On this day 7 years ago ...in Cairo at Ibn Tulun Mosque
This is another of shot from my travels that I had enlarged and framed (framing was super cheap when I lived in Pakistan).
On this day 29 Dec 2005, I visited the Egyptian antiquities museum, to my great disappointment you cannot take cameras into the museum and I was a little worried about having to leave my camera and backpack in a cloakroom area with hundreds of other bags.
I felt somewhat lost going sightseeing without my camera, somehow I feel I see more when I carry a camera, as I am constantly looking around for interesting shots and good light. The museum is amazing, but with so many examples of the contents of so many tombs it is a little overwhelming, so much to see. We paid the extra money to go into the mummy hall, amazing to see the mummies.
One can see mummies of cats, birds, horses, crocodiles and other animals in a nearby room too. I think the huge statues would have been a joy to photograph. There was room after room with display cabinets full of tomb contents and the items provided to the departed to assist them in the afterlife. Dioramas, tools, utensils, jewellery and more.
In the afternoon was another tour with another Australian Embassy colleague. Her niece was visiting Cairo too and the two of us did a lot of touring together. We shopped in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar - such an amazing place. One of my favourite things I bought is the handbound notebook, with marbled cover and leather spine, embossed in gold with my name. We ate there too, the cafe had a walk through metal detector at the door to protect patrons, on recommendation of my colleague I tired a specialty - strawberry juice, I thought it may be sickly and too sweet, but it was delicious and refreshing.
Later we visited the Ibn Tulun Mosque arguably the oldest mosque in Cairo having been consecrated in 884. I loved the repeating patterns made by the arches and hanging lanterns. My family don't love this shot as much as I do, they prefer people or scenery.
We then visited the Gayer-Anderson museum, the former home of Major Gayer-Anderson, it housed his extensive antiquity, carpets, furniture and curios. He had special permission from the Egyptian Government to reside in this wonderfully preserved example of 17th C Egyptian domestic architecture. One of my favourite parts was the secret doorway and staircase hidden behind a cabinet set into the wall. It led to a screened gallery overlooking a large room, this is a place where the women of a wealthy household (not that of Major Gayer-Anderson - but earlier times) could watch the entertainment in the room below being enjoyed by the men without being seen by those men. It is actually two houses joined by a bridge.
