mell scrie:10.You have the opportunity to visit a foreign country for two weeks. Which country would you like to visit? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice.
"Soldiers, consider that from the summit of these pyramids forty centuries look down upon you !" ( Napoleon Bonaparte )
Introduction :
- when I considered this topic for my exam, I felt it like a difficult task to accomplish ( that is to choose );
- I considered Greece, India, China, Israel, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, SUA, and Egypt;
- Greece, of course, for its famous Acropolis of Athens, and Delphi and Delos archeological sites, and its Mounts Athos Monastery Complex;
- India, for its Taj Mahal, the Sun Temple,the Qutb Minar,the Great Living Chola Temples, the Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi;
- China, for its famous Army of Terracotta Warriors, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Tai Shan, the Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve, the Yungang Caves;
- Israel, for its Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem Jewish and Christian sights, the Baha'i Shrine and Garden - Haifa, the El- Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall;
- but finally I chose Egypt, for its permanently challenging "WHEATEN CAKES";
Development :
A. Giza - "The Father of Fear" Challenging "Wheaten Cakes"
- the challenge of the Egyptian Pyramids is big for me and I always craved to see them;
- the Giza Pyramid Complex consists of : the Great Pyramid of Khufu ( Chaops ); the Pyramid of Khafre ( Chephren ); and the Pyramid of Menkaure ( Mykerinus );
- judging by the name the Grreks gave to the Egyptian pyramids, they are some "WHEATEN CAKES", for this is what "pyramis" means in Greek, ( probably a humorous application, of course );
- the Great Sphinx of Giza, in Arabic "THE FATHER OF THE FEAR", is half a human, half a lion Sphinx statue, the largest monolith statue in the world;
- the Sphinx was believed to stand as a guardian of the Giza Plateau, where it faces the rising sun;
- the Sphinx was the focus of solar worship in the Old Kingdom, centered in the adjoining temples built around the time of its probable construction;
- due largely to the 19th century images, the pyramids of Giza are generally thought of by some foreigners as lying in the remote desert location;
- but the pyramids are located in what is now the part of the most populous city in Africa ( CAIRO );
- consequently, urban development reaches right up the perimeter of the antiquities site;
- to the extent that in the 1990's, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants opened across the road;
- the ancients sites in the Memphis area, including those at Giza, together with those at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abu Ruwayish, and Abusir, were collectively declared a World Heritage Site in 1979;
B. Luxor - Revealing the Secret of the "Southern Harem"
- as the site of the ancient Egyptian city of THebes, Luxor particularly attracts me for its reputation as "the world's greatest open air museum";
- the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak stand within the modern city;
- immediately opposite, across the Nile River, lie the monuments, temples, and tombs on the West Bank Necropolis;
- this Necropolis includes the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens;
- Luxor is known in the Egyptian language as "The Southern Harem";
- indeed, the Luxor temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Gods : Amun, Mut, and Chons;
- Luxor was the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile River from nearby Karnak Temple to stay there for a while, with his consort, Mut, in a celebration fertility;
- across from Thebes ( modern Luxor ), the Valley of the Kings challenges you grealty;
- this Valley of the Kings became famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, with its rumours of the curse of the Pharoahs;
- the Valley is also one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world;
C. Karnak - the "Most Selected of the Places"
- Karnak is a conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings;
- it is located near Luxor;
- its ancient name was "THE MOST SELECTED OF THE PLACES";
- because this MOST SELECTED OF THE PLACES was the main place of worship of the Theban Triad with Amun as its head, in the monumental city of Thebes ( modern Luxor );
- the complex is a vast open-air museum;
- it is also the largest ancient religious site in the world;
- it is probably the second most visited historical site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids, near Cairo;
- the complex consists of 4 main parts ( precincts ), but only the Precinct of Amun-Re is accessible for tourists;
- anyway, this is the main area of the complex, and by far, the largest part;
- the three other parts ( of Montu, of Mut, and of Amenhotep IV ) are closed to public;
- the key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used;
- the construction work started in the 16th century BC, and approximately 30 pharoahs contributed to the building, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen anywhere;
- few of the individual features of Karkak are unique;
- but the size and the number of features are overwhelming;
- so, welcome to Egypt !
Conclusion :
- Egypt is a big challenge for anyone who wishes to admire one of the oldest civilizations on our planet;
- but what about other challenges ?
- Italy, for its Castel Sant'Angelo, the Capitoline Museums, the Colosseum, the Scala Santa, the Pantheon, the Villa Celimontana, The Milan Duomo, the Pisa Tower;
- Spain, for the Alhambra, the Barcelona Gaudi Architecture, the Cesar Manrique Sites, the Seville Cathedral, the Guggenheim, the Palacio Real, the Toledo;
- Great Britain, for Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, the British Museum, the Buckingham Palace, the Lake District, the Stratford-upon-Avon, Stonehenge, the famous Castles;
- France, for its Louvres, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysee, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, Versailles Palace, Disneyland Paris, Chateaux de la Loire;
- SUA, for its Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Metropolitan Museum, Brooklyn Bridge, the White House, Hollywood, the Grand Canyon, the Disneyland, the Niagara;