Our boat, the Malouka, tied up overnight at Gebel el-Silsileh, the narrowest point of the Nile. I was the first passenger to venture outside but the crew was up, preparing breakfast and getting the boat ready for another day. My wife and I and our friends, Frank and Marcia, were sailing south - up the river - from Luxor to Aswan on a dahabeya, a shallow draft sailboat that has plied the Nile for thousands of years. As I made my way to the top deck, a crewman poked his head out of the galley and offered to bring me a cup of coffee. I accepted his offer. When I reached the top deck, I saw a temple carved into the sandstone bluff. It was lit golden by the rising sun and not a hundred feet from where I stood. The ancient temple waited for me to walk across the gang plank, scamper up the sandy bank, and explore. It dated to the time of Horemheb, a pharoah who ruled Egypt 3,300 years ago – a generation or two before the time of Moses. The crewman arrived with my coffee.
A section of the Temple of Horemheb at Gebel el-Silsileh on the west bank of the Nile. Horemheb, the last Pharoah of the 18th Dynasty, ruled Egypt for about 14 years, from about 1319 BC, a generation or two before the time of Moses.
The four of us boarded Malouka on Christmas Day along with 11 other passengers, including a family from Mexico, a family from Bangkok, a couple from New York, and Hank, a retired marketing executive from Sonoma, California. Finding and boarding our dahabeya was a memorable experience by itself. Shortly after arriving in the village of Esna, south of Luxor, and visiting the Temple of Khnum - the ram headed god that formed all animals and plants - we worked our way through the crowded, dusty streets to an ancient masonry quay where Malouka waited for us. Street vendors jostled us for attention, bakeries displayed piles of Egyptian flat bread, and scooters carrying as many as three people weaved through the crowd. Street urchins chased camel drawn carriages and hopped onto the exposed rear axles to hitch a free ride. The quay looked as if dahabeyas had been docking there and taking on passengers for thousands of years.
A tall, lean gentleman with a man-bun, carrying a staff and wearing a galabia, the long shirt like garment worn by many Egyptian men, seemed to be directing the chaos around him. He pointed here and there, issued calm, quiet instructions to Molouka’s Egyptian-Arabic speaking crew, and greeted arriving passengers with flawless English, Spanish, or whatever language the new arrivals spoke. He looked as if he had just stepped out of the Book of Exodus. As it turned out, he was Enrique, a Mexican expat who had made a life for himself in Egypt. Enrique and his wife, Eleanor, a French expat, own Nour el Nil (https://www.nourelnil.com), the company that runs cruises up the Nile on Malouka and two other dahabeyas. They would accompany us all the way to Aswan. Enrique and Eleanor handpicked Malouka’s crew, who all grew up together and were from the same village.
The crew took our bags, stacked them on the deck and left it up to us to find suitable quarters. My wife and I found a comfortable, clean cabin with a big bed. Two windows looked out the starboard side and the bathroom seemed just fine – a little cramped, but otherwise perfect. Frank and Marcia found a cabin right across the hall. As everybody settled in, Malouka shoved off and we were on our way. As we would learn over the next six days, Malouka was more than a boat taking us up the Nile, it was a time machine that carried us back 5,000 years.
Malouka made its lazy way up the Nile toward Aswan and stopped frequently so we could visit ancient temples and villages of the Nile Valley. At dusk, the crew pulled the boat to shore, drove an iron stake into the mud, and tied Malouka up for the night. Dinner, like all meals, was served on the top deck and was usually simple but expertly prepared. The boat carried a good selection of beer and wine.
One early morning, Enrique, Frank, Hank and I left the boat to hike through a banana plantation on the west bank. About a mile into our hike, we emerged from the dense banana palms to find a small settlement of mud huts. The local men standing outside were getting ready to start work, but they took the time to smile, greet us and offer hot tea. They knew we were from the boat that had tied up for the night near their village. A mob of laughing children ran out to see the strangers. A woman appeared. She wanted to show us something and gestured for us to follow her into a hut. We entered, walked past the mud-brick oven in the first room and into a dark bedroom. There was a large bed piled high with colorful, handmade blankets. Despite the dirt floor, the mud-brick walls and thatch roof, the room was cozy and warm – an effective shelter from the chilly morning air. The woman barked a command in Arabic and a very young woman poked her head out from under the blankets and handed out a newborn baby. The proud woman held up her grandchild for us to see. I snapped a picture. The unexpected flash from my camera startled the baby and the grandmother. But she smiled and held the baby higher so I could get another picture.
