Last of Egypt: Egyptian Museum and Lunch on the Nile

An hour in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo was not enough but all the time we had before it closed early because of Ramadan.  Of course we got to see the face mask of King Tut (which we weren't allowed to photograph) and I loved seeing the mummies.  We found the lack of information a problem but other than that it was enjoyable.

Then I thought we were going to have a cruise on the Nile along with lunch but it turned out to be lunch on a small boat moored on the Nile.  Oh well.  Expensive lunch!!!

Goodbye Egypt!  Glad we saw you for a day.

Here's LeRon at the entrance to the Egyptian Museum

I know this one and the following photo are kind of blurry but I loved these women's faces.

Interesting to know that sculptures were generally sculpted from real people.  So these were probably real women.  There was no information so I'm not sure who they are.

And here is a painting, again of a real person.  So interesting to think of those who lived so many thousands of years before us.  I loved the mummy room.  Mummies have always been fascinating to me.

Lovely faces and colors

Don't you wonder what kind of life this person had?

And this is an iconic Egyptian sculpture that we've seen before.  The photo in the back shows it when it was first discovered.  How exciting for those who first found it.

Many of the sculptures are huge.

Heroic size statue I would say

LeRon was intrigued with these burial chambers and the hieroglyphics on them

Massive sculpture of I don't remember who.

But this one I do remember.  It's a sculpture of the crowning of King Tut.

It would be nice to know more of what we saw.  We could have hired a guide but we didn't have a lot of time so we just enjoyed seeing things thousands of years old.  I wonder what people will think when they find what we have left behind.  Our son Michael has a funny book, can't remember what it's called but I love it.  It has pictures of modern things with ideas of what archaeologists in the future would think.  Actually quite hilarious.  Michael:  let me know what it was called so I can add it to this post.

LeRon and Colleen by the Nile with a tower in the background.  Nancy:  what tower is this?  (Our niece Nancy and her family lived in Cairo for a couple of years and became very familiar with everything here).

So I thought we were going to cruise the Nile while we ate but actually the restaurant boat was stationary.  Sad.

This woman was cooking pitas outside and they were absolutely delicious.  People in Kenya think chapatis are delicious but they haven't tasted a good pita!

And here's our chicken roasting on the grill outside.

A view of the Nile from our restaurant boat.  This is one of the many tributaries of the Nile, which is actually a very dirty brown river.

Just finished our expensive lunch and ready to go!

I took this street scene out the car window to remind me how many piles and piles of watermelon I've seen on the streets of Cairo.

This sign actually said, "Have a blessed month."  Just as I snapped the picture we went over a bump so I lost the first few words.  Nice to see religion in every day life.  The month of June was the month of Ramadan, in which Muslims fast (no food or drink) during daylight hours.  They fast each day for the entire month and the month of Ramadan changes each year.  We as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also fast but we fast for 24 hours the first Sunday of every month and then give the amount (or more) we saved by not eating to the church to be used for the needy.   We actually have quite a few things in common with Islam, including fasting, giving to the poor, praying 5 times each day (or more: personal prayers night and morning, family prayers night and morning, blessings on the food at least 3 times a day, prayers for help as needed, prayers of gratitude as needed), pilgrimage to the Temple, to General Conference twice a year.  Yes, we have many things in common with Islam.  Who knew?  Interesting to learn of the 5 Pillars of Islam -- Faith, Prayer, Charity, Fasting, Pilgrimage.

I love Arabic writing.  Beautiful!  Goodbye Egypt!  Maybe we'll see you again sometime.