In spite of the rumoured ‘general strike’, saw the Egyptian museum today. It’s just as crazy as suggested – a grand decaying building, stuffed full of wooden cases and innumerable pieces of ancient stone, jewellery, pottery. It’s also stuffed full of tourists, mostly being herded around by guides, ignoring the instructions not to touch anything, and trying to control extremely bored offspring. In spite of all this, there’s plenty good stuff to see. The contents of Tutankhamun’s tomb take up a large amount of space – while the tomb is small, the photos taken before the contents were removed show a scene that resembles a junk-shop, with priceless gilded goods stacked up to the ceiling. Apparently this may be due to the tomb being used to hide away all the extraneous royal regalia associated with the end of his dynasty; it seems chucking unwanted possessions in the attic is nothing new.
After lunch, wandered around Coptic Cairo, which contains assorted churches and a synagogue. All worth seeing, one in particular contains a cave / crypt (sadly inaccessible) which is supposed to mark the spot of some biblical event. Wandering around the lower levels of the area (ground level having risen considerable in two thousand years), it’s easy to see why those with over-active imaginations might dream up fantastic tales set in such places. Though apparently even small chapels near Edinburgh suffice if you’re crazy enough. So far no one has offered me a guided tour of the Well of Souls, though.
Also, it has been raining. Tonight, off to Luxor on the sleeper train.
