More questions answered

Carlos – There is no opening to enter the Sphinx. It is a solid structure.

Chase – There will be many more videos of sand. The videos we posted were taken mostly in Cairo where there isn’t a lot of sand. Just wait until you see the videos from Amarna and the Valley of the Kings. There is a new picture uploaded from one of our first days when we visited Amarna - go to the Tel Amarna and Akhenaten Blog link and scroll toward the middle of the page.

Kayla – The curse of King Tut is based on the fact that a lot of people that were associated with the discovery of the tomb died close together. We think it was just a coincidence. Scott says the real curse of Egypt is that if you drink the water, you’ll be in the bathroom for the rest of your vacation.

Reagan – King Tut’s mummy is pretty ugly but we didn’t think we were going to throw up. He is black and shriveled. It was very interesting to see him. The mummy is in the tomb under a plexiglass cover.

Quentin – The animals are pretty much the same here in Egypt. Except that we don’t really use donkeys to cart things around!

Kathryn – We have stayed at many hotels. One in Cairo, one in Luxor, 4 nights on the boat, one in Aswan and one in Minya. We will be staying at one in Sharm El Sheikh and a few more in Jordan. It’s hard to not be able to unpack our suitcases.

Mrs. Parisi – We can come to Indy anytime. The pollution is really bad here in Cairo. There are no rules on emissions on the cars and people just throw trash on the ground.

Sami – I don’t know the exact mileage from Egypt to Indiana. Can you look on Google maps and find out? You can also use this site to calculate distance between two locations.

Walter – Yes, there were non-Egyptian rulers. The Ptolemys were Greek. There were also some Lybians, Nubians, Babylonians, and Heksos that ruled.

Maxwell – I’ll try to send a page from our guide book with the list of dynasties and kings within each one. There are too many to write down right now.

Joe – The cars look just the same as they do in America except there are no SUVs.

Jake M. – We have learned some Arabic. Our first guides in Cairo taught us to say “you are good” and “you are bad”. They also taught us how to say "good morning," "yes" and "no" and "thank you." One night in our hotel, a worker came in to fix our door. When he got it working, I said “enta zeft”. I thought that meant, “you are good”. I was wrong. It meant, “you are bad”. I didn’t understand why he hung his head and left the room. I realized later my mistake. Too much knowledge is sometimes a bad thing!

Kramer – My husband really wanted to go to Egypt and I just go along for the ride. I’m learning new things just like you guys.

Emma – Yes, I miss my home. I mostly miss ice cubes!

Mrs. Parisi – You go to Rome and Greece!


Sammy – I described what people wore in a previous blog. I think one of the Random Thought ones.

Garrett – I actually bought you all a few bags of candy last week in Cairo but I’ve eaten it all! Maybe I’ll find some more.

Lexie – The kings and queens were at the highest level and then their advisors, scribes and vizers were next. The priests also were very high on the “food chain”. The farmers would be at the bottom.

Lauren - I don’t know what the Lord of Abydos Mystery is. Can you tell me? We have noticed that sometimes the gods and the kings take on different characteristics depending on what story is being told on the temple walls.

Capri – I have never eaten baba ghanoush before. It was very good! Plus, I like the word itself.

Conner H. – Some of the tombs are very hot. Some have fans set up inside to cool them off. Most of the temples don’t have ceilings so they are cool in the shade. Standing in the direct sunlight it feels like 100 degrees!

Carin – I did find out that the children in the larger cities do have play stations and game boys. It is just the farming kids that don’t have much in the smaller towns.

Jack S. – The government just wants to make sure we are safe. That is why they check for bombs.

Kevin – We have not seen any real, live scarabs in Egypt; however, we did see some dung beetles in Tanzania last February. We have some pictures of them rolling balls of dung.

Mitch – I think the most powerful king was Ramses II because he was such a good fighter and ruled for 67 years. Scott thinks Tuthmosis III was the best king because he was considered the best warrior king. Akhenaten was pretty powerful as well even though he didn’t rule very long. He changed everything about how Egypt did things. It didn’t stay that way but he was definitely ahead of his time.

Matt – They play soccer, basketball, and they swim. They do mostly everything we do except baseball and football.

Jack C. - Did Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs regurgitate their food over and over again? I don’t understand this question. There is nothing that we have learned about regurgitating food.


Lucas – We do get special treatment as tourists in the fact that we get escorted places. People are always trying to talk to us and sell us things.

Patrick – Tourism is very important to Egypt. Because it is a mostly Muslim country, the government wants to make sure that Americans feel safe with all the terrorism going around the Arabic Nations.

Ethan – Atum is the main, first god and created himself.

Jordyn – We have seen cows, bulls, donkeys, cats and dogs. Catfish and Perch are in the Nile River.