The Pharaohs' Lesson
- Reeta Dhar
- 5 days ago
- 26 min read
Updated: 10 hours ago
Where To Go: Egypt Travelogue
Say there was an eternal afterlife. What would you choose to take to the other side – Your house? Car? Gourmet food and wine? That comfy sofa in the living room? Maybe some favourite clothes, jewellery, makeup and shoes? What about some underwear? Pharaohs packed all this and more. The reason we know this is because of the infamous discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, the most complete and spectacular unplundered royal tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings. Most other notable tombs, whether it be in the pyramids or dug into the arid cliffs at the Valley of the Kings, were robbed way back in antiquity. The only reason King Tut's tomb remained undisturbed was because of the unusual circumstance surrounding his death.
A tomb lost to time
Pharaohs invested a lot of time and money during their reign preparing for their afterlife, with the willing participation of priests and the populace – The pharaoh, after all, was seen to be the living embodiment of the gods.
King Tut however, died when he was only 19. He had reigned for a decade by then but since he had ascended to the throne at the tender age of nine, preparing for a tomb had not exactly been a priority.
His death is also suspected to have been accidental; the leg injury he sustained was too much for his body to endure, as it had already been plagued with a genetic bone disorder and chronic malaria.
His funeral is suspected to have been a rushed affair. His tomb, which is the smallest ever discovered in the Valley of the Kings, was hastily prepared to receive the young pharaoh's body.
Over time, the entrance to his small tomb became buried under debris from later construction and weathering. The memory of the young king and his tomb were soon lost to time–even the ever-enterprising grave robbers did not find it!
The Chance Discovery
Discovery of King Tut's tomb also happened by sheer chance. While official records attribute the discovery to the famous British archaeologist, Howard Carter, this is not strictly true. According to lore and historical documents, a 12-year-old boy named Hussein Abdel-Rasoul first chanced upon the discovery. Here's the story an Egyptologist at the Grand Egyptian Museum told us:
Hussein was a water boy. He was tasked with supplying the workers at Howard Carter's dig site with fresh drinking water. One day, as he was put down his heavy water jug on the ground, he noticed that it made a different sort of sound than what he had been accustomed to hearing. Suspecting there to be something to be discovered underneath, he began to clear away the sand in the area and uncovered he first stone step leading down to the tomb entrance.
Giddy with excitement, he ran off to fetch Howard Carter, who had the good sense to listen to the boy. He and his team soon cleared the first 16 steps leading to the entrance of the chamber – and the rest as they say, is history.
Carter is said to have asked the boy what he would like as a reward for the discovery and Hussein in his innocence requested to be photographed wearing the Pharaoh's most elaborate necklace; a photo that Hussein held onto his entire life. That necklace is now on display at the museum. Although Carter never mentioned Hussein by name in his journal he did refer to a water boy. He is also said to have given the boy's family enough money to be comfortable for life. Hussein passed away in 1997.
A Priceless Treasure Trove
Tutankhamun's tomb is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all time. The sheer scale of the treasures discovered, along with all the nine elaborately adorned casings of the mummy (some of which are solid gold), provided a comprehensive insight into the scale at which a Pharaoh would be buried.
A large collection of King Tut's treasures are now displayed in the very new and excellent Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. An entire wing of seemingly endless items are displayed in all their glory. The treasures range from chariots, to weapons, board games, cured meats and wine, fine pottery and alabaster ware, furniture, makeup, jewellery, linen, clothes, and yes – even underwear!
Egyptologists would note at this point that in the grand scheme of things, Tutankhamun was a relatively unimportant pharaoh.
The history of Egyptian pharaohs stretches over 30 dynasties and 3000 years of rule; there have been many more consequential characters than King Tut. The greatest perhaps is Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great.
Regarded as the greatest of all pharaohs, Ramesses II reigned for 66 years, living till he was well into his 90s – a feat for ancient times. Ramesses II is responsible for over a quarter of all monuments from ancient Egypt that not only told of his strengths and feats in military campaigns but also reinforced his image as a living god.
