The Temple of Kom Ombo, Egypt

April 10, 2026April 9, 2026 / Jet Eliot / 53 Comments

I want to tell you about a special Egyptian temple located majestically beside the Nile called Kom Ombo. Please join me as we drift back for a few minutes to ancient Egypt….

The temple is 31 miles (50 km) north of the city of Luxor and was built during the Ptolemaic dynasty approximately 2,200-2,230 years ago. It was first built by the pharaohs of Egypt and completed by a Roman emperor over roughly 400 years.

More info: Temple of Kom Ombo Wikipedia

It is constructed of limestone and sandstone from local quarries and was saved from disintegration and disrepair by a French archaeologist in 1893. Jacques de Morgan (1857-1924).

One of the many unique aspects of the Temple of Kom Ombo is that it honored two deities, unlike most temples that honor just one. Essentially two temples in one.

The temple was built with dual sanctuaries and mirrored layouts in perfect symmetry allowing for separate priesthoods to perform rituals side by side. This innovative design created a rare space of religious harmony where differing beliefs coexisted within one sacred complex.

The two deities worshipped here were Sobek and Horus, photo below.

In their half-human forms seen below are Horus the Falcon God on the left and Sobek the Crocodile God on the right. Both of these god figures are seen often throughout the temple.

Hundreds of crocodiles once roamed the area inside and around the Kom Ombo temple. More than 300 crocodile mummies were found at the Kom Ombo temple and now reside in the nearby Crocodile Museum.

This relief, below, shows Horus the Falcon God (L) beside Goddess Hathor (R).

Other wall art includes very large reliefs (photo below).

This relief, below, shows the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra on the far left.

Temples were generally only accessible to the priesthood. But to allow others to worship, a temple sometimes had a “chapel of the hearing ear” closer to the front, open to the public.

Kom Ombo’s Chapel of the Hearing Ear, seen below. This was a specialized niche built into the outer, rear wall.

As visitors walk through this main temple, they are surrounded by elaborately decorated towering walls and columns leading to courtyards, sanctuary rooms, chapels, crypts, and hidden passages.

In the northwestern section of the temple complex is a scientific tool called a Nilometer–an ancient device for measuring the water level of the Nile. Priests measured water levels with scientific precision and monitored flooding patterns crucial for agricultural planning and religious calendar timing.

There was also a large ancient Egyptian calendar on the temple’s inner wall, a portion of which is seen below. These carvings display hieroglyphic numerals and showcase the agricultural year.

Some of the ceiling parts highlight astronomical scenes, seen in the photo below with the original paint. If you tilt your head to the right, you see this ceiling relief shows five protective vultures, each with spread wings.

Still preserved are architectural columns decorated with carvings of Nile plants, primarily papyrus and lotus.

And now for my favorite part–the medical wall. This is another unique feature of Kom Ombo, rarely depicted in other Egyptian temples.

I like it because it closely parallels today’s doctor’s offices and hospitals, connecting our current human life to the lives of the people of ancient Egypt thousands of years ago.

During the Roman Period in the 2nd century AD, this scene was carved featuring surgical instruments, strongly suggesting that priests performed medical treatments here. This practice blended ritualistic healing with practical medical knowledge, making Kom Ombo one of the earliest spiritual-medical institutions in Egypt.

Located on Kom Ombo’s rear outer wall, the scene highlights medical tools like scalpels, forceps, scissors, curettes, medicine bottles and cupping glasses. Photo below.

Carvings show tools for bone sawing, amputation, cauterization, dental extraction, eye surgery, gynecology, and surgical stitching. Visible on the top row in the center is a bone saw, you can see a jagged, vertical blade in this photo.

This relief carving is often cited as the earliest known inscribed depiction of a comprehensive set of medical and surgical instruments.

Birthing is also expressed on the walls of Kom Ombo. In the relief above, the left side is a scene of two goddesses sitting on birthing chairs.

A second birthing scene can be seen in the hieroglyph photo below. Inside the photo’s white rectangular box is a woman kneeling with a baby emerging beneath her.

But our enchanting time at Kom Ombo was coming to an end. By now the sun was setting over the Nile and it was time to leave.

Archaeologists on the Kom Ombo periphery were still busy as the day’s light was quickly waning. Their studies and findings continue day after day.

Thanks for joining me on this visit to Kom Ombo, seeing how our civilization existed back then, and not all that differently from today.

Human splendor.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Spooky Animals

October 31, 2025October 30, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 55 Comments

For our Halloween fun today, it’s a good time to look at wild animals that give us a slight chill. Wild animals have a rawness that is unpredictable and can indeed be spooky.

These are not even some of the very scariest animals (like a hyena) because I don’t want to give you nightmares.

We start with a fellow mammal, a Halloween specialty, the bat. This one is a spectacled flying fox. We came upon a colony in a forest in northern Queensland, Australia.

You can see in the photo below the bat looks bespectacled, for which it is named.

Some of the creatures here just look spooky because they’re different, but others really are spooky for how dangerous they can be.

Below is a male African buffalo. We were in Zambia, Africa and more than once our jeep came from behind tall grass and there one would be, glaring at us.

Took my breath away a few times.

His left eye is scarred and half-shut, no doubt the result of a fight. A typical male, like this one, weighs 1,650 pounds (750 kg).

This hippo, below, was scarred and surly. Some people may think hippos are kind of cute, but when you are near one in the wild, you immediately grasp the sobering presence they exude.

Hippos are fast–faster than they look.

Below are warthogs we came upon in Zambia; they had been digging for roots and tubers. Long, flat snouts, sharp tusks and soulless eyes. A strong-legged and very fast animal.

While on a safari walk, the guide told us to stay away from ground holes because the warthogs cleverly back into burrows, out of sight, and come charging out tusk first if they are threatened.

There are many intimidating African animals in the wild, but we’ll look at just two more, seen in Botswana.

The male lion, below. I think we all know to fear this formidable creature. They swagger confidently and have piercing golden eyes and when it’s the right time, they pounce and tear flash like the warriors they are.

