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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 1:36 pm 
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Okay, then (and peace to you all!), where were we? Oh, yes... Valley of Kings. Before we get there, though, I HAVE to share a couple/few pics of the so-called"African [Egyptian] 'wild" dogs that many, including the WTBTS, consider to be those Biblical fame (surly, vicious curs that completely consumed manipulative and self-serving Jezebel, leaving nothing but her palms, when she fell out of a window). Ya'll know i love puppies, so I gotta do it before continuing. I want to remind you dear ones of the truth from our dear Lord as to the "wild dogs"... versus the "little dogs" (not sure where the thread is, right now - Ms. Mayor? LOLOL!), though... in the light of how many, including the WTBTS, view and teach as to Biblical "wild dogs":

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[There was also a pic of a mom and puppies in the greatyard before the step pyramid, but can't find that one, sorry.]


Yes, those are the "viciouses" that the WTBTS wants us to believe ate up Jezebel (oh, come on!)... versus, say, the African Wild Dog:

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... or, even more likely, the striped hyena:

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the habitat area of which definitely included the lands of Egypt AND Canaan at the time:

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I know Wikipedia isn't the most reliable source, but here's some interesting commentary (https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_hyena):

"Though attacks on live humans are rare, striped hyenas will scavenge on human corpses." Think, Jezebel.

"In Turkey, stones are placed on graves to stop hyenas digging the bodies out." Think, Lot's wife and what I was given to share as how (and why) she became a "pillar of salt."

Can these animals be tamed and kept as household dogs, though? Apparently so:

"The striped hyena is easily tamed and can be fully trained, particularly when young. Although the Ancient Egyptians did not consider striped hyenas sacred, they supposedly tamed them for use in hunting. When raised with a firm hand, they may eventually become affectionate and as amenable as well trained dogs, though they emit a strong odour which no amount of bathing will cover. Although they kill dogs in the wild, striped hyenas raised in captivity can form bonds with them."

More compelling, however, is the statement that:

"The striped hyena... is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, where it is referred to as tzebua or zevoa, though the species is absent in some Bible translations into English."


ENNYWHO... the only thing WE found "vicious" about these puppies (adult and young) was... well, nothing. Nor did we find anything unhealthy about them. Some had flies buzzing 'round (and probably laying larvae in wounds that come with living in the streets, which larvae are a GOOD thing as they help wounds to heal), but NONE we starving. Although lean, they were pretty healthy. And... they're EVERYWHERE... AND... they all look like they started from a canine "Adham and Eve" pair - LOLOLOL! EVERY dog we saw, and we saw PLENTY (and cats, too - both run around in feral - but NOT "wild" as in "cannot be domesticated", which is another lie, apparently, since striped hyenas apparently can be!) looked related. Not just to those who run in the same pack... but ones we saw in entirely different cities! Some would come close, looking for food or just curious, but they all eat pretty well (especially in Giza - remember all the garbage I told you about!).

We did see a couple "react" with growls once, though (well, I didn't see it, but I did hear it!). We were driving in the bus/van from our Nile dinner cruise and I heard a woman scream. Well, not scream, per se, but cry out... at the same time as I heard a couple of dogs growl (and their tone said they meant business). I looked over I saw the woman scramble/jump from the sidewalk toward the street. We passed on by, though, so I didn't see what was amiss. Dear FinalCall (peace, brother!) said that two larger dogs growled at the woman as she left the sidewalk to enter into a parking area. The area was quite dark, though (it was around 10pm, if not later) and so the woman didn't see the pack of small puppies (about 8 or so) behind the two larger dogs. Which made the dogs's reaction quite understandable. They didn't attack the woman but merely gave her a (very serious) warning not to come any closer!

Anyway, the ones we came in contact with (which didn't let us get too close - didn't growl, etc., but would skitter away) seemed pretty harmless, per se. I'm sure they can hold their own, if provoked, scared, or really hungry, but they looked no different than some average mix many folks in the US have as pets. (Oh, and Egyptians do keep dogs as pets. Our dear guide told us that he used to raise rottweilers as pets, so there you go!).

Sorry for the detour but I just didn't feel right leaving some truth as to my own pups' species-mates out of the story - LOLOLOLOL!

Peace to you all!

