Hieroglyphics

After our morning at Giza, our driver took us to Saqqara just outside Cairo where I proceeded to be a big baby and complained about the heat and being tired. These older pyramids are incredibly well preserved and since they are off the beaten track do not have nearly as many tourists (or touts) around to annoy you.

The two best parts of this stop, for me anyways, were the museum at the foot of the hill and the hieroglyphics. The museum has some really interesting statues and even a few mummies, which admittedly, freaked me out. Dead bodies. Eww.

The hieroglyphics, on the other hand, are not gross – they are really cool! These stories from the ancients that are carved and painted into walls for people to see millennia after they were first conceived. Sometimes it was obvious what the artist was trying to depict –
a boat about to be tipped over by a hippo, men rowing a ship, or simply the raw coolness of the pharaoh.

I can sincerely say that the hieroglyphics moved me – like looking at an amazing piece of art in a gallery. They were simply and utterly beautiful in this incredibly raw way. For people who can read them they’re more than art -- they’re a great story in a good book. The perfect piece of well-rounded art.