Day
13 -Valley of the Kings, Mohamed Taaye-Master Carver and Mohamed Mahmoud Hassam-Resin Statue Factory
In Luxor, Eman is a tourist, along with me and Hossam is the guide. Mohamed (our driver on our 2008 trip) drove us in his van, with newly installed seat belts!
Mohamed and the van with seatbelts
Ken had insisted that all the cars had seat belts! Egyptian rules of the road are a little wild, but the drivers are usually very good, always aware of their surroundings.
Joan and Hossam walk into the Valley of the Kings
We went to the Valley of the Kings. Eman and I went into the tomb of Tutmosis III, Seti II and Tauseret. Still couldn't get up any enthusiasm to visit Tutankahmun's Tomb. For me Tutmosis III is one of the most interesting and although it is a hard climb up the steps and then down the steps into the tomb, I always enjoy seeing it.
Stairway to Tomb of Tutmosis III
It was great having Eman with me as we could discuss the scenes. Guides are not allowed to conduct guided tours in the tombs, it would slow up the whole procession of people, but Eman had a short conversation with the tomb caretaker and we were allowed to stand quietly out of the stream of the other tourists and take notes and drawings of interesting scenes.
Luxor is hot in October and the tombs are hotter, so after the Valley, Mohamed, took us to his home for tea before we began visting the local artisans of El Gurna. Mohamed had arranged for all the visits I requested, and over the next few days we visited quite a few artisans.
Mohamed gave me a loaf of sun bread, the basic bread that Luxor households make and eat. Later we saw one of the ovens outside in the lane.
Loaf of Sun Bread
Wood Fired Bread Oven
Mohamed Taaye - Master Limestone Carver
Our first visit was to a very well known artist Mohamed Taaye who carves timestone tablets of tomb scenes and makes replicas and interpretations of items in clay and fiance. He has developed a lovely interpretation of a statue from the Egyptian Museum of a servant girl holding a goose. I think this is made of fiance, because it is very light weight, much more so than the pottery items. To make the intial mould a perfect carved piece must be made in stone or perhaps clay. The serving girl is in three pieces. The body is molded, the head which is removable and the goose are carved separately then all are glazed and fired.
Faience Servant Girl with Duck
Made in Egypt - Pharonic Reproductions by Mohamed Taaye |
Click to see larger picture.
Click for More Pictures of Souvenirs. |
Where: El Gurna Luxor
Who: The Vendor is Mohamed Ali Taaye.
Contact: Contact through Hossam Rashwan.
Vendor Story: One of the master limestone carvers of el gurna is Mohamed Ali Mohamed Taaye who is known as "Mohamed el Agail".
He carves on limestone slabs with small tools similar to wood carving tools. While we were there he was reproducing a scene from an Old Kingdom tomb. There were large pieces that were obviously carved with chisel in harder stone.
He also uses a molding process with clay to reproduce small pieces in the round such as ushabtis and this charming interpretraton of the prostrate serving girl spoon that is displayed in the Egyptian Museum.
It was an honor to sit with him and have him pull out the wonderful pieces for us to examine. Currently he does most of his work on order.
Souvenirs: I purchased the serving girl with goose and a small statue of mother and child. |
Mohamed Ali Taaye at work on limestron plaque
Next we went down among the alabaster factories to a workshop in the back lanes where they make resin statues. This shop has developed some clever moulds and I picked out several that appealed to me.
Resin Statues in the Workshop
Shopping in Egypt - Souvenirs at the Pyramids |
Click to see larger picture.
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Where: West Bank, Luxor
Who: The Vendor is Mohamed Mahmoud Hassam also known as Mohamed Abu Shimy.
Contact: Contact through Hossam Rashwan.
Vendor Story: A Resin Statue Factory, such as the one of
Mohamed Mahmoud Hassam also known as Mohamed Abu Shimy, is a place where moulds are created and then resin is poured to create the statues that you see in all the tourist shops.
Curiously, there is an impression that these statues are made in China, possibly you will be told so by their competitors, the alabaster statue makers, but I think this is a local industry, having seen the workshop. I have bought numerous resin statues on various trips. They are heavy to pack, but not easily damaged.
Souvenirs: I brought home a small horus statue and a novelty Tutankhamun "ash tray".
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To understand the souvenir industry, you must first understand that the production of affordable souvenirs must be done in a mass production mode, but using mostly hand labor. For the fiance, resin and pottery items, moulds are designed and used. But these moulds are not used forever, they are changed from year to year, so that the souvenirs available each year have new additions.
One of the fascinating thing to do in the Khan el Kalili and in the Luxor Market, is to visit the "vintage" shops. These are shops that buy up old items from homes and souvenir shops. In these shops you can see how what is currently available is different from what was available several years ago.
Most souvenirs in the markets are made in Egypt. The artistic skills of the Egyptians did not die out. China does not make most of the souvenirs! But beware, some of the things made in Egypt are such perfect replicas that there may be an attempt to hint to you that they are original items from the tombs with a price to match!
It is illegal to buy real antiquities, don't be tempted. Actually, there is not much chance you will be shown a real antiquity, your odds are not good that the items are real. However, these beautiful replicas are wonderful to buy, and are clearly not made in a mold, but you should bargain as if they were works of art, not antiquities.
A beautiful feast made by Hossam's Wife
That evening Hossam's wife cooked a feast. The Egyptian diet is mostly vegetarian, with rice as it's main staple. However, I was honored to have pidgeon along with the other dishes. All sorts of rice stuffings were made for various vegetables, and I had some of Mohamed's sun bread which tasted tangy, like sour dough bread.
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