The Brown Travelers Antiquities of the and RED SEA AEGEAN SEA including a Transit of the SUEZ CANAL u u Petra Luxor The Pyramids u u Alexandria Santorini Athens An epic journey aboard the Exclusively Chartered Le Bougainville May 5 to 18, 2020 Dear Graduates, Parents and Friends of Brown: Enshrined with over 5000 years of human history, the storied lands of Greece, Egypt and Jordan stand at the crossroads of religious faith and cultural enlightenment. Portals of antiquity lead to a treasure trove of ancient wonders and UNESCO marvels. The pharaonic riches of Egypt, the “rose-red city” of Petra, the achingly beautiful Greco-Roman temples of Jerash and the 3000-year-old Minoan ruins of Akrotiri summon awe and wonder like few places on Earth. Join us on this epic, custom-designed, 14-day journey to the classical world’s very cradle of civilization. Visit three continents, navigate the legendary waterways of the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, transit the seminal Suez Canal and experience nine magnificent UNESCO World Heritage sites. Cruise for eight nights aboard the exclusively chartered, Five-Star Le Bougainville, which features just 92 elegant Suites and Staterooms, each with a private balcony. Stand in the shadows of the three iconic pyramids of Giza, an incredible engineering feat that still dominates the horizon and stands guarded by the inscrutable Great Sphinx. Enjoy excursions to the venerated sites of the Nile Valley city of Thebes, including the magnificent Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor Temple and specially arranged access to Queen Nefertari’s tomb in the Valley of the Queens. During the Pre-Program Option, visit the Holy Land, including archaeological sites and biblical reference points of Jerusalem, Masada, the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. On our Post-Program Option, visit the spectacular remnants of Ancient Greece, including the Acropolis and Delphi. This exclusive, expertly designed itinerary offers incomparable opportunities to explore antiquity, cruise along ancient trade routes and immerse yourself in the dazzling panorama of human history within the exceptional comfort and luxury of a Five-Star small ship. We will share this departure with alumni and friends from several other institutions, including UC Berkeley, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard and Princeton. Space is limited, so I encourage you to make reservations on this unique program while Early Booking Savings are still available. Sincerely, Beth Goldman Galer ’88 Director of the Alumni Travel Program Faculty Lecturer On this program, as on all Brown Travelers programs, a Brown faculty member will present lectures and lead discussions that will enhance your educational experience. As this brochure goes to press, the faculty representative who will accompany the program has not yet been confirmed. But we wanted to mail this brochure in time for you to make plans to participate. All Brown lecturers share a love for both teaching and travel. Their presence ensures that Brown-sponsored journeys are not only pleasant travel experiences but also intellectually rewarding. See Queen Nefertari’s likeness on a specially Itinerary arranged visit to her tomb. The Holy Land Pre‑Program Option 1 Depart the U.S. 2 Amman, Jordan 3 Amman 4 Amman/Jerash/Amman 5 Amman/Petra 6 Petra/Wadi Rum /Aqaba/ Embark Le Bougainville 7 Hurghada for Ancient Thebes, Egypt/ Luxor and Karnak Temple Complexes 8 Necropolis at Luxor for the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens /Hurghada 9 Ain Sokhna for the Great Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza 10 Transit the legendary Suez Canal 11 Alexandria or Historic Cairo and the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities 12 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 13 Santorini, Greece 14 Athens /Disembark ship/Return to the U.S. Classical Greece Post‑Program Option UNESCO World Heritage site Amman, Jordan gates and golden‑hued temples speak to its Amman’s wealth of archaeological stature as one of the Roman Decapolis’s most artifacts stands testament to centuries of important cities. Marvel at the prodigious cultural influences. This biblical Ammonite Hadrian’s Arch, the intricately carved Temples city was conquered and renamed Philadelphia of Artemis and Zeus and the immense scale and by Egypt’s King Ptolemy II Philadelphus sublime architecture of the Forum. in the third century B.C. Expanded by the Petra Romans, Philadelphia flourished as the The inspiring, ancient “rose‑red city” heart of Roman Arabia. From the Citadel, of Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage see the towering columns of the Temple of site and one of the New Seven Wonders of Hercules looming over the cosmopolitan the World. Petra reached its zenith during the capital of Amman, where the magnificent, first century B.C. as the capital of the nomadic 6000‑seat Roman theater, dating from the Bedouin Nabataean Empire. Concealed behind second century, forms the city’s centerpiece and towering rocks, the city ignited Western still stages performances. The lauded scholarly interest when Swiss explorer Jordan Museum preserves the world’s