Your servant and a slave of Christ,

Shel


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:06 am 
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Yep...shes right. I checked that gold box coffin/thingy. I flipped it over and... Doesn't say "Made in Taiwan" anywhere on it.

Now lets see, *taps finger to lip* if ...we can only distract the guard...and ...sneak a ...pulley system in there..wait..no. no ..no. thou shalt not covet they neighbor's casket, even if he's not in it...

...damn it. well...tune in next week for Aaron's Rod! ..wait...no..that didn't sound right.


Me


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:33 pm 
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Glad to see your fabulous sense of humor is still intact, dear Voices (peace to you, dear brother, and glad to "see" YOU, as well!).

Re Tut's "ark,"... some curious similarities to dear Moses' ark, yes? Well, at least as to the wood... gold... "cherubs"... and purpose (protection from radiation/"dynamic energy"). Thing is, why would an Egyptian Pharaoh have an ark... with "cherubs" on it... as a tomb/shrine? Or, vice versa, why would an Levite Israelite, make an ark... with cherubs on it? What is the common factor?

Apparently, the common factor is... Joseph. Whom none of the scholars, archaeologists, Egyptologists (well, that's understandable, maybe), rabbis, or others "in the know" seem to have paid much attention to. We, though, probably shouldn't forget about him and with good reason. Remember, he depicts Christ: placed 2nd in command only to Pharaoh, miraculously saved Egypt AND Israel, etc., sent ahead of his brothers in order to do so, his father's "favorite", his brothers jealous, suffered at the hands of his brothers, falsely accused... and more.

But here's what I recently received:

By means of JAH's holy spirit, the same spirit that permitted Joseph to interpret Pharaoh's dream so as TO save "the world" (and hence, be named "Zapanathpaneah"), he was also permitted to perform many other "miracles," as well. At least, "miracles" for the times in which he lived - today, we would call it... wait for it... "technology"! BUT... LIKE Christ... he never took the "glory" for himself, but ALWAYS gave it to [the] Pharaoh(s) of his day! And so, you never HEAR as to him, except perhaps for the Genesis account.

SO... there are a couple/few Pharaohs who have some pretty awesome stuff attributed to them, for which another is literally responsible. However, as with between JAH and Christ... and even today with a a modern-day employer... the ultimate end-product of one's efforts belong to JAH (when it's by means of His holy spirit)... or the employer (if you use their computer, textbooks, paper, pens, work time, etc.). Because it was these (JAH or the employer) who gave one the "tools" to create the product in the first place.

There's more... but I have yet another bout of flu and am having a bit of a trying time these past few days (this one's a bit nastier than the last - yes, got my flu shot but they don't always work [as well] for diabetics - I do think, though, that it would have been even worse had I not gotten the shot, so...)

Anyway, thanks for you humor and peace to you!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:40 pm 
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Peace to you all, and on to The Valley of [the] Kings!

TVoK is located west of what used to be Thebes (now, Luxor), the capital of Egypt/Upper Egypt starting with the Amarna period (when Akenhaten began):

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To date, 64 tombs of Egyptian kings dated from about the 16th to the 11th century BCE have been discovered in the valley, the last in 2012:

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Site visitors can access the majority of the tombs via a general admission ticket which grants access to 5 tombs of your choosing, excluding "special" tombs access to which must be purchased separately. In addition to our GA tickets, we also purchased entry to the tombs of Thutmose III (KV34), Ramses II, and Tutanhkhamen.

The first tomb we visited was KV34, the tomb of Thutmose III, which was a bit gnarly to access: first, a pretty steep climb up into the hill, then a pretty deep descent into the tomb itself (none of these pics are ours but taken from the Internet - dear hubby just took waayyyy too many and I just don't have the energy to go through them and find the right ones for the commentary - sorry! But I PROMISE you... this is EXACTLY how things looked!):

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I had a difficult time here, at first; remember, I'm claustrophobic and so, in addition to the VERY small "opening" to the tomb, the number and appearance of the people coming OUT [of the tomb] gave me GREAT pause (many were profusely sweating and many were heavily panting... and they just kept COMING... person after person... after person... and so I was like "Uh-uh, I'm NOT goin' in there!"). So, once again, son went first... well, between me, son, and daughter, all claustros - dear Hubby and everyone else went right on down, no problems...

