Memories of Egypt and CMRDI

Today Barbara and I should have been on a plane to Cape Town for Comminution '20, with Jon and Amanda following tomorrow.  But unfortunately not to be; not only are conferences being postponed or cancelled worldwide, so is travel.

Travel has played a big part in my career, and I have been fortunate to have visited around 50 countries. I am often asked which I consider to be the most beautiful, or the most interesting. Cornwall is pretty high on either list, but in terms of sheer beauty I would have to say the Jungfrau region of Switzerland (MEI Blog 24 March 2019) is my favourite.

The most interesting, without a doubt is Egypt, which I have visited twice, both times thanks to the amazing generosity and hospitality of Cairo's Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI).

In 1980 Camborne School of Mines had a visitor from CMRDI (sorry I can't remember who), who was impressed by the pilot plant which we had just put together to give students some early operating experience (MEI Blog 4 December 2010). Twelve months later I was invited to CMRDI to advise on their own fledgling pilot plant, and during my week long visit, I was taken to see the sights of Cairo, and the Pyramids at Giza (MEI Blog 13 December 2010), after which they kindly provided air tickets and accommodation for a fascinating trip to Luxor in Upper Egypt.  Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile, lies on the site of ancient Thebes, the pharaohs’ capital at the height of their power, during the 16th–11th centuries BC.

During my few days in Luxor I took a ferry across to the West Bank of the Nile, where a young Egyptian villager offered to take me down to the Valley of the Kings, which turned out to be a hair-raising journey by donkey on a very narrow path down the precipitous cliff to the tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs. Only to find when we arrived, that the tombs had been closed for the day!

Fourteen years later, in 1995, Tawfik Refaat Boulos, Prof. of Mineral Technology at CMRDI invited me again to Cairo, this time with Barbara, a purely goodwill gesture, as I did not have to sing for my supper and we were also provided with a guide for our few days in Cairo, Kamel El-Shamy.

Cairo with Kamel El-Shamy, Refaat Boulos and his wife Brenda

By camel to the Pyramids of Giza

 

Inside the Great Pyramid, the Grand Gallery leading to the King's Chamber
and the granite sarcophagus of Khufu (c2500 BC)



With Kamel overlooking the old city of Cairo

The sarcophagus of Tutankhamun at the Cairo Museum

As in 1981, after Cairo, we were flown to Upper Egypt, first to Luxor, and then on to Aswan to see the awesome Abu Simbel temples of Rameses II, built in the 13th century BC. In an amazing feat of engineering the temples were relocated in 1968 on an artificial hill high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. This was to prevent the complex being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile.

The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak (c1250BC) near Luxor
and the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (1458 BC) at Deir el-Bahari on the West Bank of the Nile

The Valley of the Kings and the tomb of Thutmosis III (1450 BC)

 

Visiting a Nubian village at Aswan

Abu Simbel

Egypt is truly magical and should be on the bucket list of anyone interested in ancient history. Unfortunately, I have totally lost touch with Prof. Boulos and would be grateful for any information on how I might contact him. And finally, a belated thank you to the staff of CMRDI for their wonderful hospitality all those years ago.

@barrywills