Egypt & the Eternal Nile
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EGYPT & THE ETERNAL NILE January 22-February 5, 2018 15 days from $4,597 total price from Boston, New York ($3,995 air, land & cruise inclusive plus $602 airline taxes and fees) This tour is provided by Odysseys Unlimited, six-time honoree Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best Tour Operators award. An Exclusive Small Group Tour for Alumni & Friends of Northwestern University Featuring Carl F. Petry, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of History Tour membership limited to 24 guests from the Northwestern Alumni Association EGYPT & THE ETERNAL NILE 15 days from $4,597 total price from Boston, New York ($3,995 air, land & cruise inclusive plus $602 airline taxes and fees) ccompanied by an expert Egyptian guide, this singular small group journey A through antiquity travels from vibrant Cairo and the Great Pyramids to Abu Simbel and the Upper Nile for a fascinating cruise on Lake Nasser. Next: a classic voyage along the Lower Nile from Aswan to Luxor before returning to Cairo. Mediterranean Sea Amman Day 1: Depart U.S. for Cairo, Egypt JORDAN Day 2: Arrive Cairo We arrive in the Egyptian Cairo Petra capital and transfer to our hotel. As guests’ arrival times may vary greatly, we have no group activities or meals planned. Red EGYPT Sea Destination Day 3: Cairo After a morning briefing, our full-day Air tour begins at the acclaimed Egyptian Museum, the Luxor Motorcoach world’s greatest repository of ancient relics. Then Nile River Lake Nasser Cruise Aswan Nile River Cruise we tour the Citadel of Saladin housing the alabaster Extension (air) Lake Extension (motorcoach) Mosque of Mohamed Ali. Tonight we enjoy a wel- Abu Simbel Nasser Entry/Departure come dinner at a local restaurant. B,L,D Avg. High (°F) Jan Feb Day 4: Cairo Today’s tour starts at the open-air Cairo 65 67 museum at Memphis, Egypt’s first capital (early 4th Aswan 74 78 Luxor 73 74 century bce). We continue on to the necropolis at Sakkara then to the astounding Pyramids of Giza, the wonders of antiquity that have drawn visitors for millennia. Here, we encounter the enigmatic Sphinx, whose leonine body and human face were carved from a single piece of limestone. B,L Small Group Tour Highlights Day 5: Cairo/Abu Simbel/Embark Lake Nasser Cairo’s intriguing ancient sites, including the Great Pyra- Cruise Early this morning we fly south to Aswan then mids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara • Old Cairo touring • continue by coach across the edge of the Sahara to Abu Renowned Egyptian Museum • Abu Simbel’s dramatic Simbel. We board our Lake Nasser ship in time for temples • Sound-and-light show at Abu Simbel • Lake lunch, then visit the temples and colossal 65-foot high Nasser cruise through ancient Nubian homeland • As- statues of Ramses II and his wife Nefertari that were wan’s temples at Kalabsha • Nile felucca sail • Deluxe Nile River cruise • Aswan Dam tour • Ancient temple dismantled and moved to higher ground during the complexes at Karnak and Luxor, including Valley of the construction of the Aswan dam. Tonight we watch a Kings and Valley of the Queens • Egypt’s inestimable dramatic sound-and-light show at Abu Simbel. B,L,D historic atmosphere Day 6: Lake Nasser Cruising – Kasr Ibrim/Amada/ Day Itinerary Hotel Rating Wadi el-Seboua Early risers can watch the sun climb over the temples at Abu Simbel before we sail to Kasr 1 Depart U.S. for Cairo Ibrim, the last remaining Nubian settlement in its 2-4 Cairo Fairmont Nile City Deluxe original location. From the sun deck we learn about Abu Simbel/Lake Sup. First 5-7 M/S Prince Abbas Nasser cruise Class this ancient site (it’s forbidden to go ashore here), then 8-11 Nile cruise M/S Sunray Deluxe sail to Amada, followed by Wadi el-Seboua. B,L,D Steigenberger Sup. First 12 Luxor Nile Palace Class Day 7: Lake Nasser Cruising – Valley of the 13-14 Cairo Fairmont Nile City Deluxe Lions/Aswan This morning we visit the striking 15 Depart Cairo for U.S. avenue of sphinxes in Wadi el-Seboua’s “Valley of the Ratings are based on the Hotel & Travel Index, the travel Lions” then cruise to Aswan. B,L,D industry standard reference. Cover photo: On Day 4 we travel to the Giza plateau to see the legendary pyramids. The magnificent temples at Abu Simbel commemorate Ramses II and his queen, Nefertari. Day 8: Disembark/Aswan/Embark Nile Cruise the greatest temple complex of them all, whose Ship We set out early this morning to visit New Ka- ruins stretch for more than a mile to connect with labsha, site of the largest freestanding Nubian temple, Luxor. Built over a period of 1,500 years, Karnak