Minarets Rise above the Mosque of Muhammad 'Ali, Cairo
Modern Egypt is a rich and diverse culture.
The main religion in Egypt today is Islam, so it is easy to find mosques
dotting the cities. In Islam, prayer is fundamental. It is one of the
five pillars of faith, recorded in the Koran (the holy book of Islam). Because
prayer is so important, Muslims are reminded to pray five times each
day, by the criers who call out from the minarets that rise above Egyptian
mosques In the slide above, two very tall and thin minarets spiral
upward. It was on these that criers originally would shout to people,
calling them to prayer. Today, most minarets broadcast prayer calls,
which fill the air of Muslin cities, like Cairo. People who are able stop
to pray where they are, bending down on prayer rugs. This symbolically displays
their submission to Allah. People who are unable to pray at that time
will makeup the prayer later in the day.
The Egyptian pharaoh was a god-king. Believing that the pharaoh was divine,
the Egyptian people were willing to support large monuments commemorating
him, which would ensure his continued support from the next world.
Some pharaohs, however, build on an incredibly large scale. The most
famous "monumental" pharaoh is Ramses the Great. Everything he did,
he did on a grand scale. The statue at left depicts Ramses--it is one
of many large (really large!) sculptures depicting this great warrior-pharaoh,
who lived to be about 90 years of age. He had at least 100 children,
by primary wives and members of his harem. Everything he did,
Ramses did in a big way.
To understand the scale of this statue, look for the Art History Teacher, standing in the top right corner with the spot of blue showing under her jacket.
Young King Tut
The solid gold mummy mask at left once covered the mummy of King Tut. Today it is located in the Cairo Museum. This gold mummy mask, with the frozen and remote expression on the face of the eternally youthful king, was only past of the coverings for his mummy. There were three coffins surrounding and protecting his mummified remains. The inner most coffin, like the mummy mask, was solid gold. Together, the gold in Tut's coffins and mummy mask weighed one-quarter ton of gold.
The ancient Egyptians believed that their Ka (spirit or life force) could live on in the tomb and they could have immortality. If the mummy could be preserved, then the Ka would reside there, guaranteeing immortal life. Objects filled the tomb so that the deceased could enjoy a life as rich as this one. Tut's tomb was so packed with grave goods that it took years to remove, document and restore all the objects. Tut died at a very young age--perhaps only 18 years old. His grave goods, certainly, are only a minor reflection of what older and more powerful pharaohs would have taken to the grave with them.
| The most fascinating part of visiting
Egypt is studying its ancient past. The Great Pyramids, located near
modern Cairo in Gizeh, were tombs for the pharaohs. The largest of
the three is, in fact, the largest tomb for a single individual in
the world. It is made up of 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each weighing
approximately 2.5 tons. It originally rose to a height of 480 ft. Today,
all three pyramids are still guarded by the Sphinx, which rises 65 ft tall. |
|
The Egyptian pharaoh was a god-king. Believing that the pharaoh was divine,
the Egyptian people were willing to support large monuments commemorating
him, which would ensure his continued support from the next world.
Some pharaohs, however, build on an incredibly large scale. The most
famous "monumental" pharaoh is Ramses the Great. Everything he did,
he did on a grand scale. The statue at left depicts Ramses--it is one
of many large (really large!) sculptures depicting this great warrior-pharaoh,
who lived to be about 90 years of age. He had at least 100 children,
by primary wives and members of his harem. Everything he did,
Ramses did in a big way. To understand the scale of this statue, look for the Art History Teacher, standing in the top right corner with the spot of blue showing under her jacket.
Young King TutThe solid gold mummy mask at left once covered the mummy of King Tut. Today it is located in the Cairo Museum. This gold mummy mask, with the frozen and remote expression on the face of the eternally youthful king, was only past of the coverings for his mummy. There were three coffins surrounding and protecting his mummified remains. The inner most coffin, like the mummy mask, was solid gold. Together, the gold in Tut's coffins and mummy mask weighed one-quarter ton of gold.
The ancient Egyptians believed that their Ka (spirit or life force) could live on in the tomb and they could have immortality. If the mummy could be preserved, then the Ka would reside there, guaranteeing immortal life. Objects filled the tomb so that the deceased could enjoy a life as rich as this one. Tut's tomb was so packed with grave goods that it took years to remove, document and restore all the objects. Tut died at a very young age--perhaps only 18 years old. His grave goods, certainly, are only a minor reflection of what older and more powerful pharaohs would have taken to the grave with them.
BCC
International Studies Trip to Egypt
January 2001
January 2001
Students with Dr. Carole Gavin, BCC's French
Teacher (front, right)