Noble Guildied Mummies from Kashmatkh town.

We were able to take photos here, which I loved. (Later after we left Egypt, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo allowed photography. When lamenting this fact my group-mates laughed and said that if I could have taken photos there, I’d still be editing and uploading them to this day!) We then walked to the main hall. This actually has a set path you must follow. It starts with pre-history Egypt and goes through modern day. Unlike the older museums in Egypt, this one has proper labeling, although it is still pretty dark inside with lighting mostly for effect. Some people in my group who had gone earlier suggested to bring a flashlight, however I found the lighting good. The lighting and lack of other tourists gave it a private gallery feel, but also very quite and somber.

Photos by Elizabeth

Those of us who came together ended up splitting off from one another. Some would stop and stare at each artifact for a long time, while others would read quickly and then move onto more interesting objects. So we started to get separated. I’m not that interested in pre-history so I went through that part pretty quickly. Once I got into the Dynastic periods I slowed down, and really took in each object. There were statues and ushabti, glass & alabaster objects and more. Each were carefully picked, so there were a few good examples of each (as opposed to the rows and rows of objects in Cairo’s museum). Whereas in Cairo I was tired and overwhelmed by everything, here I felt at home.

Shawabti/Ushabti with prayers written on their forms.

I was pleased to see a statue of a sun-disked scarab, as I know there are only a few examples this large. (One other will be in Karnak, later on in the trip.)

Scarab with the sun disk of Ra in its shrine.

In the halfway part (and center of the museum you can see when you enter) is a large Ramses the Great statue. It came from part of a temple that wasn’t fully saved from the water, but a few parts like this painted statue were saved. I spent a lot of time in this room, partly as it had a lot of other statues, and partly just to take photos of the giant Pharaoh.

Ramses II statue from the Temple of Gerf Hussein surveys the main exhibition hall.

Right behind him is a small temple that was saved from the water. (Although I’m kicking myself for not taking a photo of the name of the temple…as googling has failed me in learning who it was created by or dedicated to.) Its not that big, the entrance is probably 4 feet and the inside is probably 5-7 feed in width/length. After seeing the great temples at Abu Simbel it was good to be reminded that there would also be smaller shrines put into the cliffs.

Small rock temple saved from the flooding of the Aswan Dam

As I moved further there were less objects. One darken room had a horse with ancient finery on it, but the other cabinets were very dark or empty. Then there was a room on coptic and muslim influences. I liked seeing the carved arches with all the different types of crosses, as well as a lamp from a mosque. Here there are also other objects like text-tiles and writing, but nothing else struck me in this room. Upon moving into the next room I was happy to see a model of Abu Simbel, showing where it original lived and where it was moved up and a little to the side of where it use to be. This room also spoke in detail of the efforts to save temples including Philae Temple which we’d see in the morning. After reading up I then moved along to the rest of the museum.

Early Christian arch with various cross designs.

The latter third of the museum is actually life-sized models of daily life in Nubian communities, with fake wax-like figures. This wasn’t as interesting to me so I flew by pretty fast, stopping at artifacts like jewelry and model boats. When I came to the exit I found a bench to sit on to wait for the others. It was still fairly humid and slightly hot in the museum, so I used my mister to stay cool. I didn’t think I rushed through the museum that fast, but it felt like I waited for the others for a long time. Not that I minded, I had enjoyed the museum immensely, I just wanted to rest as I knew there were more things Elizabeth and I were gong to see before heading back to the ship.

When the others finished, we went back upstairs. Logic would dictate that if there was a right wing, there must be a left wing right? No, the other side was blocked off, and a sign for the cafeteria was covered stating it wasn’t open. (For some reason I felt like there should be more here, like we missed a room, but we didn’t.) So we headed outside.

Night had fallen, and so we walked together down the streets. It felt pretty deserted but it was probably just a traditional dinner time. The others broke away from us and headed elsewhere, but Elizabeth and I decided to visit the Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. Mikel our guide is Coptic and said this was a very pretty church. So we decided to duck in. Local children played in the courtyard and eyed us funnily. As we walked up we realized a mass was just ending, and so we waited a few minutes while people finished walking out so we could walk in. I don’t know what I was actually expecting but as I walked in I was struck by how silly I was being. It just looked like a church on the inside, but with a slightly different decorating style. While it was very pretty, it probably wasn’t worth more than a few minutes visit, and Elizabeth and I headed down. I did peruse the church shop in the courtyard to find a gift for my Grandmother, but decided to hold off.

