Week 2: 12-18 January 2025
After having some time to adjust to Cairo, we started off the second week strong with a visit to the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO). This institute, housed in an impressive palace building from 1907, continuously managed to impress us. First, during our tour around the large library, we got to take a look at a first edition of the Description de l’Egypte in its full glory. There were certainly a couple audible gasps at the intricate detail and beautiful colors, all authentic, not at all retouched. After believing this would certainly be the highlight of the day, we were led around the archives and C14 lab each with objects and samples to demonstrate their use. In the print house, the final stage of our visit, we each got a little ankh puncher and Machteld got to use the restored, vintage printing machine to print her own page.
After a brief lunch, we headed over to the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). Their library holds around 40,000 volumes and may provide a place for us to go study. Our Arabic teacher, Khawla, was unfortunately sick, so to round off the day, some of us went to get koshari, a very filling Egyptian lentil and rice dish.
On Monday, we made our way to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. We admired the statue and tomb of Auguste Mariette outside of the pink museum, and unlike all the tourists we initially did not go inside, but to the database in the basement of the building. Here we saw the many registration books and the digital catalogue in which information about all the objects is kept. With all this fresh in mind we entered the museum, where after a tour from Marleen, we worked on our museum assignment. Because our Arabic teacher was still sick, we ended up spending a total of 8 hours inside the museum. We left fulfilled but exhausted while trying to make our way home with the metro for the first time.
Thankfully Khawla had recovered the next day, and we spent Tuesday morning mastering the ability to say our address in Arabic. This was followed by an introduction from Marleen to the paper guidelines and a more detailed look into our excursions, during which we were genuinely confused about the possibility of fitting so many things into our short time here. Some of the group went to explore downtown Cairo and ended the day with a drink on the roof of the Carlton with a beautiful view over the city.
After our visit to the Egyptian Museum earlier in the week, we were excited to see the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). This stunning building took our breath away. We got a quick tour through the 12 massive galleries from a tour guide who might not have been an Egyptologist… but still gave an exciting introduction to the displays. We roamed around on our own admiring the visually pleasing displays, even if the label texts were sometimes brief. We headed back in time for a lecture at the Italian Archaeological Center by Ahmed Mansour and Fatma Keshk, who presented their findings on the printing of Egyptology in Arabic during 19th century Egypt. Fun fact, the first book printed is almost always a dictionary!
We continued with our Arabic classes, now learning how to give directions. Our newfound knowledge was immediately put to the test in the Uber ride after class, since most of us spent the following two hours in the basement of the Egyptian Museum working with the database and continuing our museum assignment. Due to the limited computers and our hive mindset, some had to go the traditional route and look up the information in the registration books. Again, our day ended with a great lecture at the NVIC from Dr Hany Abdallah el-Tayeb, the current director of foreign missions. He showed his re-excavation of the tomb of Rashepses at Saqqara with images of intricately drawn and rare tomb decoration.
Most of the group spent their free day visiting the Citadel with the mosque of Mohammad Ali as its grand centerpiece. A visit inside the mosque and both the military and police museum ended with an ice cream run back in Zamalek. The rest of the day was spent studying and preparing for our visit to Alexandria.
To round off the week, we headed to Alexandria for our first overnight trip, stopping at the catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa. This late 1st century AD burial site houses several chambers of unknown owners, and space for about 300 or so individuals to join them. The mix of Egyptian and Roman cultural styles and references characterize the time in which the tomb was built. Next we visited the Serapeum with so-called ‘Pompey’s pillar’, and finally the Roman theatre at Kom el-Dikka, also known perhaps as the place where Roman students came late to class. The day ended with a delicious feast of fish!
Lisa Anderson