Son went first, then hollered back to daughter that she could do it. So, daughter went (but people kept coming out, so I was still like, no...)... and eventually came back to tell me (1) there was no one but "us" inside now and, (2) THERE WERE FANS!!! So, I went in... and I'm glad I did as it was an experience to have. I didn't stay long, though (and I used those dang fans, believe me - I stood in front of them and sucked up as much "fresh" air as I could, then turned around, took in the sights, then sucked more air - LOLOL!).

I didn't stay in this tomb long enough for anything to catch my eye... but "something" caught dear Hubby's eye (this is not his pic but he took a very similar one - notice what seems to be "occurring" in the right corner):

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In all, we entered 5 to 7 tombs. I say "to 7" because dear FinalCall, Hubby, son (peace to you dear brothers!) and I quit after Tut's tomb - we had seen SO much (and NOT in Tut's tomb, although his was pretty cool), that I was just tired. FC and I also wanted to check back on dear 'Mom (peace to you, too, luv!), who has stayed behind with a bad stomach and headache (unfortunately, she didn't get to see inside any of the tombs and so missed some very important images - I will elaborate later). We missed, then, the tombs of Ramses II and at least one, maybe 2, other(s).

Tut's Tomb (KV62) -

As I shared, when we visited the Cairo Museum we viewed the contents of Tut's tomb (KV62). What is NOT in Cairo is Tut himself - the mummy is in the tomb, in a climate controlled glass case in the area that formerly housed the all of his "stuff. His granite/marble sarcophagus is in the area where it initially lay, minus the ark/shrines and (gold) caskets. It is open and empty. There really is nothing more to see there - one can stand there and imagine, however, how the contents might have looked when initially discovered. But that's pretty much it.

Twosret's Tomb (KV14) -

This tomb, dear ones... pretty much did me in. Not just it's beauty... but some of what we saw while in it. Unfortunately, we weren't "permitted" to take pics so we might not have any (although, I thought perhaps one or two were clandestinely taken - LOL!). I will share with you at least one, from the Internet, that hints to what we saw:

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And we saw MANY of these. They were interwoven throughout the "writings" all through the tomb. The one that stood out most, though, was quite large, had four legs... and was being... mmmmm... "captured"? subdued? (roped?). It had a rope around it's ankle which rope was being held by 16 "beings", four each with the head of a bull, four with the head of a man, four with the head of an eagle/bird of prey... and four with the head of an ibis (vs. a lion). I knew, though, as soon as I saw it that the image wasn't depicting 16 different and individual beings but was a 3D depiction of only 4 different beings with heads that showed the same on all FOUR "sides"!! Ezekiel 1:6, 10, 15; 10:14, 21; Revelation 7:11

Wait - Egyptians believed in serpents with legs... er, um... serpents that walked??! Apparently, so! BUT... did they believe in SERAPHS? The images raised this question within me... and THAT is what we'll need to consider at some point.

After we found dear 'Mom was okay (she was sleeping on a bench in the waiting area, conked OUT - LOLOL!), we headed for Hatshepsut's Temple. Unfortunately, after my experience in Twosret's tomb, I couldn't really get "into" that site. It was magnificent, yes, but only visually - I felt/received nothing "spiritual" there (it was almost entirely closed off for rehab, as well, so that might have contributed, but I'm sure my fatigue... concern over the lost passport... and, again, the excitement over some of the images in the tombs... simply overclouded this site). Others might have felt/received something, though; if so, please do share! In the meantime, here are some pics (all of which we DID take; I'll throw in one with me and another with dear IamWhoIam (peace to you, sweetie!), so's you know...:

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Oh, I did forget to mention... apparently, our dear guides/hosts all saw something of Hatshetsup in me (say what? WHY??! Beats ME - LOLOL!). Ennywho, both they and the Family all kept referring to me by that term, "Hatshetsup." One night, dear Ashi was mentioning it and dear son said something to the affect that, "Yeah, more like 'How's That Soup?'!" And so, I obtained the nickname "How's That Soup?" when we returned to Cairo/Giza. I since shortened to "Hot Soup" (because I want a cartouche with my "name" on it and "How's That Soup" is too many letters - LOLOL! Also, because I tend to be in some kind of "hot soup" all the time - LOLOL!).