This is a cobra we encountered. The snake’s hood (neck) is flared and its head is up, ready to strike.

Shimmery and golden in the African sun, but deadly.

Let’s hop on our witchy broomstick to head over to the western hemisphere, look at more spooky creatures.

Galapagos Islands. Far out in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles (1,000 km) from the mainland, the wildlife has evolved in isolation, unaccustomed to humans.

These two wild iguana species, below, were not dangerous to be around, but just so incredibly unusual. Absolutely prehistoric looking.

The only living lizard that forages in the sea, marine iguanas are slow on land but graceful under water. We saw hundreds of them basking on rocks and even found a few in the water when we were snorkeling.

In 1835 Charles Darwin reported the Galapagos black lava rocks were frequented by these “most disgusting, clumsy lizards.” That seems a bit harsh–he probably found them on one of the days he was having stomach troubles.

Equally as curious-looking were the land iguanas. Here is a pair, below.

Peeling skin, crusty faces, long rat-like tails and gnarled claws.

Let’s head to Central America next. But yikes, this broomstick is so uncomfortable. Let’s switch to a magic carpet.

This American Crocodile, below, was churlishly staring at us as our little boat cruised by. Look at that mouth. Even when the chops are shut you know there’s pointy, sharp teeth lurking inside. How many teeth? About 65.

The array of spooky insects we have on this planet is immense. Many are very cool, but I’m taking it easy on you today. I’ve just got one for you, the assassin bug, below.

They’re called assassin bugs because they use an “assassination” method to hunt and kill. They ambush their prey, then grab them with their front legs, inject them with paralyzing saliva and then suck out the liquefied innards.

Heading north to America for the last two spooky creatures.

We were eating our sandwiches inside the car in a parking area when this big bison wandered very close to us, apparently attracted to the mud puddle. We could hear its steady, heavy breathing.

We were of course thrilled but a little nervous.

They’re faster than they look too, faster than most horses.

Lastly, my own backyard. We lived on an isolated mountain top and in the summer it was hot and dry.

This mature rattlesnake, below, hung out with us one summer.

We agreed not to bother each other, and it worked out. Why did we do that? Because the rattlesnake kept the rodent population under control.

Its head is in the center of the photo below, and it is looking at you. Rattles are on the right; there are 7 or 8 or 9?

It rattled at us a couple of times that summer, but we quickly got the message.

There’s something so gripping and powerful about wild animals. Add to that the dark superstitions of this holiday that go back centuries, and we have ourselves a spooky Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Spectacled Owl with Fer-de-lance Snake, Belize

Ancient Animals of Egypt

October 17, 2025October 16, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 50 Comments

As a devoted fan of wildlife on earth, I am excited to share beautiful art depicting wildlife in ancient Egypt. We humans have been revering our wild animals for centuries.

Living in the land of the fertile Nile Valley, ancient Egyptians acquired an in-depth knowledge of the animals that surrounded them. Later, they transferred these animals and their characteristics to the divine realm; eventually the gods were taking animal forms.

Aside from wildlife, Ancient Egyptians also had pets, a big topic for a later date. But here is an interesting article about their pets, link below, and a cat display we saw at a U.S. touring Ramses II exhibit in 2022.

Link: Pets in Ancient Egypt

Coffin of cat mummy, Ramses touring exhibit

(All other photos are from an Egypt tour we made last year.)

The oldest pyramid complex in Egypt is called Saqqara and is an ancient necropolis dating back to the Third Dynasty (approximately 4,600 years ago). It was the seat of government and worship prior to Giza.

Inside Saqqara structures there are numerous tombs with limestone walls (photograph below) displaying carvings of animals, fish, birds, insects, vegetation and everyday scenes with people in hunting, herding and farming scenes. The small, catacomb rooms have walls and walls with floor-to-ceiling carvings. I have just included one tiny part of one wall here.

This is a hippo (left), in an underwater Nile River scene, accompanied by several different fish species including a Nile carp. We see underwater plants here too. Hippos were once common in the Nile River but there are none today.

In addition to these everyday scenes, animals were also prevalent in the characters of their writing language, aka hieroglyphs.

Below are six photos of hieroglyphs with animals used as symbols.

This is a wall, below, in King Ramses IV’s tomb. These are funerary texts intended to guide the pharaoh through the afterlife.

Cobras, on the top row, stand out. They symbolize divine and royal protection, sovereignty, and the power to ward off enemies and chaos in the afterlife. Also of notable interest here (below, lower third) is the snake between the two flanks of women–one head with a very long, curling body. Their snakes must have been very long!

There is a menagerie of animals below the cobras in the small hieroglyphs. This close-up, below, shows a hare (top left) and a vulture (bottom left).

These hieroglyphs, below, are photographed from a wall of the Kom Ombo Temple. Animal symbols here include the head of a cow, cobra, vulture, two lion heads and a viper.

This is an outdoor wall at Karnak Temple covered with hieroglyphs (below). The carvings, which have survived for millennia, tell of battle scenes, religious rituals and gods, providing a rich glimpse into ancient Egyptian culture and history. Animals are prominent.

As in most hieroglyphs, there were multiple meanings applied to the symbolic characters.

For example, carvings of bees could mean the words for beekeeper and honey. But in this carving, below, the bees are paired with two sedge plants, symbolizing the unification of Lower Egypt (bee) with Upper Egypt (sedge), a central theme in ancient Egypt. In the center is an ankh, symbol of life.

In addition to hieroglyphs, individual animals were also highlighted, always as a symbol.

Inside King Tut’s tomb (below) in the same chamber as his sarcophagus, is a painted mural showing 12 baboons–one baboon for each hour, representing the 12 hours of the night. The baboons, honored as divine sentinels of the netherworld, are escorting the Boy King to the afterlife. The upper left-hand side also displays a black scarab representing the sun god in his form of rebirth.

Additionally, animals depicted in tombs or other art were often half-man and half-beast, indicating the animal was expressed as a god or royal symbol. Ancient Egyptians combined the power of the animal with the intellect of a human.