One can only imagine how extensive his funeral and burial would have been …
Unfortunately, his sprawling tomb (one of the largest in the Valley of the Kings) was entirely raided of its treasures within 200 years of his death, prompting the priests to move his and other great ancestors' mummies into an unmarked cave to protect them; and there they remained until discovered by modern archaeologists.
All royal mummies now rest together at another excellent museum in Cairo, The National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. They were moved from the historic Cairo Museum in 2021 in a grand ceremony befitting Egypt's great ancestors - it's worth a watch.
The Wisdom of Indian Aunties
As we explored Tutankhamun's vast treasure trove as part of an evening tour with an Egyptologist from the museum (which was excellent I must add), I could not help but recall the reality check that I've oft heard dished out by Indian aunties …
"When you die, you will leave everything behind…"
The pharaohs, you see, had been preparing for quite the opposite outcome; they believed that all the treasures tucked away in their tombs, and indeed their bodies, will be reborn in an eternal afterlife. This is why so much care was taken to mummify the body and pack every item seen essential to one's comfort.
In spite of all their efforts over 3000 years, no pharaoh succeeded in defeating the very natural order of things:
When we die we leave everything behind.
Whether we like it or not, there is a finality about death–The ego (sense of self identity) perishes, the body rots, dries, and shrivels away, and all the possessions we've spent a lifetime accumulating, is left behind.
It seems Indian aunties understood what 30 dynasties of pharaohs had failed to fathom …
The Obsession With Accumulating and Hoarding Wealth
I would hear this rather profound piece of wisdom or perhaps unavoidable fact of life – that when you die you have to leave everything behind – doled out in situations where one would be:
Fixating a little too much on their possessions;
Overly lamenting a passing loss;
Obsessively accumulating more and more wealth, status or power; or
Being miserly about spending, even at the cost of one's own living standard or family obligations.
Such plain denouncement of unimpeded greed however is getting more and more difficult to come by, even from Indian aunties. The conversation in our popular culture has shifted and the collective obsession has become about little else than 'building wealth'.
Both social and mainstream media are full of commentators flogging one wealth building strategy or another. The common thread through all this is instilling fear about an uncertain future:
Things are going to get more and more expensive …
We're going to be living for longer and longer …
We'll all get dementia and need long term care …
The fear campaign seems to be working too.
Back home in Australia, thanks to the compulsory superannuation scheme (which is a form of retirement savings), our relatively small population now accounts for the fourth-largest pension market in the world behind only the US, Japan, and the UK. The total assets in our superannuation pool is $4.5 trillion, and growing.
In spite of the large saving pool, a landmark study by the Australian Treasury in 2020 (Retirement Income Review) showed that 90% of retirees drew only the minimum amount of super required and died with much of their super balances untouched.
Prominent academics blamed it on the 'conventional wisdom' taught to Australians—that they are not saving enough for their old age— positing it to be a myth driven by the financial services industry.
Large super funds with restrictive withdrawal settings were also criticised for encouraging retirees to live overly frugal lives while their wealth compounded in the background, only to be handed down to middle-aged children who are already financially secure.
While some folks are no doubt motivated by using superannuation as a tax effective means of passing down 'generational wealth', it still begs the question:
Why accumulate so much or indeed, worry about 'generational wealth' if one's children (and grandchildren) already have the means of securing their own financial future e.g. via having the good fortune to be born in stable western democracy with good education, infrastructure, governance and a pretty solid social safety net (Medicare, Centrelink, NDIS, Age Pension, etc)?
Why not just spend all your wealth before you kick the proverbial bucket?
The public at large are so attached to the notion of building wealth that even the mildest attempt by our governments to reform outdated tax settings results in a massive backlash, even by ordinary people who stand to benefit in the long term from the changes.
We are witnessing one such backlash transpire in Australia at this moment in reaction to what is largely a very sensible set of proposed reforms to the Capital Gains Tax …
Then, there are the Billionaires
While the 99% scrounges around for pennies, the privileged 0.1% are getting richer by the day.
It seems no economic crisis – whether it be the GFC, COVID, Putin's war, Trump's Tariffs, Iran war, or the impending AI doom – is able to put a dent on their wealth or even slow the trajectory of growth. Indeed, it keeps compounding.