Life and culture in the Nile Valley from Luxor to Aswan is defined by farmers, shepherds, fishermen, and their families. During the six days I spent on the Nile, I saw no modern farm equipment - donkeys, camels, and horses did the work of tractors and pick-up trucks. Time is slow. The weather is always good. The people are friendly and welcoming. Our arrival in bustling Aswan brought us back to the twenty-first century.
Malouka, a dahabeya, is a type of riverboat that has navigated the Nile since the time of the pharoahs.
A chapel inside the Temple of Horemheb.
Men washing their horse in the Nile.
Egyptian children in the Nile village of Al Ramady Qebly greeting the photographer.
A bas-relief in the Tomb of Ramesses III
We arrived in Egypt a few days before our cruise was to begin. A Memphis Tours' representative greeted us at Cairo International Airport, helped us buy our tourist visas after we passed through customs, and drove us across the Cairo-Giza Metroplex to the Marriott Mena House Hotel, where we would stay for our first three nights. Our tour would begin the following morning and we were eager to see the sites around Cairo while we were there, including the pyramids at Giza; the renowned Egyptian Museum, and Memphis - the ancient capitol of Lower Egypt - and its necropolis at Saqqara. When the sun came up our tour guide, Usama Sharef, greeted us in the lobby.
In descending order of size, the three great pyramids at Giza are the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaura. There are other, smaller pyramids at Giza and each has its own story, but these three dominate the Giza Plateau. Pharaoh Khufu completed his pyramid sometime around 2528 BC, and until the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, Khufu's pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world. If my math is correct, that means Khufu’s pyramid held the record for about 4,400 years. When it was completed, white limestone encased the pyramid, which would have made it shine in the sunlight. But the surface stones were removed in the 7th Century, ACE, during the period of Arab domination, which is why Khufu's Pyramid has the stepped appearance it has today. Its close neighbor, the Pyramid of Menkaura, the smallest of the three pyramids, was once encased in pink granite. The Sphinx, which has Pharaoh Khafre’s face, was sculpted from a huge limestone outcrop and is just a few hundred yards from Khafre’s pyramid. Despite being cannibalized, vandalized, and naturally eroded over the millennia, the pyramids and Sphinx retain their majesty and historical significance.
We arrived at Khufu's Pyramid and found a considerable crowd of international tourists, street vendors, and camaliers selling camel rides around the pyramids. Although one can feel a little harassed by the vendors, the crowd was definitely festive. The Pharaohs who built these tombs would be proud of the happy attention they get today. Our one hour camel ride around the pyramids was a blast.
It is possible to venture inside the pyramids at Giza, but their interior rooms are empty and not elaborately decorated. However, a short drive away from Giza is the necropolis of Saqara, where we found and explored the Pyramid of Pepy II, completed two or three hundred years after Khufu's Pyramid. Pepy II's Pyramid features the best preserved pyramid texts on its interior walls. Usama, who was trained to read and translate the texts for us, revealed ancient stories that confirm what I always suspected, that people have had pretty much the same motivations, needs, impulses, instincts, and aspirations for as long as they have been able to think about stuff. With the exception of technological advances, the human condition remains pretty much unchanged from 5,000 years ago. Out of concern for preservation of the texts, tourists are not allowed to use flash cameras in the tomb, which must be explored with a flashlight.
A visit to Cairo would not be complete without a tour of the Egyptian Museum. To properly tour the museum, you would need about six months. But, in our three hours there, we saw treasures recovered from Tutankhamun’s tomb, hundreds of artifacts proving that ancient Egyptians were developing surgical tools - some still in use today, early printing presses, stylish furniture, make-up, perfume, jewelry. There were sculptures and solid gold death masks bearing the likenesses of Pharaohs Tutankhamun, Menkaura, Khafre, Rameses II, and Queen Nefertiti, to name a few. It’s interesting to note that all of these people were pretty good looking - with the possible exception of King Tut.
It would be a mistake to visit Cairo without an experienced guide. We found our guide, Usama Sharef, through Memphis Tours. Not only did Usama have deep, scholarly knowledge of Egyptian history and culture, but he knew the best rug weavers from whom to buy beautiful, handmade rugs; he knew the best place to buy papyrus artwork; he knew the best restaurants for lunch and dinner; and, most important, he knew the best camelier to hire for our one-hour camel ride around the pyramids.
The Great Pyramid, built in about 2551 BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu.
The Great Pyramid, foreground, and Khafre’s Pyramid in the distance.
Camaliers hanging around the pyramids selling camel rides to tourists.
The Sphinx, carved from a huge limestone outcropping, is just a few hundred yards from Pharaoh Khafre’s pyramid. Many Egyptologists believe the face of the Sphinx resembles Khafre.
The main gallery of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.