Current Happenings

A Collection of Desert Rocks Glowing 

Dorcas Gazelle

Nubian Ibex

Snow on Mt. Sinai (Looking down on Monastery)

Hey Everyone...

   Happy New Year!  I was on the Egypt Air website today and I found that our flight from JFK home has been changed to an earlier time... Note the change on the itinerary.  The times listed are in the time zone of the DEPARTING CITY.  Does anyone know anything about this?  If anyone knows, please post about it.  Thanks.  Also, I was on a weather website (link coming soon) and I learned that it actually snows during some cold winters on Mt. Sinai, Mt. Catherine and the other tall mountains in the region!  This is the only place in Egypt that frequently gets a little snow but on rare occasions, the Delta region has received trace amounts.  It is nothing compared to what we can get in our neighboring mountains but we may encounter a few inches.  This winter has been particularly cold up on the mountains.  Mount Sinai is approximately 7,500 feet above sea level, which is a higher altitude then Yosemite National Park.  Also, a few common sights on the Mountains, even viewable from St. Catherine's Monastery, are the Nubian Ibex, and Dorcas Gazelle, two beautiful animals with magnificent horns.  A rarely known fact about St. Catherine's is that it is the smallest diocese in the world and recent scientific expeditions have shown that many of the local rock formations contain traceable amounts of radioactive elements in the granite.  These rocks sometimes turn a fluorescent color at night and can slightly glow.  They emit very low levels of radiation (the lowest form detectable), too low to be harmful.  Recent theories and discovered texts lead historians to believe that the Ark of the Covenant also contained these radioactive rocks and locally found meteorites that can flame after re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.  I'd like to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy New Year as well.  See you soon.

All the best:

-The Mariner

Luggage Tags

If you haven't bought luggage tags yet, for identifying your luggage, the best deal we've found is a package of 6 tags, 3 different colors, for $11.99, at The Sport Chalet, 21305 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance.

Lancashire Lass

Position of arms of mummies

Last night our daughter mentioned she'd heard an interesting fact about the arm positions of mummies who were women. One arm is bent across the chest and one arm is straight. This is a way to tell whether a mummy is a King or a Queen. References from google:
mummy women arms:

Hatshepsut's Mummy - 2007 Identification
arm position: royal women were mummified with their left arm bent across the chest. A CT scan revealed whether such a position was likely. in one mummy
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/hatshepsut/a/mummy_found.htm

Press Release - New CT SCANS of Egyptian Mummies From The Valley ...
queens often have one arm (although usually the left) bent and the other straight. In fact, this arm position is also seen for non-royal women, ... of the arms, that it is the straight arm that goes with the mummy, not the bent one. ...www.guardians.net/hawass/Press%20Releases/new_ct-scans_of_egyptian_mummies_07-10-2007.htm

Lancashire Lass