The billionaire class have more wealth than what they and many generations of their family will be able to comfortably spend in their lifetime – Yet, they keep accumulating. Our world even, albeit briefly, had its first trillionaire.
These ultra rich folks are also organising to fight even the mildest attempt by governments to curtail their wealth, and when all fails, the little babies threaten to leave … Meanwhile, the rest of the world's population is living pay-cheque to pay-cheque, if not hand-to-mouth.
In the past few years, new and independent media in Western nations have done a good job to highlight the growing wealth disparity and the very real cost-of-living pressures that ordinary folks, even those with good education and jobs, are having to endure.
But it is only when one travels to other parts of the world that they begin to see what wealth disparity on the global stage really looks like; Egypt is no exception.
The plight of Egyptians
We first landed in Cairo late in the afternoon. By the time we had cleared customs and battled with taxi and uber drivers to secure a ride, the sun was setting.
A giant red ball greeted our taxi as it drove over the airport ramp into the chaotic Cairo traffic. The horizon was a grid of near identical apartment buildings, rising up from the dry, arid landscape that is Egypt. The façade, in various states of disrepair, was covered in layers of desert dust. In the light of the setting sun they took on an otherworldly reddish glow.
It was hard not to feel like we had just landed on a different planet.
A day's walking in the streets of Cairo only reinforced the sentiment ...
The gritty streets, lined with rubble, garbage, stray cats and dogs, are alive with the chaotic flow and noise of traffic, touts and travellers. The buildings, once resplendent with colonial-era glory, are now in various states of disrepair. The desperation to eke out a living in this vast city is all too palpable.
Walking through the streets of Cairo felt like navigating lawless trading stations portrayed in the Star Wars universe … for clarity, I find such settings to be utterly exhilarating!
Yet, Egyptians Smile!
In spite of the hardships, Cairo also stood out as the friendliest and most welcoming places I have ever travelled to. It is difficult to meet another's gaze without them breaking into a smile and shouting out, 'Welcome'!
Not everyone is out to scam you. In fact most vendors we encountered treated us like any other local. There was no tourist premium added to the price, and even if it were, the food and wares were still entirely affordable.
After the cool reception we received in Oman, where a chance smile is near impossible to come by, meeting ordinary Egyptians felt like being embraced by the warm rays of the summer sun.
I mentioned this stark contrast to a few Egyptians guides and drivers we encountered on our travels, and the explanation that followed was along these lines:
'At this stage in our life, our smiles are all we have left – if we don't smile, we'll be weeping!'
All this is said with great humour against the reality of an ailing economy: Egypt's economy has slid into dire territory in the past 15 years. It was already ailing prior to the revolution of 2011 but political turmoil and the power vacuum that followed, only seems to have made matters worse.
As another Egyptian told us,
'We have a saying in Egypt: If you knew what today would bring, you would have chosen to stay in the past.'
To put it in real terms, he explained what has transpired with the Egyptian pound in the last 15 years:
'Before the 2011 revolution, 1 US dollar would be equivalent to 5-6 Egyptian pounds. Today 1USD is equal to 50EGP! The currency has devalued ten-fold. The cost of everything also keeps rising but our wages have remained the same!'
He followed this with another example.
'A few years ago, I wanted to buy a used car. It was going to cost 300,000 EGP. Within the space of a few weeks this increased to 1,000,000 EGP! Even if I had that much money, the restrictions on withdrawing cash from the bank means I won't be able to do it easily – and even if I did, I'd need a truck to carry it all it.'
The Loss of Connection and Pride
We happened to encounter another guide in Coptic Cairo. We had arrived in the area just as everything was being shut down. He suggested we visit the historic Khan El Khalili bazaar instead. It was a good plan as any, so we hopped into the rickshaw with him.
A rickshaw ride gives one a close encounter with the street life. Riding through the narrow winding backstreets that led to the bazaar, it was difficult not to witness the general state of disrepair and disregard the whole area had fallen into.
