I thought this was a very well done stop motion video...so creative, and I like the song. It is titled "Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Walk like an Egyptian
My work in Egypt is done, so I've left Abydos. But I'm not leaving yet. I still have 3 days to see the sights: Thursday & Friday in Luxor and Saturday in Cairo, before my return home to NYC on Sunday if I make it home alive. It really seems as if there is no law enforcement here with regards to traffic regulation. You can drive at night with no headlights, pedestrians routinely walk in the street instead of the sidewalk, EVERYONE honks their horns ALL THE TIME, and it's not completely uncommon to see a car going the wrong way down a one way street.
I shot this short little video while standing on the corner of a busy intersection in Cairo on my first day in Egypt. I was exploring the city by foot, and when I got to this highway, that was the boundary of my exploration since I was scared to cross the street. If you watch, you'll see a couple of Egyptian pedestrians walking through the heavy traffic with seemingly little regard for their safety. Now, after being here for a week and a half and having seen much worse in that time, this seems pretty tame.
I've since found much better examples of how crazy the traffic is, and I'll post a couple of those videos here, but I realize that none of these videos do any justice to the experience of actually trying to cross these streets in real life.
While in Luxor & Cairo, I have a lot on my agenda: the temples and museums of East Luxor, the tombs of West Luxor, and the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo. I will no longer have Internet access, so updates on the final part of my trip will be postponed until either Monday or Tuesday next week after I return home.
I shot this short little video while standing on the corner of a busy intersection in Cairo on my first day in Egypt. I was exploring the city by foot, and when I got to this highway, that was the boundary of my exploration since I was scared to cross the street. If you watch, you'll see a couple of Egyptian pedestrians walking through the heavy traffic with seemingly little regard for their safety. Now, after being here for a week and a half and having seen much worse in that time, this seems pretty tame.
I've since found much better examples of how crazy the traffic is, and I'll post a couple of those videos here, but I realize that none of these videos do any justice to the experience of actually trying to cross these streets in real life.
While in Luxor & Cairo, I have a lot on my agenda: the temples and museums of East Luxor, the tombs of West Luxor, and the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo. I will no longer have Internet access, so updates on the final part of my trip will be postponed until either Monday or Tuesday next week after I return home.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Abydos: Intersecting Landscapes
One of the first things that struck me about the Abydos landscape is how surreal it is. It's basically an intersection of various landscapes: ancient, modern, village, desert, agricultural, spiritual, and some hints of the industrial. Imagine waking up in the morning at 4:30 AM and the sound of the villagers call to prayer is projected through the desert air via megaphone. To a non-Arabic speaker, it sounds like chanting and moaning and it drones on for over an hour. Then it happens 4 more times throughout the day.
Then, when the sun comes up on a dusty morning, it doesn't look like any sun you've ever seen before. It's small, but very bright, although covered in clouds, and actually looks more like the moon. But I watched it throughout the day, I can assure you that this is the morning sun:
When we first went out to see the excavation sites, I had the chance to climb on top of one of the tall walls of the Shunet el-Zabib. From that great height, I was able to see an amazing example of the intersection of the various landscapes. First, I had a clear view of the Valley to the Underworld:
Then, while looking westward just to the right side of the valley, this panoramic view stretches across the horizon (click on the image to enlarge):
First, in the foreground you can see part of the mudbrick wall of the funerary enclosure on which I was standing when I was viewing the landscape. Panning to the right, there is lush green argicultural land, forcibly placed into the desert. There are cattle grazing and men working in the farms. The land was heavily irrigated, but it's still the desert and the land is destined to last no longer than a few years before the sand siphons out all the water and turns it into salt. Sticking out among all this are electrical towers and power lines.
Then, continuing on towards the north, one sees a large Coptic cemetary:
At the edge of the cemetary, stands an ancient mudbrick ruin, behind which is the village of Abydos, just on the edge of the desert. In this next panoramic view, you can see the village along the horizon line, just beyond the desert. Once again, click to enlarge.
