Pastor Rick's pictures from Egypt
For Pastor Ricks itinerary click here

Rick's Roamings and Ramblings #5
Date: Fri Apr 26, 2005

I have to tell you that Alexandria, while certainly the prettiest city I’ve seen in Egypt, has also turned out to be the most frustrating!  The map the Egyptian tourist office gives you is totally useless and asking for directions usually ends up being the equivalent of trying to teach a pig to sing!  Anyway, on the 20th I made it to the new library (Biblioteca) of Alexandria.  The building is a very striking post-modern design but alas it seems to have been built more for tourists than for scholars.  I was hoping there might be some lectures and concerts happening while I was here but it seems that not much is going on this week.  I was able to spend several hours in the library reading a book that was very intriguing and relevant to my study.  It’s by David Dawson and its titled: ALLEGORICAL READERS AND CULTURAL REVISION IN ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA.  It has a whole chapter dedicated to Valentinus which I found fascinating.  I hope to go back tomorrow and copy portions of it.

The afternoon was spent at a charming little sidewalk café near my hotel drinking espresso, reading the Odes of Solomon, and trying to hear music for them inside my head.  Felt sooo Bohemian!

On the 21st I visited the Greco-Roman museum.  They have some marvelous exhibits all of which are very relevant for the period of history I’m interested in.  Especially fascinating was a display of Coptic art, some of which illustrated the merging of the Egyptian Ankh with the Christian cross, and a clay labyrinth which made me think of CVCC.  Also in the museum is a marble bust of the god Serapis.  This was a god who was invented by Ptolomy the first in an effort to unite the Egyptians and the Greeks in worship.  Apparently it worked like a charm.  It’s a good example of the religious syncretism that would continue to characterize Alexandria in the centuries ahead as Paganism, Judaism, Neoplatonism and Christianity would all interact here.

Afterwards I went in search of the Roman Theater which I was unsuccessful in finding.  It would turn out that I was only about 15 yards away from it at one point but missed it because the signage was so poor.  I spent sometime this afternoon back at "my" café watching the rain come down.

The next day started out with drizzle which cleared-up around noon.  This afternoon I resumed my search for the lost Roman Theater of Alexandria and found it - Eureka!  The theater is rather small but well preserved.  I especially enjoyed walking around the ruins of what used to be their homes which are also there at the site.

The next day, the 23, I spent the morning looking for the catacombs which, alas, I was also unsuccessful in locating.  (Do you see a pattern emerging here?)  It was nevertheless quite interesting walking around parts of the city that the tour buses won’t take you to.  I saw what I would consider to be real rural settings, with free roaming livestock and all, in the midst of the concrete and congestion of the city.  The afternoon was spent discovering that my laptop wi-fi internet connection works just fine and I emailed a few more pictures back for the chapel website.  The evening I spent studying the Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil and trying to train my ear to listen for the subtleties in the chanting.

On the 24th I took a taxi to the hidden catacombs!  They don’t allow you to take cameras into the site so I don’t have any pictures to show you, unfortunately.  This was a series of tombs built into a stone quarry.  You descend down a circular stair well to reach the first level which has several halls leading in all directions to tombs cut into the walls.  There are a few more levels below that, one of which contains the main tomb which was built, we think, for a fairly wealthy family of Alexandria.  What I enjoyed the most was walking around the triclinium (dining hall) in which special dinners would be held in honor of the dead.  It’s fascinating to imagine the family of the deceased gathering in a subterranean tomb to have a meal together.  Afterwards I walked over to nearby Pompey’s Pillar and archeological park.  There’s not much there to see, although the grounds are pleasant enough.

Later that afternoon, after returning to my hotel room, I started to come down with a cold, so I’ve been spending my time resting and reading.  I really want to be over this bug before my Wednesday flight to Rome.  I’ve been telling you mostly about my excursions but what I haven’t mentioned is that I’ve also been spending a good deal of time reading books such as:

THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY, edited by James Robinson

LIFE IN EGYPT UNDER ROMAN RULE  by Naphtali Lewis

CHRISTIANITY IN THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS by Jill Kamil

THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA, edited by Roy Macleod  (This book has a marvelous essay by Patricia Cannon Johnson about Neoplatonism and the mystery schools of the Mediterranean)

THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE by Phil Cousineau

I have particularly enjoyed the chance to read some of the ancient texts in the Nag Hammadi Library while I am here in Egypt seeing and experiencing first hand the temples, culture, land and people of this incredibly rich, historically speaking, part of the world.