Garbage, cigarette butts and rubble lined the street. Dubious smells wafted in and out as we passed various quarters, plastic waste was flying all around in the afternoon breeze. There were plenty of people around but not one showed any inclination to clean up the very area where they lived and worked. Indeed, it was they who were responsible for the mess in the first place.
By this stage we had accepted this scene to be part and parcel of life in Cairo. The Egyptian guide felt differently. As he witnessed the scene, he started saying with a heavy heart,
'Egyptians no longer have a connection with their country.
They don't care about its history.
They have no hope in its future.
They don’t even care about their own neighbourhood ...'
The economic pain had manifested into something deeper; a loss of faith in one's own country.
We could tell that this man, who spent his life working with tourists who had come from all corners of the Earth, seduced by Egypt's glorious past, only wished that his countrymen could feel even an iota of what we tourists feel; on account of its glorious past alone, Egypt is a gem amongst countries.
As if to reinforce the guide's point, the moment we reached our destination, the rickshaw driver began to act up.
He started giving us grief, refusing to accept the previously agreed price for the ride and demanded a highly inflated amount instead. When the guide intervened to say he was being unreasonable, he started making an almighty commotion.
No amount of reason or admonishment would appease him. I relented and paid up.
Understanding the desperate situation everyone finds themselves in, makes one feel inclined to forgive such indiscretions: This man has little choice but to hustle and he knows that if anyone can afford to pay up, it's the tourists.
Witnessing this behaviour only added to the Egyptian guide's despair. He apologised sheepishly for the rickshaw driver's behaviour. We brushed it off, asked for a local restaurant recommendation and went off to enjoy some fine Egyptian Hawawshi.
What the pharaohs got right
The pharaohs may not have achieved their objective of enjoying an eternal afterlife surrounded by their luxuries but their efforts have not been totally in vain–Their stone monuments did render them immortal, and in spite of themselves, ended up being an act of great public service:
It cemented Egypt's place on the world map and created one of the largest employing industry in the country, tourism.
A tour of ancient Egypt today centres around five major cities and towns: Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbal. We visited all five townships and every major site within.
Keen to avoid the crowds (and the heat), we made sure to be at the key sites at the opening time of 6-7am. Within 2 hours of opening though, the place would be teeming with hordes of tourists. Admittedly this surprised us, as we travelled during what is considered the 'low season. One can only imagine what peak period would be like.
What was strange though, was the moment we stepped out of a historic site and ventured into the local towns, all the tourists disappeared. We rarely saw another tourist at local hotels, restaurants and bazaars.
There was also little evidence of the wealth that one would expect to see in townships with such a huge influx of foreign tourists – and nowhere was this starker than in Luxor.
The crumbling tourist hubs
Home not only to the Valley of the Kings, where all the beautifully preserved tombs of pharaohs from the Middle Kingdom lie, but also to the majestic Luxor and Karnak temples, Luxor is a major stop on most tourist's ancient Egypt itinerary. Yet the township of Luxor is perhaps the most run down of all, especially on the East Bank.
The buildings are noticeably shabbier. The streets are lined with men driving horse carriages with animals that seem in dire need of nutrition, children selling trinkets and papyrus bookmarks, begging for you to buy something, and taxi drivers stopping and imploring you to take a ride …
A few hours in, Darren relented and insisted we take horse carriage rides everywhere so at least the animals get fed. I bought packets of chocolate biscuits so at the very least we could leave the kids with a nice treat.
The guides, drivers, security and hospitality staff we encountered working at major tourist sites and with tour companies all spoke of their desperate situation: Their employers (which sometimes was the Egyptian government) did not pay them a living wage, forcing them to scrounge for tips to make ends meet.
Incidentally, if you look up Egypt travel videos that a lot of young influencer types are posting on social media these days, being constantly asked for tips or being tricked into situations where they are made to feel obligated to give a tip, is a common complaint. It wears these young travellers down, so much so that some are now very idiotically advising their legions of followers not to visit Egypt ...
While being constantly hassled and scammed for tips can become tiresome, when the businesses and institutions we choose to spend our tourist dollars with, don't pay their staff enough, what other recourse do these people have?
