only 600-700 years old). You can tell that some of the “ruins” are not as-found, but rather have been reconstructed (or at least rearranged) to some extent. You can look at a part-height stone wall and see that some blocks have engraving or carvings on them that do not match up in any way with adjacent blocks. Then returned to Amman and checked into hotel (slept InterContinental Hotel Jordan).
The citadel in Amman is said to be the place King David of Israel sent Uriah the Hittite (husband of Bathsheba) to attack (in Israel’s war against the Ammonites), with orders that Uriah was to be stationed in the most dangerous part of the battlefield, so that he would be killed (making Bathsheba available for David). [I'll add here (for the web site version) a couple things not in the original e-mail. One is that Jordan's royal palace (official residence of the current king) was visible from up on that citadel. Another is that, despite all those years of bible study classes, it was not until this trip that I associated the Ammonites of King David's time with the current city of Amman.]
November 21, 2011 – Went to Amman airport to take EgyptAir flight to Cairo. This time, we obtained visas at the Cairo airport and “entered” Egypt. Met our Egypt “guide” (Vantage Program Manager), Ramy Darwish. Had dinner in hotel and met other 14 people in Vantage tour group (who had not taken the Jordan pre-trip extension – they had arrived on a flight from the US earlier in the day). Hotel was Sofitel Cairo, which is on an island in the Nile, probably less than a mile (perhaps much less) from Tahrir Square, where all the major demonstrations have been held. There is a bridge with a pair of lions at each end that goes from the east bank of the Nile over to the island where the hotel was. Hotel was on the south tip of that island, perhaps 300 yards from the west end of that bridge. Tahrir Square appeared to be perhaps 300-400 yards east of the east end of that bridge. Slept at Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 22, 2011 -- Egyptian Museum, Cairo city tour, Mosque of Muhammad Ali, and visit to Khan el Khalili Bazaar. This Muhammad Ali was not the boxer, but was, as I understand it, the ruler who seized power in the early 1800s and began the dynasty that ended when Nassar overthrew King Farouk in the early 1950s. Unfortunately, we went to the section of the bazaar that basically sold tourist gimcracks. Vendors were extremely aggressive so that I hesitated to stop to look at anything (and if I had, I’m sure vendors would have been “all over me” so I wouldn’t have been able to evaluate the product and think about it). I did not realize until we were driving away that this market contained much more than these tourist trinket shops. The other parts of the market (such as where the sold/traded cloth and metalwork, such as lamps and light fixtures) looked far more interesting. Also, as we drove away it was fascinating to see people taking stuff to and from these non-tourist shops with carts pulled by hand or by donkeys. Slept Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 23, 2011 – Drove (by bus) to Sakkara (Step Pyramid), then back to Cairo to see large pyramids (and Sphinx) at Giza. Drives thru city and then countryside (to Sakkara) were fascinating for view (people, donkeys, sidewalk fruit and vegetable stands and goat herds – some small herds even in very urbanized parts of the city). Saw Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid both from a distance of perhaps 2 miles. I think this is also the night where we had dinner with an Egyptian family (a quite well-off one, apparently, but all family members were very much in favor of the January 2011 overthrow of Mubarek). Slept Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 24, 2011 – Went to Coptic Christian area of Cairo, including Coptic Museum and synagogue (which is inactive, apparently only a few hundred Jews still live in Egypt and most of them are in two extended families in Alexandria). There had been disturbances (and deaths) in the area a few days previously. One main street had apparently been temporarily converted into sort of a pedestrian mall. Lots of heavily armed police in view throughout this area that day. Coptic Museum was quite well done (and more modern that I had expected – it’s in what was formerly a large -- and luxurious -- private home). Learned that this museum “owns” the Nag Hammadi codices, which are kind of like the Dead Sea scrolls in that they date from antiquity and were found in Egypt only in 1945 (they may be perhaps a couple hundred years younger than the Dead Sea Scrolls). The content of the scrolls seems to have pretty effectively been suppressed in Egypt itself (they were written by a group of Gnostics, who both the catholic and orthodox Christian churches regard as heretical). The display case for this topic contained several leather covers from the documents, but only one (untranslated) page from them was on view. Slept Sofitel Hotel Cairo.
