King Tutankhamen’s Tomb

By Grace Muth

When you say you are going to the Valley of the Kings people ask “Will you see King Tut’s tomb?” and my answer is “Yes, yes I will” and I have.  Not only did I see the boy king’s tomb, but also I learned so much.  I hope I can relay some of that information.

Before I begin to tell the story of my experience in King Tut’s tomb I would like to give some backstory.  There are many theories on how Tut died and much speculation.  The first theory is: When King Tut was nineteen, he had a son, he was murdered by his successor, his son was also killed, and the Tut family tree ended.  The second theory is: King Tut was twenty-two and got very sick, had no son to take over when he died, and so the high priest of Egypt, named Priest Ay, took over for him.  My theory combines the two but has no archeological proof.  First King Tut was nineteen and was poisoned but recovered, and had a son.  Next both Tut and his son were killed when Tut was twenty-two.

The next piece of backstory is what happened after Tut’s death.  Everything happened quickly because Tut’s rule was so short, and because there was no son to take over after him.  Priest Ay, the person who may or may not have killed Tut, took over.  The tomb of Priest Ay covered the entrance of King Tut’s tomb.  While grave robbers stole the priceless treasures in Priest Ay’s tomb they failed to find Tut’s tomb.  When the archeologists discovered Tut’s tomb it was intact.  That was a little backstory on King Tutankhamen.

King Tut is a fascinating subject and so is his tomb. But the question is why?  I might have a few answers to clear the air.  The first reason Tut’s tomb is fascinating is the pictures on the walls.  All tombs have amazing pictures, but none as amazing as King Tut’s.  One on the pictures is of twelve baboons; these represent the twelve hours of the night.  Another depiction on the tomb wall is of King Tut and his second life spirit, called a Ka, embracing Osiris who is the god of the after life.  The last picture I thought was amazing enough to mention was of the opening of the mouth ceremony. Priest Ay is shown performing the ceremony.  Another note worthy sight were the colors.  In the tomb after thirty-five hundred years the colors were still as bright and as vivid as if they had been painted yesterday.

The mummy itself was a very interesting sight.  Stretching heads to toe the mummy was no longer that 5’ 6”.  The linen wrapping the body was still as white as freshly cleaned sheets.  Tut’s skin was the color of walnut shells. There was a small hole just behind his left ear lobe with dark dried blood. Aside from the fact that Tut’s eyes were wide open and looked full of fear, the mummy seemed at peace with the universe.  I hope that my description of the tomb has left a pretty good idea in your mind.

Now that I have given some backstory and described the tomb, it’s story time.  We arrived at the Valley of the Kings at about 7:00 am.  We got into the orientation building and debated why or why not to go in King Tut’s tomb.  Some reasons to go were: you don’t go to the Valley of the Kings and not go in King Tut’s tomb, the paintings are amazing, its King Tut, and why not.  Some reasons not to go were: it’s not worth the extra $7, there’s nothing to see, we’re already going into 3 other tombs, I don’t think it’s going to be that interesting.  All in all I decided to go.  Two tombs and a death march later it was time for Tut’s tomb!  The group that decided to go started their decent.  The stairs were more like a ramp with railings and bars to keep your feet from slipping; the ceiling was pretty low as well.  We shuffled our way down pausing to look at the wall and ceiling paintings.  When we entered the burial chamber the first thing I saw was the mummy on my left and the beautiful gold sarcophagus to my right.  There were small wooden fences keeping people from getting to close to the mummy and the coffin.  The mummy was encased in glass but was creepy nonetheless.  After spending a good 15 minutes in the tomb I reluctantly left the tomb feeling thoroughly grateful that I went.  King Tut’s tomb was one of the coolest things I’ve seen so far.  I’m glad I got to share my story.

King Tutankhamen’s tomb was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see the artifacts that the archeologists took out of the tomb when we go to the Cairo museum on Friday.  I hope I can see and learn more things that are just as cool.  Unfortunately photography was prohibited in the tomb, so the pictures we have are off the internet.