A tale of two cities
After wrapping up our tour of ancient Egypt in Luxor, we decided to break-up the trip back to Cairo with a short stay at the beachside township of Hurghada. It would be a chance to check out the Red Sea and unwind for a bit, before carrying on with our travels.
The moment our bus entered the gates of Hurghada, we picked up a different vibe.
While the rest of the towns and cities we had been to had the appearance of slowly crumbling back into the desert sands ... Hurghada was booming!
Construction was rife everywhere: Luxury apartments in various stages of completion lined the streets. We started seeing European brand cars and even spotted a BMW roadster! The roads were decent and the main streets had decent footpaths for pedestrians; a novelty in Egypt. There was a fancy marina, complete with beautiful manicured gardens and luxury yachts. Large seaside resorts were dotted along the coastline, with the town itself home to private beaches and more local flavoured resorts. There were plenty of shops and restaurants, the streets teeming with locals and foreigners alike.
Since Putin's war on Ukraine, Hurghada has also become a safe haven for young Russians and Ukrainians alike. These folks have chosen to opt-out of their respective countries politics and sit-out the war. Many have been living in Hurghada off and on for several years now.
We chanced upon a young Russian man at a shawarma place (which unbeknown to us specialised in Russian shawarmas). He had been a resident in Hurghada for about three years. In passing, he mentioned that his friends here included Ukrainians,
We play cards and pool together with no problems.'
Their common bond – not buying into the politics, and especially the need for a war.
'Just look at me," he said referring to his rather petite stature, 'I am not built for war!'
Hearing their stories made Darren and I reflect: What would we do if Australia suddenly decided to invade a neighbouring country, say for all good reasons? What if one of our neighbours declared an unjust war on us? Would we choose to fight for Australia or would we opt out and refuse to be a pawn in the war games being played by politicians who have clearly failed at doing the one job we pay them to do: Keep the peace ...
We could not help but notice that a lot of older Russians also appear to have retired in Hurghada. They don't live in luxury by any means but it is no doubt an upgrade from enduring a Russian winter!
Completing the eclectic mix are budget travellers from Europe and diving enthusiasts from the world over: Red Sea offers some of the most incredible diving anywhere in the world. Even on a choppy day out at sea, we enjoyed crystal clear visibility of over 20 meters and corals that are resplendent in colour and teeming with fish. It was what the Great Barrier Reef used to look like twenty years ago …
Then there are the Egyptians themselves. It is incredibly difficult for an Egyptian to get a tourist visa to any part of the world. Those who can afford vacations, spend their summer holidays in seaside destinations like Hurghada, Sharm El Sheik or Alexandria.
Hurghada is as much a tourist hotspot as Cairo, Luxor and Aswan, but unlike the centres of ancient Egyptian civilisations, here one can clearly see evidence of the wealth from tourism flowing into the local economy. By and large, people are more well off and less desperate.
So what was the difference?
The power of self-directed tourism
The tourists in Hurghada were all self-directed travellers.
They had come here independently: Booked their own hotels and apartments, arranged their own activities and transportation, were eating at local restaurants and shopping at local shops and supermarkets.
The money they spent was flowing directly into the local economy, and you could see evidence of it everywhere.
For one, there was a lot less touting. Vendors were not nearly as desperate for a sale and happy to let customers walk away. There were even some fixed price souvenir stores that held firm to the prices!
Self-directed tourism was behind Hurghada's economic boom.
Cairo, Giza, Luxor and Aswan meanwhile, are mainly serviced by large, international, tour companies – and from what we can tell, these companies are exploiting Egypt's glorious history and its present day people, for all they are worth …
The problem with tour bus tourism
Self-directed travel, especially to a country like Egypt, is not for everyone. It is by no means impossible but it requires a certain amount of resolve to get through.
For many folks, especially if they are older, unaccustomed to self-directed travel or not wanting to do the work this entails, organised tours are the only way to go – and there is nothing inherently wrong with it either:
Whether an organised tour is a net positive or negative to a country comes down to the ethics of the company one books with.
