Father's day trip to Egypt with the family

Psych! I wish.
But the university of Utah does currently have a pretty cool Egyptian exhibit on loan
Was pleased to see it had items spanning all three old middle new with both intermediate periods, lots of Bes (wish I'd snapped pics of some of the amulets of his they have), loads of things from the Ptolemic period as you'd assume, mummies, sarcophagi and more!

(Woke up quick at about noon. Just thought I had to see Egyptian mummies soon)


The front of the tickets

a scroll from a mid dynasty BOOK OF THE DEAD!
https://images.app.goo.gl/T7t8FazcRZfZ2Q6K9


I've seen few things more HILARIOUS than this cat mummy in my forty years.

Was very drawn to this wonderfully lifelike bust of Nectanebo I:



The lady of the hour was in MUCH better shape than the last Egypt exhibit that came to Utah. Very elaborately done.


My oldest, Forest (masked up), in front of a gold inlaid sarcophagi

They had modern replica coins of Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony, even legionary coins of his which I thought odd, but I couldn't bring myself to pony up the bread ($3.75) for a pos replica. Did get the F bomb this pyramid pencil sharpener though:


It was nice to get out and do something fun and normal. And even better to spend it with my wife and the boys. Life is good

Post your thoughts, those coins with Egyptian iconography, items from antiquity or just how you spent your father's day

 

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Nice photos, thanks for the tour.

 

Very nice!
Spend the day with all three tadpoles. Played minecraft and had a waterballon fight with the older two and got to take a nap with the youngest.
We also watched "The Empire Strikes Back"...gotta watch it for the "I am your father" scene.
Capped it off with some amazing BBQ.

All-in-all it was a good day. Have to go to bed early thought since tomorrow FFIVN and I start a week of Cub Scout camp.

 

Both my mummy and yours weren't wearing masks; but I asked the curator and mine has been vaccinated.



And my wife wanted to bring the cat home; I said no. Don't like pets.

 

That poor lion has a neck-beard for a mane!

 

I'll be going back to Egypt in October. Last time I was there was summer of 2001... just a couple of months before 9/11.

 

@Ryro, Awesome tour, thank you so much for sharing.

The gold inlaid sarcophagi that your oldest is admiring is amazing. It is obvious that these caught his eyes

Liked also very much the white sphinx behind Nektanebo's head

 

what a great Egyptian Exhibition. Glad you enjoyed it. I attend every one in my region that I can. And, when traveling out of town, hit any museum with Egyptian exhibits that I can find time for.

 

Very cool, @Ryro , and happy Fathers Day, Dude!

The Tykes must have had a wonderful time!

Fun to speak with all my 6 Daughters today, although spread all over the planet.

I have an Egyptian Scarab with a charm to MAKE several children...


Egypt
16th-11th C BCE
Scarab
-Amun Create for Thee All Children-
17x12mm
ex DeVries Collection
Flinders Petrie Buttons and Design Scarabs pg21 679-680 PlateXII

 

Mummies from Vienna. Wish I had more information but had to race through the Egypt section as the museum was about to close, and it was my last day

 

Those are great pics. I was lucky enough to see Pompeii & King Tut at different times of my life so far when they were exhibited here in L.A.

 

Wonderful photos, everyone! I admit that as much as I would love to visit Egypt, as an American of a particular religion I would be so anxious about personal safety throughout -- justifiably or otherwise -- that it would probably ruin my enjoyment of the experience. Perhaps someday. Otherwise, I will continue to appreciate the Egyptian collections at museums around the world, as I've been doing since I fell in love with the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I was about 8 years old. (Not to mention continuing to enjoy my own modest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts; I've posted photos here before on multiple occasions and won't repeat them now.)

 

I had the opportunity to attend a conference in 2001 in Cairo, Egypt (Misr, the name for Egypt) shortly before 9/11. At that time, safety never crossed my mind.

Cairo is an amazing city, and even though our agenda was packed, I took every free time and also a whole weekend to go to the Egyptian Museum, which is a short walk from the hotel were I stayed.

It is eye-popping to see the Egyptian Museum collection; many of the objects are (or were) just there, not behind glass or out of reach. Even in front of the museum there are magnificent ancient sculptures without any protection from weather or people.

There were also tours organized, among others to Giza and Luxor, for the conference attendees, which I obviously booked.

