May is Older Americans Month. Throughout May, NNV will feature members and volunteers who embody this year's Older Americans' Month theme: Flip the Script on Aging. Each of them are breaking the stereotypes of aging by demonstrating their contributions to their communities, staying active and engaged, and embracing opportunities for purpose, exploration, and connection that come with getting older.

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‍A Trip to Egypt
‍by Janean Mann

There is an old saying that "the more things change, the more they remain the same." I found this to be the case on my recent visit to Egypt even when I toured ancient pyramids that I had seen on my earlier trip 45 years ago.

Archaeologists have had a field day over the years, discovering new pyramids, temples, and other sites constructed thousands of years ago. They have also gained entry into other long-ago discovered pyramids—revealing beautiful wall decorations as well as the tombs of numerous pharaohs.

In Cairo where we began our tour, the old museum has been augmented by new facilities, including the Grand Egyptian Museum which is still going through its opening phases, though it has received visitors since 2024. It contains artifacts covering 7,000 years of Egyptian history from prehistoric time to the Greco-Roman era. At the old Cairo Egyptian Museum, we saw a number of King Tut's artifacts including the famous golden mask. A week later, we visited King Tut's tomb itself, during our Luxor visit.

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From Cairo, we flew to Aswan and drove to Abu Simbel where we saw the mile-high Aswan dam, the construction of which could have destroyed many ancient ruins. But, a joint Egyptian/UNESCO project dismantled a number of ancient sites and moved them to nearby areas above the waters. We visited one of those, Abu Simbel, during the day and for a lovely evening sound and light show amid the ruins.

The next day we cruised Lake Nasser in the heart of ancient Nubia, learning of the still existing Nubian links between Egypt and Sudan. We visited Kasr Ibrim, learning of efforts to maintain aspects of the ancient Nubian culture. We also visited the 18^th dynasty (1550–1295 Before the Common Era (BCE)) Temple of Amada, Lake Nassar's oldest surviving temple.

We spent much of the trip cruising the Nile, including from Aswan to Luxor and the Luxor West Bank, viewing numerous ancient sites. We spent a day visiting the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens where more than 50 new kingdom monarch and nobles are buried. Many of these underground cites have been opened permitting viewing of the tombs themselves and the still colorful murals within them. Because these tombs had been buried under the sand, they and their artwork were well preserved, despite the fact that many of them had been looted of their valuable jewels.

While in Luxor, I opted to take a hot air balloon ride which offered a beautiful sunrise view of modern Luxor, and some of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Returning to Cairo we had a fun horse and buggy ride through the old city and explored ancient Memphis, Egypt's first capitol, dating back before the 32^nd century BCE.

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