The problem is that many large international travel companies exist purely to profit – and have no commitment to social goals beyond this. Indeed, they will happily exploit the lower governance standards they encounter overseas. Things like contributing towards local businesses and economy, taking care of the environment and committing to pay their workers a fair living wage does not even enter their consciousness…
The experiences they offer to their clientele reflects this myopic attitude. They tend to curate experiences that are 'closed loop':
Their guests stay in international hotel chains, eat in their in-house restaurants and shop in their boutiques.
There is little effort made to add good local hotels, restaurants and shops to the itinerary.
The worst offence that these tour companies commit however, is the bare minimum wages they pay their employees.
Had these companies been operating in countries like Australia or Europe, they would have to honour the legislated minimum wages. Egypt has no such laws and from what Egyptians tell us, their wages have barely increased over the last decade. Everyone from the drivers to waiters, and even the tour guides who are so pivotal to guest experience, have little choice but to depend on tips to make ends meet.
The irony in all this is that legislating a minimum liveable wage was one of the key demands of the 25 January Revolution. 15 years on, Egyptians are still waiting for it to be effected …
A not-so-premium experience
Out of curiosity we looked up some of the international tour companies we saw operating in the area to see what they were charging. The tours were by no means cheap. A person undertaking a similar trip such as ours (albeit in a condensed two week timeframe) would be paying at least ten to twenty times the price, depending on the level of luxury they signed up to. The trip also needs to be paid in USD or Euro and the costs do not include tips.
So what do these 'tour bus tourists' get for this 10-20x premium?
Well, they no doubt save a lot of the time researching itinerary, accommodation and transportation. They don't need to worry about organising themselves either as they simply have to follow the directions of their guide. They also enjoy more comfortable transportation and accommodation, but this again depends on the package and company they signed up with.
Having said this, we weren't exactly slumming it either …
The hotels we stayed in were simple but had all the basics including AC (although we could have done with more comfortable pillows!). We ate at choice local restaurants, cafes and bakeries, enjoying fresh and flavourful ingredients and authentic cooking. Discovering these hidden gems was a thrill in itself. We don't mind sorting out the transportation from place to place either, as this is such an essential part of the travel experience–as the saying goes, the journey is the destination ..
As for the experience at the main cultural sites, which is the main reason one supposedly travels to Egypt, I felt that we were so much better off than the tour bus crowd. The reality for the average tour bus tourist is that visiting historic cultural sites is a noisy, chaotic, hot and rushed affair.
Here's a sample of what the average tour bus tourist experiences:
Tours seem to operate to roughly the same 1-2 itineraries so tens of tour buses will arrive at tourist sites simultaneously.
They also tend to be there at the hottest time of the day. I can only presume this is to allow their guests time in the morning for sleeping in, getting ready, having breakfast, etc.
As a result, hundreds if not thousands of tourists descend upon cultural sites at the same time, noting that the inner sanctums of these temples, pyramids and tombs were not built to cater for such large crowds–only priests had access to these areas in the ancient times.
The tours come with guides, which is a good thing as you do need some expert commentary to make sense of what you are seeing. The problem is that in an effort to get everyone moving, all the guides tend to start narrating their rote-learned scripts at astronomical speed at about the same time. To be heard, this is usually done at the top of their lungs.
After listening to the guide's narration, the tour bus tourists have a few minutes to look around, snap a few pics before they are ushered out.
One has to wonder if any of these tour bus tourists even got the opportunity to soak in the historical significance of the place they were standing in, after having forked out tens of thousands to visit it …
In contrast, we could strategically choose our visitation time to miss the tour bus crowd and intense heat of the day. We arrived at most sites right at opening time of either 6am or 7am, and were amongst the first people there…
We ventured inside the pyramids at Giza pretty much on our own.
The temples of Abu Simbel were deserted when we walked in.
We found ourselves alone again in the tombs of Ramesses V and VI.
We even had a moment all by ourselves in King Tut's tomb.
We could spend a leisurely couple of hours taking in all the beautiful artwork and history in silence before the tour bus brigade arrived and all but killed the ambience … we also scheduled in breaks so that we did not get temple/tomb/museum fatigue.
It made me wonder what was the point of paying such a high premium to these tour bus companies? These people could have just as easily booked the same hotels and arranged private guided tours and transfers to the key sites themselves – not only would it have been a better experience but would have saved them a pretty penny.
