Unfolding Journeys

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sailing along world’s largest hot desert. Its name cruiser with sails. means ‘desert’ in Arabic – so Sahara means ‘desert’ in Arabic the Lady of Grace, and the Grace, of the Lady 25

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L boats to last. This one was C El-RAYAN The WADI constructed 4,500 years ago. constructed 4,500 years The ancient Egyptians built their The ancient Egyptians Waterfalls 17 desert. How strange! Egypt’s only waterfalls only waterfalls Egypt’s are in the middle of the are in the middle of 22 under the sea – and there are whale fossils to prove it. to prove fossils under the sea – and there are whale 1 ago, the deserts of North Africa were ago, 5

UNF_Nile_layout.indd 1 17/11/2016 13:23 61. CLEOPATRA’S PALACE 63. THE ROSETTA STONE 65. SILVER SANDS AT SIDI 68. THE CITY OF THE 10.6 WADI EL NATRUN 613. THE GAYER- 615. THE GLORIES 617. KING KHUFU’S BOAT 20.6 A CAMEL RIDE 623. SAILING ALONG 625. Sand Everywhere the Cleopatra – a queen, not a pharaoh – is When writing was invented, people used ABDUL-RAHMAN DEAD A wadi is a riverbed that only runs with ANDERSON MUSEUM OF GIZA In 1954, an Egyptian archaeologist The camel is the ship of the desert, so it Though the Nile is a huge river, it can still The Nile is the only river permanently flowing perhaps the best known of all the rulers of mini-pictures to represent things. The Where the Nile enters the sea, the sand In a city of overwhelming bustle and water when it rains, which is not very often When British army officer Major R.G. There is so much we don’t know about the uncovered a deep pit next to the Great makes sense to visit the Pyramids on the get pretty crowded with noisy boat traffic. through the Sahara Desert. This is hardly river ancient Egypt. When she was 11 years old, picture-writing used by the ancient and silt it brings with it dye the water a noise, Cairo’s el-Arafa district is a grim out here in the desert! The ancient Egyptians Gayer-Anderson Pasha was serving in Pyramids of Giza, especially the Great Pyramid. In it, perfectly preserved, was a back of one. Three handy tips: 1) Get onto The bigger vessels chug along to the steady surprising as half of the Sahara area gets she married her 4-year-old brother – yes, Egyptians is called hieroglyphs. More dirty brown colour. But drive 132 km (82 exception. It’s a massive burial ground, loved this place because – as the name Cairo, he fell in love with the place. He did Pyramid of King Khufu. We can see that 44-metre (144-ft) boat belonging to King your camel when it’s sitting down. 2) Lean throb of their diesel engines – but we’ve less than 2.5 cm (0.5 in) of rain per year. the Egyptian royal family did some weird modern writing used shapes (letters of miles) west along the coast to Sidi Abdul- known as the City of the Dead. There are suggests – it was where they found natron. not go back to Britain on retirement, but it was a tomb aligned with the stars. But Khufu. It was carefully taken to pieces and back when it stands up: as it rises rear-first, chosen to travel by dahabiya, a smaller, Even so, all kinds of creatures manage to live nile things in those days! She took control of the alphabet) to represent sounds. This Rahman, and you’re not far from paradise. reckoned to be around 1 million tombs here, Natron is the salty-looking mixture they used made his home in one of the oldest and most how on earth, 4,500 years ago, did reassembled in a special museum. you can be catapulted over its head. 3) Cling old-style river cruiser powered by broad, here: snakes, scorpions, hyenas, jackals and A few things to know Egypt after he drowned in the River Nile. gradually replaced hieroglyphic writing, some centuries old and crumbling, others for preserving dead bodies as mummies. they build it a near perfect square, and on tight: a camel moves both legs on one side red-and-white stripy sails. a rare antelope-like animal called an addax. At least, you used to be. The clear blue interesting houses in the city. The boat is a masterpiece. The pieces fit and before long no one even knew how to brand new and built of gleaming marble. pile up 2.3 million stone blocks to a height at the same time, swaying alarmingly. before we set off… Later, the famous Roman general Julius sea, the unspoiled, sugar-white sand of The early Christians loved this place, too, Built in the 17th century, the building was together like a jigsaw and are held in place We sit on cane chairs, shaded from the The Sahara hasn’t always been so harsh read it. For centuries people stared at the of 146 metres (479 ft)? All we can do Caesar came to Egypt with an army. He the beaches, the dusty dunes… It was all Corpses are not the City of the Dead’s and built monasteries here. Men like St once owned by a wealthy woman from with pegs and rope made of grass. Now you’ve got the hang of it, head for the Sun by a