May 10

After several flights and not much sleep we arrived at the Nile Hilton to begin our adventure. One look at the window was enough to tell us that we “weren’t in Kansas any more” as the Nile river passed under our balconies and sailboats dotted the horizon. On our first day of activities we met Amr who is our guide for the Egypt portion of the trip. He is a wonderful ambassador for Misr (Egypt) as he has not only a degree in philosophy and is now completing a degree in Egyptology – we are in very good hands! So far, we haven’t been able to stump him.

The first stop was the Egypt Museum to begin learning about ancient Egyptian history. As we move through the museum, Amr provides interpretations of some hieroglyphics explaining ancient Egyptians’ beliefs of regarding the afterlife. We saw the origin of “blind justice” in the form of an Egyptian goddess as the deceased enter the underworld to answer for their activities in life.

For the seminarians, a particular highlight was seeing the Marnepteh Stele – it was like having Old Testament lessons come to life! Other highlights included viewing 10 well preserved mummies – including Ramses the Great, and seeing King Tut’s Treasure room.

After a nice lunch at Le Pasha on the Nile, we took a bus ride to Old Cairo. We visited Ben Ezra Synagogue (location of the famous Cairo Geniza). It is also believed to be the location where Moses was found floating in the basket (unfortunately the area is currently off limits but we tried our best to get a glimpse anyway!)

Union PSCE student Gini Campbell provided our first presentation on Coptic Liturgy while we visited St Sargius Church, the oldest church in Egypt. It is said that it was in the crypt of the church that the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus lived during their flight to Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church was founded by St. Mark the Evangelist in Alexandria in 61 AD. The main worship service in the Orthodox Church is the Divine Liturgy. The liturgy is the story of humanity’s redemption. It is told regularly to remind Coptic believers of Christ’s work to reconcile the world with God.

The final stop was the Coptic Museum before returning to the hotel. Great day!