Discovering Egypt:
Past and Present
January 10–24, 2010
Traveling to Egypt this January are Gary and Ruth Beckman, Suzanne Beckman, Carole Bekken, Betty Bergstrom, Ed and Lola Coke, Bob Edger, Elizabeth Foster, Adam Fronczek, Ethan and Nancy Jaacobs, Sarah Johnson, Gunnbjorg Lavoll, Rebecca Neilson, Margoe Raney, Adrienne Renwick, Edward Resser, Carmen Valez, and Dennis Williams
January 4: Looking Ahead
January 12 | January 14 | January 15
January 19 | January 26
Thoughts upon Returning Home
Monday, January 4, 2010
Welcome to Egypt! Those of us traveling the land of pyramids, palaces, temples, and pharaohs invite you join us in our explorations.We are twenty members and friends of the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago. Led by Adam Fronczek, Associate Pastor for Adult Education and Worship, and Sarah Johnson, Pastoral Resident, we are embarking on an educational tour of the land of Egypt from January 10 to 24. We hope you will join us in this journey, checking this page periodically for updates and reflections on our experiences in Egypt.
On this journey, we will be exploring lands that have great significance in the biblical story. The lands of the pharaohs are also the lands of the Exodus, of the twelve tribes of Jacob in the book of Judges, and of the Jewish Diaspora in Egypt following the time of Jeremiah. It is said that the Holy Family stopped along the banks of the temples on the flight from Herod. And the land of Egypt is a land of places much like the ones where Jesus lived.Some of the things that we will see will have historical authenticity while others will have very little, if none at all. For example, the Stele of Merenptah, located in a temple in the Valley of the Kings, contains the oldest reference to the people of Israel in the Ancient Near East, and because of this stele, we know that there was a people of Israel and this is where they lived. But we will find little, if no, historical evidence supporting claims that the Holy Family stopped at a particular location (although seemingly every place in Egypt has a legend that Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus did indeed stop there).
Among the questions that we will be asking as we travel are
“What, if any, difference does this historical authenticity make?”
“Does historical fact make a difference for how we read our sacred texts and explore our stories as people of faith?”
We also recognize that, regardless of historical authenticity, for centuries pilgrims have traveled to these sites of religious significance in order to deepen their faith. This leads to a second set of questions we will be asking during our travels:
“What significance do the footsteps of pilgrims play in making these places sacred?”
“Does a place require historical authenticity in order to have spiritual authenticity?”
But this isn’t just a trip back in time. It is a trip around the world for our own time. As we explore ancient history and archeology, we will also spend time with seminarians from Egypt and from Chicago; we will study with Egyptian and American scholars; and we will meet with Egyptian families and with people from our own faith tradition and others.
We welcome your prayers and comments as we explore the roots of our faith and think about what we believe today. And we are grateful you are joining us from afar in this journey. Welcome to Egypt!
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
We arrived safely—everyone’s luggage included—and have settled into our first day in Cairo amidst cloudy skies and the constant soundtrack of car horns. It seems that the locals have two favorite sports here: futball and dodging traffic. Even from the safety of our giant tour bus, it’s hard to miss that there are more than a few close calls when it comes to possible accidents involving people and cars.This morning we spent time in the Egyptian Museum. It houses a large collection of items from the Pharaonic period, most famously the artifacts of King Tut. There are so many things to see in the museum that if you spent exactly two minutes with every piece you could complete the museum in nine months. Thank goodness we have a tour guide!
The scope and scale of the museum and the things inside is remarkable. Perhaps one of the most significant things that we were able to see is not a part of the larger items on the official tour route. Hidden back in a dusty corner of the museum is an unassuming stone tablet about ten feet tall containing Egyptian hieroglyph. The hieroglyph lists all the peoples conquered by an Egyptian pharaoh. Down near the bottom, in three small squares, is a reference to the tribe of the people of Israel. It is the oldest and perhaps only reference that we have to the people of ancient Israel. Because of this tablet we know that there was a people of Israel, where and when they lived.
