Egypt 2022
I don’t like the concept of a bucket list. Ticking boxes seems a bit empty and disconnected from my intention for traveling. Yet Egypt was always just a bucket list place for me. Something in my Rome-centric perspective relegated Ancient Egypt as a footnote to achieving the greatness of THE Empire. Academically, I understood there was some connection from the Pyramids to the Pantheon, but I didn’t clearly see the through-line.
As a travel destination, Egypt seemed to just be a touristy, hot, dirty stop on a grand package tour for the masses to see the Pyramids. And, for many, this is exactly what Egypt delivers. It has all the stuff — cruises, bus tours of international hoards following flag-waiving tour guides, descending on over-crowded, sweaty, unkempt monuments. It’s a bit much.
I’m not writing to tell you that I’ve found some hidden-secret, deep connection to a traveler’s Egypt that will dazzle your wanderlust. Sure, you can avoid some of the schlock with some savvy planning and have a lovely time, but that’s not what moved me to write (I’m happy to share notes if you’re planning to go).
It was the Pyramids-to-Pantheon, the through-line, that got me. As I often find in life, my expectations can be shifted through my experiences. And what I’ve just experienced over the past 10 days is that Ancient Egypt isn’t just the footnote to the development of the Hellenistic and Roman dominance of civilization. In fact, Egypt is volumes 1-3 of a 5-part series. In so many ways, Egypt is the most important study to understanding all civilizations on this planet, past and present.
The thing that struck me the most was the sheer endurance of Egyptian culture. The primary belief system that drove their kingdoms endured for more than 3,000 years without much deviance to the structure. Pharaohs came and went, regions were conquered and ceded, massive monuments erected and expanded, but the gods and god-kings & queens that made Egypt Egypt seemed to hold them together for an impossibly long time.
Moreover, the pyramids were built 2500 years before Cleopatra existed. We live 450 years closer to her than she did to the early dynasty that built them. And what occurred in between was an astonishing leap forward in all aspects of civilization that make it much easier to appreciate what the Egyptians handed over to the Greeks and Romans that not only made them possible but are represented in so many aspects of our modern cultures.
And then there is the scale of it all. I remember the first time I stood in front of the Pantheon and awed at the massive columns the dominate the porch. I still do every time I see it. But those sixteen 12-meter Egyptian granite columns now seem meager in comparison to the 134 massive columns of the Karnak temple in Luxor. And Karnack was built nearly 1500 years earlier. The scale of construction in ancient Egypt, beyond the Pyramids, was overwhelmingly impressive and humbling at the same time.
I love finding the holes in my knowledge and experience. These opportunities to learn are the juice of life. So, if you have any interest in the ancient world, obviously this place is a must. If you go, go beyond the Pyramids - get to Abu Simbel, Philae and spend a couple of days in Luxor. I’m happy to say I can remove it from any notion of a bucket list and am planning to come back with Judah to blow his mind too.