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This Month in Tour Egypt Monthly:
Feature Articles The
Nile, the Moon and Sirius: The Ancient Egyptian Calendar
by Richard
Weninger
The star-sprinkled Egyptian night sky that not
only stuns visitors to Egypt was also
studied intensely by special temple priests who soon discovered
that the appearance of a star they named sepdet (which we know as
Sirius) was associated with the beginning of the Nile flood . This
was the start of the world's first calendar, invented over 5000
years ago.
The Egyptian
Traveler's Survival Kit by Jimmy Dunn Egypt is a sophisticated and modern country, and
most anything that you need may be purchased in Egypt. But
providing that you do not wish to purchase such things as shoes in
Egypt, and that other items may be difficult to find, or very
expensive, we have compiled a checklist of some of the more
important items you may wish to carry with you. This list may seem
rudimentary for the seasoned traveler, but for many making a first
time trip to Egypt, it may prevent problems.
The Tomb of Nefertari
by Paul Groffie
No matter how long your stay in
Egypt, whether one day or one year, make it a point to stop in the
Valley of the Queens. You can visit the one place which could
truly take you back over three thousand years - the Tomb of
Nefertari.
Palace of the Sun King
by Dr. Joann Fletcher
Although the ancient Egyptians are best known
for the monumental tombs and temples they built profusely, far
less is known about the actual homes in which they lived their
lives.
This is mainly due to the fact that they built
their housing close to the banks of the river Nile, whereas their
tombs and temples were situated away from the limited arable land
on the desert edge. And since these temples and tombs were
regarded as houses of eternity, designed to last 'millions of
years', they were built from hard stone, in contrast to the houses
of the living which were made of easily available mud brick. Take
a look at the ancient palaces with Dr. Joann Fletcher.
The
Ecological Context of Ancient Egyptian Predynastic
Settlements by Michael
Brass
Predynastic Ancient Egypt was a contrast of
mixed ecologies. These ranged from the borderland deserts
both to the east and to the west of the floodplains, to the
contrast between the Middle and Upper Egyptian floodplains
itself and the Nile Delta. The differing environments
affected not only settlement regions, but also site
positions within those regions as well as the cultural
composition of the inhabitants.
Tunnel Vision
By Ralph Ellis & Mark Foster
(Alternative Thought)
The classical story of the discovery of the upper chambers
inside the Great pyramid at Giza is well known. In the ninth
century an Arab governor of Cairo, known as the Caliph al Ma’mun,
decided to see for himself what lay inside the Great Pyramid (Khufu
pyramid) and began to bodily excavate a tunnel through the casing
and core blocks with hammers and chisels. Fortuitously for the
Caliph, the workers who were busy tunneling shook the structure so
much that the capstone fell off the end of the ascending passage.
But now, Ralph Ellis and Mark Foster take an alternative view of
just what actually happened.
The Queens of
Egypt - Part II By Dr. Sameh Arab
The voyage to the Land of Punt was one of the most important,
and yet mysterious achievements of Hatshepsut. It is believed to
have started during her 7th regal year, immediately
after her coronation, and lasted until the 8th.
Herodotus’ later writings believed this only lasted two months.
This month Dr. Sameh Arab provides us with an in depth look at
Hatshepsut, one of the most interesting Pharaohs in Egyptian
History.
Cross Staff and Plumbline and
the Great Pyramid By Crichton E M Miller
(Alternative Thought)
This advanced protractor, similar to the cross and plumb line,
is an advanced mathematical device, capable of astronomy,
navigation and surveying. It is proposed, that the ancient
Egyptian architects and astronomers used this hybrid Celtic cross,
for the purposes of stellar alignment and timekeeping. Crichton
assembles a tool that might well have been used to help build the
great pyramids of Egypt.
