Qena 9/9/07 (a.k.a The first trip to Qena)

Though we are staying at Abydos in Sohag Province, the site we are working at is a few kilometers away, just over the line into Qena Province. So, the Sunday after we arrived, we drove to Qena (city) to meet with the inspectors there and make sure we were ready to start work.

The drive to Qena was absolutely beautiful. Around Nag Hammadi, the Nile and the high desert cliffs become very close on either side of the road. We marveled at the sight. Arriving in Qena (and thence wandering around trying to find the office of the inspectorate), we were impressed with how clean and pretty the city seemed. However, upon finding the local inspectors, we discovered that they had no idea we were coming (apparently they didn’t send word from Cairo about our project at all, much less that it was approved), and our assigned inspector was already working at another site. Luckily, we had multiple copies of our permissions in-hand and the head inspector was very accommodating. It took some time (and a trip from one office to another), but he found another inspector to work with us, who would arrive at Abydos the following day. Though, the site is in Qena, they assigned an inspector from Sohag to our survey project, since one was not available from Qena.

The following afternoon, our inspector arrived, turning out to be a beautiful, young, Coptic woman in very western dress. She had some difficulty reaching the house because the local police at the check point in Abydos did not believe that she was Egyptian at first, and had to be convinced that she was indeed an inspector. Our inspector has been wonderful with us, though she continues to be mistaken for a foreigner along with the three of us (not that they are mistaken that we are foreigners, but they never seem to remember who we are and that we’re not tourists from day-to-day on our way to and from the site).