Egypt day 2: Aswan Dam, Unfinished Obelisk, Nubian Village

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Today was a bonus day as we were waiting for a group of participants from the US. We were allowed a lie-in as davening was at 8 am, breakfast at 8.30 am and on the bus at 9 am. At breakfast we had a panoramic view of the River Nile from the window of the restaurant. We used this time to start to get to know some of our fellow tourists.

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The hotel is situated on the west bank of the Nile and we had to cross the dam to get to the east bank of the Nile. East and west are going to play a very important role in Egyptian history. This is because as the sun rises in the east so it represents birth, and as the sun sets in the west so the west represents death. Consequently all of the artifacts, tombs and temples we were going to visit were in the west.

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We crossed the old dam from east to west. It was interesting to look out of the bus window to the right to see a steep drop and to see large boulders in the Nile. These limestone boulders are an example of what we were about to see. To the left high above us was the reservoir known as Lake Nasser. The lake provides water in Egypt and Sudan. The Nile flows through ten countries. The farthest country in the south is Uganda where the White Nile starts from Lake Victoria and Albert. The Blue Nile starts in Ethiopia. They converge at Khartoum and the River Nile then flows north to the delta into the Mediterranean Sea.

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During the months of January to March the dam opens to increase the flow of water. During the months May to August there is a lot of rain in Africa and by September the flood waters arrive in Egypt. Effectively there are only three seasons based on the needs of the crops - the flood, sowing of the crops and harvesting. In 1830 King Mohammed Ali started to build locks to control the floods and started the cycle of irrigation. Water is a big problem in Egypt. 92% of all water comes from the Nile, 7% from the underground aquifers and only 1% from the rains. We were told that it was not safe to drink the water and not even to clean our teeth using the tap water!

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Our first stop was a visit a hydroelectric power station. As we crossed the old dam to the west side the elevation was 160 feet to the bottom of the Nile on the south side. It was interesting to see that the army guarded the bridge across the dam. Now only 5% of electricity comes from the High Dam (the new Dam) and 1% from the old dam. As early as 1925 it was decided that another dam was needed but the Egyptians needed finance to build it. In 1956 Nasser asked the Americans to donate the money but because of the Suez crisis the US refused to donate. So Nasser asked the Russians for help and they were pleased to accommodate Nasser. The dam was started in 1960, finished in 1970 and opened by Anwar Sadat 15 January 1971. There is a monument of Friendship between Russia and Egypt in appreciation of their help.

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There is no coal used in Egypt but they have switched from hydro to gas. There is some solar power but solar panels are expensive to set up and the Egyptian economy is not strong. In order to encourage drivers to go green there is no tax on electric cars. Therefore there are more sales of electric cars but there is not enough electricity to power the cars.

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Between the north side of the dam and the south side of the dam the elevation is 180 meters. The advantage of the dam is that the Egyptians have control of the Nile there. However, the fertility in the north is less because the mud doesn’t flow south. In the north the land is salty which makes it difficult to go crops. Various ancient monuments needed to be rescued as they were sinking in the rising dammed waters as were Nubian villages which were submerged.

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Our second stop was the Unfinished Obelisk. This is the largest unfinished obelisk. It is nearly one third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. It is thought that if it had been finished it would have weighed over 1,000 tons! On the obelisk can be seen the marks from the carvers’ tools which gives archaeologists an insight as to how the obelisks were carved. Its creation was ordered by Hatshepsut (1508 – 1458 BCE). It was carved directly from the bedrock but cracks started appearing and so the project was abandoned. Parts the obelisk are still attached to the ground.

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This is the time to explain a bit about some history of Egypt. In the original political structure there were two kingdoms – the upper kingdom in the south and the lower kingdom in the north. There were two independent kings and the kingdoms shared water source, language, ancient religions and both believed that nature was a hidden powerful energy that could not be contained. The strongest element of nature was the sun and Re was the god. Elements of nature were minor gods. Nature was spelt NTR and became the modern word nature. The falcon became the watcher of Re and therefore was the god of protection. The cow nurtures its young and so became the god of motherhood. It was believed that when a person dies he goes behind the sun. Hence east represents birth and west is death or the preparation for the new life. If you want to curse somebody you wish that they go behind the sun.

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In about 3000 BCE the two kingdoms were united and a pharaoh (king) was appointed. The word is made up of two words pr = house and ah = great, ie the one who stays in the great house. Both kingdoms had their own symbols:

Kingdom: North (lower) . South (upper)

Colour: . . . . white . . . . red

Animal: . . . . snake . . . . vulture

Plant: . . . . papyrus . . . . lotus

There were 30 dynasties until 300 BCE when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. All of the pharaohs were male except Queen Hatshepsut in the 18th dynasty.

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The reason for this tour was to see how the Torah and Old Testament relates to the Egyptian record and how close the two are. So Rabbi Berman postulated that the Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim which is the plural. Why is it plural? he postulates that the double-yod represents the merger of the two kingdoms.

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The pharaoh associated with the exodus from Egypt was Ramses II. He ruled for 67 years and died at the age of 92 in 1213 BCE. He had seven official wives including the daughter of the King of the Hittites which was part of the peace treaty after a war between Egypt and the Hittites.

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It was then time to transfer to a boat for a trip on the Nile. We walked on a gang plank that was no wider than a tefach (a hands breadth). As we journeyed up the Nile we passed the shrine to the Aga Khan. When he died his wife left a red flower on his grave every day. When she died she left in her will a clause that the family continue to place a red flower on their graves every day.

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We went to a Nubian village where we had lunch and browsed the local handicraft. This village is renowned for its spices. After an hour we got back on the boat and sailed back to the hotel. Then I rebelled. There was no way I was going to totter along the gangplank on to a steep step back to the hotel. So after everybody disembarked Don and I and Migo went back down the river to find a reasonable landing place. We were going to get a taxi back to the hotel but as one did not come along quickly we walked the half mile back to the hotel. The security team were not very happy but I was.

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Besides our contingent from Israel, additional members of our tour group were met at Aswan airport and brought to the hotel. They joined us for ma'ariv prayers before dinner.

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We then had a meal which had been prepared under the watchful supervision of Cindy. She had given the chefs a lesson in kashrut. And the staff came up trumps. As the group were using plastic disposable plates and cutlery Don and I had decided to use our own cutlery and crockery which we could reuse for the whole trip. It worked out very well.
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