FEBRUARY 15 - SAQQARA

We were very excited about visiting Saqqara, after reading the article, "The Secret Tombs of Saqqara," in the Smithsonian magazine.  In ancient times, Saqqara was a huge underground cemetery on the west bank of the Nile across from what used to be the capital of Egypt, Memphis.  Some of the tombs located there date back to the 1st Dynasty - 3000 to 2800 BC.  Netflix also had a documentary, "Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb." Absolutely fascinating place.  But, first, breakfast in the Hotel's dining room:  

We had been looking forward to our visit to Saqqara because this is where Ahmed said we would comfortably be able to go inside one of the pyramids and we did!  

 

 

 

Today, we had a security guard with us.  We're not sure why security is with us on some trips and not others but we were never concerned about our safety.  I felt safer throughout the Middle East than I would be walking in Seattle today. 

 

     First stop:  Pyramid of Teti 

"The Pyramid of Teti is a smooth-sided pyramid situated in the pyramid field at Saqqara. It is the second known pyramid containing pyramid texts. Excavations have revealed a satellite pyramid, two pyramids of queens accompanied by cult structures, and a funerary temple." 

Ceiling Art

Although it was necessary to walk down into the Tomb, it wasn't as steep or had as many stairs as our first attempt way back at the beginning of our trip at Dashur.  As you can see, Michael is stooped over but, in no way, was it claustrophobic.  Still, we thank our trainer, Loretta, for all her hard work in keeping us mobile and in shape to accomplish all we did on this trip!  

Nearby is the Mastaba of Prince Kagemni.  "In the first years of the reign of Teti, first king of the 6th Dynasty (c. 2321-2290 BC), an official named Kagemni-Memi was appointed to the rank of Chief Justice and Vizier, the highest post in the bureaucracy of Old Kingdom Egypt."

 

Some really beautiful carvings.
 

Our next stop - the Step Pyramid of Zoser.  "The Step Pyramid of Djoser (also spelled Zoser) is the earliest monumental pyramid in Egypt, built at Saqqara about 2650 BC for the 3rd Dynasty Old Kingdom pharaoh Djoser, who ruled about 2691–2625 BC (or perhaps 2630-2611 BC). The pyramid is part of a complex of buildings, said to have been planned and executed by that most famous architect of the ancient world, Imhotep."  It is the oldest stone structure on the face of the Earth - over 5,000 years old.  Think about it!  

 

After seeing all these photos from our past ten days in Egypt, I'm sure you'll notice that I'm always in the same position on Michael's right side - that's because he uses his left hand to take a picture of us with his camera.  

Lunch was at the nearby Sakkara Palm Club Resort.  The day was absolute exquisite and I had what I considered the absolute best eggplant and tomato dish I'd ever had in my life  ...  

 

... even if this little Charlie Chaplin wannabe scratched my two fingers when I put my hand down to my side for a moment.  Thankfully, Michael (of course) had antibiotic cream and band aids which I immediately applied.  The minor inconvenience didn't ruin my lunch! 

One more stop after lunch - "the Ramses Wissa Wassaf Art Center, the home of a unique experiment in tapestry weaving that has produced extraordinary works admired and collected by museums ... Wissa Wassef (1911-1974) was dedicated to releasing the innate creativity of young Egyptian villagers freed from the constraints of a formal education."

 

It was amazing to see the young children being part of this project.  They seemed very happy with learning a craft which will enable them to grow up and be expert artisans.  They were very welcoming and one even invited us to sit down beside him.  We limited our purchases to smaller items, like magnets, but some of the large pieces were absolutely exquisite, particularly this abstract rug hanging behind me and Ahmed. 

After returning to the hotel from Saqqara, we were invited to enjoy a "Design Your Day" activity which could either be:

Discover Coptic Cairo, visiting a church where the Holy Family stayed, as well as the Coptic Museum; 

Tour Islamic Cairo, including a walk in Moaz Street, and the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar (which we had visited on our first day in Cairo); or

Tour the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization which including the Gallery of Royal Mummies (which we had also visited on our first day in Cairo).

If you recall, we didn't want to take the chance that this morning's visit to Saqqara would somehow delay our return to our hotel and the visit to the NMEC would be shortened or cancelled.  The NMEC was something that was an absolute must for us so we had scheduled our private tour the first day we arrived in Cairo.

Our traveling companions opted for the NMEC, and we, having already been to the NMEC, stayed at the hotel, cleared our account, and enjoyed walking around the indoor mall within the hotel.

Tonight, it was time to say, "good-bye" to our wonderful guide, Ahmed, and our traveling companions.  We had a lovely dinner in a private room of the hotel's Zitouni Restaurant.  This is a photo of just the starters.  

The food was extraordinary throughout Egypt and I don't believe we had one dish we didn't like.  

We each shared our most memorable feeling/thought/experience during our trip and it was time for Ahmed to leave and our fellow travelers to retire.  Ed and Alex were leaving the hotel at 11 p.m. that evening for their 2 a.m. flight back to the states while Vanessa and Dora had an early wake-up call around 4 a.m. for their trip to the airport and flight home to NY.  We were on our way to Jordan with a departure from the hotel at 10:00 a.m. and flight to Amman at 1:15 p.m. the following day.