Photo by Elizabeth

We then walked back down the Cornice and towards what we thought was the tourist market. At first I thought we were in the wrong place. I saw one small jewelry store, and we popped in. A young man saw us about to leave and asked “Are you looking for silver jewelry?” As I was I responded yes, and was about to head back in, thinking I missed it. “Come I’ll show you!” And that is how we got adopted “into the family” that night.

I realized quickly that he didn’t work for that store, instead he was a lad working on commission. I already knew what would happen. He’d take us to “family” stores where we’d get a “good discount” and he’d get a commission. I figured why not. I had heard one way to experience the markets was to get adopted by one tout, tip him well at the end, and he’ll essentially be your buffer while you shop. I was worried he’d control us and only let us see shops he’d get commission on, but that turned out not to be the case.

He guided us to the main part of the market, and at that late out with so few tourists it was a bit otherworldly. Touts and sellers eyed us desperately but Thomas, our new “friend”, spoke Arabic quickly and they were silenced. The first few “family” stores didn’t interest me. I then picked a store he passed by, partly to see how he’d act. He smiled and said he had all night, and I was a bit amused to see him speaking in Arabic to the shop seller. I assumed he was quickly making a deal to get a cut of the sale if we were to purchase anything. It was a dusty old shop. But big compared to the small stalls we had passed previously. As I wandered further into the lightly lit shop I started seeing older and older tourist items. I paused on a beautiful hand made copper bowl. I wanted to get one, but I also didn’t want to lug it around for we still had almost a week left in the trip. To this day I wish I had bought it, as it was beautiful and the workmanship clearly well done.

But we pressed on. Still I wasn’t finding what I wanted, either it was tourist crap or the jewelry wasn’t my style. We then passed onto a larger street full of locals, and the start of a local’s market. Thomas said he knew of a larger store, one that had many items. He then turned down a extremely dark side street. Elizabeth and I looked at each other. I think “Hell No” flashed in our minds. We called out to Thomas and told him we had to go, and tried to tip him. He kindly refused and kept trying to get to the store. Finally Elizabeth pointed and explained it was too dark, would he want his mother or sister to go down alone with a man they just met away from the main tourist area? He realized we wouldn’t go with him that way, but he was persistent. He pointed a little ways down the local’s market, which was better lit, and said there was one final “family” store to take us.

We were tired but for some reason he was so persistent we went with him. He lead us into a perfume shop, up a set of stairs that opened into a shop. We would have never found this on our own. And we were the only people there. The owner was kindly and spoke excellent English, and simply told us to take our time.  I felt comfortable here, insulated from the street sounds, without someone hovering over us. And when I went to the jewelry case my eyes grew big. Here was the style of silver jewelry I liked! JACKPOT I thought (as did the owner and Thomas.)

I spent a lot of time there, looking through cases of earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets. I sorted items into piles. Gifts for others, gifts for me, must buys, maybes. The owner asked us if we wanted a drink. Knowing this time I was going to be buying things and that I wouldn’t feel guilt for accepting a drink I said yes. Elizabeth said no but they brought her something anyways. The owner started to bring up more jewelry from somewhere. (Really where? its not like they have a back storage room! But things kept appearing, things I had to look through and find the treasures from.) Elizabeth was a trooper. I have no idea how long we were in there. After whittling away the items I was going to buy, negotiating (poorly, but Elizabeth helped. I’m just not good at bargaining), I finally had to confirm if the store accepted credit cards, as I was buying so much silver. I knew I was probably over-paying, but I was glad to get most of my shopping done. Elizabeth even bought some papyrus, although she bargained a lot harder and I think the owner only begrudgingly accepted her deal because I was spending hundreds of dollars at his shop.

Afterwards Thomas guided us back to the Cornice.  He asked us how much we spent (probably so he could go back and collect his commission) and then I tipped him. He then pestered Elizabeth for some additional tip, saying we had tipped him so low. Although he was helpful, we knew he’d be getting some of the commission money so I just smiled at him and thanked him and wished him a good night.

The Cornice was pretty deserted as we made our way back to the cruise ship. After we walked across the gangway and showed our entry cards to the guard to get past the first cruise ship, we quickly stashed our shopping and went to dinner. Once again we got bruises from the pushy Chinese group, and we just resigned ourselves to either rushing to get in line before them, or let them descend first and go after they were finished.

Stainglass in our ship.

It was such a long day. First Abu Simbel, then the Old Cataract Hotel, and then the museum and shopping. I just couldn’t stay awake.  I knew they’d be doing traditional dancing and music (and probably whirling dervishes), but I was so tired. I went to bed and slept while Elizabeth and the others danced and enjoyed the music. While I wish I could have seen it, I was glad to finally get to rest!