Next time I write you I’ll be in Rome!  Ciao!

Your partner in our shared ministry,

Rick Yramategui

Rick's Roamings and Ramblings #4
Date: Wed Apr 19, 2005

It's been a while since I've been able to get internet access and a lot has happened. I arrived in Luxor early in the morning of the 14th and barely had time to catch my breath before heading out to tour the valley of the kings and several of the tombs there, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut (which was amazing), Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. By the end of the afternoon I was exhausted and, I think, suffering from a mild case of heat stroke.

The next day was also full. I visited the temples of Abydos and Dendara, and on the way drove through Nag Hammaddi, the village near where the NHL was discovered about sixty years ago. The temples are exquisite. Dendara is unique in that it has rooms both underneath and above the main hall which you can climb up, or down, to. In one room there is a remarkable painting on the ceiling of the sky goddes eating the sun (i.e. sunset) and then giving birth to the sun (i.e. dawn). It is an image of resurrection and rebirth.

Traveling through Nag Hammaddi was pretty special for me. Unfortunately all I could do was to take a few pictures of the cliffs which are in the general vicinity of where the NHL was found. We had to travel with an armed escort. Not very condusive to wandering around. The cliffs are quite impressive. At one point they almost come down to the banks of the Nile River. It was one of many "arrival points" on this pilgrimage.

I didn't get to savor it for very long, however, because at the end of the day when I was transfered to my boat to begin a four day cruise up the Nile my luggage was accidentaly shipped out to a resort on the Red Sea several hours drive away. Luggage and I were reunited early the next morning.

On the 17th the cruise ship stopped at three different points along the Nile: Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Aswan. Edfu has a temple dedicated to Horus. At Kom Ombo I toured the temple at sunset which was a real treat. The place has a different aura and feeling to it at this time.

The next day was another busy morning touring the unfinished obelisk, Aswan Dam, and Philae Temple. The unfinished obelisk turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. You can see how they carved the monument out of the Quarry's granite rock-face and then were forced to abandon the project after an earthquake cracked the obolisk-to-be.

Philae Temple was unique in that it's set in the middle of a lake that was created by the first dam (not the main one) built in Aswan. The temple was originally on lower ground but the rising water resulting from the dam's creation forced them to move it to it's present location. It was here in this temple that I took a picture of a Roman cross carved onto a pillar from an earlier era. What a great visual image to illustrate the overlay of traditions that we find in many ancient literary texts (like our gospels)!

Today, the 19th, I'm in Alexandria. A new city to explore - yeah! I'll tell you all about it in my next update. Hope all is well.

Your partner in our shared ministry,

Rick

Rick's Roamings and Ramblings #3
Date: Wed Apr 13, 2005

Before I get you caught-up on what I've been doing the past week I should begin by letting you know that I was no where near the bombing in Cairo last week.  I didn't even know about it until several days after it had happened.  I have actually felt very safe in Cairo.  There are lots of police officers all over the place here.  I even had an armed escort for part of my trip yesterday to Tell el-Amarna.  That was a new experience for me!  But let me back up.

Last week on Wednesday and Thursday I spent my time reading and studying some of the NHL texts and the Odes of Solomon.  No trips or site seeing those days.  On Friday I took a day trip to the monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul (not the Apostle Paul from the NT).  It was one of a series of many highlights of the trip so far.  There are some pictures on the website of these monasteries and of the cave that St. Anthony is said to have lived in towards the end of the third century CE.  At the monastery of St. Paul I actually got to see a group of Italian specialists at work restoring the fresco paintings in one of the chapels there.  

Saturday was a "down day," though I did manage to find a piano I could use for a couple of hours and begin to get some thoughts down on manuscript.  Sunday I returned to worship at the Coptic Church near my hotel.  The afternoon was spent touring the Muhammed Ali Mosque, which is quite impressive (see photos) a few other mosques and the Coptic Quarter again.

Monday was a spectacular day visiting the step pyramid in Saqqara, one of the first pyramids in Egypt.  I actually enjoyed this one most of all because I really had a sense of history here.  The pyramids of Giza are so huge and magnificent that one loses all perspective.  It's like the difference between a Franco Zeffarelli film and one by Cecil B. de Miles.

