We drove out of Luxor and made our way out on to the plains to the impressive Colossi of Memnon – and they were colossal.
We went past the harvested fields and stopped by two huge restored statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III
We then went on to the massive Colossi of Memnon – statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III.
They were much eroded and damaged but still mightily impressive. They are all that remains of the temple that stood there.
The images on the side panel were still very clear – the god Hapi and the royal wife Tiye.
Egypt is at war with itself. It is in the midst of civil war. Many of its people want to move into the 21st century with its consumerism and affluence. The religious fanatics want it to stay in the 7th century with conservative values and strict religious laws.
It feels as if it is stuck in the past.
There is much about the modern life and its greed and consumerism that I despise. It is a valueless culture. But there is much about the strict religious fundamentalism with its intolerance that I despise even more.
Egypt has so much poverty and hardship.
Everywhere we went there were armed militia, machine-gun posts and the promise of violence.
Surely there is a middle way?
We stopped for lunch at the Hilton. Because of the collapse of the tourist trade it was deserted.
I took myself off to have a wander around to see what I could find. It was an idyllic spot with a cool breeze off the river, palm trees and sand dunes in the background.
A small cruise boat was moored but there were no customers.
I was very taken with a big mosaic on the side of the hotel. It showed an idealised scene of Egyptian life.
As we were eating our way through a sumptuous spread of Egyptian food a cruise ship went past with hardly anybody on it. Downriver there were hundreds of these ships moored up. Once the river would have been full of them but terrorism and religious fanaticism has destroyed the market.
A shame – the people were desperate.
I could have spent a year wandering around this incredible place. There was so much to see – the details were amazing.
The size of the columns was incredible.
The obelisks were incredible.
I could stand among the ruins and imagine what it would have been like in all its glory.
So many of the amazing statues had no heads or had their faces hacked off. I have seen this all over the world. Muslims do this. In their religion, they are forbidden to show images (they could be craven images) – hence the fabulous abstract art – and somehow think they have the right to desecrate other peoples’ sacred object.
The hieroglyphics were amazing.
There are a few places where you can get a sense of the amazing colours this temple would have been adorned with.
Some people travel to far off countries and take photographs of people and buildings from different times and cultures.
11.10.01
Because I was mouthy the staff voted me on to the governing body. I was the staff representative. They put me there to stir things up.
I did stir things up. I wanted the school to change. I wanted the students treated better. I wanted education to be expansive, caring and interesting. The governors at that time were a conservative bunch who resisted change.
It was apparent to me that the governors were ‘old boys’ who wanted to see the school run the way it was in the 1930s, the ‘good old days’. They wanted the kids to wear smart uniforms, get caned and know their place. They wanted the school to be selective, after all, what was the point of teaching ‘thick’ kids? They never wanted anything to change, least of all their power and authority.
I didn’t agree.
At my first meeting, I encountered one millionaire businessman governor who slagged off the present teaching staff as ‘lazy people who couldn’t hold down a job in the real world’. As the bastard had never stepped a foot inside the school when the kids were there, and didn’t have a clue about the planning and marking that took place out of lessons, and how hard the staff worked, I had to put him in his place.
After the meeting, the Chair of Governors, stopped me in the corridor, grabbed me by the throat and pinned me up against a wall, furious and shouting in my face. He called me a ‘trouble maker’.
I concluded that I had to be doing something right.
You have to laugh don’t you?
If you want to build a better world you’ve got to be prepared to change the old one. If you believe in equality you have to fight for it.
Remember; once you stop fighting to improve the situation, the bastards will use every means they can to wrest power away from you. They want their privileged position maintained. They want things to stay as they are.
These people are the same elitist group who’ve always run things. They do it in the background and are slippery like greased shit. They appoint the bosses and pull the strings. The bosses are the ones who take the flak. They are the front. The real power lies behind them.
One thing I rapidly discovered was that this was a game of attrition. A person cannot easily change the big things; you keep chipping away at the small stuff until you have created a successful momentum. The big stuff follows.
3.11.01
My old man was in charge of an office of telephone reporters. It was a very responsible job. He was good at it and he worked hard. Many of the people working under him earned more than he did. You see they had unions that fought for their pay. My old man was management. He had to rely on the goodwill of the bosses. He didn’t automatically get a pay rise.
When he died I found copies of some of the letters he’d written to request a pay increase: ‘could you see your way to’ and ‘following the efficiency’. It was pathetic. They saw the wording as weakness and never seemed to see their way to provide him with the pay increase he deserved. He should have adopted a stronger tone and demanded a pay rise. They would have respected that.
The person who took over from him started with a salary that was over twice the level of his pay.
It makes me mad. These people will always give as little as they can get away with. They are greedy. He deserved better than that.
3.11.01
Some people read books that are made up stories of the lives and adventures of fictional people.
11.10.01
Moving further into the temple complex I was really taken with the massive columns all covered in hieroglyphics. They were enormous and supported great stone lintels.
I could just imagine how impressive this must have been in ancient times – with the ceiling, decorations, embellishments and many more statues. Religion, ceremony and power. Above all – power.
This whole temple was one huge statement (as are our present-day cathedrals and mosques) – it reinforced the importance of the belief system that unites the people.
It also reinforced the power of those who presently ruled. It was as much about them as the gods.
The temple complex has been sacked, pillaged and burnt (one power replacing another). Statues and artefacts were stolen. These are the remains. What must it have been like?
The belief system has gone. The gods are no longer worshipped or considered real. Is there a message here for our present belief systems? We make them and they are replaced. Christianity? Islam? Judaism?
I found all these amazing columns different and interesting – aesthetically as architecture, as works of art.
And we were nowhere near done yet!
Once inside the temple complex I began looking around. There was so much to see and photograph.
The rows od ramshead sphinxs in front of huge columns holding up great lintels.
A great column in the centre and a massive statue of the god.
As I went towards the Temple of Amun I was confronted with a whole row of statues – priests?? Gods?? Pharoahs??
Inside the temple I could see the old decoration. My imagination ran back to when this would have been gaudy with colour and rich costume.
All the walls and columns were carved with hieroglyphics and reliefs of gods, Pharaohs and inscriptions. The ceiling lintels still had some of their decoration.
The columns were enormous – creating avenues of majesty. It was huge.
The walls were intricately carved and decorated. Everywhere you looked there were incredible details to look at.