oldest Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was led through statues, the remarkable plaster statuettes of the Siq—a narrow, serpentine gorge—to ‘Ain Ghazal, adroitly fashioned in 6500 B.C. Petra’s spellbinding Khazneh (Treasury) by Everyone is welcome in the beautiful, a Bedouin guide in 1812. The site’s majestic blue‑domed King Abdullah Mosque, built by the ensemble of temples, dwellings and tombs, late King Hussein in honor of his grandfather. carved directly into the sandstone cliff face, Jerash still holds a mythical appeal. Often invoked as the “Pompeii of Asia,” Jerash’s remarkably preserved Cover photo: Stand before the Great Sphinx, among the colonnaded avenues, ceremonial world’s largest statues, carved from a single piece of limestone. Photo this page: The mythology surrounding the Nile River has shaped the region’s consciousness for thousands of years. The Holy Land Pre‑Program Option 1 Depart the U.S. 2 Amman, Jordan 3 Amman 4 Amman/Jerash/Amman 5 Amman/Petra 6 Petra/Wadi Rum /Aqaba/ Embark Le Bougainville 7 Hurghada for Ancient Thebes, Egypt/ Luxor and Karnak Temple Complexes 8 Necropolis at Luxor for the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens /Hurghada 9 Ain Sokhna for the Great Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza 10 Transit the legendary Suez Canal Look for Bedouins traversing Wadi Rum, a dramatic labyrinth of towering granite and sandstone formations. 11 Alexandria or Historic Cairo and the Wadi Rum Luxor Temple’s exquisite bas‑reliefs depict Egyptian Museum of Antiquities seminal events, such as Ramses’s victory at the 12 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea Shaped and smoothed by millennia of winter floods and desert wind and sand, Wadi Rum was Battle of Kadesh in 1274 B.C. The dramatic 13 Santorini, Greece “Avenue of the Sphinxes” once stretched from 14 Athens /Disembark ship/Return to the U.S. aptly described by British soldier and diplomat Classical Greece Post‑Program Option T. E. Lawrence, the legendary Lawrence Karnak to Luxor, forming the spiritual and UNESCO World Heritage site of Arabia, as “vast, echoing and godlike.” economic nexus of the region. This ethereal landscape of striated canyons, The Valley of the Kings and soaring jebel (mountains), undulating sand dunes and rocky caverns is best experienced Valley of the Queens from a four‑passenger open‑air vehicle. Framed by arid Theban hills, the Nile’s west bank’s hallowed Necropolis is replete Temples of Luxor and Karnak, Egypt with spectacular memorial temples built to The treasures and architectural legacy of perpetuate the cult of the pharaoh. In the fabled Thebes—the imperial capital of Valley of the Kings, 63 illustrious pharaohs Egypt’s New Kingdom (1550 to 1069 B.C.)— of Egypt’s New Kingdom and their worldly are revealed at stunning Karnak and wealth were laid to rest in tombs engraved Luxor Temples. Karnak’s vast complex of with hieroglyphs. Passageways descend to the obelisks, shrines and sanctuaries reaches its burial chambers of King Ramses IV, where a apogee with the hypostyle hall, comprised rare image of the goddess Nut is emblazoned of 134 colossal stone columns arranged in across a blue ceiling. The famous tomb of rows and emblazoned with hieroglyphs. Tutankhamen contained the largest collection of Egyptian treasures and was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Harold Carter, Delphi funded by his partner Lord Carnarvon Aegean Sea who resided in Highclere Castle of Downton Abbey fame. In the Valley of the Athens Queens, enjoy an exclusively arranged visit to Queen Nefertari’s tomb, lauded as the most Santorini resplendent Theban burial site. The beauty of GREECE Ramses II’s favorite queen is enshrined in the spectacular wall paintings and divine images of her likeness. Mediterranean Marvel at the golden mask of Sea Sea of child pharaoh Tutankhamen. Galilee Jerusalem Jerash Amman Masada Dead Sea Alexandria ISRAEL JORDAN Petra Suez Cairo Canal EGYPT Aqaba Wadi Rum Giza Gulf of f f r Ain Gul o e Suez UNESCO v Sokhna Aqaba World Heritage Site i R e l Cruise Itinerary i Air Routing N Land Routing Hurghada Valley of the Kings Red Sea Valley of the Queens Thebes (Luxor) See beautifully preserved Qaitbey Fort, built to defend Alexandria from the Ottoman Empire. Alexandria or Cairo Choose between a tour of legendary Alexandria, founded by 25‑year‑old Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., or the UNESCO World Heritage‑designated treasures of Historic Cairo. The fulcrum of the ancient Hellenic world, Alexandria is Egypt’s most beguiling city. The Lighthouse of Alexandria—one of Behold Petra’s dazzling “rose-red” Nabataean façades, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World— carved to honor a god said to inhabit the rocks. shone as a beacon of enlightenment, while The Great Pyramids of Giza the Library of Alexandria, with its vast The last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, archive of over 140,000 manuscripts and the pyramids of the Old Kingdom pharaohs papyrus scrolls, formed a magnet for the Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus, along ancient world’s greatest scientists, from with the Great Sphinx, are enduring symbols Euclid to Archimedes.