From: Reid, Iain Sent: 18-May-2001 11:59 To: Bruff, David; Keith, Kirsten; Stewart, Janet; Hamilton, Nicola; Javier, Carmela; Whatley, Marci; Gustin, Denise; Mwangi, Wambui; Kind, Marie-Ursula; Bauer, Sabine; Graham, Rebecca; Van Kooten, Koen; Cormier, Martin; Dicklich, Diana Subject: More Cairo Pictures Importance: High Hallo again. I was thinking of popping off to Jerusalem this weekend on a last-minute KLM flight, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Sad, isn't it? Anyway, for reasons I cannot possibly fully understand my previous mailing detailing my little excursion to Cairo was rather popular. I am told it was the pictures more than the snide commentary so I have therefore decided to sit down tonight and produce a supplement to the previous Email with even more pictures included (and less snide commentary). And so... here it is.... (Just imagine some suitably dramatic, but pretty and non-threatening, music to accompany this introduction.) Cairo Pictures Part Two (Hmmmm. That title was rather a let-down after you'd already gone to the trouble of imagining some dramatic music, wasn't it? Ok... hang on... we'll try again, ok?) Iain's Observations on Cairo Part Two: The Return of Iain Before we begin with the pictures I would just like to say a few words. Not anything particularly important, mind you, it's just that I think it looks stupid to have a picture right below the title and that there should be at least one paragraph of text in-between. Besides, I seem to remember something from school about proper essay writing and how you're supposed to have some kind of introductory paragraph. So, here it is, or was anyway... The Introductory Paragraph. Now for the first picture. Here's a nice picture of The Pyramid of Chephren taken from the mortuary temple at the Eastern edge of it. Like I said before this Pyramid is my favourite. I think it's because it has the little snow-cap looking think on top (which is, actually, the remnants of the original decorative coverings that used to cover all the Pyramids... just think how they would have looked thousands of years ago!). Anyway, people apparently often think that this one is the BIG Pyramid, because it looks so imposing but, in fact, it is The Great Pyramid of Cheops that is the "BIG" one. Here's a shot of The Pyramid of Mycerinus taken from the outside desert and framed by two (of the three) attendant Queen's Pyramids that line its Southern edge. An interesting aspect of this particular picture is that it kind of shows the construction method of the Pyramids because the Queen's Pyramids are in such a dilapidated state. On them you can see the step-like basic form that was used in the first stage of Pyramid construction. Once this step-like basis was formed the steps were "filled in" to form a more proper Pyramid shape. And then, in the final stage the outer white covering would have been applied and apparently on top of that perhaps even great designs were painted. The Pyramids nowadays are impressive enough, I can hardly imagine how magnificent they would have been when they were first built. I'll bet you didn't know that Indiana Jones had a bulkier and less attractive younger brother. This is Idaho Jones. Potatoes come from Idaho. Ernest Hemingway killed himself in Idaho. What else is interesting about Idaho? Ummmm. There's a town called Good Grief (vis a vis Charlie Brown) in Idaho. (And as you can see I can take pretty good pictures of myself by holding the camera up in the air at arm's length.) This is apparently the same picture as the previous one... except that there seems to be something missing. I can't quite put my finger on what it is though. Hmmmmmm. What could it be? This picture isn't very pretty or anything but I think it is still interesting because it shows just how buried in sand so much of the ruins around the Pyramids are. This is part of the vast Temple of Kwenthawes. This is also part of the Temple of Kwenthawes, with the Pyramid of Chephren looming in the background. If you turn the contrast and brightness on your monitor WAY up you will be able to see some nifty Egyptian hieroglyphics on the top of this archway in the ruins of the Temple of Kwenthawes. I wonder what it says? "WC" perhaps? Or maybe it's like in Ephesus (in Turkey) where they have the various "signs" identifying the different merchants and services carved into the marble streets. My favourite "sign" in Ephesus was the one pointing the way to the local brothel. Very tasteful, carved in ancient Greek marble I mean. Ah yes. The Sphinx. There are many ideas about the Sphinx. It was there long before the Pyramids were and my favourite is the theory which explains that it was originally this big statute of a lion or something, which was subsequently partially buried (you can see the well preserved state at the bottom). On the upper half of the body you can see erosion that looks distinctly like water erosion, which would mean that the Sphinx is very VERY old to have been around when there was still some rainfall in Egypt. And then, finally, the head (which you can see is too small) was re-carved by the Pyramid building Egyptians to resemble one of their own gods (thus explaining why it is too small). Here's a cute shot of the Pyramid of Cheops with a nice ruined temple in the foreground. And here's a view of the Pyramid of Cheops framed by its attendant Queen's Pyramids and with some ruined columns lying around. Remember those Solar Barques that I mentioned the other day? Well this is a picture of one of the unearthed pits that were used to hold them. You can also see the roof of the museum housing the restored Barque peeking up between the pyramids (sort of in the middle). Do you remember my description of the tunnels and chamber leading up into the Pyramid of Cheops? Well, after the first initial crawl of about 40 metres the tunnel widened out into this larger, high-roofed chamber. This is a shot looking down from the entrance to the main sarcophagus chamber. These last two pictures will kind of suck because they were taken at night and I didn't feel like changing the settings on my Digital Camera. However, I think that they are still interesting just to give a view of night-time Cairo. This is a view from a boat on the Nile River that I was riding along on. You can see one of the many Cairo mosques on the shoreline. And this, the last picture, is a view of the illuminated Pyramids from my hotel room balcony. Imagine me there, sipping (and chewing) on some mango juice. (Plus getting bitten by mosquitoes and possibly getting malaria. Ooh. How enviable.) Anyway, that is it for today's pictures. I thank you for your attention. This is Idaho Jones, saying farewell.