1/14/2019 Felucca Letter-CC - Google Docs

January 14, 2019 Dear Blank,

I just got back from an amazing trip to . I took sixty students along with me. Man, what a nightmare getting everyone a passport and the proper shots. We took a 747 out of SFO, that’s International Airport, and the flight took over TWENTY hours, twelve to London, a four hour lay over, then another four hours to Cairo. When we finally got to our hotel we were so tired we didn’t notice how nice it actually was. We spent three nights in the Four Season Cairo at the . What a spectacular hotel! The pool is amazing with four hot tubs and a swim up bar. Of course, Mrs. M and I couldn’t enjoy the bar, except for a soda, as we were traveling with 60 rambunctious sixth graders, but...maybe next time. Most incredible though was finally visiting all the sites I been teaching my students about for the past 28 years. Finally, I got to see Khufu’s Great Pyramid at and the impressive monument to Ramses II at Abu Simbel. But, my two favorite sites are actually less well­known. Both Hatshepsut’s temple at Dayr­al­Bahri and Senusret’s White Chapel have amazing stories behind their construction. My favorite site was Hatshepsut's temple at Dayr­al­Bahri. Hatshepsut was the first really powerful female pharaoh. She loved to be viewed as a man, and often wore a false beard, the symbol of divine kingship. She is depicted on her wall murals as doing manly things, you know, hunting crocodiles and hippos. She insisted on being called, “His Majesty Herself”. She was a real leader. It was a time of economic prosperity in Egypt. Her temple is amazing. She even lead a trading expedition to the far off land of Punt and brought back amazing items like baboons, gold, and leopard skins. But perhaps most amazing of all, is that this expedition is all documented of the walls of her temple at Dayr­al­Bahri. The temple is located across from the Valley of the Kings. It was discovered pretty recently because for hundreds of years it was covered with rubble left by a landslide. Upon clearing the debris, archaeologists found that much of the carving on the walls were destroyed. Her jealous nephew Thutmose II couldn't handle a “woman” doing anything so great, so he wanted to erase her memory. It didn’t work. Most who know anything about ancient Egypt know about Hatshepsut. The temple is

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enhanced with two large obelisks that welcome you at the entrance, while over 200 sphinxes line the walkway to the site. Hatshepsut is truly amazing. The other site I was completely enamored was the White Chapel built by Pharaoh Senusret I. Senusret was a pharaoh of the middle kingdom. This was a time of great art and literature. The pharaoh controlled gold, copper, and gem mines enabled beautiful necklaces and jewelry to be fashioned. There was also a famous book written called the “Story of Sinuhe”. It told of an official who overhears a plot to assassinate the Pharaoh. Unfortunately, the would­be killers find out that he knows and the chase is on. Sounds like a good idea for a movie plot. But Senusret is most known for his magnificent temple called the White Chapel. Beautiful artwork decorated the chapel. Carved scenes of the pharaoh with various gods as well as pictures of birds, animals, and Egyptian symbols. The temple was soon lost as a successive pharoah tore it down to build his own temple. Archaeologists were able to literally piece Senusret’s temple back together. Thank Ra for scientists! Looking back on my experience I’ll always remember those four wonderful sites, especially Hatshepsut’s temple and her bravery at being the first female pharaoh. She was someone to really admire, she wasn’t “having it” from anyone! And that White Chapel of Senusret’s was so cool, the pictures popped off the walls. Most memorable...and sad was the fact that we lost one student on the trip. Generally, all field trips are safe affairs. Egypt is a bit different. Lots of dangers exist including possible terrorism, bad food or water, or getting ripped off by some local merchant. For Max, none of these reasons led to his demise. It was simply, stupidity. We told the kids not to feed any animals off the felucca. And to keep their hands and arms inside the at ALL times. Unfortunately, one of our student didn’t get the memo. Max was trying to feed a hippo off the back of the boat. Another hippo swam to get some as well. A fight over bread crumbs ensued, the boat was bumped, and poor Max...he fell in. Since we were moving so swiftly(no pun intended), we couldn’t reach him before a HUGE Nile crocodile came and swallowed him up. We never saw him again. Oh well, could’ve been worse. Anyway it was a great trip and I encourage to visit Egypt as soon as possible and create some memories of a lifetime.

Sincerely,

Chris Corcoran C­23

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