November 25, 2011 – Flew from Cairo to Aswan. Had lunch in Movenpick Hotel in Aswan (on north end of Elephantine Island). Then boarded bus to Abu Simbel, arriving there after dark. Bus ride was thru sand, sand, sand. At Abu Simbel, boarded Lake Nassar Cruise ship (Omar El Khayam, which is not unlike a large squarish houseboat). However, ship remained docked until the next morning. Slept on Lake Nassar boat.
November 26, 2011 -- Got up pre-dawn to leave ship and walked to the two temples at Abu Simbel which were built by Ramses II. These two temples were carved into the side of a cliff. They were moved in (roughly) the 1960s, to prevent them from being submerged when the Aswan High Dam was constructed and what is now Lake Nassar formed behind the dam. All the temples we saw during the next several days had been moved. However, these two (and perhaps one other) were especially difficult to move because they had been carved out of the side of a solid-rock hillside cliff face. The solid rock cliff had to essentially be cut into blocks in order to move the temple. These temples face toward the east. We were visiting them as the sun came up in the east. Quite dramatic.
Once back to the ship, learned the departure from Abu Simbel would be delayed – for a sad reason. One of the ship’s crew, a bartender, died in his cabin during the night. He was only in his late 20s. Several of the people in the tour group had been to the bar that first night, and had met him (although I had not).
Once ship started out, cruised past ruins of an old fortress at Kasr Ibrim. Then stopped at Amada, a site that three structures have been moved to. One of them also (like the two at Abu Simbel) was also originally carved into a cliffside. The one carved into the cliffside had some carvings on interior walls where finely-detailed painting still exist on the carvings. One of the three structures is small and may be a tomb, rather than a temple. The places where we went ashore on this day, also on the 27th, and the first place visited on the 28th did not have harbors or piers where the Omar El Khayam could dock. My memory is that, at all of these locations except one, we went ashore in a small ship’s boat and landed on a beach. Slept on Lake Nassar boat.
The Lake Nassar shoreline we could see from the ship was desolate and seemed almost totally unpopulated. I noticed perhaps 2 or 3 small villages and maybe 5 or 6 isolated single buildings (not sure if the isolated buildings were occupied) in the three days on this lake. There were many small open fishing boats on the lake. It seemed there were often one or two small fishing boats (like rowboats) in sight as we moved down the lake toward the high dam. Also, there seemed to be rows of small barrels floating in many places, which I suspect have something to do with fishing nets (and the boats were collecting fish caught in the nets, perhaps).
Story we saw in Nubian Museum, visited later, (and maybe also heard told to us by Ramy) indicated that several dozen Nubian villages had been relocated in preparation for the lake forming after the dam was constructed. It was interesting that (with a very few exceptions) these villages were not relocated to where the new shoreline was expected to be. I presume that many of the villages had been on the banks of the original course of the river, and fishing may have been a primary means of making a living for the villagers.
Ramy had said we would be in the middle of nowhere, and it seemed that way with so few structures visible on the shore of the lake. Also, no cell phone service once we were a few hours out of Abu Simbel (or internet – perhaps also nothing on TVs in the cabin, I don’t remember about the TV).
It’s confusing when I say were at Amada. The place we visited is the current site of the Amada temple. It’s original site was some kilometers away. Looked like they had sort of grouped the relocated temples together. I think I heard the Amada Temple was maybe 4 kilometers from its original location. However, the other two structures now near the Amada Temple had been moved perhaps 20 to 30 kilometers from their original locations.
November 27, 2011 – On ship. Visited Wadi El Seboua, an area on shore of Lake Nassar that three temples have been moved to (again, one is small and may be a tomb rather than a temple). There is a short double row of sphinxes leading to the pylon of one temple (this row of sphinxes was impressive at the time, but was less so after I saw the much longer rows in the still-being-excavated-and-reconstructed “Avenue of Sphinxes” a few days later at Luxor). This is where several of us rode camels (for perhaps 300-400 yards total). Ship went on afterwards and docked at west end of Aswan High Dam during the night. Slept on Lake Nassar boat.
When we woke up on the morning of Nov 27, ship had already stopped (anchored?) off the Wadi El Seboua temple (which I understand means Valley of the Lions – the lions being the sphinxes). Had been awakened that morning by a rooster crowing. There is a tiny village (maybe 5 or 6 houses, as best I recall) on the shore of the lake – the opposite shore from where the temple is. Ship was very close to this village. This was one of the very few villages on the lakeshore visible from the Lake Nassar boat.