It was a unique and life-time experience: the friendliness of the Egyptians and of course their gorgeous food and music, to see all these ancient places and objects, the Nile river, ...I could go on and on...

At that time, phones didn't have a camera. I did have one, I think it was a Nikkon something, but it broke while traveling, so unfortunately I have not a single picture of that trip.

 

I have been to Egypt several times. In the mid-1990s we stayed in Luxor for 3 weeks, exploring the whole region by bike and on foot away from the normal tourist streams. This gives you a completely different perspecitive. We climed into caves and crevices to see millennia old inscriptions that no tourist gets to see. We visited villages that looked like they hadn't changed in 3000 years.
We also visited Cairo and the Pyramids of Sakara, Gezeh, Dashur etc. In places like Dashur we were the only tourists and got a bit of the atmosphere that first explorers or grave robbers must have felt when they entered these tombs for the first time.
Last time I was in Luxor was 4 years ago. The country is changing fast: Chinese motorcycles have almost completely replaced donkey carts. I'm sure the locals love it, but the magic of Egypt is vanishing fast.

As for safety: Even in the 1990s - we visted around the time of the massacre at the Hatchepsut temple - it was problematic to travel further south from Luxor by car. When I was there last time there was an almost intimidating presence of police and military in Luxor, no doubt to ensure safety. The biggest nuiscance are all the hecklers who want to sell you something.

For anybody planing to go I have two hotel recommendations: If you go to Luxor staying at the famous Winter Palace Hotel is worth the extra costs. Some of the colonial flair is still there. We loved it. If you go to Cairo, staying in the Mena House Hotel is also worth the extra costs. The Mena House is right next to the great Pyramids. It used to be a palace of the last king of Egypt. Similar to the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, the Mena House (main buildings) still has 19th century colonial flair.

 

Looks like that lucky lion is about to get a kiss from a lovely lady....

 

I took a sabbatical from work a few years back and traveled to Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. I had three 30-day visas to Egypt sandwiched around my two week trip to Constantinople and week in Jordan. In 90 days I was able to see most everything interesting in the country, to wit:

• Siwa Oasis
• Dakhla Oasis
• Mt. Sinai (took the steps of repentance to the top of the mountain)
• Luxor (3 times)
• Abu Simbel
• Nag Hammadi (I was kicked out of the town by the police after two days)
• Assyut (also kicked out by the police)
• El-Ashmunein, site of the grand temple to Thoth, known as Hermopolis Magna
• Sheik al-Balad (Antinopolis - across the river from Hermopolis)
• el-Minya, one of my favorite towns
• Abydos
• Giza Pyramids
• Dahshur Pyramid field
• Saqqara
• Cairo
• Edfu (temple of Horus)
• Kom Ombo (Sobek temple) Here I was held up at gunpoint by some Islamists
• Port Said
• Alexandria (twice)
• Esna (temple of Khnum, largely dating to the time of Trajan, and featuring the name of Trajan Decius in a cartouche)
• Kharga Oasis
• Pispir or the Inner mountain (respite of Saint Anthony)
• The fortress of Babylon (Roman citadel in the southern part of Cairo)
• Aswan
• Sohag
• The Fayyum
• Hurghada
• Tuna el-Gebel
• And many more sites tucked away in villages along the main north-south rail line, overall I had a great time

 

Also Denderah and the imposing temple of Hathor, featuring a shrine to Bes

 

If I may ask, why were you kicked out of town by the police?
Not good for tourism.

 

For my own protection. In the case of Assyut, radical Islamic cells were active they explained that they couldn't ensure my safety, but moreover they didn't want any bad news of a tourist getting bumped off.

In Nag Hammadi, there had recently been a shooting where radical Islamists shot and killed nine Copts by spraying a church with AK-47 fire. So also, I was told firmly to leave and they escorted me to the train station and waited to leave until I boarded.

In Kom Ombo where I was robbed of 1000 Egyptian pounds and had a gun stuck in my back while walking around the town square after dark, they let me go after I showed them my Qu'ran (in Arabic) which I had got at Al-Azhar when I visited the campus.

Most of the folks I met in my unguided travels were extremely hospitable, and I was often invited into homes for tea and pastries, more often by Muslims then by Copts.

 

Excellent. Thanks.