Next installment: "How to Get [Back] to Cairo Without a Passport" or even better "How to Get One Once You're There". Now, THAT was an advencha' all on its own! LOLOLOL!

Hope you enjoyed and peace to you all!

Your servant and a slave of Christ,

SA


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 10:07 am 
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In thinking back on it (peace to you, all!), I am not sure I have the Luxor timeline accurate. I am not sure we went the Hatshepsut's Temple directly after visiting the VoKs... because of events surrounding the lost passport and our "plan" to get back to Cairo/Giza. I THINK we went the the Temple the second day... or maybe even BOTH sites the second day... because at some point (and I now think it was later in the first day)... dear daughter, FDIL, FinalCall, and I had to go back to the train station in search of the lost passport (or some news about it). Now, THAT was a(nother sub-) advencha!

Our dear guide, Khaled, had left his local contact info with the Luxor train station authorities when he and Mohammed took dear daughter and I back to look the first morning. So, sometime in the afternoon of that day we checked and he'd heard nothing. Of course, we couldn't just blow the matter off and so decided to go and see for ourselves if there had been any word (perhaps from the train conductor, cleaning crew, etc., when the trained arrived in Aswan, where it went after leaving us in Luxor. Or maybe on its way back north - Aswan is the southernmost stop, then the train heads back to Cairo).

Dear Khaled kindly offered to take us back to Luxor - remember, we had taken that extraordinarily long trip down to the (one) bridge in the vicinity that crossed the Nile, then traveled back up the road a good 45 mins to our digs. So, we were grateful that we didn't have to hire another car/van to get back to the train station. Only... he didn't take us in his van... or across the bridge.

We were initially surprised (but silent - no need to be rude) when Khaled showed up alone (i.e., without Mohammed) and in his personal car - a (very) small asian number. Okkaaayyyyy... but who's gonna look that gift horse in the mouth? We needed to get to the train station and quickly. So, let's pile in, which we did (daughter, FDIL, FC and myself). Our surprise grew to great JOY, though... when Khaled took us NOT down the road toward the bridge... but down the road... to the PIERS! Yes, dear ones, rather than taking an almost hour-long trek down to and across the bridge, dear Khaled took us straight to... and directly across THE NILE... in a tiny little (but oh so beautiful!) boat! And our dear little boat was aptly named... wait for it... "The Dream" - LOLOLOLOL!

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It was a wonderful trip across the Nile - we could actually run our hands in the water, we were that low!

Here are a couple pics of the Luxor (Thebes) Temple, when we landed across the river:

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Once we landed, we still had to get to the train station. There were taxis, of course, but our dear Khaled worked in another "joy" for us: horse-drawn buggies the rest of the way!! You can imagine we were pretty smug-faced, the four of us, and laughing over everyone who had stayed back to "nap" - what THEY were missing - LOLOLOL!

Anyway, we get to the train station...

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But find no word of the passport. Since we are there, we also decide to purchase return train tickets (we can't fly back now, which was the original plan, because one of us doesn't have a passport)... and find out it's, well, virtually impossible. Not that we can't pay - but we can't pay CASH. And cash is needed because... the ticket attendant for non-Egyptians, a lovely "christian" woman who spoke broken English... was VERY new on the job and didn't know how to work the credit card swipe machine! Not only that... we found out later that the machine was also brand new... and hadn't even been programmed to BE used, yet!

Soooo... where to get enough cash to buy 10 train tickets (at $80 per)... on a MUSLIM SABBATH evening!? Yes, dear ones... it is now Thursday and Thursday/Friday are Muslim "holy days" in Egypt! In addition, apparently NO ONE has that much US cash ($800) in Luxor... except the Exchange booth out at the airport! And we did search - we ran up and down street, into stores, banks... dear Khaled even took us to one of his... mmmmmm... "business partners" shall we say (LOLOLOL!)? But no go there, either - just not that amount of US cash to be found in the city that night.

