PHAROAHS & FANTASY

Anita Limaye got a feel of both ancient and modern Egypt on the last days of her trip

   WE saved Memphis and Saqqara, and an amusement park in Cairo for the last day of our trip, in a way symbolising Egypt’s ancient past and the modern present. The erstwhile capital of Egypt, Memphis is still abundant in natural beauty and the contrasting arid desert of Saqqara – the necropolis of ancient Egypt — proved to be spellbinding contrasts in themselves.
   Our short drive to Memphis from Giza gave us a pretty good picture of Cairo — a very crowded city, just like our own Indian metros! We crossed the Nile once again and entered what seemed to be a huge palm tree forest. We learnt from our guide that Memphis is a Greek word derived from the Egyptian word ‘Men-fer’ meaning ‘stable’ and ‘pretty’.
   ‘Stable’ was pretty accurate as Memphis stayed at the centre of Egypt’s word right till the era of the Pharaohs, including the New Kingdom when Ramses II increased its splendour. It was one of the largest and the most beautiful cities in the East, surrounded by an enchanting landscape. Successive wars, invasions and the annual Nile flooding eroded the city till one day it was wiped out, leaving for posterity just tantalising remnants of its grandeur.
   The main attraction in Memphis is the grand colossus of Ramses II which stands 12 metres long and is now in an open-air museum along with several other beautiful statues and sarcophagi. This statue, carved from a single block of stone and currently kept in a horizontal position, isn’t remarkable merely for its size. The intricacy of its detailing is truly mindboggling.
   We could see minute detailing starting from the crown on his head to the eyelids carved separately from the eyes, the shape of the nose which clearly demarcated the curvature of the nostrils, the knuckles on each finger, the bulging biceps and muscles, right down to the nails on his hands and the feet! Ramses II is depicted with one foot forward, a symbol of power, holding a stamp in his right hand – a symbol of the kingdom he ruled.
   Another interesting detail is an insignia carved at several places on the statue, called a kartoush or a cartouche. In Egyptian hieroglyphics this insignia — usually enclosed in a border to set it apart from the rest of the inscription —spells out the name of the Pharaoh, as Mahmoud told us. These can be seen on almost statues of prominent Pharaohs.
   The location of this museum was also significant — it was originally a temple built for mummifying the sacred animal, Apis, or the bull. Apis was the sacred animal of the main deity of Memphis, the god Ptah and was believed to be the creator of the universe. Sounded very familiar to us Indians....! Another statue of Ramses II there stands tall and is the third largest one of this mighty Pharaoh. Incidentally, the largest statue of him is located in Luxor, in south Egypt. AndI also must mention the beautiful alabaster sphinx kept there, weighing 80 tons, supposedly carved at the command of one of the pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty.
Leaving mesmerising Memphis, we entered the desert once again to arrive at Saqqara after a short drive past tapestry and carpet-making schools where young boys were being taught this craft. The sudden stark contrast in landscape was amazing! Saqqara is, in short, the necropolis of Memphis and its name is derived from ‘Soker’, one of the cemetery gods of the ancient Egyptians.
   The most prominent monument in Saqqara is the Step Pyramid, which also included the funeral complex of Djoser, the first Pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty dating to 2600 BC! The Step Pyramid, built by Djoser’s architect Imhotep, is believed to be a precursor to all the great pyramids and was probably the first structure in Egypt that used stone. Djoser was the only Pharaoh who actually loved to see his own completed pyramid!
   We entered the funeral complex of Djoser which has a 10m high enclosure wall with recessed panelling, 13 false doors and only one entrance – imitating the palace where Djoser used to live. Inside, a colonnade forms 42 chapels where statues of deities were kept, ending in an open courtyard. Each pillar of the colonnade resembles stalks of the papyrus plant tied together in a bunch.
   On the right of the courtyard is the Step Pyramid, made of six layers or ‘mastabas’, one on top of the other, hence its name. A closer view of the pyramid let us see the first mastaba which was the foundation. The base was actually broadened to give it height due to the placement of successive mastabas on top!