November 28, 2011 – Started day on ship, which was docked at west end of high dam when we woke up. Got up early in morning and took ship’s boat to Kalabshah, which is an island (only a few hundred feet from the high dam -- on the lake side of the dam) that three (I think) temples have been relocated to (the arrangement of this place was a bit confusing to me – for one thing it looked like some miscellaneous prehistoric rock drawings and inscriptions, not part of a specific temple, had also been relocated there). Then we left this ship for good and checked into the Aswan Movenpick Hotel (same place we had stopped for a lunch the day we flew to Aswan). Later, after checking in, went to the Nubian Museum around sunset. I’m not certain, but I think items that were in an older museum near the south end of Elephantine Island have been moved to the Nubian Museum. The older museum is mentioned briefly in the book version of “Death on the Nile.” Slept at Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel night of this day.
November 29, 2011 -- Aswan. Went to Philae Temple this day. This temple had been moved, but it had a unique history. The other temples that had been moved were upstream of the Aswan High Dam. This one was upstream of the Aswan low dam. Slept at Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel night of this day.
Philae Temple had been in an area where the ground level was below the water level after the low dam was built (initially completed in 1902) – or perhaps the ground level became submerged when the low dam was made higher (in 1912 and again in 1933). However, the temples were never completely submerged. The upper portion of them stuck up out of the water and could be visited by small boats (a fictional visit to this temple in ~1936 was briefly mentioned in the book version of “Death on the Nile”). In the 1970s, they built a cofferdam around the temple, pumped the water out, and moved the temple, piece by piece, to a nearby island (in the now-small lake behind the Aswan Low Dam – between the two dams). The rocky surface of the new island location was reconfigured to resemble the original location (as it appeared before construction of the low dam).
The Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel was originally built around 1960 as housing for Russian workers building the Aswan High Dam. After dam construction was completed, the structure was modified to convert it to what is claimed to be a five-star hotel (I suspect considerable modifications were needed – Russians are not known for luxurious housing, especially in that era). A key feature of this hotel is a tower (it’s like an observation tower, on stilts (concrete pillars) – there are no sleeping rooms in most of the lower floors of the tower – you can see blue sky between the pillars). The upper floor of the tower is now a bar and the floor below it has rest rooms for bar customers. The floors on the elevator going to the bar are numbered something like: G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 13 (5 thru 11 do not exist).
I suspected the tower was used so that Russian managers could observe construction of the high dam without all of them going to the construction site each day (dam site is perhaps 8-9 miles south of town). We went up there for high tea one afternoon (and to see the sunset). If the High Dam was visible that day, I could not spot it. (This, of course, was “high tea” in at least two senses of the term.) Slept at Elephantine Island Movenpick Hotel night of this day.
November 30, 2011 – Checked out of hotel, with luggage going to the second ship (for a Nile cruise). Took motorboat to Nubian Village on Elephantine Island (going, in effect, from one point on the east shore of the island to another point on the east shore). Village had Nubian Goats running around – seemingly loose, on their own. Village also had a lot of flies. Visited a school at the village.
In English, we read left to right. Arabic is read the other way, right to left (except when you come to a number, which is read left to right). At the school, it was interesting to see a math instructor teaching algebra. He wrote/solved the equations consistent with the way Arabic is written (right to left), again, opposite of what I am accustomed to. I’m not sure if “greater-than” and “less-than” symbols are the same as ours, or if the meanings are reversed. The numerals we use (01234565789) are generally called “Arabic numerals”. Ramy said it is historically correct to call them Arabic numerals. However, perhaps more commonly used there is a different set of numerals, which (according to Ramy) were imported from India. I am writing the initial drafts of this long e-mail with Microsoft Word, planning to incorporate into an e-mail via cut-and-paste. I have found these “Indian” numerals (apparently commonly used in Arab countries) within the symbol set included with my version of Microsoft Word. I’ll put them in this paragraph, but I suspect the symbols will not carry thru the processes of cut-and-paste and e-mailing. Those Indian numerals are: ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩. To me, only the “1” and the “9” look “right.” The Indian number that looks sort of like a “7” is actually the Indian numeral for “six”.
From the village we left the island by felucca (sailboat) to go to a second island (west of the first one), Kitchner Island, where the Botanical Gardens are now (Kitchner, a British Army general active in the era from around 1885-1915 once lived on this island – his house is now a museum or visitor center). This was our only chance to go on a felucca.
