Egypt Field Report for November 28, 2022

Egypt Field Report for November 27, 2022

The last day with the group was November 27th. They left the next morning.

On the 28th I visited the Temple of Hatshepsut and two tombs located nearby: Pabasa and El Assarif.

I was somewhat disappointed by old Hat. I knew there were reliefs of her trip to the land of Punt, believed to be the Sudan on the southern tip of the Red Sea, African side. On the walls of her temple are bas reliefs of that trip. Given the bright sun and the shallow carving it was hard to see much of anything. I could make out that some of the carvings showed trees, and there were two red humps. Maybe the humps represented hills? I don’t know. She had trees brought back and planted on the access to her temple. There used to be a withered piece of a tree left, but it is now gone.

I knew that somewhere on the temple there was a relief of her boat bringing two obelisks down the Nile. I didn’t find it. My back hurt. It was hot, and what I did see was washed out.

Also, my guidebook misled me. They showed the temple as it looked when there were two other similar temples next to it. If I had to read the fine print I would have known. Of interest to me was the long debris tube that ran from the back of the temple to a place just to the left of the temple. A Polish archaeologist is working on the cliffs behind and this tube, which looks like a line of interconnected 55 gallon drums, is a notable feature of one’s visit. Not mentioned in the guide books!

I then went to the Tomb of Pabasa. It’s at the end of Hatshepsut’s ramp, past the army security post. It is located opposite the entrance to the site. The security guards pulled the car barricade open a bit to let me get to the tomb. When I got there it appeared locked but I descended anyway with my 360 camera filming the descent. Just before I disappeared from view a fellow was yelling and waving and walking rapidly toward the entrance. It turned out he was the keeper of the keys. He let me in. Apparently, few if any people visit this tomb. Too bad because it is most excellent. Especially, after Hatshep. The fellow opened the door and promptly lay down on the right side of the first room. His head resting on a step. When I had filmed everything with the 360, he came to life and took me around to various parts I had not seen. He held the 360 while I took pictures with the iPhone. It should be some “interesting” video.