First impressions as we fly in our Petroleum Airlines Embraer en route to Abu Simbel airport from Aswan. The Nile was impounded first in 1902 by the British, whose history in the Middle East have volumes to lead one to dismay. Displacements to locals at that time were one thing but with the development of the High Dam in 1961, they became totally another thing. Nubia was gone, drowned beneath the Lakes of Lake Nasser. Egypt finally gained its revenge for the 25th Dynasty.
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There is no single source for the various myths, allusions, gods, goddesses and religious practices found in the almost four thousand years of ancient Egypt. The foundations of Egyptian belief are found on temple walls. A few papyri roll that survived the many centuries and within the thousands of funerary tombs of royals and those not-so-royal.
Rituals, processions and magic spells always played significant roles in the carrying out of the varied practices ruling the life – and afterlife – of the ancients. Similar to what one finds in medieval Christian churches, paintings helped to tell the stories to those illiterate, which numbered most people. But the stories, rituals and spells also lay inscribed on the walls of the tombs and temples. Here, we can gain a more complete idea of belief systems in place. One of the most important aspects of Egyptian religious practices centered around death and the belief in an afterlife.
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Egypt, the Land of Pharaohs and Pyramids. The Nile continues to attract visitors in large number ever since Napoleon “visited” in 1799. He, as we are still today, was moved by the sheer ancientness of the land – “From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.”
As a destination, Egypt winds up on many people’s bucket lists. It certainly appeared on my wife’s. She had been enthralled by the ancient civilization back to her days as a young teen-age student. So, even though the Nile did not show up in my bucket – even if I had one – I agreed to accompany her on a trip celebrating one of those decade birthdays.
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