Here's a closer look at some of the village apartment buildings:
While walking around the desert, one is aware of the variety just by looking at the sand. Sherds of ancient pottery are broken and scattered about everywhere. Modern relics are left behind as well, usually accumulated in certain areas in the form of plastic bottles and other small pieces of garbage. And more than occasionally, animal bones and skulls appear as a reminder of the roughness of the desert and despite its beauty and nearby oases, in some ways it is still a dangerous place.
Then, when the sun comes up on a dusty morning, it doesn't look like any sun you've ever seen before. It's small, but very bright, although covered in clouds, and actually looks more like the moon. But I watched it throughout the day, I can assure you that this is the morning sun:
When we first went out to see the excavation sites, I had the chance to climb on top of one of the tall walls of the Shunet el-Zabib. From that great height, I was able to see an amazing example of the intersection of the various landscapes. First, I had a clear view of the Valley to the Underworld:
Then, while looking westward just to the right side of the valley, this panoramic view stretches across the horizon (click on the image to enlarge):
First, in the foreground you can see part of the mudbrick wall of the funerary enclosure on which I was standing when I was viewing the landscape. Panning to the right, there is lush green argicultural land, forcibly placed into the desert. There are cattle grazing and men working in the farms. The land was heavily irrigated, but it's still the desert and the land is destined to last no longer than a few years before the sand siphons out all the water and turns it into salt. Sticking out among all this are electrical towers and power lines.
Then, continuing on towards the north, one sees a large Coptic cemetary:
At the edge of the cemetary, stands an ancient mudbrick ruin, behind which is the village of Abydos, just on the edge of the desert. In this next panoramic view, you can see the village along the horizon line, just beyond the desert. Once again, click to enlarge.
Here's a closer look at some of the village apartment buildings:
While walking around the desert, one is aware of the variety just by looking at the sand. Sherds of ancient pottery are broken and scattered about everywhere. Modern relics are left behind as well, usually accumulated in certain areas in the form of plastic bottles and other small pieces of garbage. And more than occasionally, animal bones and skulls appear as a reminder of the roughness of the desert and despite its beauty and nearby oases, in some ways it is still a dangerous place.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Abydos: Funerary Chapel & Temple of King Ramses II
Here's part two of my tour of the Abydos project's excavation site. I know significantly less about these monuments, so it will just be a few pictures and very brief explanations.
This is a mudbrick funerary chapel. The best explanation I can come up with is it's sort of like gravestones, but without the tombs. There were no people buried here, but rather monuments to specific dead people. None of the monuments are here -- they were all stolen -- so it's just a bunch of constructed holes in the ground.
As more and more important people started to have bigger and bigger monuments erected in their memory, eventually King Ramses II came along and trumped all their little mudbrick structures with his elaborate stone temple, right next door.
This is an engraved stone column from the temple. You might be able to see some of the gold detail still on the column, near the 2 triangular engravings, indicating that it was once painted.
Some heiroglyphics, which I believe spell out the name of King Ramses II, engraved in the stone. The animal figure in the center is a baboon. Here are some details of the heiroglyphics:
And here's a panoramic view of the entire site, with the mudbrick funerary chapel on the left and the stone temple on the right. Click to view the image in closer detail.
This is a mudbrick funerary chapel. The best explanation I can come up with is it's sort of like gravestones, but without the tombs. There were no people buried here, but rather monuments to specific dead people. None of the monuments are here -- they were all stolen -- so it's just a bunch of constructed holes in the ground.
As more and more important people started to have bigger and bigger monuments erected in their memory, eventually King Ramses II came along and trumped all their little mudbrick structures with his elaborate stone temple, right next door.
This is an engraved stone column from the temple. You might be able to see some of the gold detail still on the column, near the 2 triangular engravings, indicating that it was once painted.
Some heiroglyphics, which I believe spell out the name of King Ramses II, engraved in the stone. The animal figure in the center is a baboon. Here are some details of the heiroglyphics:
And here's a panoramic view of the entire site, with the mudbrick funerary chapel on the left and the stone temple on the right. Click to view the image in closer detail.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wall Drawings Inside Egyptian Train
Here's two drawings I saw on the interior walls of a train while I was traveling through Egypt. I can't read the signature, but right below it, it says "Cordoba '91."
