[travel] Absolutely no photos allowed

[mattbell]

The Egyptian government, which runs all the monuments, is very stringent about their "no photography" rule.  I can understand not wanting flash photography, but no photography at all seems a bit excessive.  However, sometimes the guards aren't looking:

These are from the tomb of Thutmosis III and illustrate the very methodical and scientific approach the ancient Egyptians took toward religion and the afterlife.  One larde section of the tomb had the appearance of an instruction manual detailing the information necessary for the Pharaoh to reach the Underworld.  The photo on the right apparently enumerates particular forms of a god:



On the left is a depiction  of the sky, as encircled by Nut, the sky goddess. (tomb of Ramses 6)



Inside Abu Simbel:


I love the quality of the chisel work here (tomb of  Userhet):

Anyway, I must be going... the guards are always on my tail.  See you next crime.*


*What's that?  Carmen Sandiego has stolen the Great Pyramid of Giza?  Don't worry... a nearby merchant said he heard something about Carmen needing to buy a pair of castanets.  Get on it gumshoe, that's your next clue! 

Comments

[miriam-thisflighttonight.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Carmen Sandiego! That is fucking genius. I think my first girlhood crush was on one of those guys who sang the Carmen Sandiego song. As I recall, they all looked like the band in Hootie and the Blowfish. Oh dear, this isn't a good sign, is it?

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

They were called Rockapella, I think.

I always wanted to be on the show because I knew I could do way better than the kids on the show at the final geography task where they had to mark countries on a giant map. My mother pointed out a bit of legalese at the end of the show that implied the contestants had been fed the answers, which made me even less impressed with them.

Miriam says...

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I totally could've done better than those little fuckers. God, I distinctly remember one kid who couldn't find Australia. Australia!