The largest example of this is the Great Sphinx in Giza, a massive limestone statue famous for its lion’s body and human head. The lion symbolized strength and kingship.

Below is a half-man half-ibis representing the god Thoth, deity of wisdom, writing, science, magic, and the moon.

Also visible in the (above) photograph are hieroglyph carvings of falcons and a jackal, ibis, and viper.

In addition to carvings and wall writings there were many animals honored in jewelry, statues, door lintels, ceilings, sarcophagi and more.

The sarcophagus below, an exhibit at the Grand Egyptian Museum, has some of the most elegant carvings I have ever seen. It is the Sarcophagus of Nesptah belonging to Nes-Ptah, a noble and high-ranking priest and an influential son of the Mayor of Thebes, Montumhat. It is from the 26th Dynasty, around 2,500 years ago.

It is made of diorite, a very hard stone, and decorated with hieroglyphic texts from the Book of the Dead.

Human/animal gods as well as hieroglyphs cover Nes-Ptah’s beautiful resting place.

We will close with animal art in my favorite tomb, the Tomb of Seti located in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt.

Join me as we head down into the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty (approximately 3,200 years ago).

I could’ve stayed down here for days, in this cosmic chamber of peace and grandeur with its richly decorated rooms.

My very favorite is Room J (above) with its depiction of circumpolar stars and constellations on the vaulted ceiling. Amazingly, this is a display of the ancient Egyptian understanding of the cosmos.

The red dots, painted with red ochre, indicate these are rough sketches. They are construction marks used by the ancient Egyptian artists and in an unfinished state. The standard duration for the mummification process was 70 days; then the tomb had to be secured, and sometimes deadlines could not be met.

Today we looked at humans from thousands of years ago and the art and stories and values and reverences important to them. They used animals as a means of communication. What a pleasure it is to share a small bit of that here with you today.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Temple of Horus, Edfu

September 12, 2025September 11, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 52 Comments

On a grand Egyptian adventure last year, we had the joy of visiting many ancient temples. Let’s skip over to Egypt and take a look at Horus.

The Temple of Horus is one of the most well-preserved monuments of ancient Egypt and is the second largest temple in the country (after Karnak). It reflects a blend of ancient Egyptian and Greek traditions from the Ptolemaic era.

It is located on the west bank of the Nile River in the ancient city of Edfu. A bus transported us from our river cruise boat through Edfu (seen below), population 60,000, to the temple complex.

Construction for the great temple of Edfu was begun by Ptolemy III on August 23, 237 BC.

It is rare that the exact date of construction is known on a structure that is over 2,000 years old–only the beginning of a list of extraordinary features of this temple.

The date is known because there are writings (hieroglyphs) everywhere on the inside of the temple telling many stories including the date when construction began. It was built 2,082 years ago and constructed over a period of 180 years.

It was dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed sky god, considered the protector of the pharaohs. In ancient times the Festival of the Living Falcon was held here to celebrate the crowning of a sacred falcon and symbolize the renewal of the pharaoh’s kingship.

The monumental facade is a large sandstone wall and gateway, referred to as a pylon by Egyptologists. It is approximately 120 feet high (37m).

In the photo below I am standing in awe (foreground far right, blue shirt).

This is the top of the pylon, below.

In the center is a prominent winged sun disk representing divine protection and royal power. There are also numerous scenes carved into the wall showing the pharaoh Ptolemy XII smiting his enemies and performing religious rituals.

It is flanked by two large falcon statues.

The falcon pair stand guard at the entry, each one carved long ago from black granite and standing approximately 10 feet tall (3m). They depict the god Horus in his falcon form.

Visitors walk through the entrance into a large open courtyard. Thousands of years ago the entrance was a door of Lebanese cedar wood covered with gold and bronze.

Today thousands of tourists walk through the gate of this highly popular destination.

In the courtyard are 12 huge columns crowned with a variety of floral motifs–palm leaves, lotus and papyrus.

This photo, below, shows the towering height of the courtyard walls and one column (left foreground). The group of tourists demonstrates size perspective.

The hieroglyphs tell stories of religious, mythological, and architectural beliefs and rituals of the Ptolemaic period.

This column, photo below, features the two mythical gods Horus (L) and Set (R) who had a mythical battle. The temple walls are covered with scenes and texts from the “Sacred Drama” of their conflict, commemorating Horus’s triumph over his uncle, Set.

The detail on these carvings is astounding. Originally they were painted in bright colors.

This is another carving of Set, below. The battle between Horus and Set is a core story in ancient Egyptian mythology.

This photo below of the courtyard shows the back side of the pylon and the aforementioned floral-topped columns.

This relief, below, shows Horus (on L) and Hathor (on R) and refers to the annual Festival of the Sacred Marriage. It celebrated the sacred marriage of Horus of Edfu and Hathor of Dendera.

In ancient times it was a 15-day festival including flotillas on the Nile. At the temple there was a public celebration, sacred rites and rituals, feasting and rejoicing. It was a marvelous festival celebrating fertility and prosperity and occurred every year.

The Temple of Horus had many other rooms and passageways: two hypostyle halls (i.e. rooms with columns supporting a roof), a Court of Offerings, a Vestibule and Sanctuary, side chapels and chambers.

There was once a library called the House of Books. Hieroglyph inscriptions describe chests of books and large leather rolls containing various temple literature like liturgical texts, manuscripts with the temple’s building plans, incantations and administrative documents.

There were 13 chapels and additional side chambers. One of the inner chambers was a laboratory where perfumes, incense, and ointments were made; the recipes are engraved on the walls.

Carved figures in the passageway ceilings, photo below, are over 40 feet (12m) high. How did ancient artisans create these intricate carvings so high off the ground?

Briefly, they worked from the top down. First they built the stone walls and roof and set them in place, then filled the structure with sand and rubble. The rubble was then used as scaffolding for the relief-carving stage, and gradually, in increments, it was removed until all the carvings were done.

