Egypt: Giza, Cairo, Luxor, Nile and Aswan.

View from room at Sheraton Cairo                           Invitation to a camel ride (declined)

Camels by Pyramid of  Khafre, behind Great Pyramid of Khufu

Edge of Great Pyramid of Khufu        Inside Pyramid of Khafre, 1.5m high passage to burial chamber

 Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Khufu

Pyramids of Khafre (near) and Khufu

Camel on causeway from Nile to Pyramid of Khufu

Statues of  Pharaoh Menkaura with goddess Hathor (left) and the nome goddess Bat (right). Androgynous statue of Akhenaton in Cairo museum
 

 Kafre with protecting falcon.  Scribe from ~ 2500 BCE.

Sky goddess Knut carved under the lid of sarcophagus.  Chair from tomb of Tutankhamun

"Book of the Dead" papyrus.                                     Wooden statue from tomb of Tutankhamun

Chair back featuring Tutankhamun and sister.  Jackal-headed god, Anubis, from Tutankhamun's tomb .

Ostrich feather fan from Tutankhamun's tomb

Alabaster boat transporting Tutankhamun to after-life

Statues of Tutankhamun

Al-Hazar Mosque and bazaar.            

Brass lanterns for sale in Cairo bazaar

Delicious lemon & mint drink in bazaar cafe.           Shop girl who demonstrated papyrus making.

Rams head statues leading to Karnak temple.   Columns inside Karnak temple.

Columns inside Karnak temple.

Horizontal obelisk; painted column capitals;
Ramses II  and wife.

Temple at Luxor at night

Avenue of sphinxes;  temple at Luxor at night

Valley of the Kings across the Nile

Schoolgirls by the Cairo - Aswan Road

Valley of the kings 

   
Christian (Coptic) graffiti at entrance and Hieroglyphs within tomb of Ramses IV

Tomb of Ramses IV

      Sarcophagus and hieroglyphs in tomb of Merenptah

Entrance to tomb of Tutankhamun and on-going excavations beyond

  
Tomb of Ramses IX. Sky goddess, Knut, is portrayed as a rainbow arching over burial chamber 

  
Heads of conquered foes being carried in triumph. Tomb of Ramses IX.                                                    One of many stalls in the bazaar in Valley of the Kings.

Temple of Hatshepsut - renowned female pharaoh

Bassem, our really excellent guide from Luxor to Aswan.

   
Statues at Temple of Hatshepsut

   
Statues at Temple of Hatshepsut

Temple of Hatshepsut.                                      Worker at Alabaster craft workshop.

    
 Abandoned bench at alabaster workshop.

Jackie relaxing in shade at alabaster workshop.         Houses built on slopes on the outside of Valley of The Kings.

Colossi of Memnon  - massive (18m high) stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III

Egyptian farmer collecting sugar cane 

Family houses beside the Nile.  Top story unfinished, awaiting next generation to take up residence.                                                                                                      Laundry at the edge of the Nile

Taxi rank at Edfu

Temple of Horus at Edfu

   
Temple of Horus at Edfu

 Temple of Horus at Edfu.  Used at one time by an early Christian sect, who chiselled away many of the features of Horus and other reliefs.

Traders attaching their dingy to the cruise ship and exhorting us to buy T-shirts etc.

Buffalo herder in Nile shallows

   Ancient dwellings.           

Calendar at the Temple of Kom Ombo, which shows 10 days in a week and 30 days in a month. 

   
Horus and crocodile-headed god at Kom Ombo.      Disarmed (literally) prisoners of war.