canvas awning, and watch the and empty. Before the Earth’s climate strange symbols of the ancient Egyptians is stare in astonishment at what is surely The Nile is so much more than knew all about the beautiful Cleopatra, too good to last. The place is now being only inhabitants though. In the dark and Amun, St John the Dwarf, St Moses the Crete. Gayer-Anderson bought the House Pyramids just as the sun is going down. Turn real Egypt slip slowly and silently by on suddenly changed about 3,500 years ago, and wondered what they were all about. the greatest of the Seven Wonders of the What was the boat for and why was it buried just a river. It’s a ... but refused to meet with her. Legend has transformed into a multi-million-dollar narrow streets, amid the silent tombs, Black and St Pishoy chose to live here to of the Cretan Woman, restored it and filled away from the noisy sprawl of Cairo and either bank… The children swimming in the land was lush and green. It was home to Ancient World. in its own grave? We don’t know. Some it she smuggled herself into the palace Then, in 1799, a French soldier found a resort and renamed ‘Marassi’: lush hotels, there dwell an unknown number of Cairo’s get away from the temptations of world. it with his vast collection of carpets, works scholars think it was to carry Khufu’s body gaze out over the desert with the Pyramids the shallows, the farmers in their fields many large beasts, including lions, giraffes • Record-breaker: at least at Alexandria inside a rug – and she and stone in the wall of Fort Julien, Rosetta. On They believed that out in the empty desert in the foreground. The scene glows with irrigated by the Nile’s generous waters, and elephants. Long before that, dinosaurs 6,853 km (4,258 miles) in night clubs, bars, water skiing… poorest citizens. They live here because of art and other interesting objects from And not far away stands another mystery: to its final resting place; others put forward Caesar became very good friends. it was a message in three types of writing. it’s cheap – if they can get into an old tomb they could concentrate on what really around the Arab world. He left instructions the Great Sphinx. What was the purpose the burning colours of the sunset. and the sharp-eyed kingfishers waiting roamed here. So as you wander on the length, it’s the longest river in a more fanciful suggestion: the boat carried If plans for an underwater museum go Two were types of Greek, which and don’t mind the other residents, they mattered: praying to God. that on his death the house and its of the gigantic, 4,500-year-old statue of Khufu across the sky while he was being the patiently for a catch. It’s how our Victorian banks of the Nile, keep an eye open for the world. No one knows precisely scholars could read; the third ancestors travelled – and how Egyptians fossils. You never know what you might find! ahead, we will soon be able to see the 6. THE CATACOMBS OF have a home rent free. contents should go to the people of Cairo a lion with a human head? Why are there Sun God. The world’s first flying boat! 21. FAVA BEANS where it begins. was hieroglyphic. After 6 as a museum. three tunnels inside it and when were they themselves have been travelling since the palace where all this happened. 6 KOM ESH SHUGAFRA hours of head 611. cruising dug? The temple standing before it has Why are there so many bean fields beside dawn of civilization. • Thread that links together scratching, The catacombs of Kom Esh Shugafra were In many ways Egypt is the Nile. Without the 24 pillars… Perhaps these represent the the Nile? Well, ful mudammas – beans in the 26. NEFERTITI, THE LADY the 11 countries through which 6 experts in discovered by accident. By a donkey! Over pot - is the Egyptian national dish. And since river, civilization would never have appeared 14. CAIRO’S MUSEUM OF hours of the day and the Sphinx was the 18. TUNIS, AN OASIS OF GRACE it flows: Tanzania, Uganda, Greek finally 115 years ago, the poor animal disappeared in this region 7,000 years ago. Even 6 Sun God? We will probably never know. 6 we’re here, we’d better learn the proper In trying to change Egypt’s religion, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic deciphered the into a mysterious hole in the ground. When today, Egypt is mainly the strip of green a TREASURES OF ART Egyptian recipe. 