After the garden, went back on small motorboat. Cruised slowly around the south end of Elephantine Island, then past the Cataract Hotel (now called Old Cataract Hotel – or at least that’s a name I saw on one building facing the river). This hotel was featured in both the book and movie versions of “Death on the Nile.”
Checked onto second ship for cruise down Nile River, from Aswan to Luxor (a portion of the river below or downstream of the Aswan High Dam, the previous cruise had been on Lake Nassar, a now-flooded portion of the river upstream of the high dam). However, this boat did not leave until late that night. Before it set sail, we left the ship again to go to Philae Temple for the nighttime light show there. Slept on Nile cruise boat
There are only between 7 and 10 tourist boats cruising Lake Nassar (I heard both numbers). However there are perhaps 300 cruising the Nile River itself – most of them on the stretch between Aswan and Luxor. At both places (Aswan and Luxor), they dock for about two days (“parallel parked” along the bank of the river). There is not much wharf space at either city, so they sort of triple, quadruple, and quintuple "park". Often to get from your ship to the shore, you have to walk thru the “main lobby” of 3 or 4 other ships that are “parked” between your ship and the shore. Similarly, if you are sitting in the lobby, you might see passengers of other ships, passing through – sometimes pulling rollerboard luggage.
December 01, 2011 – Cruising down the Nile. Stopped at Kom Ombo to visit Sobek Temple. Later stopped at Edfu to visit Horus Temple (going from ship to the temple by horse carriage). I believe the boat docked in Luxor very late this day, while we were asleep. Very peaceful to see farming, villages, donkeys, camels, etc. along the banks of the Nile. Wish it had been a bit warmer so could have spent more time comfortably on the top deck observation area. While on Lake Nassar, shoreline and everything in distance was basically sandy desert (except for a few scruffy-looking plants right at the waterline in some locations). Along the Nile, everything is a lush green. However, in many places it’s clear the lush part of the valley is only perhaps 2-3 miles wide on one side (or both sides). The hills off in the distant background are sometimes dry and desert-like. Slept on Nile cruise boat.
December 02, 2011 – Ship stayed docked to Luxor all day. This was a busy day. There was an optional (extra cost) sunrise hot air balloon ride, which I skipped. There was a very early wake-up to go to Valley of Kings (picking up “ballooners” from the tour group near the statues, or Colossi, of Memnon – those who did the balloon thing had to get up super, super early – and received a “box breakfast” to eat after we picked them up). Then toured Valley of Kings, then back to Karnak Temple in Luxor. Then, in evening, went to Luxor Temple – seeing it by artificial illumination, which was quite striking. Slept on Nile cruise boat.
Drive to Valley of Kings was thru lush green Nile Valley farmland (perhaps the richest-looking farmland I’ve ever seen). However, the Valley of Kings itself (in hills that start at the west edge of the Nile Valley) are about as desolate-looking as anything I’ve ever seen – zero vegetation in Valley of Kings.
December 03, 2011 -- Got up super early to leave ship to travel to Luxor Airport. Took flight to Cairo. Checked into a Ramada Inn near the airport there. Had farewell dinner with tour group and Ramy at that hotel that night. Hotel room window looked out over apartment buildings. Rooftops of these building were lined with TV satellite dishes. Areas not occupied by these dishes seemed to often be used for storage of excess construction materials -- and sometimes what just appeared to be trash (we had seen similar things at other places earlier in the trip). I’ve written more about these apartment structures below. Slept in Ramada Hotel near airport.
December 04, 2011 -- Got up at a fairly reasonable time to get bus to Cairo airport for (long) flight back to US, via Egypt Air. After that, went thru US immigration and customs at JFK airport (not nearly as painful as my last few entries to US at international airports -- at Detroit, Miami, and Atlanta). Then had wait in JFK for flight to Atlanta, then a ~3-hour drive back to Aiken – arriving here around 2 AM on Dec 5. I don’t remember what that corresponded to on my personal “clock” – but I think it was, again, something around a 26-hour trip in all, counting the various airport waits and layovers and the drive. Slept AT HOME!
I had intended that all fo these galleries would have access to the Original photos (for possible downloads of detailed images for printing on paper, seective cropping to magnify portions of the image, etc.). However, apparently due to my lack of understanding of how the program works, I was not initially (as of May 2016 -- although I actually did much of the work in construciton these galleries in 2012, 2013, and 2014) able to make that happen. I may try to re-do these galleries at some future time to (again) try to the those full-pixel versions onto the web site).
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