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| Sunday, 28 November 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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In the footsteps of Christ... : The Land of the Pharaohs by Carol Aloysius Egypt. The cradle of ancient civilisation. We are on the last lap of our Holy Land trip. We left Israel after an emotional parting with our two very competent guides and a memorable farewell dinner at the hotel we were staying , King David, which incidentally boasts of a tree growing in its large dining room said to be the very one under which King David played his harp. At dinner, the Minister of Tourism in Israel confer on all 100 of us pilgrims, the grand title 'Ambassador of Goodwill to Israel'. We enjoy a scenic drive through the vast east Arabian desert and past
the gulf of Aquaba in a luxury coach, which provide plenty of The scenery hasn't changed much, for around us are still vast stretches of desert, but to our amazement a burst of colour greets us as we near a chain of hotels near the sea where we see a profusion of Mediterranean bougainvillaeas in their brilliant hues of pink, red, orange, white and purple. We are heading for Mount Sinai and St. Catherine church, both set in a wild and dramatically beautiful setting in the desert. We pass several Bedouin traders, who live in nomadic fashion in the desert and earn income by taking their homemade goods on camel-back to Cairo. The sandy desert rises in sharp ranges of sandstone peaks as we near Mount Sinai where Moses received the Word of God in the form of the Ten Commandments which form the structure of several of the world's great religions. The Mountain rises sharply into the sky, the highest of several sandstone peaks where ancient seismic activity has forced the stratified rock towards the sky, fashioning them into bizarre shapes, one of them which our guide point to as being Lot's wife "who was turned into a pillar of salt" for disobeying God. St. Caherine church which is part of an ancient monastery, is said to have been built on the very spot where Moses confronted the 'BURNING BUSH' and heard the voice of God. We are taken to a medium sized verdant bush with frond like branches which our guide tells us is the regeneration of the original Burning Bush. "This tree is the only one of its kind in the world. People who visit us have taken branches and tried to grow them in their countries, but failed." While the church is within our reach, the summit of the Mount Sinai itself poses a formidable challenge. Only a few of the younger and more adventurous minded in our group, venture to take that long treacherous ride up the rocky mountain on camel's back for over two hours and then scale to the summit, climbing rough rock hewn steps without hand rails, upto the very top. My son Jehan who was one of this small group of adventurous climbers, tells me that the view from that high point is most spectacular and the sight of the sun setting is 'awesome'. The next day we leave for Cairo driving again through the eastern desert of Africa, the largest desert in the country. The monotony of the vast barren desert is broken now and again with camel riders, mostly Bedouins, and a military camp. Nearing the city we see the River Nile as we catch our first glimpse of the Nile valley beginning our descent from the desert. The Nile valley fed only by the mighty river from whence it has derived its name, is a green fertile valley judging from the profusion of vegetable fields and foliage we pass. We see typical rustic scenes reminiscent of our own villages in Sri Lanka, where men, women and children ride on donkey carts (instead of bullock carts as in Sri lanka) carrying tons of fresh carrots, cabbages, tomatoes, peaches, dates and corn to the market. We are now in the oldest part of Cairo, the Old City. We enter it by climbing down some steps leading to an old roman gate that leads to a narrow passage, walking along a cobbled pavement, past rows of very ancient buildings with barred windows, which now belong to the Antiquities Department. The latter has restored part of the buildings but allowed the original Roman wall built out of silt bricks. Here we visit five churches dating back to the time when the Holy Family was in Egypt. We visit the Abu Segar church which is claimed to be built over a crypt where the Holy Family hid in Egypt. A service in Hebrew is being conducted at this church, which is now maintained by the supreme council of antiquities. The other churches we visit are; the first Coptic (christian) church built by St. Mark which has a wooden ceiling with designs made of bits of wood. "The Egyptians never throw wood. They use left over wood for making ornaments and decorations. The same is true their marble work which they have obtained from old palaces of the Pharaohs. The mosaic designs are typically Arabic", says our guide, an Egyptologist. The next day we head for Memphis and Saqqara. Our bus passes through a fertile valley of green trees, corn fields and vegetables beds and we see several schoolchildren on their way to school. Education here is free and compulsory upto the primary grades, we are told. The river Nile and its tributaries is the only source of water for the entire valley. |
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viewing
space. Two hours later, we are nearing the Red Sea (the sea of Reeds),
whose waters parted for the Israelites when escaping from Egypt. Our bus
travels via a long tunnel that goes under the Suez Canal. We are now in
Africa.
