At Peace

More photos of our work in the gebel. We hike out about 2 kilometers every morning, set up on the gebel and take hundreds of topography points of the surrounding landscape. As you can see that consists of rolling dunes,sand ridges, farms, and flat areas covered with limestone rocks and lithic debris. Absolutely gorgeous.

On our many journeys to the gebel we have the honor of having an escort. Daily we get either Ibrahim or Mustafa if not both. They help us lugg out all of our equipment, deal with local farmers who are inquiring what we are doing, and keep us company. They get bored out there watching us work so at one point Ibrahim got bored and decided to spell out his name with rocks on the slope of a dune. Mustafa is quiet and always anxious to learn. He asks to borrow my Arabic-English dictionary and spends the day reading through the it. Sometimes during breakfast he reads to me in English and I repeat in Arabic. It is a great teaching tool. I enjoy their presence.....

Adventures through the desert to the Seti Temple

Our day off, Alhamdulillah! A lovely relaxing day in the village of Beni Mansour. The Seti temple is an approximate 20 minute walk from our residence. While walking through the empty desert and as we creep closer to the temple we encounter children playing, the police hut with their camels, etc.

A few of us had decided to grab tea before entering the temple. We sat at a lovely cafe, drank tea and peole watched. Here I captured children sitting along side the road scarfing down chipsy's (potato chips). The youngest, a boy maybe around 2.5 to 3 years of age must have eaten about four bags while we were there for about an hour. I was intrigued to say the least.

The Seti temple (http://www.philae.nu/akhet/ASetiTempl.html) I will have to admit is one of my favorite temples that I have visited in Egypt thus far. It has a certain feel about it that just feels right!

Samba Shunet

March 17 was my birthday and fortunately I have dear, dear friends who know how to make someones day! Here is my homemade cake made of Samba bars and honey. It is a replica of the Shunet el Zebib. They slaved glueing the samba bars (Egyptian wafer cookies;don't ask what is in them) together for who knows how long. The Samba Shunet currently resides in our room. Unfortunately ants got to it, but no worries, they were dealt with! It now sits in our window, wrapped in plastic. It needs reconstruction. Obama the cat nibbled on some of the walls.... My birthday was perfect.

I love these ladies and could not ask for better friends...

My job in Abydos

Can you imagine, this is where I get to work? I get to not only work in one of the oldest adobe structures in the world, but I also get to hike in sand dunes that tower over like sky scrapers, run down and wonder along escarpments with the largest sand dunes I have ever seen.

This area is along the escarpment to the west, it part of Umm el-Qaab (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_el-Qa'ab) an area worshipped by the ancient Egyptians and directly linked to the Shunet el Zibib. It is situated betweeen two wadi's, both of which I have hiked in (Arabic: وادي‎ wādī)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi).

I am so fortunate to see and work here everyday!

Afternoon outing....

Everyday we end work at 1:30 pm, have lunch at 2 and then have free time until 4:30. So some of us take advantage of this time to sleep, read, use the internet and some of us go out for long walks. I favor the long walk!!!

On the way too we pass a small police shed. This is where they sleep. Sometimes more than one person fits into this!!!

We walk along a dirt road lined with power lines that pollute the air with high electrical voltage sounds. I am always a bit nervous walking near and through these lines.

The walk is surrounded by fields of tomatos, eggplant, grasses and grains. Trucks pass full of men, women, children picking their crops or preparing the land.

I was able to catch a photo of a Hoopoe bird. Recently it was declared as the national bird of Israel. Once viewed as a sacred animal to ancient Egyptians. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoopoe
They make a sound exactly as their name is pronounced. Crazy!!!

Dendera

My very first trip to Dendera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_Temple_complex). We traveled there this past Friday on our day off.Great time, company and adventures. The one thing I am lacking is a photo of the shops and cafe as you leave the temple. A line of shops selling momentos, clothing, post cards, etc. This is an experience everyone should have. Being overwhelmed and almost suffocated by salesman. They do a fine job and know exactly how to bargain and make the sell!
Dendera is beautiful and I feel honored to have been able to visit this temple!

Dendera Part II