Richmond Study Abroad/Degree Student Visit to Egypt

08/04/2008

Richmond Study Abroad/Degree Student Visit to Egypt

[Images coming soon!]

This Spring Study Week Dr. Dominic Alessio (Associate Professor of History and Director of the Study Abroad Program) and Thomas Hague (Study Abroad Coordinator) took 16 students for a week long visit to Egypt.

Traveling by boat down the Nile the group’s itinerary spanned 1000s of years of history. From the Narmer Palette (the earliest depiction of a unified Egyptian state from c.3100 BC) at the Cairo Museum , the group saw the first pyramid at Saqqara, the great pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings, the palaces and statues of Ramses II in Luxor, as well the Ptolemaic temples at Edfu and Philae.

Part of the tour included visits and open forums with Nubian peoples resettled after the damning of the Nile, a visit to a Coptic basilica to learn about the history of early Christianity, a camel trek across the desert, a felucca sailing trip to Lord Kitchener’s island, a visit to Salah Al-Din’s fortress in Cairo (built during the Crusades), a tour of King Tut’s treasures, and a lecture, at Mohammed Ali’s mosque, on modern Egyptian history and the drive for independence. The days ended with a plunge in the ship’s pool every sunset.

The tour was such a huge success that another is in the planning stage for Spring 2009.

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/490.aspx