Why didn't we have that much US cash on us? Who knew we would need it? We ALL had credit/debit cards and EVERYWHERE takes those... except, apparently, the Luxor train station on this particular evening! LOLOLOL! We had left that kind of cash back at the digs in Cairo, yes (didn't want to get pinched while we were away from the big city - LOLOLOL!) thinking, well, we can always get more cash if we need when we get to Luxor. Thing is... Luxor is such a small town that it's ATMs only dispense Egyptian pounds - LOLOLOL!

We finally concluded that train tickets weren't going to happen, at least not that evening. The lady told us to come back the next day, but she couldn't guarantee us berths because you usually had to book that many a day or more in advance (no, you don't - they told us that going both ways but it ended up not being the case). So, we left and went back across the Nile (I managed to grab a bottle of Nile "water" to bring home!).

Once back across, dear Khaled came up with a plan: Mohammed would drive us all back to Cairo the next day (and thinking on it now, we did visit the VoK that day and the Temple the next day) in his van! WHOOO-HOOOO!! At least I could sleep now, knowing we COULD get back to Cairo/Giza... because now we had to visit the US Embassy... which was in Cairo! Transportation problem now solved... but man, oh, man... was I TIRED!

I could not sleep, though, of course. Some of you know I have suffered from insomnia and I especially do so when I'm extremely tired or stressed, which I was both by this time - LOLOL!

Anyway, I have shared as to the Temple out of order - my apologies for that. We were able to get train tickets the next day (and EVERYONE got to take the boat across the Nile and horse buggies to the stations, so no one lost out in the end)... and headed back to Cairo/Giza in search of passportation. Will share as to THAT "advencha" in my next post.

Peace to you all!

Your servant and a slave of Christ,

Shel


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 10:23 am 
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(Oh, I need to share this - again, peace to you all!)

Regarding arks, "cherubs", Tut, Moses, Egypt, Israel, serpents, serpents with legs, seraphs, etc., some of you will recall some years ago when I shared what spirit beings actually look like, how I used the word "reptilian" and how I shared as to what "fell" from Paul's eyes when his site was restored. You know the account, how he was walking on the road to Damascus, a bright light flashed, and my dear Lord spoke to him. You may recall me sharing that he was temporarily blinded NOT as a result of the light but as a PROTECTION from the light... by items being placed over his eyes. You may recall me bringing to your attention "what" those "items" were, as this greatly corroborated my sharing with you that spirit beings are "drakons"... or "dragons"... or "seraphs" - fiery, flesh-eating serpents:

"The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

"Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord - [Jesus], who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with holy spirit.' Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength."
Acts 9:17, 18

Please note, these were NOT "like" scales - they WERE scales. And I believe there is Egyptian corroboration of this truth:

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Notice "anything" that would corroborate that what fell from Paul's eyes were indeed scales? And... although they appear to be "bird" wings, I think there's actually another explanation for the "feathers." How about you?

Things that make us go "Hmmmmm....". DID the Egyptians know about/believe in seraphs?

Again, peace to you!

Your servant and a slave of Christ,

SA


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 11:21 am 
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Wow, that was awesome. You guys had many adventures, lol!


Okay, so first, as to the tree. My first thought was that the tree had an arm, and would that not represent a LIVING tree (such as the Tree of Life) which the person appears to be eating from! (I think that the person is eating from the tree) I suppose it could be another tree, but that was my initial thought.


The serpent with legs... the winged being with scales (and indeed, even if parts of those wings were feathers, the body and the under part of the wings are CLEARLY scales. The rest could be as well.)


Either way, there is so much evidence that Egypt has known about/believed in seraphs, in the Amen, and so also in Jah, and in various other truths (as shown with their use of gold, arks, even breastplates; and with your description of the 3D being, the serpent being roped).



Shelby thank you for sharing all of this with us. I don't doubt for a moment that Egypt knew about/believed in these things, just because of Joseph and Abraham, and because of what you shared regarding the Amen and Tutenkhamen. To see them as well, even if secondhand here, is very interesting.



Peace again to you,
your servant and sister and fellow slave of Christ,
tammy


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 2:32 pm 
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You "got" EXACTLY what we "got", dear, dear Tec (peace to you, chile'!). Re the tree, perhaps a "tree" that was a PERSON (hence, the "arm"... AND the "feeding" of the man below it)?

What's also interesting is that the kings/tombs where the "curious" depictions I've shared are...Thuthmose III, Twosret, Tut... all... post-date Joseph.

