We were in Aswan all day today. We toured a couple of ruins, one of which was by motor boat to an island between the old and new dams. This temple (and over a dozen others I am told) was moved when the newer “high dam” was built. It was reconstructed exactly as it was in its current location. The trip on the water was fun and the air is much cleaner here. There were again a lot of boats and so another traffic jam on water though. And this is the low season! We then went and saw the “High Dam” which had replaced the “lower dam” here in Aswan that was built in 1902 or so. The new dam is the only functioning one on the Nile River, and is very (nearly 900 meters) at its base. Much different than dams in the U.S. Enough about the damn dams.
In the afternoon we went to a botanical garden again by boat. This time it was by a sail boat called a Felucca (sp?). It was a pleasant ride in a sail boat and the cleanest air we have breathed all trip. Very quiet, and a highlight for me. Sadly, there is a lot of litter in the Nile, and the felucca brought us a lot closer to it. The banks up close are well lined with garbage… People just throw garbage on the road or in the river at least half of the time. Pretty disgusting really, and you would think that people who depend on this mighty river would take better care of it.
I didn’t read much about the history before coming. First the Egyptians ruled starting somewhere around 2500 B.C. with up to 300 gods to worship, than the Greeks with their gods followed by the Romans with theirs. Finally the Arabic people around 600 A.D. came and now about 85% of Egypt is Muslim, and 15% Christian. I didn’t mention the English occupation, or the Germans in WWII. It is amazing how many times Egypt has been occupied by foreign forces and religions including to this day.
It would be hard from my astute perspective (A militant agnostic…. I don’t know and you don’t either) to come and tell people this history (as our Egyptologist guides have), and discount the validity of the Egyptian religion as they seem to do, while not questioning their own. Near as I can tell the ancient Egyptians had a great system of governing if nothing else (gods and religion aside) that must have been fair to the people to have survived for thousands of years. If it were not for the ability of a superior force to conquer a civilization and impose its belief systems I suspect that they would still be around today. Anyway, we are back to Cairo tomorrow, and hopefully I can post these finally.
In the afternoon we went to a botanical garden again by boat. This time it was by a sail boat called a Felucca (sp?). It was a pleasant ride in a sail boat and the cleanest air we have breathed all trip. Very quiet, and a highlight for me. Sadly, there is a lot of litter in the Nile, and the felucca brought us a lot closer to it. The banks up close are well lined with garbage… People just throw garbage on the road or in the river at least half of the time. Pretty disgusting really, and you would think that people who depend on this mighty river would take better care of it.
I didn’t read much about the history before coming. First the Egyptians ruled starting somewhere around 2500 B.C. with up to 300 gods to worship, than the Greeks with their gods followed by the Romans with theirs. Finally the Arabic people around 600 A.D. came and now about 85% of Egypt is Muslim, and 15% Christian. I didn’t mention the English occupation, or the Germans in WWII. It is amazing how many times Egypt has been occupied by foreign forces and religions including to this day.
It would be hard from my astute perspective (A militant agnostic…. I don’t know and you don’t either) to come and tell people this history (as our Egyptologist guides have), and discount the validity of the Egyptian religion as they seem to do, while not questioning their own. Near as I can tell the ancient Egyptians had a great system of governing if nothing else (gods and religion aside) that must have been fair to the people to have survived for thousands of years. If it were not for the ability of a superior force to conquer a civilization and impose its belief systems I suspect that they would still be around today. Anyway, we are back to Cairo tomorrow, and hopefully I can post these finally.
Pictures: our stateroom decoration by our attendant, and the type of boats and scene of the sailing trip to the botanical garden island in Aswan.
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