Hello! Well it’s been a bit too long. Way too long. Time to get back into the blog. There has been so much going on here that it’s been difficult to keep my head above water… a series of live ancient artifact and coin auctions, collections coming in from all over the globe, and some other fun stuff. I plan to keep you all up to speed on these developments with my good old blog. So I’m “blowing off the dust” and getting it rolling again.

Keep in touch!
Gabriel
www.AncientResource.com

1/5/08

We woke up early this morning, as we have to join a convoy and head to Luxor early this afternoon.

And we had to see the Nubian museum before we left. The Nubian culture lived contemporaneously with the Egyptians from thousands of years, in the most southern areas of Egypt and northern Sudan. At certain periods of time, Nubians even ruled Egypt. Their culture was beautiful. Aswan is filled with Nubian culture and modern Nubians—tall, very dark, with beautiful, chiseled features. The museum was amazing. By far the nicest I had seen in Egypt. The place was well cared for, the displays well lit, plenty of information with each exhibit, and nobody asking for money. Unfortunately, much of Nubia’s heritage was washed away when the Aswan dam was built, flooding and submerging the plains now known as Nasser Lake.

Right at 2:00 pm, we left the museum and headed towards our convoy. As we passed the stadium, we saw hundreds of people waving Egyptian flags and joining each other in revelry. Apparently, Egypt was playing a South African team in Futball (soccer) that day, so we bought some flags too. We nestled our van into the line of cars, trucks, buses, and police vehicles that made up our convoy. This part of Egypt is safe by most standards, but the Egyptian police go way above and beyond the call of duty when protecting foreigners. We had fun flying our flags out the windows like all the locals as we sped with police escort alongside the Nile River. 3 hours later, we rolled into Luxor.

Luxor, called Thebes in ancient times, is located right smack in the center of Egypt (when following the Nile). It was a very important religious and administrative center for thousands of years, and some of Egypt’s most famous and important temples are located here… and the Valley of the Kings is right over the hill.

We got to our hotel… touristy but clean and awesome. Got to our room, and had 4 big local beers (Sakara) delivered in 5 minutes. We turned on the tv (my first and only time this entire trip) to watch the soccer match… Egypt won by a landslide. Enjoyed a second big bottle of beer. We had a quick Italian food dinner (how international) and crashed. First good night sleep in days.

1/4/08

Today we got up and out of there as early as we could. We had a falluca (local small sailboat) waiting for us at the shore. We hopped in and sailed down the Nile to a mountainside that we had explored once before. We had found amazing tombs here but had not been well prepared to fully explore them 3 years ago. We had to land ourselves in a sheltered area on the opposite bank of the river and scurry up the very very long ancient stairway that had been exposed through the sand. I am talking a very high, very steep sand-blasted stone stairway that went straight up the hill to the row of tombs near the top. I have photos, trust me.

We made it to the top, huffing and puffing, and directly in front of us was the original tomb attached to the stairway. This had been excavated and was easily entered with a local Bedouin guardian of the tomb. The tomb had obviously been built for nobility. The walls were painted with amazing scenes of gods, goddesses and the afterlife. Brilliant colors, golden accents, sharp hieroglyphs all around, and an ornately painted ceiling. A 5-star rating by my book. I have photos, trust me!

Ok. So we exited the tomb and our friend Abdel began talking to the guard. Everywhere we go, Abdel is treated like a celebrity because he used to have Zahi Hawass’ position and is respected throughout the country, so people are always happy to spend time with him. With the guard busy, I went into my bag to find some notes I had made before we left. I had used Google Earth to check out the site from above, and could see lines of unexcavated tombs radiating out from this area, across the hillside. So we began to hike, skirting the edge of the cliff, the Nile far below us. Immediately, we came upon something very interesting… an Old Kingdom tomb that had been ransacked. The anthropomorphic stone sarcophagi were smashed to bits. Mummy wrappings, bones, beads and pottery were strewn everywhere. We had had to crawl down a tiny slit in the granite cliff face to get in here, and the air was thick, stinky, and dust clouds billowed around us as we made every move. This main tomb branched off into mutliple other shafts, leading to other burial chambers. We spent a good deal of time in here, but eventually the dust and dank got the better of us and we were forced to retreat back out and slither our way back into the pounding sun.

Once we exited this last tomb, filthy and dusty, we knew we had to get back to the boat. So we bombed down the side of the hill, bringing a near avalanche of sand and debris in our wake. We hopped on the boat and sailed off.