Happy New Year! 新年快樂！
Happy Chinese New Year!
It's the Year of the Ox (牛 níu = cow; ox in the Chinese zodiac).
Since I'm still in Egypt, I thought these Egyptian representations of oxen would be an appropriate way to recognize the new year:
In Ancient Egypt, the ox basically served 3 separate functions:
1. They were used for their strength as agricultural draught animals.
2. For food purposes, they were kept for milk and slaughtered for meat.
3. Finally, there was a spiritual side, most notably represented by the Apis Bull. I don't fully understand the mythology behind it, so I'll leave the explanation to the collective wisdom of Wikipedia.
The Apis Bull, an incarnation of the god Ptah:
The ox as draught animal in Egypt:
And so that we don't stray too far from the Lunar New Year, here's a traditional Chinese representation of the ox:
It's the Year of the Ox (牛 níu = cow; ox in the Chinese zodiac).
Since I'm still in Egypt, I thought these Egyptian representations of oxen would be an appropriate way to recognize the new year:
In Ancient Egypt, the ox basically served 3 separate functions:
1. They were used for their strength as agricultural draught animals.
2. For food purposes, they were kept for milk and slaughtered for meat.
3. Finally, there was a spiritual side, most notably represented by the Apis Bull. I don't fully understand the mythology behind it, so I'll leave the explanation to the collective wisdom of Wikipedia.
The Apis Bull, an incarnation of the god Ptah:
The ox as draught animal in Egypt:
And so that we don't stray too far from the Lunar New Year, here's a traditional Chinese representation of the ox:
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Abydos: Funerary Enclosure of Khasekhemwhy
Upon arriving in Abydos, I went out for a tour of the project's various excavation sites. There was a lot to see, and everything made a lot of sense to me when it was being explained, but I'm not an Egyptologist and I wasn't taking notes, so I'm just going to post some pictures and give the simplest explanations I can recall, with no guarantee of 100% accuracy.
This is the full view of what the locals call Shunet el-Zabib. It was Pharoah Khasekhemwhy's funerary enclosure in the desert landscape, looking at the southeastern corner.
Egyptian pharoahs often had funerary enclosures erected at Abydos, separate from their tombs. There were at least 12 others nearby, but this is the only one still standing. It's over 5,000 years old and built entirely of mudbrick. That is no small feat.
This is a panoramic view of the interior of the enclosure, as seen from on top of the 11 meter high northern wall. Click on the image to see it full-size.
I don't know exactly what the purpose of these enclosures was, but being located at Abydos was very significant. Abydos is associated with the Egyptian god of creation, Osiris. Osiris was an early king of ancient Egypt, and when he died, he became a god, and his son Horus, the new king, was seen as his incarnation. Since then, all living pharoahs were considered to be Horus, until their death when they would become Osiris and have to travel west into the underworld. It just so happens that right here, in Abydos, there is a valley that goes all the way into the deep western reaches of the desert.
This is the Valley to the Underworld, in the center of the above image, as seen from the funerary enclosure.
The funerary enclosure is a tall structure with a shorter, outer wall surrounding it, both walls broken by narrow entrances which would have had their doors shut closed.
View of the passageway between the eastern inner and outer walls.
Architectural detail on exterior of inner wall.
Whitewash paint on the inner wall below the excavation line.
Restored entrance through the inner eastern wall.
Much of this building is suffering from serious structural damage due to erosion and infestation by mud wasps. Also, there was a time period when Coptic Christian monks lived in the enclosure, and they created bedrooms and kitchens by hollowing out large sections of the thick walls. As a result, some parts of the structure are in immediate danger of collapse. The project team has been conserving these walls by making identical mudbricks (but they are marked to indicate that they are not original) and filling in the structurally damaged areas.
The damage is so severe in some parts, that there are holes straight through the wall.
The cavities in this wall have already been patched. You can tell by the 2 areas of lighter brown mudbrick.
Finally, here is the missing corner of the northern and eastern walls. You can see from the new bricks on the wall to the left that it is in the process of being rebuilt. Also, notice the piles of sandbags near the center of the image. They are forming temporary supports for weakened sections of wall, until excavation and rebuilding can be completed.