Things do make one go "Hmmmm...".

Again, peace to you, dear sister!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 9:28 am 
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OH MY!! What adventures and the trip of a lifetime you and yours have experienced. I am loving reading about it and the photos really help to visualize what you saw. The little boat was amazing with comfortable couches and a table to taxi down the Nile and imagine what transpired there 1000's of years ago. What a huge bonus for you plus the horse and carriage, OH what lucky people you are except of course the one thing to spoil it, the lost passport :-(

The tombs sound awesome but claustrophobic, but to see them would be worth it. I would never get into them as I can't walk and it doesn't look wheelchair accessible LOL so seeing and hearing through your experiences was wonderful. The statues in front are HUGE and look very majestic.

The Egyptian drawings, signs and symbols are definitely interesting and shows they believed in a GOD, Seraphs and an afterlife.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 1:11 pm 
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Greetings and peace to you, all!

So, we after our little (and wonderful!) jaunt to Luxor, we take the sleeper train back to Cairo that Sunday evening (left at 11pm; arrived in Giza at 8am or so). Not a lot to tell about next few days in Giza/Cairo, except maybe about the "lost passport", which WAS it's own little advencha:

Dear Alaa met us at the condo in Giza as soon as we got back and he, dear daughter, and I went straight to the US Embassy in Cairo. Thank goodness for that sleeper train because we had just arrived back! We get there... and there are 2 long lines (of course!). Thankfully, the lines were for Egyptian citizens seeking US visas. WE were needing a temporary passport so that daughter could get on flight back to US. At first, the "guard", a small, thin Egyptian "enforcer" of some kind... blew us off. We could tell right away it was a little "power tripping." Thankfully, Alaa was with us and spoke to the man in Egyptian/Arabic, which caused him to yield some. He eventually let daughter go in... but insisted she do so alone (although, the Embassy site says a person may take one other person with them!). We didn't want him to change his mind, though, so she went in and we waited outside.

And waited... and waited... and waited. In fact, we had breakfast... and lunch... and it was actually close to dinner when she came out. All was not done - she would need to come back the next day because THIS day... she had to go to the local police station and file a report on her lost passport. SO... we trucked (as in walked) about 20 blocks to the Cairo police station... which was a very interesting place. For one, you would not be able to tell it was a police station save for the "uniformed" men hanging all about. Otherwise, it looked much like an old Victorian building that had been repurposed.

At first, we were ignored. Not because we were Americans (Alaa is Egyptian, although he lives in the US... and daughter was often mistaken for an Egyptian... and I look like I could come from any number of countries in the Northern African region); no, they just ignored everyone. Didn't matter "who" or "what" you were... or why you were there. Well, dear Alaa wasn't having it - LOLOL! He went away and "spoke" to someone (think, here, about what "talks" and you get the picture), and we received a "audience" with one of the higher up officers who, after "interviewing" daughter, sent us to the "highest up." That one wrote out a paper indicating the report of a lost passport, gave it to us, and we were on our way.

As I said, it was around dinner time, now, and since dear Alaa had been with us ALL day, we took him out for a nice dinner. (I need to say here that while he did appreciate the gesture, he was a little taken aback because he felt he could have taken us to a better - eye-ee "authentic Egyptian" - place to eat and for much less. He was probably right, but EVERYONE... except dear Hubby and I... had experienced some kind of stomach problems by that time and I just wasn't risking it. I had eaten very little from day one and now I was RAVENOUS. I wanted to EAT, so I opted for a restaurant in one of the hotels we passed. I did take the family back a load of FABULOUS sandwiches and dessert pastries from a REALLY great french patisserie, though, so they all ate "well", too - LOLOL!)

First thing the next morning, dear daughter, dear SON, and I Uber it back to the Embassy (without dear Alaa, as he was leaving to return to the States later in the day). This time, they let me in - not with daughter but later when I said I need to use the restroom. The Egyptian ladies at the check-in counter were NOT happy about letting me in, but the skinny guard said something "sharp" to them and they (kinda) sucked it up. Kinda... but not really - LOLOL! I have to say, this was really the only place where we DIDN'T "feel the love" - LOLOL!

