{"id":69481,"date":"2019-01-22T21:34:28","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T04:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=69481"},"modified":"2019-01-27T20:27:21","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T03:27:21","slug":"69481","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/69481.html","title":{"rendered":"Egypt, anybody?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Al-ahraamaat<\/a>
Great as they are, there\u2019s actually a whole lot more to ancient Egypt than just these. And then there\u2019s Christian Egypt. And medieval Islamic Egypt. And Ottoman Egypt. And modern Egypt. The country is, without fail, fascinating. \u00a0\u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

During our recent visit to Egypt, I found out that \u2014 contrary to what I believe I had heard before \u2014 the tour that I\u2019ll be accompanying to Egypt between 9 May and 16 May 2019<\/a> may still have some vacancies.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The local guide who will lead us in May, Hany Tawfik<\/a>, is a friend who was with us most recently in late December and early January. \u00a0He is one of the finest, most enjoyable, and most eminent tour guides in Egypt.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever wanted to see the Nile, the pyramids of Giza, the step pyramid at Saqqara, the Great Sphinx, the golden death mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, his tomb and mummy in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor, the great temple of Karnak, the colossal statue of Ramses II, the ancient Old Kingdom capital of Memphis, the massive High Dam at Aswan (and Lake Nasser behind it), the beautiful temple of Isis at Philae, the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo, the Colossi of Memnon, and the spectacular funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, this is a chance to do that. \u00a0You might even get a chance to take a carriage ride through the back streets of the modern city of Luxor, which \u2014 trust me \u2014 is a really memorable experience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
\u201cThe Battle of the Pyramids,\u201d by Fran\u00e7ois-Louis-Joseph Watteau (ca. 1798-1799. (Wikimedia CC public domain)
In historical reality, the battle occurred far enough from the pyramids that they were only barely visible on the horizon. And, once the battle was actually underway, they were probably obscured by smoke from muskets and cannons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before leading the French army to victory at the\u00a0Battle of the Pyramids\u00a0on 21 July 21 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte rallied his troops by pointing to the distant pyramids and telling them, \u201cSoldiers, forty centuries look down upon you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Actually, though, his arithmetic was a bit off. \u00a0Even in 1798, the Great Pyramid at Giza was roughly forty-four<\/em> centuries old. \u00a0It was further in the past from Jesus than Jesus is from us<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re just back from seeing the film Green Book<\/em><\/a>, which I thoroughly, thoroughly liked. \u00a0(Watch the official trailer here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Green Book<\/em> has received\u00a0five Oscar nominations for the\u00a091st Academy Awards, including\u00a0Best Picture,\u00a0Best Actor\u00a0(Viggo Mortensen, looking very unlike Aragorn, son of Arathorn),\u00a0Best Supporting Actor\u00a0(Mahershala Ali),\u00a0Best Original Screenplay,\u00a0and\u00a0Best Film Editing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Saturday evening, we attended the Utah Opera\u2019s performance of Rachel Portman\u2019s and Nicholas Wright\u2019s The Little Prince<\/em><\/a>, which is based on the 1943 novella<\/a> by the French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry (1900-1944)<\/a>, which in its turn ranks among the bestselling books of all time \u2014 a fact that I find exceedingly surprising and strange. \u00a0I thought, though, that some of the lyrics and some of the music were quite beautiful.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 During our recent visit to Egypt, I found out that \u2014 contrary to what I believe I had heard before \u2014 the tour that I\u2019ll be accompanying to Egypt between 9 May and 16 May 2019 may still have some vacancies. \u00a0 The local guide who will lead us in May, Hany Tawfik, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3094,3100,936,3079,951,3070,3091,3088,3082,3061,3076,3058,3049,3085,3052,3073,3103,3055,3046,3064,3067,3097],"class_list":["post-69481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aswan","tag-colossi-of-memnon","tag-daniel-peterson","tag-edfu","tag-egypt","tag-green-book","tag-hatshepsut","tag-isis","tag-karnak","tag-king-tut","tag-kom-ombo","tag-luxor","tag-nile","tag-philae","tag-pyramids","tag-ramses-ii","tag-saqqara","tag-sphinx","tag-tour","tag-tutankhamen","tag-tutankhamun","tag-valley-of-the-kings"],"yoast_head":"\nEgypt, anybody?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    During our recent visit to Egypt, I found out that -- contrary to what I believe I had heard before -- the tour that I'll be accompanying to\" 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