Mystic. Intrigue. Splendor. Awe. These are some of the words that came to mind as I boarded the flight to Cairo via Frankfurt along with 30 others from FPC Metuchen and all over the United States on our way to explore the wonders of Egypt. After getting to know the Frankfurt and Dublin airport very, very well, we landed in Cairo and made our way to Aswan to begin our 3-day cruise up the Nile River heading north.
After some travel woes solved by resident heroes Rev. Fred Garry and Kathy Garry, we embarked on a more restful paced tour of the delight of the Nile. Flying into the Saharan Desert, we saw nothing but sand. However, once you get close to the river, you realize that for this part of Egypt all of the livelihood takes place on the banks of the water that has sustained this region for over 8,000 years.
Our first visit was to the Temple of Isis, known as the Temple in Philae, found on an island. Isis is one of the most important goddesses of Egypt. Reigning around 2,000 BCE, Isis was said to be the daughter of the sun god and the earth god.
Some of us took a boat to the Nubian village to visit a school and learn Arabic.
Our next stop was to Edfu where we stepped into one of the most preserved temples in Egypt, the Temple of Horus. Horus was the son of Isis and her husband Osiris. One of the observations we made was that every temple had some visual representation of Horus. He is usually depicted with a falcon head wearing a crown of kingship, placed between his mother and grandfather.
As we ended our cruise in Luxor, we made stops at the Luxor Temple and the Temple of Karnak, and finally to the Valley of the Kings. There is a mile long stretch of road lined by sphynx that connects the two temples. Both contain obelisks, tall thin granite structures that represent the immortality of pharaohs. The Valley of the Kings is hidden in the mountains and currently contains over 30 tombs of pharaohs, most notably the tombs of Ramses II and King Tutankhamun. What I found most fascinating is that most of what we saw in this region was not uncovered even 10 years ago. The area is covered with ongoing archaeological sites and most definitely will not be the same in a year or 5 years.
Shifting from the splendors of the Nile to the great history of the Sinai, we flew to Sharm El-Sheik, banked on the Red Sea, for a day of exploration. The Red Sea rivals the Great Barrier Reef as one of the most expansive and vibrant coral reefs in the world.
We traveled from there to St. Catherine’s Monastery, the second oldest monastery in the world, to experience the place where Moses tread. There you find homages to the burning bush and the well where Moses met his wife Zipporah. You find the base of a hike up to Mount Sinai where Moses met God and delivered the stone tablets containing the ten commandments. We paused at the monastery to remember all who had traveled to that place in search for forgiveness, contemplation, restoration, and peace, and held an Ash Wednesday Service.
Our final day in Egypt was spent back in Cairo. We ended with the same mystic, intrigue, splendor, and awe that I felt before our take off. A trip to the Pyramids of Giza. The magnitude of their presence is hard to put into words. These pyramids were built for a man, his son and grandson, with the largest pyramid having enough stone to cover one end of the earth to the other. It could be laid out from the east to the west coast of the US and back again. It is recorded to be built 600 years before Abraham roamed Egypt, and it is still standing.
Basking in the history and culture of this amazing place was a reminder that humans have been up to incredible things for a long time. This snapshot for you is an incomplete picture of all we saw and explored. We hope you can join us on April 16 for a Second Hour of photo and storytelling time.
The most awe-some part of this trip, for me, was the deep connections that we made as fellow explorers. It was the most beautiful sight of all to witness friendships being formed and deepened as we weathered all the challenges and joys of this time together. That, I will hold with me forever.