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Day 1 - London/Cairo
Fly London to Cairo with EgyptAir and check-in for two nights at the fi rst-class Sofi tel Maadi, a well equipped hotel in the Maadi district.
Day 2 – Cairo Museum
Our tour begins with a thorough investigation of the Cairo Museum with particular reference to objects that have a bearing on the coming tour. There will be plenty of free time for further exploration and the must see Tutankhamun treasures. This afternoon there is an optional visit to the Giza Plateau to explore the Great Pyramids and Sphinx. (B) |
Day 3 – Meidum/Minya
This morning we leave Cairo for Middle Egypt and start with a visit to the mastabas and pyramid at Meidum, which may be entered. Our journey continues to the rarely visited sites of Dishasha and Oxyrhynchus, famed for the discovery of numerous papyri. We arrive at the pleasant city of Minya and check-in to the best hotel in the city the medium-class Mercure Etap for four nights on half board. (BD)
Day 4 – Amarna
We make the first of our visits to Amarna and explore the central city including palaces, archives, houses and the private tombs of the city. The archaeology of the site brings the dramatic history of the period into sharp relief. (BD)
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Day 5 – Amarna/Meir
This morning we return to Amarna and head for the Royal Tomb which is now accessible to visitors. We also visit the small museum at Mallawi displaying artefacts from Tuna el Gebel and Hermopolis. We will also visit the rarely seen and lovely rock-cut tombs at Meir dating from the 6th and 12th Dynasty. (BD)
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Day 6 - Middle Egypt
A wonderful day spent at the evocative remains of temples and tombs at Tuna el Gebel including the unique tomb of Petosiris and the catacombs once full of mummifi ed Ibis and baboons. Time to look at the boundary stelae of the city of the Aten. Then on to Ashmunein to see the giant sandstone baboons and the elegant basilica of rose granite columns. We will also drive to the quarries and Middle Kingdom tombs at Deir el Bersha before returning to Minya for a fi nal night. (BD)
Day 7 – Faiyum
Today offers a lovely drive north to the Faiyum and some exceptional sites en route. We will enter the important and beautifully decorated rock tombs at Beni Hassan and the famous but rarely seen Fraser Tombs. On to the site of Antinoopolis the city founded in honour of Emperor Hadrian’s favourite who drowned nearby and whose image was at one time far more famous than that of Akhenaton! We will spend the night at the Auberge du Lac, a historical hotel on the shores of Lake Qarun. (BD)
Day 8 –The Desert
A special day as this morning we will take four wheel drive vehicles and explore the seldom visited ruins of Qasr Qarun and then get right off track for the unusual Middle Kingdom Temple at Qasr el Sagha and the crumbling town site of Dimi of the Wolves before returning to our Cairo hotel for a fi nal night. (B)
Day 9 – Cairo/London
We fly home from Cairo to London with EgyptAir arriving later the same day. (B)
Expert: Aidan Dodson, author, broadcaster and lecturer is a Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, where he is Unit Director for Egyptology. |