Anyway, I get down to where daughter is and guess what? Nope, she wasn't just able to hand in the police report, get her temporary passport, and go. Oh, no. No, no, no. Noooooo, she had to START ALL OVER. From STEP ONE! I am not kidding you - I almost couldn't believe it. I was like, wait, isn't this the US Embassy??!! What sense does it make to make people start from SCRATCH when you have all of their "stuff" from the day before? But I had to swallow that Americans are not "special" everywhere and in fact some places they go out of their way to make sure "we" know that. The US Embassy in Cairo is one of those places - LOLOL! Again, though, the ONLY place where we didn't "feel the love" - everywhere and everyone else truly tried to accommodate us no matter the issue. Well, except may also the Egyptian Immigration Service, which I will get to in a moment - LOLOL!

And so daughter starts over but this time she got what she needed in a few hours. Almost got what she needed. See, she was issued a temporary passport, yay. BUT... a passport, temporary or permanent... with out an ENTRY VISA... means absolutely NOTHING - LOLOL! See, you can't get OUT of a country, unless and until you can show that you got IN... LEGALLY. Which is the purpose of an "entry" visa (of course! Doh!). But the US Embassy can't issue visas for entry into Egypt - only the Egyptian authorities can do that. And they did... when we arrived at the airport: all of our passports received one of these BEAUTIFUL visa stamps (usually, they're just plain ol' black lettering, sometimes in a oval, sometimes in a square/rectangle - these were stunning!):

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So, although it's pretty early in the day (around 10am), we now have to go to the Egyptian Immigration Service. And let me tell you dear one... that is a MADHOUSE. BUT... for all of it's madness, I would not trade the experience for ANYTHING! We get there... and not only are there wall to wall people (of practically every African/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/Egyptian ilk... but on every floor! And... there are NO LINES (well, kind of - I'll get to that in a sec). And... you are run around from here to there, from this person to that person, this floor to that floor... and on and on and on! NO one speaks "good" English and so things can be very confusing.

Re lines, there are SUPPOSED to be mens' line(s) and womens' line(s); however, because at time there were like 20 men to every woman, the men kept creeping over to the "womens" windows. When this happened... the lady behind the womens' window (and this only one of about 50 or more windows on one floor... and there are 5-6 floors, I think) would stand up, bang on the window (literally, yes), and scream (literally, yes) at the men to get BACK into the mens' line, that the line was for women ONLY.

At first, this kind of took me aback. Along with:

1. Being blown off by virtually every "officer" we [tried to] speak with;
2. Being blown off by virtually every "clerk" we [tried to] speak with;
3. Being pushed and shoved by... well, I can't even tell you the number of people just in the hallways, let alone in the "lines".

And then... I "got it" - I realized, hey, wait, THAT's the window we need, that's a WOMENS' line... and there's NO WOMEN IN IT! Oh, I shoved MY way through the mass and got up to that window - LOLOL! A little about "shoving" my way ('cause I don't want ya'll to think I'm just a bogarting mean lady - I CAN be, but this wasn't that kind of a situation - LOLOL!):

I learned from two of the other folks there what was going on. Not because they told me but because of how they reacted when I spoke to THEM. The first was a woman who I noticed kept trying to creep AROUND me while I was in this line (I was the only one in the line... but the lady clerk had left the kiosk and the men clerks were dealing with the men because there were SO many of them). I could see her out of the corner of my eye inching... inching... up behind me... then to me side... then the next thing I knew, SHE was in front of me at the window! I was, like, "Ummmm... no. I was here in line first; please get behind me." Did she go off? Curse me out? Nope. She smiled a sheepish, "Okay, you caught me" and got behind me. The same exact thing happened with a man (who wasn't even supposed to be in this line, mind you)... and he, too, simply smiled sheepishly and said "Okay" and got behind me. It was then that it hit me: no one is OFFENDED a the pushing and shoving - indeed, they EXPECT it. And no is offended when you point out to them they've just cut you in the line. Thing is, if you DON'T push/shove BACK... or saying anything when someone cuts in front... you're just A-OUT! They ASSUME you DON'T CARE... and are LETTING them in front of you - LOLOLOLOLOL! If you push/shove back, though, and say, "Ummm, no, sorry, get behind me," they are TOTALLY okay with that. It was a truly a "survival of the fittest" kind of situation... and so poor, poor dear daughter got herself little self pushed, shoved, cutted, squeezed, squeezed out, dragged along (to the wrong line(s), etc., on more than one occasion - LOLOLOL!