624. AMARNA, THE CITY Pharaoh Akhenaten was greatly helped hieroglyphs: the owner went to look, he found himself few miles wide on either side of the great th The Tunis story began more than fifty OF THE SUN GOD Republic of the Congo, Kenya, During the 18 century, it was fashionable Here goes: soak dried fava beans for a day by his lovely wife, Queen Nefertiti. How the key to peering into a huge graveyard. brown river that brings life to the desert. years ago when a couple of poets came Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, for wealthy Europeans to buy ancient in a special ful pot known as a qidra. Add Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt for do we know she was lovely? In 1912, a the world of to the beautiful El-Fayoum Oasis to write. Sudan and Egypt. Catacombs are underground cemeteries. The ancient Egyptians sailed up and down Egyptian artefacts and ship them home. onion, tomatoes, garlic, a pinch of salt – 17 years (about 1349-1332 bc), thought German archaeologist working at Amarna pyramids had Twenty years later, the Swiss potter Those at Kom Esh Shugafra were dug about the Nile in all sorts of craft – and so can we. The way to stop this happening was to build and anything else you want (e.g. butter or differently from his predecessors. He was uncovered a painted stone and plaster bust been found at Evelyne Porret and her husband moved 1,800 years ago, probably for an important There are rowing boats, brightly painted a museum in Cairo large enough to hold olive oil). Cover and simmer over a low heat the first known person to say that there (head and shoulders statue) of a delightful last! in. Their pots were soon in demand – and wealthy man and a woman. Over the pleasure cruisers and large tourist boats the country’s treasures. So in 1902 the all night. Eat for breakfast, perhaps with was just one, all-powerful god. This was lady. She was later identified as none other next 200 years, the tombs were expanded world’s first purpose-built museum was and so were their skills. Evelyne has fried eggs – yum! too radical for the time and after his death 9. EL ALaMeIN that are more like floating hotels. So, after than the famous queen. with space for dozens more bodies. 6 the hustle and bustle of the city, let’s settle constructed in Tahir Square. Its 107 halls been giving pottery lessons to local his name was wiped from the official list of children ever since. Nefertiti was powerful as well as beautiful. 2. ABU QIR BAY Alexandria was home to people from every The mouth of the River Nile lies very close down on deck with a cool drink and watch contain some 160,000 objects. pharaohs, as if he had never existed. 6 4. Library of to where two continents meet: Africa to Scholars believe she was co-ruler with her It’s 1798. The great French general, 6 corner of the world. We can see this in the enchanting Egyptian landscape slip by. Europeans were not the only people to Painters, poets and writers followed the To get away from the old world, with its husband, and may even have ruled on her Alexandria the west, Asia to the east. That makes this potters, and today Tunis is an oasis of Napoleon Bonaparte, has sailed across the designs of the catacombs. There are rob Egypt of its treasures. Long before crocodile gods and swallowing monsters, own after his death. The truth will probably part of the world a sort of crossroads. For creative culture with its own Art Centre the Mediterranean with a large army and About 70 cities were named after alcoves for old-style Egyptian mummies, a they turned up, the Egyptians themselves Akhenaten built a brand-new capital city. never be known – but we do have that bust thousands of years, traders from north, 12. THE AL-AZHAR PARK and annual Pottery Festival. invaded Egypt. A British fleet commanded Alexander the Great (356–323 bc), Greek-style statue and a carving of a lady 6 were breaking into the tombs of the ancient 22. THE WADI EL-RAYAN He chose an area of empty desert beside to remind us that, ruler or not, Nefertiti south, east and west have gathered here by Admiral Horatio Nelson has failed the the famous general from Macedonia. with a classy Roman hair-do. A family of Muslim rulers (Caliphs) founded pharaohs and stealing their valuables. 6 the Nile, 312 km (194 miles) south of the to exchange goods and pass on news. 16. WHALE BONES IN WATERFALLS was a truly remarkable woman. • Lifeline providing Egypt and stop Napoleon, and the French army is now Alexandria, at the mouth of the River Nile, the city of Cairo over a thousand years However, one important tomb remained 6 Pyramids and 402 km (250 miles) north THE DESERT Sudan with most of their water. safely ashore. was the finest of them all. And the finest Conquerors have also cast their greedy ago. Less than 50 years ago, a member untouched. In 1922, the archaeologist An oasis is a rare and precious thing in of Luxor, and there he built Amarna. thing in Alexandria was its gigantic library. eyes over the region. At first came the of the same family staying in a Cairo hotel Howard Carter discovered the We leave the River Nile behind us for a 19. A VILLAGE FROM THE Egypt. Rather than let the salty water The stone he used was The ships that brought Napoleon lie at 7. THE KHAN EL-KHALILI 6 27. THE HOOPOE • Highway for thousands of It may have held as many as 400,000 6 mysterious Hyksos people, then Persians, was dismayed by what he saw outside his 3,350-year-old tomb while and head out into the desert. We’re PAST from the