Our next location was a couple kilometers up the Nile. It is called Sehel Island and is quite remote. But it really looked like Simi Valley, with the big stone monuments piled on top of each other. We walked up a dusty road past a dusty farm, between some dusty buildings and past a dusty fence until we met two dusty men standing in the dusty dust. We looked up toward the now very-near first boulder and saw something amazing. In almost Neolithic style, ornate Pharaonic heiroglyphs and scenes were depicted, just like on a tomb or temple wall. But this was out in the middle of nowhere, on a huge rock right out in the open. Fantastic! We looked up behind it and saw boulder after boulder with these beautiful stone-carved Egyptian scenes! Apparently, this was viewed by the ancient Pharaohs as the Southernmost boundary of the Egyptian empire, and they posted their names and prayers here to assure that this boundary would not be crossed in violence from below.. We scaled the rocks, climbed around, and totally checked out this whole place. Like mountain goats surrounded with Egyptian art, right out in the open.

Close to the top of this place, on the back side, I came across a small cave created by several boulders knocked against each other. In the sand here I found a skull. Human. Small. I observed it and saw by the fracture marks that the inside of the skull and fracture marks had slightly differing patinas. The skull had been here for a while, but it was not ancient. It was modern. Unsure what to do, I laid it back in its resting place and headed down the treacherous rocks. At the bottom I explained to the 2 dusty men (local guards) what I’d seen and they expressed immediate shock. Apparently a crime had been committed and nobody had known where to look for clues. The most desolate, treacherous spot on the island may have seemed the perfect hiding place to someone, but it immediately called my name as well. Before I knew it, the guards had summoned other local villagers and they began a very treacherous climb to seek out the truth,

Ok. Not sure what else to do, I headed back to the boat with my friends. Now off to Elephantine Island, in the middle of the Nile back towards the heart of Aswan. This place had been a sacred site for thousands of years, first built upon by 4th Dynasty kings of Egypt. Major excavations had been started in recent months, and what they revealed was amazing. We could stand at the bottom of a 20 foot-tall wall of dirt. Carefully excavated. In it, I could trace back thousands of years of habitation. The very bottom had imbedded potsherds and seashells dating to 2000 BC, the next layer up revealing nice painted pieces of Egypt’s golden age. Above this, a thick layer of ash and burned debris. This may have been from when Nebuchadneszar came from Iraq and destroyed temples throughout Egypt. Crikey. Above this layer, various layers of pottery and artifacts showing Egypt’s various periods, and at the top, a thick layer of bright red pot pieces, oil lamps, mud brick and other things dating from the Greco-Roman period (332-30 BC), the last major period of use of this island. I have video and photos…

Many temples and dwellings from all these time periods had been uncovered, but we wanted to see one thing in particular… the Nileometer. This was a device (more like a tall stone room) thousands of years old, that was used to accurately measure the water level of the Nile. It is like a tower, beginning at the bottom of the river, with a long, winding staircase to the top. Inside its walls are carved measurements, stained from years of use. The measurements provided would determine what taxes merchants and commuters would pay for one year of Nile use.

We crawled back onto the boat, went back to the hotel and crashed hard.

1/3/08
This morning I woke up feeling MUCH better. This was very Important because this is the day we are visiting the Cairo Museum and then taking a flight to Aswan (“Upper Egypt”). I Finally got my appetite back and ate like a champ. Still a gross breakfast (every day the same thing is served) but at least I ate more of it.

We zipped through the city, weaving through traffic–cars driving toward us, going the wrong way through traffic just to save time—donkey carts cutting us off, camels running stoplights crossing in front of us—the works.

When we got to the museum, it was SWAMPED with tourists. Apparently Egypt is “welcoming” 10 million tourists this peak season (as opposed to the 2 million when I was here, exact same time of year, 3 years ago). It makes a very big difference. Way too many people and Egypt’s facilities are far far far away from being able to accommodate for this.But, the museum was spectacular. We ran straight through to the Greco-Roman exhibits, which we’d missed last time. Amazing stuff. I have quite a few nice pieces at home that look quite a bit similar to some of the exhibits. Hee hee.

Our time was limited because we had a plane to catch so we shuffled through and back out much faster than I would have liked. But I did get a chance to go into the mummy room (after paying the steep fee to go into the museum, they nail you with another fee just to see the mummies… such is Egypt). Here I saw some Old Friends… Rameses the Great, Seti I… and even the mummy believed to be Hapshepsut. Very nice to have a few moments of quality time with each of these incredible people from the past.

Anyway, as I said, we rushed through and back out to the waiting van. We hurried through the city and arrived at Cairo airport just in time. Before knew it, we had boarded the plane. I have a lot of respect for EgyptAir… I was hoping to have some good stuff to bag on them for but they really impressed me. Brand new planes, very skilled staff, etc.