Had we just taken our first significant steps of pilgrimage? I was surprised by how deeply connected I felt to that old piece of stone amidst hordes of tourists and dusty pharaohs. I had always felt judgment for those who wanted historical evidence for their faith. After all, the stories of the Bible do not stand or fall on the historical evidence that does or does not exist. And yet today, in the Egyptian Museum, I felt a sense of sacred space, felt anchored to the narrative of God’s dealings with humanity, of God’s interaction in human history.
This evening we will spend some time having dinner in the home of an Egyptian family. We are grateful for their hospitality and look forward to an evening of good food and new friends. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.
—Sarah, on behalf of the Egpyt team
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
It’s day five of our adventure here, and it seems like each day is a little better than the last. On Wednesday we made our trip to see the pyramids and the sphinx. We began with a great traditional lunch at the Mina Oberoi Hotel, right at the foot of the pyramids. For many of us, this was one of the big surprises of the day—that the city goes right up to the foot of the Giza Plateau. In fact, there is even a Pizza Hut across the street from the pyramids.The magnitude of it all is the most amazing part. As a few of us took the claustrophobic trip down into the second pyramid and looked around our close, humid surroundings, we discovered there wasn’t much more to see than a narrow stone hallway. But then at passing moments it occurs to you that the hallway is 4,500 years old and is covered by 2.3 million tons of stone. That’s enough to build a 1-meter wall all the way around France! (We’re all completely on the metric system now, by the way.) The day closed with a trip to the Papyrus Institute and then to an evening light show at the pyramids (a little cheesy and definitely cold, but fun just the same).
Today was Islamic Cairo day. We visited the Citadel of Saladin, where we saw an amazing walled city that began in the twelfth century and was built up over the course of centuries of Islamic rule in Egypt. Next was one of the highlights of our trip so far: we visited the Mosque of Sultan Hasan, where the Imam gave us a special tour and fielded questions about Islam in Egypt. It was a great learning experience for all of us.
On the way back, we stopped for lunch and wandered around Cairo a bit. It looks like all of us successfully navigated Cairo’s chaotic traffic and arrived safely back at our hotel.Along the way, great conversations continue about religion, politics, pilgrimages, and culture. We’ve had some great group discussions about what it means to visit religious sites old and new that are home to a faith tradition other than our own. Tomorrow we’ll get a little closer to our own background with a trip to the Coptic churches of Egypt, home to Cairo’s Christians. It’s sure to be another great day!
Please keep us and the people of Egypt in your prayers.
Blessings,
—Adam, on behalf of the Egypt Team
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Friday, January 15, 2010
We have entered the weekend (in Cairo the weekend is Friday and Saturday), and this morning things were noticeably quieter. The weekend means that the locals will enjoy sleeping in and a trip to the mosque for Friday prayers followed by a family lunch. We continue to find the Egyptian people to be incredibly friendly and welcoming (although one may not want to take the marriage proposal for 1,000 camels too seriously).Our day was another busy one with a visit to Old Cairo, including St. Surgius Church, considered one of Cairo’s oldest Christian churches and believed to have been built on the spot where the Holy Family rested at the end of their journey to Egypt. Nearby we also visited the synagogue of Ben Ezra, the oldest synagogue in Cairo.
Being in the Old City amongst the Coptic churches gave us the rare opportunity to gather for worship as a group. On the steps of a church in Old Cairo we, like the Holy Family, rested, offering prayer for all of those who came before us and those who are yet to come. We also prayed for the people and country of Haiti. Perhaps the Holy Family had stopped where we did, perhaps not. But it was holy moment on a busy trip.
This afternoon was a full adventure in shopping as we headed to the bazaar in Cairo. The bazaar is a maze of alleys and shops offering everything from jewelry to the glass head of King Tut (a real coffee table treasure). There are several important rules for shopping wisely in the bazaar:
1. Eye contact is the kiss of death. Look at someone, you just bought whatever they sell
2. Always negotiate the price. Always.
3. If you are looking for something authentic, check the bottom of the item. China seems to have snuck in a few items.
4. After a while, everything starts to look the same. That’s because it is.We had such fun! Tomorrow we head to Luxor by plane to get on the cruise, our mode of travel for the next couple of days. Thanks for your prayers and messages. Bon voyage!