Anyway, once I figured "how" this who "who's in line" thing worked... well, I just had dear son and daughter stand back... and I made my way to whichever windows we needed to go to. Unfortunately... most of them turned out to be the wrong window - LOLOLOL! And so we spent most of the day there, dealing with trying to get an entry visa stamp for daughter's temporary visa. No go, though.

The next day was more of the same... until we got a call from dear Ashi offering to come down and speak to "whomever" for us. He did and while things initially looked they were going to go the same way, they actually turned out differently. Dear Ashi was able to kind of "shame" the supervisor (a very tall, large man who looked SO stressed out we wondered that he hadn't already had a heart attack and certainly looked a candidate for one!) into pushing things through (the application was just sitting somewhere) and getting daughter her stamp - HOORAYY!! NOW... she can LEAVE Egypt (without being detained for entering with permission)!!

I did take a short video of the Egyptian Immigration Service to show the family waiting for us back at the condo. It doesn't show much - photos/videos are strictly prohibited - wonder why - and a lady stopped me just after I started - so I won't post it... yet. Maybe later.

And so, that was the end of the "lost passport" fiasco! Again, I wouldn't change a THING - I can't imagine having any better opportunity to see the "real" Egypt: Cairo police station - what other reason to go THERE... and not be scared out of one's wits? Egyptian Immigration Service... why would one need to go there? Oh, that's right - entry visa stamp for a replacement passport! US Embassy... and not for anything related to terrorism?? This was really a wonderful part of our advencha and I cannot say how fortunate I believe we (daughter, son, and I) were to experience it!

Other than that, we went quadding in the Sahara (in the area west of the Great Pyramid/Sphinx):

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(We had to cover our faces due to the sand/dust!).

.... and took a 2-hour dinner cruise down (up?) the Nile... where we enjoyed a wonderful buffet meal and some FANTASTIC entertainment (belly dancing, Egyptian light dancer, and a WONDERFUL band - I will post pics of all of that later; gotta run - meeting with boss).

The next day the young folks all left to return to the States and dear 'Mom, FinalCall, Hubby (peace to you all!) and I left for the next leg of the great advencha: Sharm Al Sheikh and St. Catherine's Monastery ("Mt. Sinai"). More on that in another post.

Peace to you all!

Your servant and a slave of Christ,

SA


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 6:55 pm 
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Greetings and peace to you all,

Was browsing through Valley of the Queens photos and came across these cool ones!
Quite pertinent with the discussion of Seraphs and the Egyptians.

Enjoy, Kim


Image

Image

Image


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:27 am 
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Thanks, dear 'Mom (peace to you!).

Just FYI everyone (peace to you, as well): these aren't photos taken on our trip but ones 'Mom found online when looking up the Valley of Queens. We didn't visit the Valley of Queens but this is one of the reasons we're going back (to visit that area as well as other tombs in the VoK, return to St. Catherine's, etc.).

Again, peace to you all!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:55 pm 
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Peace to you, all! I know I owe you another installment (it's coming, but your patience is GREATLY appreciated)... but I want to share the following:

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Coso_artifact

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_light

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_pyramid_claims



To be fair, we don't want to bar the other side of the argument(s):

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Baghdad_battery

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Coso_artifact

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dendera_lamp

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bosnian_pyramids


Not given anything to share here, except the links. You must ask for yourself and/or draw your own conclusions. But... VERY interesting stuff, IMHO.

Again, peace to you all!

A slave of Christ,

SA


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:42 pm 
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Hey Shel ( peace sista)


Trying to read this but not sure if it's my iPad or not but I can't open the top three links. The fourth one opens and the bottom links work fine.

Let me know if it's me or not.

Kim


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:17 pm 
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They opened for me, Kim. I can see that the top three don't have the "en." before wikipedia. Maybe somehow that makes a difference on your ipad? (I am totally guessing. But that is the only thing I see that is different about the first three links). Maybe try typing the links in WITH the en. in them?


Peace to you!!


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