   At the other end of the courtyard are two sand bunkers deep below ground. One of these bunkers has a tunnel linking it to the pyramid and this is where the canopic jars were placed, containing the organs of the mummified pharaoh. We learnt that all pyramids had a similar structure wherein the organs were kept separate from the actual mummy and linked by an underground tunnel!
   This tunnel was made with granite blocks and we marvelled at this longlasting evidence of human grit and determination! Our guide took us to the second bunker and as we looking down we saw a winding staircase leading down to the bottom, with a giant hole at one end connecting it to the other bunker.
   Mahmoud told us how those huge granite blocks were transported so deep below ground considering there were no pulleys or other means of carting them back then. Imagine this: the first bunker was filled to the top with sand and a granite stone was kept on top. From the hole in the second bunker, sand was slowly taken out so that its level kept receding until the granite block reached its destination below ground!
   And then the process began all over again. And again. And again. Our heads spun at the thought of how many months and years of such backbreaking work in sweltering heat it had taken for them to complete the tunnel. Slavery made the Egyptians achieve the impossible and so it can never be replicated in our times.
   Towards the East and South of the Step Pyramid lie the ruins of the mortuary temple where offerings were made by Djoser. He is believed to have performed ceremonies in front of his own pyramid —running in circles holding a lotus in his hand, thanking the gods — to extend his reign and become immortal.
   Towards the south of Saqqara, we could also see the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid in the distance. The first was built on the order of Pharoah Sneferu, the father of Cheops, and its upper half is indeed slightly bent. When construction began, the angle was set at 54 degrees but was later changed to 43 degrees, hence its name. The Red Pyramid, also Sneferu’s project, got its name from the local reddish stone blocks used to build it.
   Of the other mastabas in Saqqara, that of Ptah-Hotep is one of the prettiest. The hieroglyphics on the interior depict the daily life of ancient Egyptians like farming, hunting, fishing and jewellery making etc. The detailing and polychrome colours are fantastic — well preserved and not faded even one bit! According to our guide, these were vegetable dyes and the texture was so beautiful we ended up touching the walls to literally get a feel of the place!
   After having seen enough of ancient history, we then headed for a different kind of experience — at an amusement park, which our son infinitely preferred! The aptly named Dream Park is on the outskirts of Cairo in the middle of an upcoming IT area — the face of New Cairo, so to speak, as IBM, Compaq and the like have offices here.
   The vast open space also had a lot of new housing construction going on for those who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the Old City. It reminded me a lot of our hometown Pune, where one of the suburbs, called Hingewadi is becoming a major IT hub. But unlike our country, kudos to the Egyptians who had also given a thought to recreational facilities like an amusement park!
   As we entered, we felt so much a part of the crowd, especially after visiting all the ancient monuments. Eager children were thronging the park along with equally excited parents and family members! I could tell by their faces that this was a new experience even for the locals and it was clearly a favourite with college-goers too. Then it suddenly struck me that this was the first time in Cairo that we were seeing children!
   Dream Park was a sort of mini-Disneyland, with lots of rides, divided into three areas called Children’s World, Adventure Land and Fantasy Land. Predictably, we spent the better part of our time in the first one, and our son had a whale of a time, riding every conceivable vehicle from an aeroplane to a fire engine! What more could a four year old ask for?!! Of course, we too had our share of thrills and screaming during the roller-coaster ride!
   A lot of new games and rides were still under construction as we could see while walking around in the park. We strolled past Adventure Land to get a feel of the rides and saw a few eyepopping ones like a stand-up roller coaster and another in which you are dropped suddenly from a height of around 60 feet! My heart skipped a beat just watching them drop...
   Or memories of Cairo would not have been complete without a visit o the Khan-El-Khalili Market, the Egyptian version of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk! The two are almost identical twins — congested, selling items of debatable quality, for which bargaining with rude shopkeepers is de rigueur... I enjoyed myself thoroughly here – bought a lot of souvenirs and gifts like papyrus paintings, cotton scarves and T-shirts, wall plates and of course, (our favourite) – a hookah or sheesha as they call it in Egypt.
   Indeed, we remember our trip to that antique land each time we stare at the “sheesha” in our living room.