The flight was about 1 1/2 hours to Aswan and our local driver was there, ready and waiting. Aswan is pretty much the farthest south of any city in Egypt, but was called “Upper Egypt” by the ancients because, unlike any other river on earth, the Nile flows north through Egypt and Aswan is closer to its source. Very interesting. Anyway, Aswan is a beautiful little city, and was very quiet and serene when I was here last time. In only 3 years, the place has been completely overrun with tourists, honking cars, and lots and lots of merchants aggressively trying to sell you crap like in Cairo. There were so many tour cruise ships on the Nile, that they were literally stacked three-deep from shores of the river, as far as the eye could see. Completely removing the ambiance and beauty of the river that brings people here in the first place.
Ok. So we checked into our hotel, the Isis Hotel on the shore of the Nile. It looks great and was very expensive. We were looking for a nice quiet place to get some fresh air and enjoy the Nile view from our rooms so we paid a premium. We checked in and the hotel manager said “You have the best suites in the hotel. Lots of room. BEST VIEW IN ASWAN.” Ok!! We were excited and exhausted from a long day of travel as well as recovering from our various maladies. We got to our rooms… connected with a common, private living area. Very cute, with huge boulders built into the rooms, coming in the walls. 1970’s furnishings. Very cheeky.

So we went to open the window and start soaking in our amazing view, right at water level on the Nile… WHAT? There was a huge tour boat parked right outside our windows. Completely blocking every possible view except for about 5 feet of garbage and refuse from the ship between them and us. The motors were constantly running and the exhaust went straight into our windows the second we opened them. It was unbelievable, shocking and unacceptable. We ran up to the concierge, who apologized (apparently he had not noticed this bohemuth parked outside his hotel when he assured us of our nice view) and promised it would be gone in the morning. It was still there 2 days later when we checked out. Very very very disappointing for all of us.

Hello! Long delay in timing, I apologize! Things have been so crazy. Out the door 7:00 am, not back until after 10:00 pm each day. One meal in thr morning, enery bars the rest of the time. I have seen so much amazing stuff! It’s late late at night and I snuck down the street to a smoky little internet place. There are no letters on the keyboard so I am typing from memory and this is taking forever. The backspace button has been pushed more times than any other. I will have to get back in touch when I reach civilization soon.

Take care!

Gabriel

January 2nd, 2008.

So, this morning (early this morning) I awoke to massive stomach pains. Followed shortly by recurring bouts of I don’t want to into details. I managed to get a few more hours of sleep before more severe pains and much more of I don’t want to into details. I slept it off until 7 am or so and tried joining my party for breakfast. Nasty cheap breakfast… stale rolls, stinky cheese, fake orange juice, mystery sausage surprise, and fake eggs. Uggggggh.
I went back to my room. 8:00 rolled around and I told Kelly and Michelle that I would try and make it out after all… fresh air would do me well. So I shuffled into the middle seat of the van (by the window) and we crawled through the not-very-fresh-air streets of Cairo past the very-much-not-pleasant-at-all canals of the “suburbs” into the countryside.

We went t0 the ancient city of Memphis. This was once the capital of Egypt, settled first by King Djoser at the beginning of the 3rd Dynasty. The capital later moved but Memphis remained an important administrative center throughout Egyptian history. The only area open to visitors covers about the size of a large parking lot so I was quite comfortable parking myself on a comfy stone bench, cradling my head in my hands and trying to keep my stomach together. I had bouts of non-nausea, so I was able to have some nice time with the massive statue of Rameses the Great (toppled in ancient times) which is contained within its own entire protective building. There’s a large alabaster sphinx here as well and that was very nice. A local shop owner let me sit in the shade of his booth and I didn’t have to buy anything. This was very nice too.

We then went to the Old Kingdom site of Abusir (a wonderful site… I actually own Abusir.com but it’s not developed yet). This is verrrrrrry hush hush. Write me if you want the story on this visit.
Yes, I was able to enjoy myself a bit here. But then I had to crash in the van. It was stuffy and hot, but I slept like a baby.

I had my pals drive me back to the hotel. I slept for 16 hours.

Hello and Happy New Year! My New Year’s Day was great. We got up early and headed back out to the desert. We planned to find 3 Greco-Roman sites today… and we did! We began by visiting Karanis, a wonderful site with two temples to the Egyptian crocodile-god Sobek. They actually uncovered three mummified crocodiles here around the turn of the century! The site is massive… seemingly endless. We were tempted to break out the walkie-talkies, but decided just to go our separate ways for a while. It was so peaceful. No sound except the wind , noone within visible sight but me, ancient ruins all around me, and the remains of civiliations lost beneath my feet.

