Fools in Soleb

"Fool" Mazoor, the ferryman, shouted as we crossed through a field full of crops, heading towards the Nile. We looked around to see what had happened. "Fool" he shouted again - a wide grin spreading over his round face - this time grabbing a pod from one of the plants, cracking it open and handing us the contents. It was a fava bean, or 'foul', a Sudanese staple and a key ingredient in the amusingly named 'foul madames' which is available on breakfast tables in much of the Arab world.

Foul

Another madame was feeling a bit of a fool - Jan's head was covered in a blue plastic fine weave net to keep away the tiny but persistent flies. Rasheed also wore his but Keith decided to brave it out, tolerating the odd dive-bomb into his ears or kamikaze flight up his nose. The flies got worse the closer we got to the river, but once on board the little boat and into the choppy water they didn't follow us. 

We were braving the swarm and crossing the Nile to visit the well-preserved Egyptian temple of Soleb. It was built by Amenophis III, around the 14th century BC, about two hundred years after the Egyptians had invaded Kush and sacked Kerma. He was the same Pharaoh who built the temples at Luxor, and Soleb has a similar design. Having seen them, we could easily imagine what the temple would have looked like in its prime. Not that it needed a huge amount of imagination, parts of some walls, the entrance pylon and several columns are still standing. Though smaller than the ones in Luxor, it would have still been an impressive sight. 


The temple was thought to have been built to commemorate the Pharaoh's 30th year of rule. The remains of the hypostyle hall has bas-relief carvings depicting the heb-sed festival that was celebrated for that anniversary and every third year of rule thereafter. The carvings on the columns in the sanctuary had a much more sinister message - We Rule You - depicting bound captives representing all of Egypt's conquered territories, including several Nubians.

The Guardian, Keith and Mazoor

Our exploration of the temple had been watched with interest by the old guardian in his long, once white, robe. When we were about to leave, he invited us back to his house for a coffee. The guardian turned out to be a very interesting man, having helped "Georgina" the Italian archaeologist who worked for twenty years on the site. Over our drinks, he proudly showed us her signed photo. Georgina had film star looks and must have had iron determination to take on the task she had in such a harsh environment. The guardian told us how he had also assisted in the rescue of the temples that were about to be flooded by the lake created by the Aswan dam. We had seen the temples in the National Museum in Khartoum and they had definitely been well worth saving.

From the National Museum

Once we'd finished our coffee, he proudly showed us his home which he'd converted into a guest house, complete with two welcoming (?) crocodile heads on the gate. Typical for a man, he insisted we saw the lot, even his own living area. His wife, who had just returned from working in the fields, was a little embarrassed that she hadn't tidied up. Ladies, who hasn't been there? She needn't have worried. It was a lot smarter than the guest house we were spending the night at.

Our stop for the night

On the return journey, the flies had got worse but still Keith wouldn't wear his net. He wasn't going to look a fool, even if he got bitten all around his neck and had flies trapped in his snotty nose. Things didn't improve the next day, when at breakfast he absent-mindedly put Smints rather than sweeteners into his coffee. Then, to cap it all, Jan spotted he'd put his polo shirt on inside out - there'd been no lights in the bedroom when he got dressed. Now who's the fool?