Saleh was born in the village of Karnak in 1943. At that point, the village still existed because the excavation of the temple was still under way, with about ten years to go.



"I live here. And my great great great grandfather lived here. The ancient egyptians were my great great great great great ancestors."

He spoke in a measured, lyrical voice which invited your attention. "Here we are at the last gate of the Temple Karnak. Your books will not tell you about the last gate. They say it is the first gate. But a temple is built from the inside outwards, so really it was the last gate." For something that was built and expanded over the span of about 2 millenia, and ended up covering more than a square kilometer, I suppose he has a point.



"Please sit down," he asked us at one point. "I just showed you the statue of the boy king, Tutankhamun. Do you want to hear his story?" We nodded agreement. "The story of Tutankhamun is on the rock on which I am sitting, because I will pull it out of my ass."

The morning passed quickly, but not in the sense that it was rushed. Saleh insisted we put away our cameras while he told us the stories, to keep us focused and let us actually soak in the details. There was still plenty of time for photos too, though, so we never felt cheated from either perspective.



The portion of the temple that had the most profound impact on me was the "forest of columns," as Saleh called it. Stacked so closely together that the only clear lines of sight are directly down the halls at whose intersection you are standing, and yet it still has an open and airy feeling as you move freely about it. It was large enough too (about the size of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris) to find a secluded corner away from all the fellow tourists and just soak for a few minutes.



"Hello, yes. Come closer please. Hello, Ladies! Mother, daughter, Mr. John..." Saleh had a sense of humour and a particular fondness for nicknames. "You may call me Ramses 99. Yes, and you will be Nefertari 99," he offered to Rachel.



From left to right...
Back row: Derrick, Mervyn, Monica, Saleh ("Ramses 99"), Rachel ("Nefertari 99"), myself, Jenny ("Mother"), John ("Mr. John"), Sarah;
Front row: Eliza, Jasmine, Kristen, Felicity ("Daughter"), Kay, Art, Lesley.