Sunday 28th April.. Beni Hassan and Beni Suef
We started at 7 A.m. after breakfast and had a 45 minute drive to the site of the tombs of Beni Hassan. Here we had to climb some 250 steps, but they were not too difficult, in order to reach the tombs. We entered four of these and they were really magnificent in the pictures they contained. Chris was able to follow quite well with her binoculars making out people actions, dogs, donkeys etcetera . We retraced our route back down the steps. Several of the group had decided against the climb and waited in the cafe at the bottom.. Here we joined them for a Pepsi (only thing on offer) at the cafe before we set off back to the ship
En route deviated to view a new city that was being built. Apparently people were very anxious to move there but how many could afford the prices of the new flat? We were not certain. The Egyptian Government is building several of these new cities in the desert. It is odd to see them, as it really is desert, and one wonders how they get employment here.
Back on board David bought a blue polo shirt with his name in hieroglyphics on it, and .Chris bought a silver ring and matching bracelet of the winged god Osiris. Then a non-buffet lunch which was billed as a served lunch of traditional Egyptian food. But turned out to be a buffet lunch with the buffet was on each table of six rather than in the centre . Chris realised that it might be the excessive use of garlic that was causing her sore throat every time she laid down to sleep, and decided to try to avoid garlic - which is difficult to do in Egypt.After lunch, Chris had a swim and then we sat on the back deck until 4 pm when there was a tour of the kitchen and the engine room. The kitchen was a kitchen, but the engine room was interesting as the old steam boilers still power the ship, clattering noisily away
Then a mango juice back out on the back deck at 6 pm. After a shower we had a coffee on the back deck, as the Sun descended. Dinner was also non-buffet but unfortunately the fish was again cooked too early and completely dried out, but the rest of it was quite acceptable.
After dinner, at 8:45 pm. we were taken out, with a heavy police escort, for a walk along the promenade, It was quite exhilarating once we reached the wondrous fountain area:. The fountains, lit by multi coloured lights, danced to the music playing from loudspeakers. Much better than the cruise show.
Beni Hassan
There are 39 ancient tombs here of Middle Kingdom (c. 21st to 19th centuries BC) nomarchs of the Oryx nome, who governed from Hebenu. Due to the quality of, and distance to the cliffs in the west, these tombs were constructed on the east bank. There is a spatial distribution in this cemetery (there are two cemeteries here: the upper range and the lower necropolis) associated with the different levels of resources available to the deceased; the most important people were buried near the top of the cliff
At this site, the provincial high elite were buried in large and elaborately decorated tombs carved into the limestone cliffs near the provincial capital, located in the upper cemetery area. These tombs lie in a row on a north–south axis. There is a slight break in the natural rock terrace, on to which they open, that divides the thirty-nine high status tombs into two groups.The basic design of these elite tombs was an outer court and a rock-cut pillared room (sometimes referred to as the chapel) in which there was a shaft that led to the burial chamber. Some of the larger tombs have biographical inscriptions and were painted with scenes of daily life and warfare. They are famous for the quality of their paintings. Nowadays, many of these scenes are in poor condition, though in the 19th century copies were made of several of them. Howard Carter as a teenager in 1891 spent a season painting watercolours of some of them
Click on any of the thumbnail photos for a larger version
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|And back to the ship
Click on any of the thumbnail photos for a larger version
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