We went to Egypt for a conference (Melinda as speaker, me as map-reader and bag carrier). We found Cairo quite unsettling and after the conference took a train down to Luxor. The train was filthy and had no air conditioning, but at least it was authentically Egyptian. The museum at Luxor was one of the best we’d seen. We crossed over to The Valley of the Kings, where I secretly threw a plasticine pebble containing some of my brother’s ashes in between two pharaohs’ tombs. On our last day, back in Cairo, we got food poisoning. The Curse of the Brother’s Ashes.
Such an interesting piece. I visited Egypt over twenty years now and was very uncomfortable at a trip that just saw the sanitised, tourist version and so, like you, avoided that but found the contrast between the two worlds very unsettling at times, though I thought it was such a beautiful country and am glad to have travelled there.
I have visited southern Africa - South Africa, Zimbabwe, and, briefly, Zambia - but I've never stayed anywhere in northern Africa. Would love to visit someday! Such an incredible collection of cultures/histories.
I've made only a couple of fleeting visits to Egypt, the first was in 1964 when I was a passenger on a ship going through the Suez Canal and took the opportunity to get off at Port Said, visit Cairo and rejoin the ship at Suez. I didn't have a camera then and don't remember a lot about it, although I do remember being very impressed by the collections in the Cairo Museum. Then a while ago I came across a book of postcards of Port Said, which dated from pre-WW1. I scanned them and put them in a Flickr album, which you can access from the link at the foot of this post.
The recipe looks good - I've kept a copy of it and will give it a try!
I’m a devotee of Egyptian chicken soup - the broth flavoured with cardamon and coriander seed, and then at the end thickened by sneaking egg into, gradually, so that the whole things become the consistency of custard. Then the fresh lemon.
I lived in Egypt for a couple of years, and it's an unforgettable, beautiful and unsettling place. I'm still processing it all, even though I left in 2018. Its ancient glories are astonishing, and I'd love to see the new museum, now fully open. But it's full of astonishing history and buildings from more recent periods. I remember a colleague pointing out to me how you can look across Cairo and see evidence of thousands of years of history at a glance, along with the effervescence of the present.
That’s a wonderful thought - and so true. There were so many other things I could have said but one of the things that interests me is how memory brings certain things to the front of your mind and relegates others to the back step - even though they might have been more astonishing at the time.
I had to smile. Just read your post . . . a little rice, a few vegetables, some lentils and spices . . . in fact, our dinner this evening. Except that we had cooked dried beans instead of rice, and a slice of newly-made wholewheat bread. We know how to live ! (Actually . . . the warm chocolate brownie at Reepham this afternoon was so very deliciously rich that we couldn’t face anything else !)
When I was about eleven years old, it was a settled fact for me that I would grow up to be an Egyptologist. I was completely fascinated by its history. Somehow Egyptology eluded me entirely, perhaps because I never did anything that would have led to such an outcome. I have never even visited Egypt, and it’s probably too late now. One of the daughters-in-law took her family to Egypt this Christmas, and their pictures were astounding: but everywhere was packed with tourists and, although their guides were very knowledgeable and pleasant, they never met any ‘real’ Egyptians. The d-i-l speaks passable Arabic, btw….
We went to Egypt for a conference (Melinda as speaker, me as map-reader and bag carrier). We found Cairo quite unsettling and after the conference took a train down to Luxor. The train was filthy and had no air conditioning, but at least it was authentically Egyptian. The museum at Luxor was one of the best we’d seen. We crossed over to The Valley of the Kings, where I secretly threw a plasticine pebble containing some of my brother’s ashes in between two pharaohs’ tombs. On our last day, back in Cairo, we got food poisoning. The Curse of the Brother’s Ashes.
Well that went off too soon. I wanted to say how good the recipe sounds (but then all your recipes do!).
Love the lentil poem!
Such an interesting piece. I visited Egypt over twenty years now and was very uncomfortable at a trip that just saw the sanitised, tourist version and so, like you, avoided that but found the contrast between the two worlds very unsettling at times, though I thought it was such a beautiful country and am glad to have travelled there.
Exactly my sentiments Deborah.
I have visited southern Africa - South Africa, Zimbabwe, and, briefly, Zambia - but I've never stayed anywhere in northern Africa. Would love to visit someday! Such an incredible collection of cultures/histories.
I've made only a couple of fleeting visits to Egypt, the first was in 1964 when I was a passenger on a ship going through the Suez Canal and took the opportunity to get off at Port Said, visit Cairo and rejoin the ship at Suez. I didn't have a camera then and don't remember a lot about it, although I do remember being very impressed by the collections in the Cairo Museum. Then a while ago I came across a book of postcards of Port Said, which dated from pre-WW1. I scanned them and put them in a Flickr album, which you can access from the link at the foot of this post.
The recipe looks good - I've kept a copy of it and will give it a try!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126114654@N05/albums/72177720297354581/
I’m a devotee of Egyptian chicken soup - the broth flavoured with cardamon and coriander seed, and then at the end thickened by sneaking egg into, gradually, so that the whole things become the consistency of custard. Then the fresh lemon.
That sounds wonderful!
I lived in Egypt for a couple of years, and it's an unforgettable, beautiful and unsettling place. I'm still processing it all, even though I left in 2018. Its ancient glories are astonishing, and I'd love to see the new museum, now fully open. But it's full of astonishing history and buildings from more recent periods. I remember a colleague pointing out to me how you can look across Cairo and see evidence of thousands of years of history at a glance, along with the effervescence of the present.
That’s a wonderful thought - and so true. There were so many other things I could have said but one of the things that interests me is how memory brings certain things to the front of your mind and relegates others to the back step - even though they might have been more astonishing at the time.
Love the lentil poem. The best falafel I ever ate were from a street stall in Cairo. Made with fava beans not chickpeas.
And this is a cheeky plug for a gorgeous Egypt-themed book just published by a friend of mine.
https://embroiderersguild.com/dreams-of-amarna/
I had to smile. Just read your post . . . a little rice, a few vegetables, some lentils and spices . . . in fact, our dinner this evening. Except that we had cooked dried beans instead of rice, and a slice of newly-made wholewheat bread. We know how to live ! (Actually . . . the warm chocolate brownie at Reepham this afternoon was so very deliciously rich that we couldn’t face anything else !)
It is!
Wendy
Beautiful images and wonderfully rendered memories.
When I was about eleven years old, it was a settled fact for me that I would grow up to be an Egyptologist. I was completely fascinated by its history. Somehow Egyptology eluded me entirely, perhaps because I never did anything that would have led to such an outcome. I have never even visited Egypt, and it’s probably too late now. One of the daughters-in-law took her family to Egypt this Christmas, and their pictures were astounding: but everywhere was packed with tourists and, although their guides were very knowledgeable and pleasant, they never met any ‘real’ Egyptians. The d-i-l speaks passable Arabic, btw….
Wow, so much work went into this. Yeats and so much more. Great photo.
Never been but write about the Dead Sea Scrolls in new book edition coming out. Hope it's okay to share a link from the publisher of our dreams (scroll down) inside all the funny quips: https://alisajones.substack.com/p/sorry-im-late-i-tried-to-take-an
She's a hoot and inventive publisher... xx
Absolutely fine! Thanks Mary, it was fun to bring it all together.
You're a love. I know you coulda deleted: So grateful here, Liz! 💐