Yella

Day 3

Today, and from now on: up at 6 and out the door by 6:45. A little earlier than I’m used too but I like it! I’m much more inclined to appreciate Egyptian sunrises which look just as amazing as the sunsets, than the many I saw pulling allnighters in Baltimore. The Temple of Mut is closed off to the public so walking through the gates felt pretty special. (This is why I won’t be able to post any pictures of the things we find. It is obviously unpublished and I’d get in huge trouble.) We finally got an official tour of the temple from Dr. Bryan.

Sunrise at the site

Pottery covers the ground like seashells on a beach. It’s impossible not to step on or touch a lot of the things I normally wouldn’t touch. There are over 300 Sekhmet statues throughout the temple and blocks that still have colored depictions. In 2006 Dr. Bryan and her team finished excavating the inside of the temple. They restored the walls and the pillars that had fallen into the next room. The lake that wraps around the temple was almost emptied in order to control the reeds that surround it and is still pretty empty though there are hundreds of beautiful birds. Apparently they tried to empty the lake to excavate at one point by using chemicals, but the fish grew four eyes and legs! Probably not the safest method…

The Sacred Lake

Michael and I got to explore the precinct today. No scorpions so far: only ants the size of large spiders, lots of birds, a few lizards and some tiny puppies living in the ruins (not to mention the annoying flies). While the grad students got the supplies at the store, we also got to set up two units. It’s going to be weird coming from Peru where I got to pickax and dig myself to watching the grad students watch the guftis watch the workers do the work. Not really sure how that works yet. We’re working behind the lake where they have found bread and beer making buildings and even a burial of a two year old girl decorated with a beaded necklace and girdle. Other than that I’m not able to take pictures of what we will be doing since it is not published yet.

These guys really haul ass! And that stuff is prickly and hard to pull up.

 A real Hatshepsut I am!

After we got back, we went through the souk again. It is probably the most entertaining thing to do here besides explore the sites. People think I’m Australian, Spanish, English, or Egyptian and ask how many camels or chickens I’m worth so they can trade them for me. They ALL tell Michael he’s a lucky man to have 6 wives and call him Casanova. Some of my favorite sayings are still (in an English accent) “Ello, want to buy some of my rubbish?” or “If you want to spend some more of your money, let me help you”. I thought it would be scarier, but it really is quite hilarious and the more you laugh or smile the more they say funny things. We also showed up one of the Egyptians today because he said he could write our names in hieroglyphs. Not the smartest thing to tell a group of students who can read and write multiple ancient Egyptian languages. We whipped out a pen and Katie, one of the grad students, wrote out her name in glyphs and asked him to read what her name was, but he couldn’t. A few more Egyptians came over and were extremely amused because everyone started writing their names in hieroglyphs. Only one of them could read, though.

I always manage to find one =)

No big deal (just kidding A VERY BIG DEAL!)

After lunch, there was a riot because of the recent bombing in Alexandria. Hoards of people, local police and riot police marched through the streets and it was only after Maggie (who speaks fluent Arabic) talked to one lady that we figured out they were chanting “kill every Christian”. They’re happening all over the country, but I don’t think Luxor was that bad. In other parts of the country, the police started dropping their batons and shields to throw rocks and bottles back at the people. It’s really a whole different world over here and an interesting day to say the least. Salam, Egypt, salam.



The riot