Egypt.. the land of the Nile!!

Impressions..

Landing down at Cairo.. one is amazed by how clearly the Nile and its fertile plains are clearly demarcated by the barren desert that follows..

The city is a maze of brick buildings (except downtown Cairo)with small narrow streets and nightmarish traffic from an European point of view. Coming from India, its a bit like coming home..

That life of early civilizations were nurtured by the river and its many tributaries and canals.. a life giving source.. The ancient Egyptians therefore worshipped the river and the sun.. for them these are the two most important sources of life.. Agriculture and horticulture flourished and the Egyptian farmers can be seen carrying cart fulls of luscious carrots and melons and fresh greens grown without any mechanical aid even today. Olives, bananas, figs, dates, grow on any available green patch..

The mummification and burials of the Pharaohs are the spotlight for all tourists...but there is more to Egypt than these. Seems strange that people were buried along with all their treasures. Reminds me of a joke someone sent me recently.. of a man who was so obsessed with money that he wanted all his money to be buried with him. This was his last wish expressed to his wife and when he died and was buried the wife passed on a box to be buried with him. You can't really have buried all his wealth said a close friend who knew of his wishes.. Being a true believer, I have no option but to obey my dying husbands last wishes, said his wife. However, I deposited all the money in my bank and left him a cheque to cash if he needed, said his wife. The possessions buried with the ancient Pharaohs included foods, precious jewellery, furniture, perfumes etc and the belief was that they would need these in after life. The mummies were usually adorned with jewels and a mask that resembled the features of the dead person, with the belief that the soul would recognise the body.. and find its way back..

However, if they didn't believe so completely in this the world of the ancient Egyptians would have been completely lost to us.., we would have never seen the beauty, life and the legends of ancient Egypt.. May be that was the real reason.. seems ironical that they went to any length to keeps the tombs hidden and now what has been found lies in museums and in full public view.. for the world to see.

Even 5000 years back, they lived with the same emotions, feelings and sentiments we see today.. Love, jealously, power, greed, cunning, ambition, belief.. Their lives completely civilized while the rest of the world was living in caves they enjoyed the luxury of living in houses, enjoyed music, art, paintings, sculpture, ...

Pharaohs were looked upon as demigods.. and expected to lead their people into happiness and prosperity. However, the kingdoms were not united and the reign ended with the temples brought down and the entry of Islam and Christianity, which coexist peacefully in modern Egypt..

A great experience in a hospitable and warm country...