—Sarah, on behalf of the Egypt Team
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Greetings from Aswan!I apologize that we haven’t sent any updates in a few days, but Internet coverage along the Nile has been a little spotty. I hope you’ll enjoy this update, as well as a number of pictures I’ll hope to send along with it.
Our incredible journey continues. Three days ago we flew to Luxor, one of the greatest archaeological destinations in the world. We boarded our beautiful boat, the Jasmin, where we are enjoying great Egyptian food and in between our tours warm weather on the sun deck.
On our first day here in Lower Egypt, we visited the Valley of the Kings, the magnificent burial tombs of the pharaohs. Most of the tombs are around 3,500 years old, and the preservation of the carvings and even the colorful painting is absolutely incredible. But no cameras are allowed—for preservation purposes—so you’ll have to take our word for it!
Fortunately we were allowed to take our cameras to the next site, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (we learned that this pronounced like “hotchickensoup” said very fast). Queen Hatshepsut was the only woman pharaoh in ancient Egypt, and her temple is incredible, with much of it well preserved and intact.
In the evening, we returned to the boat for a fantastic evening, including a dance party with the Nubians. (You’ll have to ask us about the wildcards in our group who came to life on the dance floor!)Today we took off for two more amazing sites, the Temple of Knuum and the Temple of Kum Ombo, two of the greatest sites in Egypt indicating the influence of the Ptolemies (Greeks) over Egyptian architecture. These temples are also well preserved and show us some of the amazing advances the Egyptians made in art, construction, and medicine during the centuries leading up to and following the time of Christ.
Our Egyptologist, Khalid, instructs us in front of the Temple of Horus in Edfu.
Last night, we took part in a big Egyptian celebration dinner. All of us found traditional Egyptian clothes to wear. (Yes, there are many pictures, both beautiful and embarrassing!)
This morning, a few of us stayed around the boat for a little R & R, while several others woke up at 5 a.m. for a flight to Abu Simbel, a site as extraordinary for its historicity as it is for its engineering significance. Discovered, almost completely buried in the sand, in the nineteenth century, Abu Simbel is an enormous temple built during the reign of Ramses II. The statues at the door are the largest in Egypt, and the temple is expansive, stretching far into the mountainside. Abu Simbel sits at the edge of Lake Nasser where it was moved—yes moved!—during the 1960s. Lake Nasser, the world’s largest manmade lake (you can’t see across it), was created in the 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built, flooding much of Upper Egypt. Through an archeological effort involving several countries, including the United States, the entire Abu Simbel complex was moved to a new location so that it could be preserved after the flooding of the Nile.
Our group continues to have a great experience. Our discussions about pilgrimage, the historicity of the Bible, cultural syncretism, and religious tolerance have been great. In addition, we continue to get to know one another better each day and to take care of one another. If you have a loved one among us, you can rest assured that none of us are lonely, and we are forging some great friendships that will undoubtedly continue when we return home. If you live with one of us, you can expect to have nineteen new friends when we return home.
Please continue to hold us in prayer. This trip has been great fun, but it is challenging as well. This land, like all lands, has its own issues with poverty, education, and environmental preservation, among other concerns. As we learn about this place, we are constantly challenged to think not only about the history of our world, but also about how to care for it in the present. This is truly a life-changing time.
Oh yeah, and when we get back, be sure to ask to see more pictures of the camel ride.
Next up for us is a felucca (sailboat) tour of the Elephantine and Kitchener Islands.
Blessings to our friends back in Chicago. Enjoy the cold weather!
