The
mysteries of Cairo
Last night in Cairo, I was bored at my
apartment so I decided to go outside. It was very late and I was wandering
around the city, when something unexpected happened...
While I was walking in a dark street, someone
grabbed me on my shoulder, and just when I stretched my hand to grab my knife,
I heard a familiar voice: "Tom! What are you doing in Cairo old
friend!?"
I couldn't
believe my eyes! My old school friend, Harry, whoI hadn't seen in 10 years
was standing right in front of me! "I'm travelling around the world! I've
always wanted to visit Egypt! And you? What are you doing here?"
I studied Egyptology at university, and then I moved here, to discover new
things about ancient Egypt! "But Harry, are there any interesting things
about ancient Egypt?"
Suddenly, he showed me a key! "Do you know
what this opens?" he said. "Let's discover it!" And then he
winked an eye.
We walked for a while around the darkest
streets of Cairo, and we finally arrived at a very big building. "This is it, the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities,
the most important museum in Cairo. Would you like a private tour?"
I couldn't believe it! The museum was completely
empty, there weren't any people! I said "yes", of course. Harry opened the doors and I felt as if I
were in Ancient Egypt. I will try to explain briefly what Harry told
me.
And then, Harry
suddenly said:
Come on, follow me! Let's
discover Ancient Egypt!
So we arrived at the
first room,
There was a model of Cairo of the time when
the Pharaohs lived. There were many shacks, so I asked: Were there any
skyscrapers?". "Of course not, my silly friend! There were
houses for the poor people, made of mud and straw, big villas for the rich and
powerful people and pyramids, that were giant tombs for the pharaohs and
temples, were the people used to pray. People didn't live
in skyscrapers...
This shocked me! I couldn't believe people used
to live in those houses! I'm used to living with electricity, with my play
station and my cell phone. Life used to be less comfortable and tougher
than now.
And then, Harry
suddenly said:
Come on, follow me!
Let's discover Ancient Egypt!
So we arrived at the second
room,
I was still surprised by the big differences
that existed between the rich and poor Egyptians. So I asked Harry about how
Egyptians were, because they lived 5000 years before us besides the river Nile,
so I'm sure there were many differences between us. "Were there
only rich and poor people?"
More
or less, people were divided into different social groups. There was the
Pharaoh, the most powerful person in Egypt; the noble class, with great
influence and lifestyle; the peasants, poor but free citizens; and finally the
slaves, that were forced to work and live in poor conditions. The family in which they were born would determine their social class and their work. If they were
born in a poor family, they would be poor forever.
This
used to be the way the society was organized back then, but fortunately
this has changed! Now there aren't any slaves nor Pharaohs, and our
society is more egalitarian but rich people still has great power.
And then, Harry
suddenly said:
Come on, follow me!
Let's discover Ancient Egypt!
So we arrived at the
third room
Which walls were decorated with strange figures.
I was amazed by these odd paintings, so I asked my friend about them. "Were
there many painters in ancient Egypt?" "No there weren't! In
fact these aren't paintings! You see, Egyptians used to write messages on the
walls. This kind of writing was called hieroglyphics, but later it evolved into a more simple way of writing with smaller characters that they wrote on papyruses. This writing system is called demotic script."
Demotic script is more similar to our writing,
because we write on papers and not on the walls.
And then, Harry
suddenly said:
Come on, follow me!
Let's discover Ancient Egypt!
So we arrived at the
fourth room
Where I asked him, "Are there more cool
things about ancient Egypt?"
I saw something shine in the dark. I went closer
and I saw a golden beetle. I asked Harry why there was a beetle in the
museum, and he answered me. "Were there many beetles in ancient
Egypt?" "It isn't a beetle, it's called a Scarab and it is one of the
most important symbols of ancient Egypt. There were many others in this
civilization that represented life, death and the gods like the Eye of Ra, the
Eye of Horus and the Key of Life.
The symbols that represent us now nowadays, are
more modern and less meaningful. Some of them are the dollar, coca-cola,
apple and McDonald's.
And then, Harry
suddenly said:
Come on, follow me!
Let's discover Ancient Egypt!
So we arrived at the fifth
room...
Harry started talking about traditions about
Egypt, the things that made him study Egyptology. "Egyptians are one of
the most amazing civilizations in history. Do you like cats? Did you know that
cats were sacred? And... Do you know what?
They had a lot of gods! They had gods for almost everything and quite often their faces looked
like animals. "Were there gods with cat faces?" Sure, and others looked like crocodiles or snakes. "And
mummies? Were there mummies in Egypt?"
Yes! Egyptians are much known for that! Priests took rich people's brains
out of their noses with a hot iron stick, and then they wrapped them around
with fabric, turning them into mummies.
And then, Harry
suddenly said:
Come on, follow me! I think I heard a mummy...
And then he winked an eye...
So, we decided to leave the museum, but then,
suddenly, something grabbed my shoulder... Laughing, I told Harry " Stop
doing that, it frightens me!" But Harry said: "Stop doing what?"
So I realized that we weren't alone in the museum, and we started to shout and
run hysterically away from that haunted place...
What a scary story, wasn't it?
And those were many interesting facts about Ancient Egypt! Did you know everything? I myself have learnt a lot!
Do you have any questions for Tom or his friend Harry? Write them on the comments!