The vulture in that relief symbolizes protection, and the beautiful blue paint is a recent result of a joint Egyptian-German mission to clean and restore the original vibrant colors that were obscured for centuries.

The activities I have highlighted here were pagan, but in 391 AD the Roman Empire put a ban on non-Christian worship. Many of the ancient reliefs were destroyed by religious fanatics.

Eventually sand, silt and mud buried the temple for centuries until 1860 when French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette discovered it and excavated. The obliteration by sand for centuries is what helped preserve the temple.

We all have our stories to tell–every century, every generation. How fortunate today that we have the ability to interpret and witness the ancient Egyptian story told here in all its elegant beauty.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander except first one.

Athena photographing Temple of Horus walls

Abu Simbel, Egypt

August 22, 2025August 21, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 58 Comments

This is one of the most remarkable and grand temple sites in all of Egypt. I give you photos and a look at the iconic Abu Simbel from our visit last year.

In southern Egypt, built into sandstone cliffs are two temples: Abu Simbel built by Ramses II and beside it, a smaller temple dedicated to his favorite wife, Queen Nefertari. In the photo above, Abu Simbel is on the left and Queen Nefertari’s Temple is on the right.

Construction of the temple complex occurred in the 13th Century BCE. It started around 1264 B.C. and was completed around 1244 B.C., taking approximately 20 years to build.

Adjacent to Abu Simbel is Lake Nasser, a massive reservoir. In the photo below, you can see Abu Simbel on the right and a bit of the lake on the left.

The complex was originally built right on the Nile River, creating a commanding presence to intimidate enemies of Egypt. But over time problems arose with flooding; we’ll get to that.

Pharaoh Ramses II was the third Pharoah of the 19th Dynasty and ruled ancient Egypt for nearly 66 years (1279-1213 B.C.). He was a brave warrior and powerful ruler, lived a long life to the age of 90 or 91. Egypt reached the height of its military power during his reign. Trade, agriculture, art, and architecture also flourished under him.

Brief History. Much has happened here since Abu Simbel was built over 3,200 years ago. The Nile River has regularly flooded and there were earthquakes, weather. With the passage of time the temples fell into disuse and disrepair, became nearly lost by drifting sand. The temples were forgotten until March 1813 when a Swiss geographer and traveler rediscovered it.

Then in the 1950s the Egyptian government, under the leadership of President Nasser, made big decisions about the building of a new Nile dam. The Aswan Dam would protect local residents and agricultural crops by preventing irregular and unpredictable flooding that sometimes led to famine.

But with that pending construction was the scientific knowledge that the water would flood the two ancient temples built on the Nile. Many possible solutions were considered.

In the 1960s they began one of Egypt’s most successful national projects since the age of the pyramids: the relocation and reconstruction of the Abu Simbel temples. The project was a complex undertaking requiring the dismantling, moving, and reassembly of massive stone blocks.

Every inch of the site was meticulously cut into large blocks, each one weighing an average of 20 tons, and reinstalled to higher ground further back from the river.

It was accomplished by a multinational team of archeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators with the financial assistance of 50 countries. It is considered one of the greatest archaeological rescue missions in history.

Photo courtesy egyptforward.org

Fast forward to 2024 when we visited.

We walked about a mile from the parking lot to the site in a hot, barren desert-like expanse. Then we turned a corner and there it all stood–this towering, majestic work of ancient art.

Below is the temple of Queen Nefertari. The facade features six colossal statues; each statue is approximately 33 feet (10m) tall.

Unusual in ancient Egyptian art, Ramses and Nefertari are of equal height, demonstrating her divine status alongside the pharaoh.

It is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari.

The interior is adorned with intricate carvings and scenes depicting Nefertari’s divine status and Ramses II’s affection for her. There are six square columns, each surmounted by a head of the goddess Hathor.

Queen Nefertari is seen below in two relief scenes, presenting gifts to the Gods.

The temple was completed after her death, and she never saw it in its finished form.

Next door was Abu Simbel–the Great Temple of Ramses the Great, one of Egypt’s most famous and successful rulers. Photo below.

Here at the entrance are four colossal figures, each of them Ramses II. The second figure from the left lost its head in a long-ago earthquake. Visitors enter and exit through the door in the center.

The figures are 66 feet (20m) tall.

When visitors leave the harsh African sun behind and enter the temple, everything changes. We are in a sacred sanctuary.

The 26-foot (8m) high walls are decorated with reliefs and hieroglyphs depicting Ramses II’s reign and religious beliefs.

The ceiling is decorated with the vulture goddess Nekhbet spreading her wings.

We walk through an ancient hypostyle hall (above), typical of ancient Egyptian architecture, measuring 59 feet (18m) long and 55 feet (16.7m) wide. Eight massive pillars support the roof, each depicting the deified Ramses II.

Further into the temple there are many different rooms. Characteristic of many Egyptian temples, the rooms get progressively smaller as you move further from the entrance toward the sanctuary.

This room, in the photo below, features four rock-cut statues and was yet another marvel of engineering.

These are four deities, from left to right: Ptah, Amun-Re, Ramses II as a god, and Re-Horakhti. Remarkably, the temple was masterfully engineered to align with the rays of the sun.

On February 22nd and October 22nd, the sun’s rays penetrate directly into this room, illuminating three of the figures. The fourth deity, Ptah, the god of the underworld, remains in shadow. Most sources concur these dates are the king’s birthday and coronation day, respectively.

The northern wall of the temple portrays many events from the Battle of Kadesh. It was a major military conflict between the Egyptians and the Hittites.

The temple’s reliefs provide a visual narrative of Ramses II’s reign and his military campaigns, solidifying his image as a powerful and victorious pharaoh.

This relief below shows the mighty warrior king in his chariot firing arrows at a fortress.

By the time we left, it was about 90 degrees. We walked the mile back to the parking lot, almost silently, our heads full of scenes and imaginings.

