In the land of the pharaohs

Among all the ancient civilisations, the Egyptian civilisation is one of the oldest. It is cradled in the bank of the River Nile which flows through 11 countries in Africa before meeting the Mediterranean Sea. Nile is the longest river in Africa.

The Egyptian civilisation was formed in 3000 BCE.

Despite the region being under many different rulers like Alexander the Great, the Romans and then the Muslim rulers, the country remained enigmatic to the world with its pyramids, its hieroglyphics, ancient burial grounds of kings and queens and the vast deserts.

I was fortunate enough to visit the country in 2020 just before Covid-19 started spreading throughout the world. We arrived in Cairo late at night. It was early January and the weather was very cold. 

On the next morning, the pyramids of Giza were our first destination. They were made by the three pharaohs named Khufu, Menkaure and Khafre as symbols of power in Ancient Egypt and they were the burial places for the pharaohs.

I still recall the moment of awe as I reached the plateau of Giza when all the three pyramids came into view.

Now, it was one thing to see these pyramids in postcards, pictures and online photos in recent times, and completely a different feeling to see them in front of your own eyes. Nothing could be compared with the real-life experience of seeing them in person.

The Pyramid of Khufu was built in 2600 BC, and it took 27 years to build it. The moment I stood in front of it, I was dwarfed by the single cube of stone that was at the base of the 450-meter-tall triangular structure.

The magnanimity of the pyramids standing tall for thousands of years demanded my admiration.

When I tried to climb on the stones, my guide Fatima who was an Egyptologist forbade me to do so. She said it was the resting place of the world's most powerful king and that one should not disrespect or dishonour them in anyway even in death.

So after taking some photos and admiring its grandiosity, I visited the nearby Solar Boat Museum (Khufu ship) where they showcased a 144-metre-long cedar boat. It is said that this boat was used for the funeral rites of the pharaohs. The boat was a magnificent work of art itself.

The same night, we travelled to Luxor by a fast train that had sleeping coaches that was booked from Dhaka. Luxor is 559 km away from Cairo and took around 9 hours by train.

The town was built in 1400 BCE and it is situated on the east bank of River Nile. It is another major tourist attraction of Egypt as the Valley of Kings and the Valley of Queens were there.

On our journey, I had to use the toilet in the middle of the night and when I came back, the doors of all compartments looked exactly same and I was completely in oblivion of my cabin number.

I thought, well, my door would be the only one that was open so I tried some doors and was embarrassed to find some of them were open even though the travellers were fast asleep. I remember someone waking up with an eye patch. I apologised for being such an idiot.

In the early morning, we went the Temple of Luxor which was in Upper Egypt. It was totally empty as people were still getting up from sleep. Luxor was a burial ground for the kings and pharaohs.

The Egyptian kings and pharaohs are divided in as many as 33 dynasties. Each dynasty has a series of rulers who shared a common origin. Luxor is located on the site of ancient Thebes, the pharaohs' capital at the height of their power, during the 16–11BC.

We watched the sun rising in the eastern sky through the pylons and pillars in Luxor Temple. There were two temples, Luxor Temple and a mile north to it, the Karnac Temple.

The royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are on the river's west bank. It is an irony that the pharoahs built these burial places so that no one disturbed them after their death and yet thousands of visitors visit these places every day.

Karnac Temple had a series of headless statues. Most statues had no head or missing noses all around Egypt. Even the colossal Ramesis II had its nose missing.

This reminded me of the stories I heard about prophets of Islam demolishing statues as they believed it was sacrilegious.   

Ramses IX was the eighth pharaoh of the 20^th dynasty. He reigned for 18 years and was buried in the Valley of Kings in Luxor. Sadly, his tomb is empty now as everything was stolen. But the hieroglyphics in his tomb were beautifully done.

These are copied and sold in papyrus which we see in many places in the country. The paintings were etched on the inside wall of the tombs and beautifully coloured, most of which were faded and some etching were destroyed by erosion.

We went back to Cairo for the rest of our visit and went to a beautiful Alabaster Mosque also known as The Mehmet Ali Mosque which is one of five best mosques in Egypt. It is located inside the Citadel of Saladin that was built in 1176 AD as a fort to protect the country from the Crusaders.

The mosque also receives the name of Alabaster because this is the material used to cover its exterior. Alabaster is a stone that is white and translucent and is shiny.

Inside the mosque, there was a chandelier of 365 light bulbs which was presented by the French Government in exchange for an obelisk. My guide didn't seem very happy giving the information, what is a chandelier in comparison to an obelisk? she said.

The same night we went to see the sound and light show in the cold desert. It was the best light show of my life where I saw all the three pyramids in different coloured lights and got to know a lot about the lives of kings and queens. It was narrated by an animated sphinx.

He said that among other things, the men are insignificant beings but then these men have built the magnificent, magnanimous structures that we gathered that night to watch.

The cold, night air from the desert was penetrating my bones even though I was wrapped in warm clothes.

I covered my nose with my scarf as I was unable to feel it after about five minutes. I saw some people had wrapped themselves in hotel blankets, I wished someone had advised me to do the same.

The last day was our cruise at the River Nile and it was an unforgettable experience as I had read and heard so much about 'Neel Nod' in Bangla. Nod is the masculine form of nodi both of which mean river.

It is said the rivers which do not have any tributaries are termed as 'nod'. The water of the river truly seemed to be blue in colour. As we travelled on the boat the moon shone bright in the night sky but it was unbearably cold to sit outside.

We had a sumptuous meal on board as we enjoyed the Egyptian belly dance and music.

The world was getting shut down with the arrival of Covid-19 as we travelled back to Dhaka after our week-long vacation. We know now the world would never be the same after that.