—Adam, on behalf of the Egypt Team
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January 26, 2010
Our apologies for not having posted sooner. As Adam mentioned in his last post, Internet connections along the Nile are spotty. We also spent a good deal of time in transit during our last couple of days, and so finding time to sit at a computer has been difficult.Over the last few days, we continued to see what are truly some of the world’s ancient wonders, visiting several of Egypt’s most famous temples, in Luxor and Aswan. A small portion of the group traveled to Abu Simbel, home to the temple of Ramses II and Nefertiti. Cut out of solid rock at a site on the west bank of the Nile, this temple includes six large statues of Ramses II that can be clearly seen from the window of an airplane (thanks window seat!)
As a whole group we then visited the temples of Luxor and Karnak, a colossal complex built over many centuries by generations of pharaohs. It was at these sites that we were able to spend time with Professors Ted Heibert and Sara Tanser from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Ted and Sara have been leading a group of students from McCormick, Luther College, and other students on a two-week study-abroad experience around Egypt. Their group has had a bit more adventure than ours in that after more than ten days of travel, some of their luggage has yet to arrive. One suitcase was still reported to be in Milan. Yikes!
Ted lectured about two places located within these temple complexes that are important for biblical history. On two places in the temples’ walls we were able to view pictorial references to the Israelites and the Philistines. The importance of these findings simply cannot be overstated. There is so little historical evidence for events in the Hebrew Bible that these few finds are incredible.
At the temple of Luxor we also had the distinct privilege of hearing a lecture by Dr. Ray Johnson of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Dr. Johnson and the Oriental Institute are deeply involved in the ongoing preservation of many of the temple sites in Egypt. This is a complicated dance between the Egyptian government, which wants to continue to bring in as many tourists as possible, and archeologists, who want to preserve as many layers of history as possible. It’s a bit of a stressful job to try to save history from being erased by a bulldozer and a parking lot! The Oriental Institute is doing great work here and it was nice to make the connection to back home in Chicago.
After leaving Luxor, we headed “home” for one final day in Cairo. The trip just wouldn’t be complete without one last game of “dodge the cars,” a chicken schwarma sandwich, and a shopping trip. This group does love to shop!
—Sarah, on behalf of the Egypt Team
Back to topOne of the final temples that we visited was the Ramessum. It is home to a colossal statue of Ramses II. It is also the location on which William Percy Shelly based his poem “Ozymandius.” The statue that Shelly writes about has completely fallen over. The bust of the huge statue lies in the temple courtyard and its two huge stone feet at the temple’s base.
Shelly’s poem is essentially devoted to a single metaphor: a shattered, ruined statue in a desert wasteland, with its arrogant face and monomaniacal description. The once great king’s proud boast has been ironically disproved; Ozymandius’s works have crumbled and disappeared; his civilization is gone, turned to dust by the indiscriminate power of history. The toppled statue is now merely a monument to one man’s hubris and the insignificance of human beings to the passage of time.
We have seen enough pyramids, statues, and temples, built as far back as 10,000 BC, to understand what it means to contemplate your insignificance.
But perhaps what is even more interesting is that Shelly wrote this poem without ever having visited Egypt. He wrote it after having seen a piece of it in the British Museum in London. Knowing this about Shelly’s poem, I think, begs the question: What difference does lived experience make? What difference does it make that we have traveled to Egypt? Could our imaginations have done the job just as Shelly’s did for him?
Over the past two weeks we have seen and done some amazing things. But more importantly we have lived in the context of people’s lives that are totally different from our own. And in a part of the world that is often little seen and more misunderstood. We have eaten, smelled, listened, laughed, danced, and walked the lives of those different from us. Yes, we have learned a lot, but that lived experience has made all the difference in the world. They say that you have to walk a mile in another’s shoes. It’s true. If we are to know peace and understanding, that journey in another’s shoes matters.
As people of faith, we confess that God became incarnate in Jesus Christ and walked in our shoes. God cared enough for the particularity of human life that he lived one. God calls us to walk in the shoes of others, to pay attention to the embodied lives of those around us.
St Augustine wrote, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
Thank you for traveling with us and joining us in walking this journey!
—Sarah, on behalf of the Egypt Team
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