So many centuries of human ingenuity, bravery, conviction, and reverence.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Abu Simbel doorway and ankh key

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

June 20, 2025June 19, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 54 Comments

A few months ago I had the honor of visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Here are some of the astounding antiquities we saw.

Egyptian antiquities have been a fascination to humans for thousands of years–the Romans, the Greek historian Herodotus, Napoleon and many, many more. Then in 1835 the Egyptian government established a museum for its antiquities which eventually developed into what is today the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

More info: Egyptian Museum Cairo

Located in downtown Cairo, the Egyptian Museum has long had the distinction of housing the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world.

In the last few years, however, this museum, built in 1902, became so crowded with antiquities that some of it was transferred to additional nearby museums, mainly the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.

After much renovation and these ongoing transfers, the Cairo Egyptian Museum continues to be a premier display of ancient Egyptian artifacts. The immensity of the collection is staggering.

This photo below shows the museum’s Central Hall. Visitors here are viewing statues, a pyramid, sarcophagi, and more, primarily from the Old and Middle Kingdoms.

In the center of the (above) photo toward the back of the hallway, you see a sculpture so large that it reaches to the second floor. It is 23 feet tall (7 m).

This colossal statue, made of limestone, depicts the royal couple, Amenhotep III and his wife, Tiye, along with their three daughters. This is the largest known ancient Egyptian family group statue ever carved. Amenhotep reigned in the 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom, circa 1390-1352 BCE.

The King Tut exhibit is the most popular exhibit here. While the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is under construction and will eventually house a huge Tutankhamun collection featuring over 5,000 artifacts from his tomb, the Cairo Egyptian Museum currently remains the primary location for experiencing this world-famous collection.

The young pharaoh’s iconic gold funerary mask was displayed in a dark room where no photos were allowed. Therefore, below is a photo of a photo.

Other notable King Tut displays we observed at the Cairo Egyptian Museum included his sarcophagi, jewelry and throne.

Shown below is the young pharaoh’s Usekh collar. It was found inside his innermost coffin draped over the young king’s thighs. It is made of tubular beads and colored glass with a gold falcon head at each end.

Below is the ceremonial throne of Tutankhamun. It is made of wood and overlaid with an embossed gold sheet 3 mm thick and semi-precious stones.

The back of the throne, seen below, depicts the royal wife of Tutankhamun rubbing an ointment on his shoulder while the sun god spreads his rays on the couple. Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the Tutankhamun tomb, stated it was “the most beautiful thing found to date in Egypt.”

There was a very long line of visitors winding around the corner (photo below) waiting to see the King Tut exhibit room.

Side rooms on both floors included more extraordinary exhibits including caskets stacked from floor to ceiling, papyri, coins, friezes, wall paintings, various vessels and tools and even mummified pets and crocodiles. One of my favorites was a solid silver coffin but again, no photos were allowed in that room.

One of their most prized treasures is the Narmer Palette. Photo below. It is one of the oldest documents in the world, about 5,100 years old.

It is a carved slab of siltstone dating from about the 31st century BCE and contains some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. It depicts the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer, and is considered a masterpiece of early Egyptian art.

Below is the statuary head of Queen Hatshepsut, c. 1505–1458 BCE. She attained unprecedented power for a woman, adopting the full titles and regalia of a pharaoh. Made of painted limestone and displayed on a pedestal, it is approximately 2 feet tall (61 cm).

This iconic statue below is King Khafre shown in frontal and profile views. Discovered in a pit under his valley temple in Giza, it is known for its intricate details and the powerful presence of the pharaoh. Made of diorite, it is 5’6″ tall (168 cm).

In the profile view, below, you see a falcon behind Khafre’s head. It is a symbol of the god Horus with spread wings in a gesture of protection. It is approximately 4,500 years old.

King Khafre, who reigned during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, is best known today for constructing the second largest pyramid at Giza. Of all the rulers of the Old Kingdom, Khafre has the greatest number of statues. Many experts claim it is his face on the Great Sphinx in Giza.

Below is a photo of the Khafre Pyramid where the statue was found, as well as the Giant Sphinx.

The exhibit below is a painted sandstone statue of the goddess Hathor protecting King Amenhotep II. Hathor is depicted as a cow. It dates back to the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom.

The arched room behind this statue, known as the “Shrine of Hathor,” is a small, vaulted chapel dedicated to Hathor and built by Thutmose III. The ceiling is painted blue with yellow stars to mimic the sky; the back wall features depictions of the king making offerings.

This exhibit below of King Djoser, the first ruler of the Third Dynasty, is the oldest known life-size statue in Egypt. It is approximately 4,600 years old. Ancient robbers removed the eyes that were originally inlaid with rock crystal and obsidian.

Behind the King is a panel of blue tiles symbolizing the “field of reeds,” the afterlife paradise, and are meant to represent the king’s eternal dwelling. The blue tiles are made of a material called Egyptian faience–a ceramic material composed of crushed quartz, alkaline salts, and copper which gives the color.

After soaking up these antiquities–room and rooms full of ancient statues and artifacts–visitors are funneled into an excellent gift shop, seen below.

Over the centuries humans have expressed themselves, and within the walls of this magnificent museum we pay tribute to our earnest race. Thanks for joining me on this journey through time to ancient Egypt.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Image courtesy Wikipedia.

A Few Grand Trees

April 18, 2025April 17, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 51 Comments

In celebration of the upcoming Earth Day, we’re going to cruise around the world to revere a few grand trees. As a birder, I spend a lot of time year after year around trees, have collected some favorites.

Red and Green Macaws on palm trees, Manu Nat’l. Park, Peru

There are roughly 60,000 species of trees on our planet, and they improve this planet in numerous ways. Let’s go fly by some trees.

We’ll start with my current favorite tree, this old Valley Oak, below.

Widely distributed across the northern hemisphere, there are over 500 Quercus or oak species.

The Valley Oak is deciduous and you see it here in its spring look in Northern California. Over 100 years old, it drops limbs and keeps on going season after season.