Fayoum Oasis drain away, it was removed after his death 6 boats, big and small. anchor in Abu Qir Bay (also known as BAZAAR channelled to an artificial lake. When this hand-written scrolls (books written on long Romans, Arabs and Turks. They were window – a 500-year-old rubbish tip. The of the boy pharaoh aiming for a spot 150 km (93 miles) south- Cairo’s Pharaonic Village tourist attraction and sand soon covered the The hoopoe is a common bird in this part Aboukir Bay). Protected by reefs and lake was full, the water was led down a • Powerhouse: the river’s power rolls). When a ship docked in Alexandria, Imagine a maze filled with small shops and followed in modern times by the French, Agha Khan, the man in the hotel, decided to Tutankhamun. west of Cairo. In Arabic it’s Wadi El Haitan, offers some suggestions about what site. However, the Amarna of the world. Apart from its cry, it has shallow water, they believe they are safe. slope to the Wadi El-Rayan, and a new lake the captain had to give all his books to the stalls, each piled high with everything you British and Italians. do something about it. The world gasped at but we tourists know it as the Valley of the Egyptian life was like in ancient times. Actors Project is now exploring three distinctive features: 1) It moves up generates more than 10% of But they are not. began to form. And there, between the library. Scholars then copied them out, kept might want to buy; add noise, heat and During World War II, the German General A multi-million-dollar donation followed, what was inside: a Whales. Here, in a brand new Fossil and play ancient Egyptians, so we can even chat the area and preserving its and down when it flies, like a giant butterfly. Egypt’s electricity. two, are Egypt’s only waterfalls. Daringly, Nelson orders his fleet to attack the originals, and handed the copies back to smells… and you have the marvellous Khan Erwin Rommel advanced along the coast and the bulldozers and builders moved in. coffin of solid gold, Climate Change Museum, we find some to a pharaoh when we visit the village’s unique tombs, carvings and 2) A pair of hoopoes are never far apart. • Moving history museum: along just as it’s getting dark. The fighting is the captain! El-Khalili bazaar. This place is so chaotic, so towards Alexandria. Here, at El Alamein Gradually the area was transformed into a a glittering face fascinating fossils. newly-built temple. But wait a minute… The The area, 65 km southwest of Fayoum, other fascinating ruins. They even pass food between each other. The bird’s long black bill is ideal for its banks lie many of the world’s so furious that at 10pm both sides take a So where is this fantastic library now? higgledy-piggledy, so huge – so EXCITING! (meaning ‘two flags’ in Arabic), the Allies beautiful green park fed by the waters of mask, thrones and What makes them so important is that they ruler and his court are speaking Arabic, has now become a miraculous and carefully 3) burrowing into the desert in search of 20-minute nap before starting up again! We have no idea. All we know is that it Beside the market stands the famous stopped him in a decisive battle. The the Nile. Ancient archaeology was restored, over 5,000 other belonged to a species of whale that had a language the original pharaohs wouldn’t protected nature reserve. In the green finest ancient monuments. scrummy grubs to eat. In the end, the British are triumphant and was destroyed – perhaps by accident – Fishawi’s Café. The same family have been remains of tanks, lorries and guns litter hotels built, paths and walkways constructed, objects thought legs! The remains confirm what scientists have been able to make head or tail of. vegetation between the blue waters of • Living timeline that runs from Napoleon is cut off from France. over 1,000 years ago. Sadly, houses and running it for almost 250 years. All of Cairo the desert - a rusting reminder of trees and flowers planted. Today the Al- necessary for the had always suspected: whales were Perhaps we’d be better off sticking to the lake and the golden brown sand of the Hoopoes are friendly. If you approach it the beginning of human civilization Let’s go scuba diving in the bay and see if streets were built over the ruins so we – rich and poor, famous and unknown – meets the grim events of almost Azhar Park is officially recognised as one of afterlife – including originally land animals that evolved into sea mummies and statues. They might not talk, desert, there live rare gazelles and foxes, while it’s digging, it looks up, nods a quick to today! we can find some cannon balls! don’t even know where it stood. here to chat and drink mint tea. 80 years ago. the World’s Great Places. spare underwear. mammals millions and millions of years ago. but at least they’re real. and over 150 species of bird. ‘good morning’, and goes back to work.

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