At Gaza I was able to actually climb inside the great pyramid and spend a few moments in the King's room.  That was a thrill, but the thing I liked the most about Giza was the sphinx and the temple ruins which are to the side of it.  That was were I felt a sense of spirit.  It was there in the temple centuries ago that the king's body was prepared for burial with all the ancient rites.

Yesterday I took a long day trip down to Tell el-Amarna to see the tombs and the palace of Akenaten.  I must say that I was disappointed at the palace ruins.  There just isn't much there.  Try as I did to imagine what it looked like way back then I just couldn't conjure up a convincing image.  Maybe the heat had fried the brain cells one needs for imagination!  But the tombs there are absolutely the most incredible thing I have ever seen.  It is amazing how much of the ancient painting and hieroglyphs have survived.  I could have stayed there for several days just staring up at the art work carved and painted into the walls of those tombs.  One of the tombs had actually been used by a group of Copts for worship.  One can easily see where they chiseled out part of the wall to form an area for an altar.  Very interesting.

Today I tried to take it easy.  I got to the American University in Cairo and was so happy to find some books I wanted, especially one that is a transcription of the Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil with a CD and the chants fully notated.  Listening to the CD this afternoon wasn't quite as good as hearing it in a large, cavernous church while you're smelling the incense and looking up at the icons, but it's pretty cool.

Tomorrow I travel to Luxor and then will spend a few days cruising down the Nile to Aswan.  I probably won't get to an internet cafe until I get to Alexandria in about a week.  I'll send  more then.  Hope all is well.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Your partner in our shared ministy,

Rick

Rick's Roamings and Ramblings #2
Date: Tue Apr 5, 2005

I've been in Cairo for 5 days now and I think my internal clock is slowly setting itself to it's new time zone. I've been to the Coptic part of Old Cairo, which is where the first five pictures are from. I was extremely disappointed to find out that the Coptic Museum is closed for renovation. This is the museum that houses the Nag Hammaddi Library (NHL).

The Egyptian Museum, which I went to yesterday, was fascinating. Among the many exhibits strewn around with all the organization forethought of a Costco wherehouse were some ancient papyri manuscripts that look like they could have been from the NHL. I suppose I'll have to be content with that. The Tutenkahmen exhibit is really incredible. It was so thrilling to be in the presence of all those exquisite artifacts which up till now I had only known through pictures.

On Sunday morning I attended worship at a Coptic Church nearby. What an experience! It was very moving even though it was all in Arabic (at least I think it was Arabic). Almost the whole service was chanted in a mode that doesn't resemble any Western tonality that I'm familiar with. Lots of incense, too. And the service lasts for more than two hours.

Last night I attended a concert featuring an Iraqi musician, Naseer Shamma. He was fantastic. He played an instrument call the ould (sp?) which looks to me like a mandolin on steroids. I think it's a cross between a lute and a mandolin. I'm bringing home his CD so we can all listen to it sometime.

I had one of the most remarkable experiences so far at breakfast yesterday morning. Three Iraqi gentlemen sat at my table. It turns out that they are journalists visiting Cairo for a training seminar being held at the American University. I couldn't resist inquiring about how things really are in Iraq now. They seemed quite genuine and sincere in their response that things are going much better now compared to when Saddam was in power, they are enjoying more freedom than ever before, and they are confident that things are only going to continue to get better. One of them said that the most dangerous "weapon of mass destruction" in Iraq was actually found the day the soldiers discovered Saddam Hussein. They all were very adament that, while serious mistakes were made in the invasion of Iraq, the end result is going to be a much better, more free and democratic Iraq. I told them that our thoughts and prayers are with them as they rebuild their country.

So those are the highlights so far. I am gratefull to be on this pilgrimage even though some of it has been more "travail" than "travel." One's life deepens by being stretched a little. Hope all is well back home.

Your partner in our shared ministry,

Rick

Rick's Roamings and Ramblings #1
Date: Fri Apr 1, 2005

Greetings from Cairo, Egypt! I've been here a little less than 24 hours so I don't have much to report yet. Today was spent recovering from jet lag and getting aquainted with Zamalek, the part of Cairo where my hotel is. I discovered a cultural center nearby and am planning to go to a concert there on Monday.

The only problem I've had so far happened 36 hours before I left home. My computer crashed and I had to re-install all my software, a process which took several hours-hours I really did not have! I'm hoping that this is a good omen and that the worst is now over and I can approach the remaining adventures with confidence. (Wow, talk about spin control).

Well, that's all for now. Hope all is well for you and your PC.

Your partner in our shared ministry,

Rick Yramategui