Wittenberg in Egypt

well, we are winding down another great weekend in cairo. Right now, we are sitting in a coffee shop relaxing after a busy day. Last night, we took a trip to Khan al-Khalili, a massive bazaar in the heart of Islamic Cairo. Imagine the craziest, loudest, most colorful place you have ever seen, and then multiply it by ten, and that will give you some idea of what the Khan is like. Amid beautiful architecture, including arches, balconies, and columns ranging from many periods of Egypt’s history are an unimaginable amount of stalls, shops, and stores. The Khan is great for shopping, but you better be ready to haggle, because everything is way overpriced and you really have to work the vendors down. The three of us had a fantastic time walking around and bartering, and we ate a delicous meal of kaftan kebob, which is basically spiced, grilled lamb. All in all, a really fun night!

This morning we went to the Great Pyramids. They were definetely a highlight of the trip. The pyramids are every bit as big as you think they would be, and actually, even bigger! One thing that really surprised us was the size of the bricks. As we climbed a few meters up on the Great Pyramid, we stood next to bricks that were as tall as our armpits, and so wide that our outstretched arms couldnt touch one side to another! Now imagine thousands of bricks like that piled on top of each other and stretching all the way around the pyramid, and it seems impossible that human beings could have made them. Absolutely incredible and mind boggling! We ventured inside the Second Pyramid, and it was an adventure unto itself. We had to climb down a tiny, dark, near-airless passage that required us bend over double it was so low and narrow. At the bottom, we found ourselves inside a stone chamber that conatined a sarcophagus, but unfortunately the combination of heat and almost no air forced us back out of the pyramid rather quickly, and we couldnt look around too much. After that we walked over to the Sphinx, which was just as cool as the pyramids. From the front, the Sphinx is flanked by the pyramids, so it was a breathtaking visa. It was an amazing morning, and we took a ton of pictures, which hopefully we will be able to upload onto the site soon.

Another really cool thing we did this weekend was visit two monasteries on Saturday morning before we left for Cairo. These were the monasteries of St. Bishoi and the Monastery of the Syrians. They were incredibly beautiful–stucco, arched buildings surrounded by palm trees and flowering vines, and the desert atmoshphere made them very peaceful. It was so cool to look at existing versions of what we are excavating at our site–St. Bishoi and the Syrian Monastery are part of a cluster of monasteries at Wadi Natrun. We were given a tour by one of the monks at St. Bishoi, who showed us the church, the mill where the monks ground flour for bread, and the outside of some of the old monastic cells. One interesting fact about the cells were their doors–they were so small! We learned that Coptic cells had doors that size because when one would enter the room within, they would have to bow (reminding them to be humble) and also because Jesus said to follow the narrow way. Another fact he shared with us was the symbology of the hood Coptic bishops wear. Each side has six crosses, representing the twelve disciples, a line down the center, representing the battle of good versus evil, and a cross at the back of the hood reprenting Jesus. He also showed us the old fortress monks used to use in the days of barbarian invasions, which was really neat to see. At the Monastery of the Syrians we saw a gorgeous church with unbelievable plaster walls depicting biblical scenes and icons of saints. It was a really interesting and fun trip!

We will write again soon!

Maas Salaama!

Erin, Nikki, and Trinity