In the American west, including California and parts of Mexico, we are lucky to have the Joshua Tree, seen below. Primarily a desert species, Yucca brevifolia‘s trunk consists of thousands of small fibers and lacks annual growth rings. I love how distinctive and hardy they are.

I could go on and on about my favorite California trees, but let’s take a look at other parts of the country and world.

I love birch trees for the way they shimmer and whisper, and a white trunk that peels is lovely, too. Birches are in the Betulaceae family.

Here is a birch grove in Alaska near Anchorage hosting a moose cow on her grazing route.

A similar but unrelated favorite tree are the aspen trees. Populus tremuloides is in the willow family (Salicaceae).

This aspen species (photo below), one we came across in Nevada, is a quaking aspen characterized by its flat leaves that tremble or “quake” even in a slight breeze.

The evergreen tree category includes an estimated 630 conifer species like pines, firs, spruce, cedar and more, as well as a number of other species. More info: Evergreen Wikipedia.

Here is one of the many evergreen species, the knobcone pine, below.

We had knobcone pines at our previous home and they consistently hosted blue-gray gnatcatchers every spring for nesting. The knobcone range is very limited, found mostly in parts of northern California and southern Oregon. Pinus attenuata. This photo includes a blue-gray gnatcatcher near the center.

Palm trees, found natively in tropical or subtropical climates, are a wide and varied species. There are over 2,500 species of palm trees in the Arecaceae family.

Below are palm trees on a Hawaiian Island (the Big Island). In this photo they look like they are dancing the hula.

While most trees are rooted in soil or sand, there are some trees, like cypresses and mangroves, that are rooted in water. I always find this a fascinating phenomenon.

Below is a bald cypress grove we came upon in a park/swamp near Houston, TX. In the water you see what look like conical stumps beside the trees. These are known as pneumatophores (or “knees”) that help the tree breathe underwater and also aid in gas exchange.

Bald Cypress Swamp, Jesse Jones Park, Houston, Texas

Another water-rooted tree species is the mangrove. Below is a red mangrove forest. Rhizophora mangle.

Mangroves are special because they have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen and remove salt. Often found along tropical or subtropical coastlines, they can survive the volatile energies of intertidal zones.

Oddly enough, I have spent a fair amount of time boating in the roots of mangroves because birds and other wildlife thrive here.

Most of us are familiar with some of the really tall tree species–sequoias and coastal redwoods come to mind. In Northern California we treasure our redwood trees aka Sequoia sempervirens.

Another tree species that can grow very large is the baobab. Adansonia digitata are deciduous trees native to parts of Africa and Australia. This one pictured below is in Tarangire NP in Tanzania and demonstrates how huge the truck is by dwarfing our tallest mammal on earth.

Another true giant is the kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra. Also a tropical tree and found in many countries, kapoks grow up to 240 ft (73 m) tall.

This kapok photo is from the Amazon River basin and shows how tall it is by the canopy stairway that is built next to it. This was tricky to photograph due to its immensity and the rain that day.

In Australia there are giant fig trees as well as the ubiquitous eucalyptus trees. Often called gum trees, there are nearly 900 eucalyptus species native to Australia.

One very hot day we were hiking in a eucalyptus forest and spotted this blue-winged Kookaburra who had just caught a frog.

Fig trees, or ficus, are not just an Australian species, there is a wide range of countries particularly in warmer regions that have native figs. It is a fascinating to walk in a tropical forest with fig trees because they take over. Cultivated since ancient times, they are tolerant, adaptive and aggressive.

We were once birding in a forest in Belize near a Mesoamerican archaeological site called Lamanai. There we saw the remains of an old, long-abandoned sugar mill built by the British in the 1860s.

The root system of this fig tree, seen below, took over the sugar mill plantation long ago.

Lastly, the trees of this planet serve us when they are alive and even when they are not. In the final two photos we see how the grandness of trees keeps giving life long after respiration ends.

This is a granary (below) where acorn woodpeckers store their acorns. The tree has been dead for many years, the green leaves are from a neighboring tree, and the acorn woodpecker is hard at work.

This is a dead Douglas fir snag, below, where a family of great horned owls nested.

With over 60,000 different tree species on this planet, I am guessing you probably have a few favorites, too. Trees are a marvel we all share in common.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

King Tutankhamun

March 14, 2025March 13, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 64 Comments

Ever since the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922, people have been enthralled by this ancient Egyptian King. Today we will visit his tomb.

Also known as King Tut, he was an 18th Dynasty pharaoh of the New Kingdom, lived approximately 3,300 years ago, circa 1332-1323 B.C. More info: PBS King Tutankhamun, Life, Death, & Family

His tomb rests beneath the mountains in the Valley of the Kings, a long, narrow valley in Egypt. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. It is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile River, once used for ritual royal burials during Egypt’s New Kingdom era.

You can see the distant sunlit mountains of the Valley of the Kings in the photo, below. This photo was taken on the Nile near the city of Luxor, once known as the ancient city of Thebes.

The Valley of the Kings. Above ground it is dusty mountains and desert, but below ground there is a vast labyrinth of opulently decorated ancient tombs with about 500 years of celebrated pharaohs, queens, high priests and nobility.

There are approximately 65 discovered tombs and chambers, and more are discovered every year.

King Tut died unexpectedly at age 19 and had only reigned for about nine years, so his tomb was not a lifelong project as it was for many pharaohs back then. The reason for his death is heavily debated.

Info: King Tutankhamun Wikipedia

His tomb is one of the least impressive tombs in comparison to other royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. He died young and unexpectedly and there was less time for preparation. I will show you a few other royal tombs in this Valley another time.

What was and still is so exciting about the Tut discovery, however, are the riches found still intact.

British archaeologist Howard Carter and his team, funded by the Earl of Carnarvon, had been searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun for five years when they at last found a step. 1922.

After that the tomb stairway was unearthed and a seal containing Tutankhamun’s cartouche was found on the outer doorway. A cartouche, below, is a sort of hieroglyphic nameplate for royalty, describes him. The recognizable ankh in the middle corresponds to the ankh in the middle of his name.

