Chapter 24 Archived Pharaoh

On the coast of Greece, I thought about the ancient Greek philosophers' understanding of this bank and the other bank, and the relationship between this understanding and Greek tragedy; in Luxor, I found that the relationship between this bank and the other bank was narrowed to the banks of the Nile, where there is almost a life. , death, gods, and human intuitive models. Logically, such a model would have been corrupted by the lively world long ago, but it has been preserved in its original flavor. I call this kind of preservation as sealing. The number one reason for archiving is migration.If the center of gravity of Egypt does not move to Alexandria and Cairo, but remains in Luxor, then it is not difficult to imagine that the monuments here will change their identities one by one as the history progresses.The more valued by the new rulers, the worse the situation will be, and the repeated rearrangement is likely to be the most fundamental damage.

The second reason for preservation is burials.Most of Luxor's relics are underground. Although they have been looted by tomb robbers, it is impossible for tomb robbers to discover all the caves, let alone change the tomb passages, reliefs, and murals. Therefore, they are better preserved than those on the ground. Centuries of archaeologists often have great gains. The third reason for storage is climate.The Nile River Basin is close to the Sahara Desert. The climate is dry, but not too hot. It is cool and pleasant in the shade, and it is hard to know what mildew is.In my opinion, apart from internal and external catastrophes, mildew is the biggest enemy of cultural relics preservation. For example, it is difficult to preserve ancient relics in southern China, which is related to climate.Modern packaging technology uses vacuum sealing to prevent mildew. Luxor is not a vacuum, but has a similar vacuum sealing function.

The fourth reason for containment is material.The building materials in Egypt are mainly stone materials, such as limestone, granite, and alabaster, which are huge, firm, and smooth, and have survived for thousands of years without decay.The ancient Egyptians sealed their aesthetic yearning in these stones through various shapes and symbols, and even a cylinder is a complete sealed body. In addition to the above four aspects, I have seen another more interesting phenomenon of storage on the west bank of the Nile, that is, the remnants.A group of descendants of pharaohs live around the tombs on the west bank. These people are not used to marrying far away, and their blood relationship is relatively stable, their life is simple, and their thinking is simple.According to anthropologists, their appearance and figure still retain many characteristics of the pharaoh era, so they can be called pharaohs.A large part of them are still engaged in hand-carved stones, and the restoration of many ancient temples is related to them.It can be said that these survivors themselves were first sealed up, and then they sealed up the ruins from generation to generation.

Of course, they have also believed in Islam for nearly a thousand years. We have heard the sound of prayers from the grass and bushes on the West Bank many times, but what I see more is them at work.Tall and thin, with dark faces, pointed noses, and dust from the millstone all over their faces and hands, they looked like sculptures themselves. I stared at them and thought, the craftsmen who built the pyramids were also like this, right?Suddenly, the two sculptures smiled at me, showing their white teeth, and said in English: You can take pictures with us. I immediately squatted among them and took a picture, and they picked up two beautiful alabasters for me.I think it should pay some money, but they refused, and one of the young ones said shyly: If there is such a small Chinese gift

He was referring to cooling oil, which is widely available and extremely cheap in China, but is regarded as a treasure in the Arab world. Even a small box in the hands of an official or policeman can turn everything into a blessing.It's a pity that I didn't know in advance and didn't bring it with me.It is said that the descendants of the pharaoh didn't care much about money. They lived in a small circle and the use of money was not great.They like the smell of cool oil, and once they like it, they think it can cure any disease. Far away and reserved Pharaoh, I am really happy that the little fragrance extracted from the Chinese mountains, rivers, grasses and marshes can be trusted by your descendants.

On October 15, 1999, overnight at the Emilio Hotel in Luxor