Over Winter Break 2009, Derek Soled took me to Egypt. After an eleven hour flight, we arrived Thursday morning in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Cairo is far from what New York City looks like. It is very overpopulated with a lot of pollution. However, there is one thing in Cairo that New York does not have: pyramids. Derek and I went to the numerous ancient Egyptian sites around Cairo. The highlight of these sites, though, by far, were the pyramids. We got to see the pyramids, go inside them, see the burial chambers, and visit the sphinx and other large ruins around the tall structures. It is interesting what the pyramid was used to represent. The three sides symbolize home, stairs, and Heaven at the top. The ancient Egyptians believed in the importance of the afterlife and so they built large burial chambers (such as the pyramids) so that the kings (and even some queens) could successfully go to Heaven and become a G-d or G-ddess. After seeing the pyramids, Derek and I went to the Egyptian museum and a few other places that housed old artifacts.
Throughout the trip, Derek and I traveled up and down the Nile River to see different sites. Some of the many highlights were the temples in Abu Simbel, Aslam, and Luxor. By far my favorite site to see, though, was the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. After the ancient Egyptians recognized that pyramids called too much attention to robbers and their graves were destroyed, the kings decided to be buried in a more secret spot. The spot they chose was called the Calley of the Kings in Luxor. In this valley, over 62 tombs have been discovered, and Derek and I were lucky enough to actually go in a few of them.
Once we reached Lake Nasar, the largest man made lake in the world at the southern coast of Egypt, Derek and I went back up to Northern Egypt by boat and train. Along the way, we stopped in many cities. In the cities, goods are cheap (5.5 Egyptian pounds equals one U.S. dollar). In fact, Derek got a haircut for only $0.75! Once we were back in Cairo, Derek and I went to Alexandria, a city along the Mediterranean Sea. In Alexandria, we saw the remains of one of the seven wonders of the ancients world, the Great Lighthouse. Did you know that Egypt is the only country in the world to have more than one of the wonders (the Great Lighthouse and the Great Pyramid)? After seeing the Great Lighthouse, Derek and I saw the second largest library in the world. This library has more books than any other library in the world and the world's second fastest computer.
The next day our plane took off. Unfortunately, our plane got delayed by over fifteen hours and Derek and I got to spend our last few hours in Egypt in the airport. Hopefully, I will return to the "land of ancient history" one day in the future!
It is amazing how much science was located in Egypt as well. Biology, physics-you name it, Egypt had it all. First, biological parts. The ancient Egyptians practiced mummifying their dead to perserve the body. They created a special kind of oil and liquid that they rubbed over the dead body and then wrapped it in papyrus paper. This oil and liquid substance had kept some mummies intact until today. In fact, a form of this oil and liquid substance is used in medicine today to perserve certain structures in science labs.
Biology can also be seen in Egypt, namely with niche partioning. When the ancient Egyptians lived, there were snakes (as depicted in their artwork). Today, though, there are only a few snakes but far more lizards. The best expalantion for this would be that the lizards are best adapted to the land with arms and legs. These limbs allow the lizards to eat more and survive better than the snakes did. As a result, there are currently more lizards than snakes in Egypt.
The physics of the ancients Egyptians can be seen in their pyramids. Believe it or not, the Egyptians were very technologically advanced, and knew physics' formulas about mass and weight. When constructing the pyramids, they built them from the inside out and balanced the rocks so that the pyramid did not collapse on itself. With the help of physics, the construction of the pyramids was made possible.
Lastly, Egypt has chemistry. The ancient Egyptians were famous for their herb medicines and basic understanding of how certain chemcials worked. There is evidence that supports the fact that ancient Egyptians constructed toxic medicines with methanol gas, perhaps to poison someone. Also, ancient Egyptians combined very reactive elements like cesium with liquids such as water to create explosions during war.
Who knew that the ancient Egyptians knew so much science? As one of the first forms of civilization, the ancient Egyptians proved to not only be very relgious and artistic, but also very scientific.