More than 5,000 objects–from miniature model agricultural tools to room-size shrines–were packed in the 1,200-square-foot four-room tomb. Six chariots, clothing, games, jewels, weapons, furniture, cosmetics, food and wines were found. Most were inscribed with his name. Having walked through here, I understand why all the sources say these items were jammed in, because the space is not that big.

These items accompanied the pharaoh, they believed, to give him a safe and comfortable afterlife.

Over this past century, every item has been meticulously recorded and secured, most ended up in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, seen below.

We visited this museum’s King Tut exhibit four months ago. There is a heavily guarded room of King Tut artifacts. They have a strict no-photo policy so the objects below are photos of photos.

This museum has an astounding collection, but the building is old with poor ventilation and no air conditioning and has more exhibits than it can house. A new museum is in the making, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). Many of the Tut artifacts have been moved there already but are not yet on display.

Below are a few of the many artifacts we saw in the Cairo museum’s King Tut exhibit, items that were buried with the pharaoh.

It was determined that robbers had entered the tomb twice in the years immediately following the burial, but Tutankhamun’s mummy and most of the burial goods remained.

King Tut’s burial mask, the most popularly familiar item, is in this Cairo museum exhibit. (First photo at top.)

There was also a collar and other jewelry, as well as his dagger and sheath (photographed from National Geographic magazine, November 2022.)

This broad collar, below, a type of necklace, was found wrapped with Tutankhamun’s mummy.

This Golden Throne, below, is displayed in a glass exhibit case in the museum’s corridor. The King Tut exhibit here is so popular that there are extremely long lines to get into the artifact room. And even this throne in the corridor had so many people clamoring around it that we waited five minutes just to get close enough to quickly snap a photo.

Below is a close-up of this throne on which King Tut rested his back. Photo taken from an excellent book, “The Great Book of Ancient Egypt” by Zahi Hawass, 2018.

Deeper inside the tomb in the Burial Chamber, Carter and his team discovered a set of four gilded shrines, one placed inside another, and the sarcophagus.

They opened the sarcophagus and inside it found three nesting coffins.

In October and November 1925, medical experts, archaeologists, and other scientists meticulously conducted the historic examination of Tutankhamun’s mummy. It took seven days just to unwrap the mummy.

The outermost coffin was made of gilded wood portraying the king with arms crossed upon his chest holding the flail and ornamented crook, items signifying pharaonic authority. This coffin was originally left in the tomb until recently. In July 2019 it was guardedly transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum for restoration, preservation and eventual exhibit.

Inside the outermost coffin were two more coffins. Coffin #2 was made of gilded wood and inlaid with multicolored glass. Coffin #3, the innermost coffin, was made of solid gold with linen cradling King Tutankhamun’s mummy. In the Cairo Museum we stood beside both of these coffins, displayed on stands about waist high, photo below.

Originally, his mummy was covered with protective amulets and jewels, many in avian, scarab, and serpent forms. Ancient embalmers had concealed more than 140 precious objects between 17 layers of thin linen bandages wrapped around Tut’s remains.

Both of these inner coffins were transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo soon after the discovery of the tomb in 1922.

Again, because photos in the museum exhibit were strongly prohibited, this is a photo of a photo (National Geographic November 2022).

When the new exhibit is completed, the pharaoh’s three coffins will be displayed together at the GEM for the first time since their discovery.

About 400 miles (650 km) south of this Cairo museum, in King Tut’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings, are King Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus and mummy. This is where they were originally found, and this is where they remain.

We also visited his tomb. Tomb visitors are allowed to take photos and stand behind a rope and security devices.

The sarcophagus, carved from a solid block of quartzite, is dimly lit and temperature controlled (below). Visitors can access this chamber after descending many steps into the earth.

The sarcophagus is closed, topped with a cracked lid, and decorated with winged goddesses on each corner. All of Tutankhamun’s coffins were originally inside this sarcophagus but have since been redistributed as mentioned above.

Ancient wall frescoes were lovingly painted to protect the “boy king” as he ascended to his next life.

This fresco (above) in the burial chamber depicts a series of phases for Tutankhamun’s body and spirit as he is escorted into the Netherworld.

Painted on an adjacent all are 12 baboons, photo below. Each baboon represents an hour for his first 12 hours of transition to the afterlife.

A few steps away in a separate room is Tutankhamun’s mummy encased in a clear, temperature-controlled case. It is coal-black and shriveled, head and feet showing. I chose not to show it here, out of respect.

Soon the Grand Egyptian Museum (photo below) will have a celebrated immersive King Tut exhibit for visitors from around the world. Many King Tut relics have already been moved here but are not yet available to visitors.

For now, visitors can see some of the relics in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo or visit the Valley of the Kings tomb near Luxor. Today you got both.

Lastly, here’s a little fun for ending this essay: a link to the Saturday Night Live 1978 YouTube video of Steve Martin’s comedic “King Tut” song.

Link here: YouTube “King Tut” by Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Pink and Red Birds

February 14, 2025February 14, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 27 Comments

With so many shades of pink and red swirling around us today on Valentines Day, here is a gallery of pink and red birds. You will notice that some of the bird names include a shade of pink or red.

Here is a Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides), photographed in Zambia. Perched on this wire, it frequently flew out for bees and other insects, displaying an enchanting flurry of red.

Other red birds outside of North America included the scarlet macaw in the Amazon basin.

Although the scarlet macaw (Ara macao) has a vibrant rainbow of colors, its name comes from the bright red head. In the Amazon they typically fly very high, were miniscule even with binoculars. But this day we were lucky.

Wild flamingoes are a rosy sight. When they are gathered in a flock in the Rift Valley, from a distance it looks like a pink cloud. Fittingly, the word for a group of flamingoes is a flamboyance. Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor).

Red and pink colors are important to the bird for attracting a mate and are achieved by the consumption and metabolization of carotenoids. More recent research has identified a genetic enzyme in birds that converts yellow pigments from their food into red pigments. More info: Carotenoid Wikipedia.

