Gary A. Byers<\/b><\/p>\n
Recently, the outside world became aware of a small island in the Nile delta where an ancient Egyptian village from the 15th century BC has been discovered. The unique thing about this village, located within the city limits of modern Cairo, is that it wasn\u2019t there during Egypt\u2019s New Kingdom in the 15th century BC! This ancient village is <\/p>\n
Modern Egyptians recreating ancient Egyptian life in Ragab\u2019s village.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 10:4 (Autumn 1997) p. 90<\/p>\n
the 1984 creation of Egypt\u2019s former ambassador to China, Dr. Hasan Ragab. It is officially known as the Pharaonic Village.<\/p>\n
The island on which the village is constructed belongs to Ragab. It is the plantation where he grows papyrus reeds to supply his floating Papyrus Museum, docked on the bank of the Nile near Giza. It was Dr. Ragab, in the 1970\u2019s, who rediscovered the techniques for producing smooth sheets of papyrus, an art lost for over a millennium. Today, hidden in the reeds of Ragab\u2019s papyrus island, the ancient village sits in the very shadows of modern Cairo\u2019s skyline.<\/p>\n
Set in the days of Egypt\u2019s New Kingdom (16th-13th centuries BC), the village sits in an ancient Egyptian ecosystem totally created by Dr. Ragab. He has successfully recreated the trees, flowers, birds and animals which lived in the region about 1500 BC, many of which have long disappeared from the banks of the Nile.<\/p>\n
The village is accessed by launch from the Nile\u2019s western bank. Upon arrival at the island, the boat navigates a narrow canal lined with the 10 ft high papyrus stalks. One by one, images of ancient Egyptian deities appear in the midst of the reeds. Amon-Ra, Thoth, Osiris, Isis, Horus and Bes all present themselves to the boatload of visitors.<\/p>\n
The Pharaonic Village<\/b><\/p>\n
At the end of the canal, the visitors from the present begin to view daily life in an ancient Egyptian village, a world with which both Joseph and Moses were familiar. White-kilted farmers plow their fields with oxen and wooden plows, sow seed by hand, irrigate with water from the Nile and winnow their wheat at a threshing floor. Further along, a scribe records baskets of grain poured into a whitewashed mudbrick silo for storage.<\/p>\n
One by one, the vital industries of ancient Egypt are recreated. Modern Egyptians demonstrate fishing, wine making, papyrus making, linen weaving, perfume making, carpentry, boat construction, pottery production, brick making, sculpturing of monuments, wall painting and engraving.<\/p>\n
Village structures include a nobleman\u2019s house and garden, a farmer\u2019s hut, a yard for Nile boat builders, a threshing floor and a village market. The only stone structure on the site is a reconstructed temple. Interestingly, it is the only ancient-styled temple in Egypt not in ruins today. While the ancient temple was off limits to the common man, the domain only of its priests, modern visitors may enter and observe the priests conducting 3,500 year old rituals.<\/p>\n
The time-traveling visitors are free to roam the village, along with its numerous domesticated animals. They may observe the ancient Egyptians as they conduct daily activities inside, outside and on the rooftops of their houses.<\/p>\n
\u201c…Wonderful things…\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Most recently, Dr. Ragab also <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 10:4 (Autumn 1997) p. 91<\/p>\n
completed a full scale reconstruction of King Tutankhamon\u2019s tomb. All four chambers of the boy king\u2019s ancient tomb are reconstructed, just as they appeared when discovered by Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. Tut\u2019s actual tomb, in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor 360 mi away, has long been emptied of all its artifacts. Yet, it has remained a major tourist attraction for many years. Unfortunately, the breath of 3,000 daily visitors to the stone-carved tomb has caused bacterial growth on the ancient wall paintings and the site has been closed to the general public. The actual artifacts are kept just a few miles from Ragab\u2019s island in downtown Cairo\u2019s Egyptian Museum.<\/p>\n
At Ragab\u2019s reconstruction, the tomb\u2019s four chambers are separated by a visitor\u2019s walkway, allowing viewing of each room. Considered by many to be even more interesting than the real thing, it was the high-light of this visitor\u2019s island stop last summer. The impact of the collective sizes, shapes and colors of all those artifacts crammed into these small rooms is dazzling. It has caused more than one tourist to reutter Howard Carter\u2019s words after being the first to observe Tut\u2019s treasures in over 3, 000 years, \u201cYes, wonderful things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solid gold facemask from the coffin of King Tut.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gary A. Byers Recently, the outside world became aware of a small island in the Nile delta where an ancient Egyptian village from the 15th century BC has been discovered. The unique thing about this village, located within the city limits of modern Cairo, is that it wasn\u2019t there during Egypt\u2019s New Kingdom in the … Continue reading “AMONG
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