Ancient versus modern Egyptians
One of the must-do experience in Egypt is a Nile cruise. We decided to do this in style and splurged on a 3-day Dahabiya Cruise down the river Nile.
The Dahabiya is a traditional Egyptian sailing ship that has two glorious sails. Most modern-day dahabiyas are towed by a tug boat to ensure they run to the schedule. The sailing tends to be sporadic and more to satisfy the tourists on board. As disappointing as it was to find this out, the experience of 'sailing' on the dahabiya was still very peaceful, calm and exclusive!
The cruise started in Aswan and travelled downstream to Luxor, stopping at significant historic sites along the way (temples, tombs, quarries and museums). It was an all-inclusive package that covered meals, transfers and guided tour of the historic sites.
The tour company we decided to go with was a locally owned and run Egyptian enterprise. Their tour was priced at the mid-range as far as dahabiyas go, although it still very much a luxury experience. Our dahabiya catered for 10 visitors but since it was the low season, there was only one other couple on board with us; two American friends who have been travelling the world together for 20 years.
I idled the day away sitting on the back terrace or the upper deck of the Dahabiya, watching the scenery glide by: Endless date palms, mango groves and banana plantations lined the banks of the Nile.
With the exception of the plastic waste floating on the Nile … the scene had probably remained unchanged for many millennia. Indeed, the first time I saw a kid in their traditional Egyptian attire riding his donkey cart, it felt almost biblical.
One of the highlights of these cruises are the elaborate meals. These are a shared experience with the other guests and the guide, and a good time for everyone to catchup and chit-chat. During lunch one day, I posed a question to the group that had been occupying my mind all morning,
'Who do you think had or have a better life – Ancient Egyptians or modern-day Egyptians?'
Our guide, a young Egyptian man from Luxor did not hesitate for even a second. In his usual categorical manner, he said,
'Ancient Egyptians – For sure.'
'Why?' I pressed
'Because they could work on their farms, fish, eat fresh food and live. They didn't have phones to check every minute. They didn't have to worry what was going on in the rest of the world. It was a good life.'
The rest of us, two Americans and two Australians, were not so sure.
'Are we glorifying the impoverished conditions that agricultural based societies used to live in? Don't modern comforts like electricity, plumbed water and AC make life more comfortable?' I added at one point.
'It wasn't this hot 3000 years ago – In fact it never used to get this hot even 20 years ago,' the guide retorted, laughing.
We had been experiencing two weeks of unusually warm weather for this time of the year. Day time temperature would rise to approximately 47 degrees Celsius, and remain in the 30s through the night. As the guide said, these sort of conditions were unheard of even 20 years ago in Egypt.
After some deliberations, all of us Westerners landed on a middle-of-the-road answer:
'In some ways ancient Egyptians were better off. In others, modern Egyptians are better.'
I could feel the guide regarding us somewhat bemusedly. This was his last trip of the season and it was clear he was well and truly over it all … He could not wait to get away from the well-meaning but still clueless westerners; people who have no idea what it's like to live in a country without an effective government.
The Western bias
Western archaeologists are guilty of letting their limited life experience and biases cloud their interpretation of history and archaeological evidence as well.
The conventional wisdom for many years in archaeology had been that the pharaohs must have used brute force, threat of violence and legions of slaves to construct the colossal monuments of ancient Egypt e.g. the pyramids and temples. Everyone had imagined brutal working conditions, disease and deprivation to have been the hallmarks of such enterprises. Why else would anyone take on such onerous work, they posited?
In recent years, new discoveries by Egyptian archaeologists have all but debunked this narrative.
The ancient Egyptians were in fact highly capable of organising, mobilising and motivating large numbers of workers to accomplish their pharaoh's projects. They did not only establish vast communities of artisans, stone masons and labourers around major projects but also catered for seasonal work at important quarries during the flood season.
There is evidence that some of the workers were indeed slaves, but most were voluntary labourers who worked for the pay and the conviction that helping the pharaoh prepare for his afterlife would sure up their own.