These are the 12 baboons (9 of them, anyway) and Tut embracing Osiris.

This is Tut's tomb from the outside.

The Geography of Egypt

by Maggie Muth

A very important part of Egypt is the Nile River. Egypt is a desert, and the Nile is the only source of water. In the old days people lived by the Nile for farming. The Nile River flooded every year on June 18^th. The flooding was very good for farming because of all the water. People lived by the Nile, and that is one reason it is a symbol of life. Another reason is all of the water because people need water to live. The ankh, a symbol of life, looks like the Nile; the delta as the circle and the arms as the dividing between Upper and Lower Egypt.

The Ankh: symbol of life and the Nile River

Mom and me in the Valley of the Kings.
Notice the green Nile Valley in the background.

A family walks their flock of sheep to the Nile to drink.

Upper and Lower Egypt are the two main parts of Egypt. Lower Egypt is actually north of Upper Egypt! It is called Upper Egypt because it has lots of mountains, and the Nile flows north (but downhill) to Lower Egypt and then into the Mediterranean Sea. So north and south are not the same as up and down in Egypt (even if it looks that way on a map).

The Red Sea is another very important part of Egypt. It helps with two of the five main incomes: tourism and the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is a source of income because ships pay to travel through it instead of going all the way around Africa. Tourism is a source of income because tourists came to see all of the cool temples. But once you’ve seen the temples and pyramids, you’re done.  Most tourists don’t come back to see them again. But tourists like to come every year to vacation at the resorts.  So Egypt has developed all the resorts on the Red Sea where it used to just be desert.

           

Egyptians made up myths to explain lots of things. Here are two myths:

Sirius The Star

Sirius the star is a myth to tell when the Nile floods. Sirius shows up on June 18^th (when the Nile floods), stays in the sky, and disappears for 70 days until the next flood.

The Rise of Osiris Cult

Another Egyptian myth is how Upper and Lower Egypt came to be. Osiris and Set are brothers, Isis and Osiris are married Set kills Osiris to over come the throne. But Isis brings Osiris back to life. Set kills Osiris again and cuts him in two, Upper and Lower Egypt. But Osiris’ spirit helps Isis and they have a son, Horus. Horus has a fight with Set and kills Set! Peace once again!

Osiris=God of the afterlife

Set=God of chaos and change

Isis=Goddess of magic and protection

Horus=God of the sky

Horus

Isis

Osiris

Set

Ancient Wonder of the World? Yes, oh yes.

Seeing the pyramids rise from the desert sand is a sight to behold, even in midday sun, closely watched by armed guards and pestered by local hawkers.  It is worth wading through Cairo traffic.  It is worth choking on the bus exhaust that clouds the air.  But seeing the pyramids is only one thing.  Climbing inside the pyramid of Khufu, walking bent over up the 100 meters of steep, narrow tunnel through the corbeled grand gallery into the red granite burial chamber is indescribable.  Does your heart pound feeling the weight of 4500 years of history pressing down on you? Yes.  Does sweat drip from your nose smelling the stagnant air that once held the ruler of a mighty civilization? Yes.  Does the air feel cool and sweet and better than ever once you emerge from this wonder?  Yes.  I shook the Sahara from my shoes this evening feeling blessed to have this opportunity.