That is all for the funerary enclosure of Khasekhemwhy. I will continue my posts of the Abydos excavation sites with images of a funerary chapel and a stone temple for King Ramses II.
This is the full view of what the locals call Shunet el-Zabib. It was Pharoah Khasekhemwhy's funerary enclosure in the desert landscape, looking at the southeastern corner. Egyptian pharoahs often had funerary enclosures erected at Abydos, separate from their tombs. There were at least 12 others nearby, but this is the only one still standing. It's over 5,000 years old and built entirely of mudbrick. That is no small feat.
This is a panoramic view of the interior of the enclosure, as seen from on top of the 11 meter high northern wall. Click on the image to see it full-size.I don't know exactly what the purpose of these enclosures was, but being located at Abydos was very significant. Abydos is associated with the Egyptian god of creation, Osiris. Osiris was an early king of ancient Egypt, and when he died, he became a god, and his son Horus, the new king, was seen as his incarnation. Since then, all living pharoahs were considered to be Horus, until their death when they would become Osiris and have to travel west into the underworld. It just so happens that right here, in Abydos, there is a valley that goes all the way into the deep western reaches of the desert.
This is the Valley to the Underworld, in the center of the above image, as seen from the funerary enclosure.The funerary enclosure is a tall structure with a shorter, outer wall surrounding it, both walls broken by narrow entrances which would have had their doors shut closed.
View of the passageway between the eastern inner and outer walls.
Architectural detail on exterior of inner wall.
Whitewash paint on the inner wall below the excavation line.
Restored entrance through the inner eastern wall.Much of this building is suffering from serious structural damage due to erosion and infestation by mud wasps. Also, there was a time period when Coptic Christian monks lived in the enclosure, and they created bedrooms and kitchens by hollowing out large sections of the thick walls. As a result, some parts of the structure are in immediate danger of collapse. The project team has been conserving these walls by making identical mudbricks (but they are marked to indicate that they are not original) and filling in the structurally damaged areas.
The damage is so severe in some parts, that there are holes straight through the wall.
The cavities in this wall have already been patched. You can tell by the 2 areas of lighter brown mudbrick.
Finally, here is the missing corner of the northern and eastern walls. You can see from the new bricks on the wall to the left that it is in the process of being rebuilt. Also, notice the piles of sandbags near the center of the image. They are forming temporary supports for weakened sections of wall, until excavation and rebuilding can be completed.That is all for the funerary enclosure of Khasekhemwhy. I will continue my posts of the Abydos excavation sites with images of a funerary chapel and a stone temple for King Ramses II.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The house at Abydos, Egypt
We arrived at our house in Abydos on Thursday night after an 8 hour train ride from Cairo (2 days ago, I'm a little behind). I'm kind of glad to be out of Cairo, which is easily the most chaotic and most polluted place I have ever been in my life. The house here in Abydos is right on the edge of the desert, so it's the complete opposite of the city. Here's some pictures of the house:
This is the full view of the front of the house in the desert landscape.
This is a 180° panoramic view of the front courtyard as seen from the entrance gate. Click on the picture to get a closer look.
Once you enter the house, through the courtyard, the dining room is on the left...
...and the "internet lounge" is on the right.
This is Obama. He is a new addition to the house, recently found wandering the desert. He's still a very young kitten, but once he gets older he will earn his keep with the other cats by keeping the house rodent free.
If you continue through the house, you enter the interior courtyard. That middle door at the back of the courtyard is my room. Notice the domed roof. That does an amazing job of distributing the air so that the room feels air conditioned during the hot desert days, while still keeping it nice and warm during the cold nights (temperatures often fall into the 30s here during the winter).
This is the inside of my room. My roommate's bed is on the opposite wall. The beds are hell to sleep on and my entire body is totally aching. Otherwise, the room is comfortable enough. It's about 12' square with a 17' height at the center of the domed ceiling.
Here's the lab, where I spend my mornings and evenings working. We have free time after lunch until 4:30. The guys in the front are mapping out the morning's excavation. That's me in the back preparing the database for the day's photographs.