All these workers were also well taken care of. Not only were they supplied with all the necessary provisions to do their work but would receive payment in food stamps for themselves and their families; to everyone's surprise, they were remarkably well compensated. There is plenty of evidence that their diets included prime cuts of beef - and plenty of it!
In a more recent discovery of pottery and papyrus in what appears to be an ancient garbage tip in Luxor, it has emerged that ancient Egyptians were able to claim days off for legitimate reason without penalty. Some common excuses included being bitten by a scorpion, having to mummify one's relative and even, having to take care of the housework because their wife was menstruating!
Yes, all this and more used to be noted down meticulously by scribes administering the projects. They were not afraid to call out the false 'sickies' either. There are records of one man's claim of mummifying his father being dismissed because the scribe knew for a fact that his father had passed three years earlier!
Turns out, our guide had got it right – Ancient Egyptians did have a better life than modern Egyptians.
Not only did they have the advantage of owning and tilling their own land, they had a government that created jobs with good working conditions where workers felt ownership, pride and purpose in the work they did. More importantly, unlike Egypt's modern-day employers, the pharaohs had the decency to pay their workers well.
The Pharaohs' Lesson
A trip to Egypt offers plenty of opportunity for one to contemplate their mortality, which in turn forces one to deeply examine how they choose to live.
The central lesson that I have walked away with after my month-long trip to Egypt is to stop hoarding and start spending.
What the pharaohs' life and death demonstrates is that it does not matter how well one's mummy (or cryogenically frozen body) is preserved; once we are dead, there is no coming back. So, why hoard wealth?
Leaving behind an inheritance for loved ones is always a good excuse but how much wealth do they really need? Besides, is removing all the strife and challenge from your grandkids' lives doing them any favours? How much do we really owe our families beyond having raised and educated them anyway? Are we responsible for making all their financial woes go away as well?
The lesson to spend is especially pertinent to me: I am a saver–always have been.
I guess the urge to save comes from my disposition; I have never felt too optimistic about the future so at some level, have always erred towards saving for a rainy day…
This has, by and large, served me well, as I would not have been able to afford to switch to the Arts otherwise (and be sitting here sipping excellent Tunisian citronade at a café at Sidi Bou Said while writing this war and peace account of my experiences and encounters in Egypt!)
But if I look at all that I have accumulated, and what I really need to survive, I feel like I have enough. There is little point in hoarding.
Indeed, I am now determined to spend all my wealth by the time I die. The difficulty, of course, lies in not knowing exactly when the inevitable hour will strike …
One still has to make the necessary arrangements for a roof over their head and food on their table during their lifetime. Then there are the funds we need for end-of-life care and the necessary act of disposing of one's corpse.
Better financial products could no doubt alleviate some of the risks and uncertainties but again, most of us are fortunate to live in countries with strong social security net – a lot of our angst is unfounded.
When Darren and I met in 2020, I was contemplating taking a year-long sabbatical from the corporate life and travelling to all the places I have been longing to see, but having serious doubts about it all. To help me work through my fears, Darren would ask me,
'What is the worst that could happen?'
'Becoming jobless, homeless and destitute,' would be the first response from my catastrophising mind.
'What are the chances of that happening?' he would sensibly press.
'Having to rely on Centrelink because I can't find a job,' would be the next horror scenario my mind would come up with
'I've been a freelance illustrator for over 30 years now – a field that has become completely disrupted by digital technologies – and yet I've never had to rely on Centrelink to pay my bills,' he would reply.
He was right: I could find another well-paying job in my field easily enough.
I could see his point.
A lot of our anxieties that lead to hoarding of wealth are similarly, irrational.
Where we can, we must begin to spend or give away the excesses we have accumulated–and why not do it while we are still alive?
Not only will it help us live richer and more fulfilling lives, but if spent right, will do good things for the people, communities and causes we care about. Indeed, the world could become a more equal and just place because of it – and what could be more gratifying than that?
Written by Reeta Dhar. Cover Art by Darren Pryce.
Written and Illustrated in Sidi Bou Said (Tunisia) and Tuscany (Italy).
Based on travel to Egypt in May 2026.
First Published in Vitalis Magazine September 2026
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