Memphis, Sakkara and More

We checked out of our Cairo hotel this morning (Thursday), because after a full day today we'll be heading to Luxor tonight.

We rode to Memphis, which was the capital of Egypt at the time of Abraham's visit in Genesis 12:10-20 (which we read). We also read Exodus 2:1-10, because this would likely have been the spot where Pharoah's daughter found Moses in the bulrushes.


We saw also the alabaster sphinx:


...and the massive statue of Rameses II discovered here:


Our next stop was Sakkara, the site of the famous step pyramid...


...where we could also see from a distance the famous "broken pyramid" and one other failed attempt before Snefru, the father of Cheops finally accomplished the first pyramid with perfect angles:


Next we stopped at a local carpet school (and store), where the students really gripped Robin's heart:


Then we visited the gigantic Amro mosque, which dates to the seventh century:


We removed our shoes and entered....


....as afternoon prayers were in progress. These were followed by a funeral procession--actually just a blessing of the coffin, as Muslims here are buried in the sand:


From there we saw a papyrus-making shop (and art store) and the historic Mena House hotel, built in 1867 by the pyramids.

At 8 tonight we board a train, and tomorrow we wake in Luxor!

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