Sunday February 5: Depart for Cairo, Egypt

 

Monday February 6: Arrive in Cairo, Egypt

Upon arrival, we will be met by our tour manager who meet and assist us through airport arrival formalities including visa handling, passport control, luggage gathering, and customs control.  We will then be transferred by coach to our hotel dinner and overnight. (D)

 

Tuesday February 7: The Pyramids of Giza, Memphis, and Sakkara

Constructed by the Pharaohs of the 3rd and 4thDynasties of the Old Kingdom (c. 2700-2500 BC) as monuments to their rule and to their life after death, the Pyramids of Giza and Sakkara stood in all of their glory for a thousand years before biblical history began. They’re too amazing to be true! Memphis was Egypt’s capital during the 1stto 6th Dynasties of the Old Kingdom and again during Egypt’s golden age during the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. We’ll see with our own eyes the great monuments of Egypt’s power and prestige as one of the first great civilizations of antiquity. Dinner at local restaurant. (B, L, D)

 

Wednesday February 8: The Coptic Church in Egypt

Tracing its beginning to the Apostle Mark in AD 64, the Coptic Orthodox Church goes back to the very origins of Christianity. We’ll sit in the pews and smell in incense in some of its oldest churches, including the Hanging Church and the Abou Serge churches that date back to the 3rd and 4th centuries. We’ll get a closeup look at some of Christianity’s earliest manuscripts, icons, and artifacts in the Coptic Museum. After lunch, we have a free afternoon to relax or explore on our own.  Dinner at the hotel. (B, L, D)

 

Thursday February 9: Islam in Egypt

For fifteen centuries the church has lived in Egypt under Muslim rule and in a Muslim culture. Today, we’ll learn about Egypt’s Muslim culture by visiting the Evangelical Theological Seminary and hearing Rev. Dr. Wageeh Mikhail, professor at ETSC, talk about Islam in Egypt and the Arabic Christian Heritage. We then visit Al Azhar University, the world’s second oldest degree granting university and the most prestigious university for Islamic learning.  We will then walk in the Old Islamic Town and enter some of Egypt’s great mosques.  After lunch, the afternoon will be spent exploring and shopping in Cairo’s great traditional outdoor market, the Khan el-Khalili. Get ready to bargain. Later in the day we’ll enjoy a Dinner Cruise on the Nile before returning to our hotel for overnight. in a traditional felucca boat,.  (B, L, D)

 

Friday February 10: The Evangelical Theological Seminary and the Protestant Church

Begun as a mission of the United Presbyterian Church of North America in the late nineteenth century, the Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile) became independent in 1958 and flourishes throughout Egypt. We’ll pay an extended visit to its seminary, the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, the country’s oldest Protestant seminary, to speak with its faculty, students, and future church leaders, and to learn about the mission and work of the Protestant church in Egypt today.  After lunch at the Seminary, we will visit the modern downtown area of Cairo and a papyrus shop, before (time permitting) Felucca boat ride on the Nile. Optional visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum at 3:30PM (additional $40 cost).  We will have dinner in the new modern downtown area and a visit to the CFC  (B, L, D)

 

Saturday February 11: The Egyptian Monastic Tradition and Alexandria

On our bus ride from Cairo to Alexandria, we’ll stop in the desert at Wadi El Natrun to experience life inside the monasteries established there by the Desert Fathers during the 4th to the 7th centuries, still thriving as monastic communities today. Before checking into our hotel in Alexandria, we’ll stop to see the magnificent remains of the ancient city and amphitheater from the time Rome ruled the Mediterranean world.  Check-in at hotel before dinner at a local restaurant. (B, L, D)

 

Sunday February 12: The Protestant Church in Alexandria

On Sunday morning, we’ll worship with our sisters and brothers in the Evangelical Church of Egypt and learn about the social work they are doing in their community. In the afternoon, we’ll visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a magnificent modern library completed in 2001, paying tribute to the ancient library of Alexandria, one of the ancient world’s greatest research centers. Alexandria was an intellectual powerhouse, home to scholars such as Euclid, Archimedes, and the great early Christian theologians Clement and Origin.  After lunch at a local restaurant we return to Cairo. Check-in at hotel and dinner on our own. (B, L)

 

Monday February 13: The National Museum and Trip to Luxor

This morning we check-out of our hotel and proceed to the Egyptian Museum where we could spend days taking it all in! It houses the greatest and most valuable antiquities of ancient Egypt, including the treasures of King Tutankhamun, the sculpture of Nefertiti, countless inscriptions and monuments, and the Stele of Merenptah with the earliest mention of the ancient Israelites outside of the Bible. After lunch, we’ll board our flight to Luxor to begin our visit to Upper Egypt with its magnificent temples and sacred spaces. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. (B, L, D)

 

Tuesday February 14: The West Bank of the Nile

The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom built their tombs and mortuary temples on the Nile’s West Bank, the direction of the setting sun and the gateway to the kingdom of the west where Osiris admitted them to the day of judgment and renewal of life. We’ll descend into the dark tombs in the Valley of the Kings, walk up the broad ascent to the Temple of Hatshepsut—one of the world’s most perfect architectural achievements, explore Medinet Habu with its reliefs of the ancient Philistines, and stop to see the original site of the Merenptah Stele at Merenptah’s mortuary temple.  Lunch at local restaurant on the West Bank during visits.  Dinner and overnight at the hotel.  (B, L, D)

 

Wednesday February 15: The Great Temples on the Nile’s East Bank

So lofty are their facades and towering their columns that these temples place the proudest human in awe and make every visitor feel small in the world. In the morning we’ll receive a personal introduction to the Luxor Temple from the Director of the Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute of Chicago, Brett McClain, responsible for the preservation and study of this great landmark. The paint on some columns of these temples is as brilliant as it was when it was applied 3,000 years ago.  Next we visit Karnak, Egypt’s most magnificent temple with two reliefs depicting biblical events, where Dr Ted Hiebert will discuss two inscriptions of particular importance.  After lunch, the rest of the afternoon is free before dinner the hotel.  (B, L, D)

 

Thursday February 16: Luxor to Cairo

Our flight back to Cairo in the morning gives us time in the afternoon to relax, debrief our pilgrimage and to end our trip with an evening Farewell Dinner.  We return to the hotel for shower, refreshment and preparation for our 10:30PM departure to the airport. (B, D)

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Friday February 17: Cairo to Detroit