VICHCHOOBHAI GOES TO CAIRO Part 4
The Tutenkhamen Galleries
Must first set the record straight about this pharoah. He was NOT the greatest pharoah either in terms of what he achieved or how long he reigned. He was a boy pharoah who ruled for just 9 years in 1400 BC. King Remesis I, II, III Seti, Tuthmosis and various other have all been greater pharoahs but what is so attention grabbing about Tut is this .... his was probably the only tomb discovered with all its contents intact. With all the other great Pharoahs their fame was so widespread and their wealth so wellknown that Tomb Raiders had done their bit of "exploration" long before the archeologists did!
The British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tut's tomb in 1922. And it became a headline grabber the world over.
The incredible contents of this modest tomb only make u wonder about what was looted from the tombs of pharoahs who were far greater!
You can see his life size statues which were guarding the tomb when it was discovered. You see his sunshade, his bed, his throne, the works. All very exquisite and a sight to behold.
You also see an alabaster chest with four canopic jars. These were used to store the Pharoah's internal oragans ( before a body was mummified, all its internal organs except the heart and the kidneys were removed. ) This chest with these organ containing jars was then placed inside the golden canopoic shrine with the four gilded Goddesses, Isis, Neith, Nephthys and Selket with protective outstretched arms.
The Piece de Resistance
The room everyone wants to see is Room No. 3 where the central exhibit is the mind blowing death mask of TUT. It is made of solid gold and weighs eleven kg. This was found covering the head of the mummy. The mummy itself lay in a series of 3 sarcophagi (coffins) The inner most was again solid gold, very beautifully carved and weighing 110 ( one hundred and ten ) Kg.!!!!The outermost coffin is still in the original site of the tomb with the mummy inside it. Tut does not have to bear the ignominy of having thousands of tourists peering at his body every day!
After the Tut galleries, we saw a few more rooms recommended by the guidebook and then left the museum.
We thought we would go for a boat ride on the Nile. This turned out to be a bit of a downer. The weather was not sunny. It was cold. And so the boat ride was made short one and we didn't really cruise the Nile. Just sat in the Felucca, which is a slow sail boat.
Then got back to the hotel and had pasta for dinner ( I dont wanna look at pasta faor a year now)
The next day I just lazed in the room till noon when we had to check out and go the airport to catch the Alitalia flight back to Amsterdam.
That brings us to the end of this travelogue.
Wish I had
1. Tasted Egyptian food
2. Seen the Islamic market in Old Cairo
3. Seen belly dancing!!
Must first set the record straight about this pharoah. He was NOT the greatest pharoah either in terms of what he achieved or how long he reigned. He was a boy pharoah who ruled for just 9 years in 1400 BC. King Remesis I, II, III Seti, Tuthmosis and various other have all been greater pharoahs but what is so attention grabbing about Tut is this .... his was probably the only tomb discovered with all its contents intact. With all the other great Pharoahs their fame was so widespread and their wealth so wellknown that Tomb Raiders had done their bit of "exploration" long before the archeologists did!
The British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tut's tomb in 1922. And it became a headline grabber the world over.
The incredible contents of this modest tomb only make u wonder about what was looted from the tombs of pharoahs who were far greater!
You can see his life size statues which were guarding the tomb when it was discovered. You see his sunshade, his bed, his throne, the works. All very exquisite and a sight to behold.
You also see an alabaster chest with four canopic jars. These were used to store the Pharoah's internal oragans ( before a body was mummified, all its internal organs except the heart and the kidneys were removed. ) This chest with these organ containing jars was then placed inside the golden canopoic shrine with the four gilded Goddesses, Isis, Neith, Nephthys and Selket with protective outstretched arms.
The Piece de Resistance
The room everyone wants to see is Room No. 3 where the central exhibit is the mind blowing death mask of TUT. It is made of solid gold and weighs eleven kg. This was found covering the head of the mummy. The mummy itself lay in a series of 3 sarcophagi (coffins) The inner most was again solid gold, very beautifully carved and weighing 110 ( one hundred and ten ) Kg.!!!!The outermost coffin is still in the original site of the tomb with the mummy inside it. Tut does not have to bear the ignominy of having thousands of tourists peering at his body every day!
After the Tut galleries, we saw a few more rooms recommended by the guidebook and then left the museum.
We thought we would go for a boat ride on the Nile. This turned out to be a bit of a downer. The weather was not sunny. It was cold. And so the boat ride was made short one and we didn't really cruise the Nile. Just sat in the Felucca, which is a slow sail boat.
Then got back to the hotel and had pasta for dinner ( I dont wanna look at pasta faor a year now)
The next day I just lazed in the room till noon when we had to check out and go the airport to catch the Alitalia flight back to Amsterdam.
That brings us to the end of this travelogue.
Wish I had
1. Tasted Egyptian food
2. Seen the Islamic market in Old Cairo
3. Seen belly dancing!!
posted by vichchoobhai at 9:12 PM
2 Comments:
are you homophobic vichoo?
Not particularly
Not homophilic too
anything goes
anywhere!
Post a Comment
<< Home