Birth of Horus

Street sellers  outside temple of Kom Ombo

 Snack time, young musician and snake charmer by temple of Kom Ombo

 
                 Cracked obelisk.                                    Jetty traders by harbour for sailings to Philae

Boats to and from Philae on Nile at Aswan

Setting off for Philae

 
The temple at Philae and a defaced (literally) pagan image

The now submerged island from whence the temple was moved and re-built

Nile from Aswan High Dam

Power station at Aswan High Dam

MS Farah, our smart cruise ship on the Nile at Aswan

Felucca sailing past the  El-Tabia Mosque at Aswan.                Fishing in the Nile shallows at Aswan

 Aga Khan Mausoleum and hillside tombs, Aswan

Israel:  Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Galilee

Orthodox Jews by Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem                    Base of Tower of David  

 View from Tower of David over Temple Mount towards Mount of Olives

Jackie overlooking Church of the Holy Sepulchre.     The Prophet Mohammed’s Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then Temple Mount from whence he ascended to Heaven. 

Sculptures of a Crusader and Islamic horseman in grounds of Tower of David,

12th Century Islamic horseman, .possibly, Saladin                         Jewish prayer shawls

People, including orthodox Jews through Jaffa Gate

Spice stall in David Street / Daniel Street Arab bazaar.                   Gallery sign in Ha -Yehudim Street

The Western (Wailing) Wall of Temple Mount.     
Fancy cake stall and ironmonger's stall in the bazaar.

Pomegranates etc. for sale in David Street bazaar

3rd and 4th Stations of the Cross

Crusader-built Church of St Anne and garden  - by far the most impressive that we visited in Jerusalem

Church of St Anne.  Reputed birthplace of Mary in the crypt. 

Windows in the Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem

View across Mount of Olives to Jerusalem

Horrific and (intentionally) disturbing wall built to separate the Palestinian West Bank from Israel.

Sign forbidding further access by Israeli citizens

Manger Square, Bethlehem.  Inside Church of the Nativity

Tapestry and mediaeval floor Church of the Nativity 

Ornaments and Entrance to the grotto and the manger

Cave or grotto reputed to be the manger of Jesus' birth

 Church of St Catherine, next to Church of the Nativity, with sculpture of St George & dragon.              Jackie and lady from India leaving Mar Elias monastery where we had lunch in the refectory.

The room that hosted the Last Supper.         The gilded olive tree presented by Pope John-Paul II

Right: Hebrew scholars studying in the room next to the tomb of David.

 
The Western "Wailing" Wall.  Men on the left, women on the right of the dividing fence.  Praying at the Wall, and inserting prayer slips into cracks in the wall.

Prayers in cracks in the Western Wall.

Praying at the Western Wall.                  Birds nesting in the Wall.

6ST / PIA
VERONICA
FACIEM
CHRISTI
LINTEO
DETERCI

6th Station:  Veronica wipes Christ's face with a cloth.

Mural in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Entrance to the reputed tomb of Christ                   The more recent marble enclosure of the tomb

The top of the rock reputed to be Golgotha and the shrine built around it.

A house in an alley off the David Street bazaar.                           A Bar Mitzvah procession

 A Bar Mitzvah procession

The Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount - a haven of peace & tranquillity

Islamic art & decorations on Temple Mount

Church of Mary Magdalene by Garden of Gethsemane

Jackie holding olive branch and woman worshipper by Dome of the Rock

Woman with puppet in cafe

  Waitress in Cafe.  Dinner with Alan and Sharon Wellins, ex-colleague from IBM Edinburgh.   Crypt where Virgin Mary is reputed to have lived in Nazareth

Various nations' interpretation of the Virgin Mary - in the cloisters of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth

Virgin Mary - USA and Canadian interpretations

St Joseph, leaning against a plank of wood.  A biblical-age stone quern.

Church on the site of "feeding the five thousand".  Mosaic featuring 5 loaves and 2 fishes and the rock on which Christ is reputed to have stood whilst handing out the food..

Interior and mosaics in Church at site of "feeding the five thousand,"

Remains of house reputed to be St Peter's.  Statue of St Peter at Capernaum. 

Sea of Galilee

Lunch beside Sea of Galilee "Peter's Fish" with cold potatoes.  Neither very appetising.

River Jordan

Baptism in River Jordan of a group of Indonesian pilgrims

  Baptism delight.                                       Memorial to Oskar & Emilie Schindler beside the River Jordan