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Legends of the Nile

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Legends of the Nile

by Lynn Stephenson Carver

It was sundown in Cairo as I headed down the hall toward my hotel room. A young attendant, on his knees in front of my door, rose, folded his prayer rug and showed me in.

As we entered, the fourth of five daily calls to prayer was being broadcast from every mosque across the city. This solemn, eerie sound made me realize that I had entered a world very different from any place I’d ever known.

As night fell, the River Nile came alive. I sat on my balcony watching the colorful barges, festooned with blinking neon lights, crisscrossing the river, blasting Egyptian pop music as if in reply to the earlier call to prayer. As host of the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Legends of the Nile trip, I had fallen under Egypt’s spell the very first day as had our 15 Northwestern travelers on our Egypt tour and Nile cruise last February.

During the next three days we visited Cairo’s most notable antiquities and sites: the Egyptian Museum, the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, the Citadel, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the fourth-century Coptic Hanging Church, near where the holy family is said to have stayed during its flight into Egypt.

In Giza we visited one of the Seven Wonders of the World — the three Great Pyramids — and the mysterious Sphinx. We had expected to see them standing alone in the vast, empty Egyptian desert but were surprised to find that the city of Cairo has encroached upon the site.

In addition to farming, Egypt’s economy depends heavily on tourism. The Egyptians themselves are warm, friendly people and also skilled artisans, so it was our pleasure to contribute to their economy in any way we could. While in Cairo we visited a weaver’s shop where children as young as age 9 learn rug-weaving. At the Papyrus Institute we observed the ancient art of creating the world’s first paper. In a nearby jewelry shop some of us purchased a gold or silver cartouche adorned with our names in hieroglyphics, a beautiful memento of our trip.

After lunch in the historic Khan el Kahalili bazaar, we tried our hand at bargaining with the vendors. For me, this was one of the most exhilarating, yet exhausting experiences of the trip.

From Cairo we flew to Luxor (originally Thebes) and visited the east bank’s Luxor and Karnak temples. Karnak’s colossal hypostyle Hall of Pillars with its floral motifs was overwhelming. The next day we drove to Luxor’s west bank, the final resting place for several Egyptian pharaohs.

The ancient Egyptians devoted their lives to planning their afterlife. For the journey to the underworld, all their earthly possessions had to be buried with them as well as the “solar boat,” which would transport their souls. Their bodies were mummified through an elaborate embalming technique. That process, plus the dry, bacteria-free desert climate, accounts for the many perfectly preserved mummies we viewed in the Egyptian Museum.

Because tomb robbers were invading the pyramids, the pharaohs began to move their burial sites to the mountains on Luxor’s west bank, where they could hide their tombs. This area is known as the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.

The most famous tomb is that of Tutankhamen, the boy king who died at the age of 19. (The cause of his death is still under debate today.) Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb fully intact in 1922. Since then, 64 tombs have been found, and excavation continues daily.

The degree to which these tombs have been preserved is startling. The vivid wall paintings look as if they could have been done yesterday.

That afternoon we boarded the H.S. Ramadis II, our home on the Nile for the next three days. Cruising south to Aswan, we enjoyed the warm, sunny weather and beautiful views of the lush landscape, palm trees and tropical flowers, and farmers in their fields with oxen carts pulling loads of sugar cane and cabbages. Charming villages and small mosques dotted the landscape. This idyllic setting stood out in dramatic contrast to the arid desert landscape we had just left behind.

The next day we visited the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the Goddess Isis, and the famous High Dam. The Aswan Dam, built in the 19th century, was replaced in 1960–71 by the High Dam to combat the annual Nile flooding. Fourteen temples, including the Philae temple, were disassembled and moved to higher ground to prevent their being submerged. An unprecedented engineering feat, the High Dam created Lake Nasser, one of the world’s largest man-made lakes, which now provides irrigation and electricity to all of Egypt.

The following day we learned that the theme for dinner that evening would be an Egyptian festival. All passengers were invited to wear a gallabiya, an Egyptian garment, similar to a caftan, worn by men and women alike, for the occasion.

We wondered how we would find one. Fortunately, the ever-resourceful vendors surrounded our ship in their fishing boats at teatime and began tossing dozens of plastic-wrapped gallabiyas up onto the deck. Prospective customers could try them on and either throw them back or, after haggling over the railing, toss down the agreed upon price.

Later that afternoon we cruised around Aswan on traditional canvas-sailed felucca boats and enjoyed the beautiful scenery surrounding Egypt’s gateway to Africa and Nubia.

Early the next morning we flew to Abu Simbel in ancient Nubia to visit the Great Temple of Ramses II, our final destination. Nothing can prepare you for experiencing the temple in person. Guarding the entrance are colossal 60-foot high statues of the Great Pharaoh Ramses II carved into a mountain overlooking the Nile. Inside are eight columns, each adorned with more statues of Ramses II, who reigned for 67 years. Adjacent to Ramses II’s temple is the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Ramses II’s favorite wife, Nefertari.

It took some extra effort to reach this extraordinary site, but no visit to Egypt would be complete without it. That afternoon we returned to Cairo, stayed overnight and the next morning embarked on our trip home.

Of course, it was impossible to cover more than 3,000 years of Egyptian history in a mere 10 days, much less report them here. Egypt is a nation of visual and visceral contrasts: from the awe-inspiring deserts to the lush Nile valley, the extremes of enormous wealth and dire poverty, and the clash of sacred and secular.

Our Legends of the Nile journey was an adventure none of us will soon forget.

Lynn Stephenson Carver (C53), a former associate director of the Northwestern Alumni Association, lives in Evanston.