We met back up, hopped in the van and headed to Om el Katel (one of the sites called Philadelphia in ancient times). This site had just begun excavation this year, and it was amazing! Mud-brick Greco-Roman walls just emerging from the shifting sand dunes, and a huge temple right in the middle. The temple had not yet been excavated so no archaeologist knows to whom it is dedicated or what may remain inside. Verrrrrry intriguing.

A little farther back in the city we came across an ancient bath house! A stone bathtub, the remains of a small frigidarium (cold water bath), and the underground heating system connected to a still sand-filled heated bath chamber. There were still remains of painted stucco on what was left of the walls. It was so amazing.

It was now getting a little late, so we threw it into high gear to an ancient site called Gerza (Arabic name… I will try and dig up the ancient name). Gerza was first a Predynastic site, circa 3500 BC. Many years later (circa 1st century BC) the Romans also settled here. We walked the desert for not long before we came across all sorts of great Stuff. Within 20 feet, we found the bottom of a massive Predynastic stone offering dish, finely decorated with incised designs, and several large bright blue faience-clay Roman plate fragments. Awesome. The sun was seriously starting to set and we could hardly see, but se saw one policeman and one Egyptian guard in full Bedouin dress walking our way (we were out in the middle of NOWHERE so it was obvious who they were coming towards).

They greeted us with huge smiles and handshakes. Wanted us to join them for tea. One little one-room stone shack is all that’s out here, and we realized Abdel, our guide, was already inside having tea so we joined them. Abdel is a bit of a celebrity here, as he was once Second in Command of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. They welcome him (and his friends… us) with open arms. Good stuff. It was now pitch black so we said our elaborate good-byes and scooted out.

Then we had dinner. With my dinner I tried the yogurt-dip… which APPARENTLY nobody else ate.

Hello! So sorry to be out of touch for so long. It has been CRAZY in Cairo. I arrived at my hotel close to 1:00 am on Sunday morning and was so wired I only got about 30 minutes sleep that night. I watched out my hotel window from about 4:00 am until the sun just began to come to light and the Pyramids began to emerge out of the mist. It looked like they were right there… huge in front of me. Awe-inspiring and a great way to start the trip! We ate a quick bite and hopped in our van with our favorite driver Abdul and headed into the desert. The first site we wanted to visit is called Wadi Natron. It is named after the large beds of natural natron found here. This is where the ancient Egyptians drew the material for mummification. Even later, the Romans came here for their salt. So, yes, it is basically a large salt flat but it has immense historical importance!

We then headed off to a favorite Greco-Roman site, Dionysopolis. We had hunted around here last trip, in 2004, and had loved the landscape. There are literally millions upon millions of artifacts strewn across the landscape. Mostly potsherds but also faience amulets, bronze coins, ceremonial vessels, painted pottery, etc. Very cool place. Here, across the ancient debris fields and ruins, we watched the sun slowly set on 2007.

Hello! Wow. This British Airways Club World thing is great! The seats recline all the way. I have never had a shorter flight here. I watched 2 tv shows, had dinner and 2 glasses of wine, read a couple articles in a magazine and slept. Woke up 45 minutes from landing. I really feel lucky !

The Club World lounges are amazing. Food, drinks, everything. Don’t have to spend a dime at any of the airports. Brought these British £Pounds for nothing! I have a 5 hour layover. Just kicking back, wandering around the airport and hanging in the lounge. I feel like an executive. Lots of fancy people in fancy dancy clothes looking down their fancy dancy noses at my cargo pants.

Anyway, I’ll be in touch when I get to Egypt (may be a couple days before I find Internet access there).

Gabriel

Well, I must say. I am not at all used to traveling like this. I am sitting in the World Traveler Lounge upstairs at LAX. A multi-room, beautifully-decorated area with banks of internet computers, two bars, an appetizer bar, and nice classical music. All free because I am traveling Business Class. Yes, I know. Not quite roughin’ it. Yet. It was a crazy mess navigating through the Holiday-time airport lines and hightened security mumbo jumbo. then to walk into this. Sipping a nice glass of Australian chardonnay and reading the London Telegraph. I highly recommend this. It’s not cheap. Well it was for me, because I am flying this entire trip Business Class using only my Alaska Airlines miles. Yes, they work for British Airways, too! It took lots of racking up credit cards for the few miles here and there but I think this is great. And apparently the airline seats are no joke either. More on that later…

Signing off from the USA…
Gabriel