which was relocated here for the construction of the boasts a breadth and diversity of buildings not seen Aswan Dam. We return to our ship for breakfast then elsewhere. We also explore Luxor Temple, whose bid farewell to the crew as we embark on a tour of the builders included both Tutankhamun and Alexander Aswan High Dam. Next we visit the imposing temple the Great. Here, at the Great Court of Ramses II, to Isis on Agilkia Island before boarding our Nile we see the ancient obelisk whose twin presides over cruise ship. This afternoon we embark small feluccas, Place de la Concorde in Paris. B,L,D replicas of ancient Nile sailboats, for a relaxing after- noon sail. Back on board our ship tonight we enjoy the Captain’s welcome cocktail party. B,L,D Post-Tour Extension Day 9: Nile Cruising – Kom Ombo/Edfu/Luxor February 5-9, 2018 This morning we sail to the ancient trading town of ORDAN ETRA Kom Ombo, with outstanding Nile views from the J : P & Temple of Sobek. After returning to our ship, we AMMAN sail on to Edfu where we explore Edfu’s Temple of 5 days/4 nights Horus, Egypt’s best-preserved temple (built between for $1,695 total price 237 bce–57 bce). We return to our ship for lunch Single Supplement: $395 as we sail to Luxor (our final sail), enjoying a quiet afternoon on the Nile. A belly dance performance Discover the fabled “rose-red city, half as old accompanies dinner tonight. B,L,D as time” on this exciting exploration. Plus: ancient Jerash and the capital of Amman. Day 10: Nile Cruising – Luxor/West Bank Known in antiquity as Thebes, Luxor boasts vast temple Your Tour Price Includes complexes, tombs, and statues dating from 2755 bce that represent the pinnacle of Egyptian architecture. • Air transportation Cairo/Amman Today we explore the West Bank, site of the haunting • 4 nights’ accommodations: 2 nights in Petra at Valley of the Kings, where 34 royal tombs feature Mövenpick Resort Petra (Sup. First Class); 2 nights magnificent paintings; the Valley of the Queens; and the in Amman at Kempinski Hotel Amman (Sup. First Temple of Hatshepsut honoring one of the few female Class) pharaohs. We also see the massive Colossi of Memnon, • 9 meals: 4 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners two 64-foot-high statues of Amenhotep III that once • Extensive included sightseeing • Services of an Odysseys Unlimited Tour Director guarded the gates of his mortuary temple. B,L,D • Private motorcoach transportation • Gratuities for dining room servers, airport and hotel Day 11: Nile Cruising – Luxor/East Bank To - porters, and all drivers day we tour Luxor’s East Bank, home of Karnak, Day 12: Disembark/Luxor We have the option to rise very early to see the West Bank from above on an Meet Your Faculty Lecturer optional hot air balloon ride. We disembark our ship Carl F. Petry is the Hamad later this morning and transfer to our hotel. This bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor afternoon we tour the Luxor Museum, housing relics of Middle East Studies in discovered at the site. Among the museum’s notable the Department of History at artifacts: items from the pharaoh Tutankhamun’s re- Northwestern University. His nowned tomb. Dinner tonight is on our own. B,L research focuses on pre-modern Egypt, with an emphasis on political economy. Day 13: Luxor/Cairo We fly to Cairo today. After He has published: The Civilian Elite of Cairo checking in at our hotel, we visit the lively Khan el- in the Later Middle Ages (Princeton, 1982); Khalili bazaar. This afternoon is free for independent Twilight of Majesty: the Reigns of the Mamluk exploration. B Sultans al-Ashraf Qaytbay and Qansuh al-Ghaw- ri in Egypt (U. Washington, 1993); Protectors Day 14: Cairo This morning we encounter Old or Praetorians? The Last Mamluk Sultans and Cairo, the district where early capital cities once stood Egypt’s Waning as a Great Power (S.U.N.Y., and now only remnants remain. We visit 5th-century 1994); The Criminal Underworld in a Medieval St. Sergius Church; the Coptic church of el-Mauallaqa, Islamic Society: Narratives from Cairo under the constructed over the bastions of a Roman gate; and Mamluks (Middle East Documentation Center, U. Ben Ezra Synagogue, built in 882. We return to our Chicago, 2012). Carl has edited and contributed hotel mid-day; this afternoon is at leisure. Tonight we to The Cambridge History of Egypt, vol. 1: Islamic enjoy a farewell dinner at our hotel. B,D Egypt, 640-1517 C.E. (Cambridge University Press, 1998). His teaching interests range from Day 15: Depart for U.S. Early this morning we trans- gender relations in the Islamic Middle Ages to fer to the airport for our return flight to the U.S.