Moving On

Monday, March 13
5:19 am CST
1:19 pm Egypt

This morning we left Cairo heading north through the delta. Our first stop was Bubastis in the modern city of Zagazig. The precise history escapes me at the moment, but it’s most striking feature is a block yard of broken boulders, which together comprise a celebratory hall. It’s as if a giant literally came by and kicked the thing down, as bits, large and small, of the inscribed structure are strewn everywhere. I had fun bouncing through the field, peering at each block to see what lie on the sides. We were lucky to run into an excavation in progress. A German team is working to catalog and perhaps reassemble and restore a good portion of the blocks into their original form. This is difficult, as several of the major pieces (i.e. the most highly decorated) have been given to museums around the world.



The Oberoi sent us off with a box lunch, which we ate on the bus. We’re now en route to Tanis, a city I know little about save for it was where Indiana Jones found the ark. The majority of the goods are at the Egyptian Museum. I saw them, lovely pieces, lots of gold and jewelry. This stop is for the die-hards who like to see where everything CAME from.

We are expected to arrive in Port Said late. I didn’t realize that we weren’t spending much time there at all, sadly. I think there is more to see and do in Alexandria.