Change is good, transitions are hard

Our arrival in Cairo was about as expected.  Our air conditioned bus, guide, driver and armed security guard were waiting for us.  The air was thicker than usual due to a sandstorm but our hopes were high that is would clear shortly.  Arriving at the University was a typical endeavor in confusion until we found the Res Life staffers who gave us the welcome we were hoping for.  After getting the students settled we were whisked off campus to a very nice apartment where we were confident that we would be comfortable for the next month.  The similarity to our accommodations in Costa Rica was shocking.  Comfortable but isolated.  The next day we were faced with the task of gathering supplies with no simple access to transportation.  Recall that in a previous episode of the Muth Family Adventures a routine trip to the grocery store resulted in facial stitches and fainting so we did not embark on this mission lightly (or with the children).  The guard at our building arranged for the campus shuttle to take us to the Oscar Superstore where I assured Janet that we would be able to find the necessary items to feed the children.  I should have been alerted to Janet's growing concern about this endeavor as we approached the store, a five-story colossus reminiscent of the Temple of Athena.  "This is not a grocery store, we won't be able to get food here!”, she exclaimed.  Now I was reasonably confident at this point given the 3-story graphic of a shopping cart on the front of the building.  We entered the store, found a cart and were offered fresh gelato from a nice man wearing a chef's hat and a starched white apron (I don't think we're in Cub anymore).  A quick lap through meat and produce (yes, six different types of mangoes) left us wanting more.  "Where is the dairy, the paper goods, the snacks!", she exclaimed.  Looking around I spied an escalator rising to the second floor.  Peering up I saw dairy, then snacks then more as the floors climbed gently up in a veritable tower of consumerism.  We gently pushed the cart onto the escalator and found that it was magnetically held in place as we elegantly climbed up one story.  I was having good luck with the fellow slicing turkey breast for Maggie's sandwiches when Janet comes racing up, "There is cheese in jars and butter in cans and I can't tell how much anything costs!"  Sensing that she was transitioning out of her comfort zone closer to the panic zone I suggested that we look at the eggs together.  "Well, these eggs are 11 Pounds and these are 25 Pounds" (they use the Egyptian Pound here) I said pointing to the signs below the eggs.  Now you must realize that the prices were written in Arabic, in fact most everything was written in Arabic.  She looked at me blankly, "How on Earth do you know that!".  If you know Janet and I she is the one who in the master of languages while I do a lot of smiling and nodding.  I figured at this point honesty was the best policy.  "Maggie taught me" I said sheepishly, taking a small step backwards.  "What!", Janet exploded.  "Yes", I quickly explained, "On the bus yesterday Maggie was telling me about how she had noticed the numbers on the baggage carousel and then she and I were practicing on the license plates as we drove to campus".  I really can't explain the reaction.  There was relief, pride, spite and maybe a few more written on her face.  But for me I was thrilled that a simple trip to the grocery store turned into a wonderful adventure in travel, relationships and culture.  

Regular or Decaf?

What are those?

Salt or sugar?

on location temple of poseidon

Temple Construction and Analyzation by Prof. James Muth

           

Temple Construction

The world of temples is certainly a marble covered one. It has so many layers with detail, precision and years of perfection. Temples are the worshipping areas for the ancient Greek gods, and boy are they a perfect place to do so. They have been preserved, researched and renovated to our liking but did the gods like the basic construction of these temples? We can only guess, but we can decide if we like them or not. One thing is for sure the construction is sure to amaze.

            The basic temple construction is like a rectangle surrounded by columns. The rectangle is divided into three rooms. Above the columns is the epistyle. The epistyle is the rectangle above the columns but below the roof. The epistyle is a “filmstrip” that tells or explains a story. On the Parthenon (temple of Athena) there are four epistyles, one for each side.  One of them has the Panathenaic procession. Each image in the epistyle is a marble block that has been chiseled to perfection. The epistyle looks like a comic strip on an ancient temple. The roof is very simple and just is a small slope that meets in the middle.

            The three rooms in a temple are the Prenaos, the Naos and the Opistodomos. If you were to walk into the “front door” of the temple you would walk into the Prenaos. The Prenaos is the room for preparing yourself for worship or sacrifice. Then if you would walk straight forward you would go into the Naos.  The Naos is the room that usually has the statue in it. That is were the main priest or priestess would worship or sacrifice to the god. The final room is the Opistodomos. It is the “back door” and is “filled with wisdom”.

            Our family of five went to several temples. We were engulfed in things to see and learn. There is still a lot to learn about temples but I hope this post scratched the surface on this marble covered world.                                                                -James