And this is our "backyard." I don't know what the grid structure is on the sand, but just beyond that are piles of baskets filled with pottery sherds.
These baskets are full of sherds which have been tagged and need to be examined. You have to be careful when walking around here. The very deadly horned viper likes to hang out among the baskets because that's where the rodents dwell.
Here's a pile of loose sherds which have been discarded.
This is a clay cup that I found while digging around in the pile of discarded sherds.
This is the full view of the front of the house in the desert landscape.
This is a 180° panoramic view of the front courtyard as seen from the entrance gate. Click on the picture to get a closer look.
Once you enter the house, through the courtyard, the dining room is on the left...
...and the "internet lounge" is on the right.
This is Obama. He is a new addition to the house, recently found wandering the desert. He's still a very young kitten, but once he gets older he will earn his keep with the other cats by keeping the house rodent free.
If you continue through the house, you enter the interior courtyard. That middle door at the back of the courtyard is my room. Notice the domed roof. That does an amazing job of distributing the air so that the room feels air conditioned during the hot desert days, while still keeping it nice and warm during the cold nights (temperatures often fall into the 30s here during the winter).
This is the inside of my room. My roommate's bed is on the opposite wall. The beds are hell to sleep on and my entire body is totally aching. Otherwise, the room is comfortable enough. It's about 12' square with a 17' height at the center of the domed ceiling.
Here's the lab, where I spend my mornings and evenings working. We have free time after lunch until 4:30. The guys in the front are mapping out the morning's excavation. That's me in the back preparing the database for the day's photographs.
And this is our "backyard." I don't know what the grid structure is on the sand, but just beyond that are piles of baskets filled with pottery sherds.
These baskets are full of sherds which have been tagged and need to be examined. You have to be careful when walking around here. The very deadly horned viper likes to hang out among the baskets because that's where the rodents dwell.
Here's a pile of loose sherds which have been discarded.
This is a clay cup that I found while digging around in the pile of discarded sherds.That's basically it for the house. Yesterday, we were given an orientation tour of the project's various excavation sites, so that will be the subject of another picture heavy post soon.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Obama Is A Fister?
Reporter Missteps on Obamas' Love Life - Watch more free videos
An interesting tidbit about our new president
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Mike in Cairo
I arrived in Cairo late last night. We had some trouble at customs; we had a couple of 2-way radios which we weren't allowed to bring into the country, resulting in a 3 hour delay. I didn't get to my hotel room until nearly 3:30 AM.
After a short night's sleep, the plan was to rise early and head out to Giza to see the pyramids. We hired a van, which ended up being delayed by a very unfortunate hour. During that delay, I received a phone call which required me to stay at the hotel and await further instructions regarding the retrieval of our confiscated radios. The rest of the team continued with their trip, but since the baggage was all registered under my name, I got stuck with the responsibility of staying behind to help sort it all out.
So, instead of pictures of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids, I present to you the view of Cairo from my hotel:
I especially like the large satellite dishes perched atop the crumbling brick.
P.S. I seem to be having trouble publishing to Konradprojects blog, so I'll post all of my Egypt updates at WHS until I return. You can refer to Konradprojects for the preliminary posts on my trip.
After a short night's sleep, the plan was to rise early and head out to Giza to see the pyramids. We hired a van, which ended up being delayed by a very unfortunate hour. During that delay, I received a phone call which required me to stay at the hotel and await further instructions regarding the retrieval of our confiscated radios. The rest of the team continued with their trip, but since the baggage was all registered under my name, I got stuck with the responsibility of staying behind to help sort it all out.
So, instead of pictures of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids, I present to you the view of Cairo from my hotel:
I especially like the large satellite dishes perched atop the crumbling brick.
P.S. I seem to be having trouble publishing to Konradprojects blog, so I'll post all of my Egypt updates at WHS until I return. You can refer to Konradprojects for the preliminary posts on my trip.
UPDATE: I fixed my publishing problems, so from now on all Egypt related posts will be cross-posted on Konradprojects blog.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
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