A Mineshaft and Rope

As I begin part III of our Egypt dispatch, I think back to a conversation I had about 15 years ago. Before I explain further, I want to tell you about my first visit to Egypt as a teen. I was a math nerd in school, so as I walked through the different sights, all I could see were geometric shapes and protractor angles. I know, I know… you are likely wondering who still says protractor. It’s true, I saw nothing but angles, obtuse and acute, and even a few right angles. Never in a million years did I think 30 years later, I would be writing about this. Something else happened on that visit, however.  I felt a connection to Egypt that was either driven by my unhealthy obsession with Indiana Jones or by this sense of discovery and rewriting history, challenging what we thought was true.

Now, let me fast forward to 15 years later…, In the Valley of the Kings, access to private tombs was the norm, with the fees set arbitrarily, usually by one person who happens to be well known. One of the challenges Egypt faces is the invisibility of the local excavators and archaeologists, the ones making the actual discoveries, not the media rounds. These workers are doing the most important work, and Big Five is committed to creating fair wage jobs in archaeology for them where the fees paid to open a tomb go towards paying the salaries of these local workers instead of into one person’s pocket or an external organization.  I had frequent conversations with our Egypt country manager, himself an archaeologist by degree, about getting access to the newest finds and sharing any articles and videos when news broke about a new excavation or a discovery of a new tomb.

These conversations have become more frequent in recent years because archaeology is the central driver of tourism to Egypt, it is the best form of PR there could be. New discoveries are at an all-time high, averaging two discoveries a decade in the early 20th century to averaging six a year since 2018. I wanted to harness this while lifting the local excavation teams and archaeologists who were making these discoveries. This vision started to take shape during the pandemic when Netflix showcased the amazing documentary The Secret Tomb of Saqqara, which showcased a tomb found in 2018. When we realized the same crew who was taking the viewers through in the documentary would be our guides, I was overjoyed. It was where I got to meet the lead archaeologists and have them explain what they saw. It fueled my interest in getting access to more of the undiscovered.

Fast forward to 2023, and this vision is finally taking shape, as you will see in the latest video. We were dropped down a mine shaft to a mummy chamber that was just discovered in Saqqara two months ago. Thirty meters above us, the excavation work carried on, and down below, the lead archaeologist, Dr. Mohammed, showed us around with a light telling us what they found when they first entered. This was the ultimate storytelling experience, and it was exactly what I had in mind. Best part is that we support the jobs of close to 50 workers with one visit and made a commitment to continue doing the same as the next chapter in our sustainable commitment in Egypt.

Enoy the video!

Never Just Another Temple

Upper Egypt holds a special place for me, and part II of our Egypt dispatch takes place in Aswan and Luxor, and of course, Abu Simbel. While the pyramids may be the calling card for Egypt, it is Upper Egypt, Luxor in particular, that holds the heartbeat of Egyptian history. Anyone traveling to Egypt already has a list of their must-sees,  however, Luxor, and especially Abu Simbel, should be included as these two locations represent what I believe to be the heartbeat of Egypt’s history.

Now, before you say what about Aswan, don’t worry, I am about to talk about that. The British military occupied Egypt in 1882 and retained control until 1956. Winston Churchill first entered Egypt in 1898 when he was traveling to my mother’s native Sudan and his first stay at the famous Old Cataract Hotel was in 1902, shortly after the hotel opened. Agatha Christie, the famous author, first visited Egypt in 1910 and also stayed at the famous hotel in 1933. This was the inspiration for her renowned book, “Death on the Nile,” released in 1937.  This is where I love to slow things down, allowing time to process what we’ve already seen.

Yet, I found myself perplexed on this particular visit. On our return from Abu Simbel, during the shuttle ride from the plane in Aswan to the terminal, I overheard an over-eager traveler, who seemed to assume her opinion was everyone’s, share that Abu Simbel was ‘just another temple.’ She then proceeded to tell whoever would listen that she was “templed out,” and we would be too after our visit to Luxor. Clearly this traveler wasn’t a Big Five client and didn’t see Egypt the right way (the value of a great travel advisor proven yet again!). I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and checked out her comments right after because I couldn’t fathom somebody even suggesting Egyptian landmarks were that common and low on the experience totem pole.

So, enjoy the video from Upper Egypt, and you tell me… if any of this looks like “just another temple.”