Memphis

Together with our guide, Ahmed, we set off early this morning for Memphis, the first 'Capital City' of the united Egypt. It was a fascinating 30 minute drive, taking us past queues lining up for the 2nd round of voting, donkeys laden with cauliflowers & turnips, and the occasional oxen pulling carts. The traffic was not as heavy as we experienced yesterday, but it was still a little hair-raising...there are just NO road rules here!! The Museum itself looks derelict compared to what we of the 'west' might expect ancient, priceless monuments to be stored in, never-the-less, what remains of this great ancient city is displayed here. The only piece under cover is the magnificent sculpture of Rameses 2. He was very into having statues made of himself & removing the names of former great leaders, & putting his name in their place! One way to ensure he wasn't forgotten! He was quite an amazing specimen of manhood, having lived to 94, when most Egyptian men of that time only lived to their mid 30's. There is no accurate record of how many wives he had, but between them they produced 106 daughters and 92 sons....maybe all that procreating helped increase his life span!!!!