This dazzling pair of crimson rosellas in Australia, below, were voracious. (Platycercus elegans).

Here is a hummingbird most people have never seen: the Snowcap Hummingbird. (Microchera albocoronata). We saw it in Costa Rica. This is a male with a burgundy coat and white cap, and is less than three inches (7 cm) long.

We spotted this dapper summer tanager (Piranga rubra) in Belize. Fortunately for Americans, this species migrates to several southern states for breeding.

Below are a few other pink and red birds seen in the United States.

Endemic to Hawaii, the Apapane (Himatione sanguinea) lives in forests at altitudes greater than 4,100 feet (1,250 m). Primarily a nectar-feeding bird, the bird’s bill is long and slightly curved for reaching inside tubular flowers, like these yellow blossoms.

One February day in southern California, we spotted this Vermilion Flycatcher hawking insects. They live in parts of Mexico, Central and South America year-round but migrate to a few southern states to breed. (Pyrocephalus obscurus).

The Roseate Spoonbill is one of my favorite of the pink and red birds. It’s big and rosy with that crazy spoon-shaped bill and piercing red eye. This one below, photographed in southern Georgia, even sports a pink reflection. (Platalea ajaja).

A commonly seen U.S. bird is the finch. Both the male genders of the house finch and purple finch have striking red hues. This is the purple finch, below. (Haemorhous purpureus). He’s eating toyon berries rich in carotenoids.

If you were wondering if I was ever going to feature the cardinal, here it is, our last bird, a very popular red friend in the U.S.

Technically there are three cardinal species in the U.S., but the Northern Cardinal is the most well-known. The other two–the Yellow-billed Cardinal (Paroaria capitata) and Red-crested Cardinal (Paroaria coronata)–are only seen in one state: Hawaii. They only have red parts unlike the full-red male Northern Cardinal.

The Northern Cardinal is widespread throughout much of the eastern and central United States. Those of us who live in the western U.S. have to go to the eastern half of the country to see this crimson beauty or to Hawaii where they are common. There are also reportedly a few obscure introduced populations in the western contiguous states.

It is a wonderful thing that there are even more pink and red birds than what was presented here. But this is a dozen to bring cozy warmth to your winter day.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Cairo Street Scenes

January 24, 2025January 27, 2025 / Jet Eliot / 55 Comments

I spent ten days in Cairo on a recent Egypt adventure and share with you today some of the city street scenes.

For more info about Cairo: Cairo, Egypt Wikipedia

The Nile River runs right through the city and there were many animated scenes here along this river, the lifeblood of Egypt. Dusk was especially picturesque after the day’s heavy smog had dispersed and tourist boats were lit up.

In the bottom center of this photo below is the main street that extends alongside the length of the Nile. It is called the Nile Corniche (Arabic: كورنيش النيل), established in 1955, and is one of the busiest streets in Cairo. Our high-rise hotel was located here, this photo is taken from our balcony.

The Nile Corniche was a cacophony and chaotic and also not really safe for a foreigner to walk where there were few sidewalks and no crosswalks. In our ten days of touring Cairo, some of our off-time was spent having a super time watching all the activity from our balcony.

Earlier in the day we watched this interesting group, below, standing on a pier watching the Nile boats. The photo is blurry because they were far away. This group of four women in full burqas with the young boy in a “Cool Kids” jacket were probably tourists from a nearby Middle Eastern country. BTW, 100% of the time we saw women in full burqas, they were wearing tennies.

Cairo is the largest city in Egypt and is home to over 22 million people. Without the infrastructure of painted street lanes or stop signs, and only a few streetlights, traffic is congested and disorderly. Drivers honk their horns constantly as a way of saying “I’m here don’t hit me” as they all merge and converge and progress through the Egyptian streets.

This photo is taken from inside our guide’s van on our way back to the hotel after a day at the Pyramids. It was rush hour. We were on a bridge over the Nile. In these two bridge photos, below, there are sidewalks, but most of the city streets do not have them.

This is also a bridge over the Nile, near the Nile Corniche.

Motorcycles were common in traffic and we often saw two, three, and even four people somehow balanced on one seat. Some motorcycles carried large loads on carts, like you saw in the very first photo, and others were a means of transport to and from work.

This motorcycle, below, had been built to serve as a produce delivery truck in city neighborhoods. It stopped often and sold vegetables to individual residents, much like the ice cream truck in America.

From the balcony, we watched this truck go by, below. It is loaded with fabric bundles, common in this land of Egyptian cotton. You can see a young man laid out on the top. His shirt says, “Never Give Up” and is a message, originated in Brazil, against racism in soccer and society.

Without sidewalks, it was common to see pedestrians walking amidst moving traffic.

This a local street market under the highway pass.

Downtown shopping areas, like this street below, were busy with cars and local shoppers.

And here (below) is a typical downtown street scene. It was close to 9:30 a.m. and this is no doubt a woman on her way to work. The store she is passing by has not yet opened. The bank next door has a guard sitting outside between the entrance and the ATM.

Street sounds were the usual revving engines and jagged traffic noises of which we are familiar. But the Cairo street sounds had two additional, and prevalent, voices. One: vehicles were constantly beeping their horns, as mentioned earlier. The Other: the Call to Prayer.

Cairo is 90% Muslim and there are many mosques and minarets throughout the city streets. It is called the “City of a Thousand Minarets.”

Out in the streets, we heard the Call to Prayer often. It is also called the adhan, Arabic for “announcement.” Five times a day the adhan was recited in Arabic by a muezzin through an amplified loudspeaker. Every minaret had two and more loudspeakers on it.

Muslims are encouraged to stop their activities and pray when they hear the adhan. But we noticed jackhammers, traffic, horn honking and all manner of daily business kept going. Occasionally I saw a person stop to pray, but most did not.

Below is a mosque and street market in the Khan el-Khalili market (Arabic: خان الخليلي).