Departments
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Ancient
Beauty Secrets
by Judith Illes
When the tomb of the
young pharaoh Tutankhamun was opened, among the
luxurious contents found within were various
beautifully crafted jars and containers. To the
excitement of the excavators, one particular jar was
discovered to contain a perfumed unguent, still
radiantly fragrant after so many centuries. Judith
rediscovers this perfume, and explains how to get it. |
Book
Reviews
by Mary Kay Radnich
Computer games and simulation games are
completely new to me. Last summer, I was shopping with my family
at a large computer store and spotted "PHARAOH," a part
of the city-building series by Impressions Games and Sierra
Studios. Of course, I was inspired by the opportunity to
"build a kingdom, rule the Nile" and so we not only
purchased the game, but also the official expansion sequel,
CLEOPATRA. Mary Kay shows her age, but still has some
computer game fun. |
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Kid's
Corner
by Margo Wayman
Margo has been very
busy both with the Kid's Corner in the Tour Egypt
Monthly and the Color Me Egypt section of Tour
Egypt. This month she focuses on the the
Egyptian food,
with more games, activities and many new stories, along with
fun recipes for kids. |
Cooking
with Tour Egypt
by Mary Kay Radnich
This month Mary Kay
brings us three recipes from her magic cookbook,
including Chicken with Chickpeas
(Ferakh bil Hummus), Ultimate Hummus (a new, better,
quicker recipe) and A Fool for Fuul (Fuul Medammis) |
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Hotel
Reviews
By Jimmy Dunn
This month we look at
three large hotels, all five star, and all with a little
something very special about them. The Golden five
is more of a complex which includes several hotels in
Hurghada, and one of the largest facilities most people
will ever stay in. Also a large complex, and
boasted by management as Egypt's first urban resort is
the new Cataract Pyramids hotel. Finally, there is
the venerable Nile Hilton, still a favorite of many
coming to Cairo. |
Egyptian
Exhibitions
by deTraci Regula
This month deTrace examines the The Michael C. Carlos Museum
at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia Gathered during a lifetime of collecting by Theodore and Araea
Halkidis, most of the two hundred objects in this esteemed and sometimes
controversial private collection have never been presented publicly …
before now. Items include artifacts from pre-dynastic times to artifacts
from Cleopatra's time.
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Egyptian
Night Life
by Jimmy Dunn
Most of the time, it is
the booming sound of European techno-rock, where East
meets West at least on a youthful cultural
exchange. But specialty nights for Salsa music and
classic rock vary the venue and make this a continual
favorite night spot particularly of young Europeans and
well healed Egyptians. For many years, it was just about
the only European style disco in Cairo, and while that
is no longer true with other establishments such as the
Crazy Horse, it continues to draw more would
be partyers then the management will let through the
doors. |
Restaurant
Reviews
by Juergen Stryjak
Nobody knows who created
this new trend in Cairo: Old traditional Egyptian customs
are becoming once again popular among young, westernized,
middle and upper class Cairenes. The Abou El Sid
restaurant is part of this movement, back to water pipes
and Molokhiyya soup. Juergen Stryjak recommends a
wonderful and cozy Arabic salon. |
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Shopping
Around
by Juergen Stryjak
The former famous
Sednaoui department store in Cairo’s Ezbekkiyya
neighborhood is still a very special place, not
necessarily because of its goods, but because of its
special atmosphere. Juergen Stryjak recommends it for a
journey into the past. |
Web
Reviews
by Siri Bezdicek
Web Reviews provides an interesting look at other
Egyptian sites on the Internet, by the manager of our
new Egyptbot search engine. |
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Egyptian
View-Point
By Adel Murad
Many would-be tourists, traveling with children,
wonder whether their own trip of a lifetime would appeal to the
young. Would the Nile cruise, the pyramids, the Cairo museum and
the zoo be a good substitute for Playstations and computer games?
The answer can only be a resounding "yes!" as provided
by those who have visited Egypt with their children, and were so
pleased with the whole experience.
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Editor's
Commentary
by Jimmy Dunn
The obvious is that we
have greatly expanded the Tour Egypt Monthly with many
new feature articles for March. There are over twice the
number of articles we have ever published in one month.
What may not be so obvious is that we expect this to be
a permanent development. More people then ever before
are contributing to Tour Egypt Monthly, and more are on
the way, with some fantastic articles coming up in the
near future.
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Prior Issues:
February
1st, 2001
December
1st, 2000
October
1st, 2000
September
1st, 2000
August
1st, 2000
July
1st, 2000
June
1st, 2000
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