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Egyptian traveler shares experiences with students |
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Written by Publisher
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Thursday, 28 February 2008 |
 Robert Burke of Eagleville, Montgomery County, is shown with an Egyptian prayer rug, which is handmade by 12 year-old girls. As a seasoned world-traveler Burke visited SMCMS where he spoke with students about ancient and modern life in Egypt.
By Amy Cherry
Daily Press Staff
With the use of artifacts and a slideshow, students at St. Marys Catholic Middle School learned about the various facets of Egypt during a presentation by travel connoisseur Robert Burke.
As a native of Eagleville, located near Valley Forge in Montgomery County, Burke visited the school on Tuesday where he fielded questions from students on modern and ancient life in Egypt. Burke, along with his wife, have
traveled to the middle eastern country three times since 2000. The couple returned from their most recent trip on Feb. 14.
"When traveling to Egypt there are no major concerns. This is a tourist friendly country which has built the industry to cater to the tourists," Burke said.
The presentation began with Burke explaining the significance of his travel attire which consisted of a hat, SPF 30 sunscreen, a long-sleeve shirt with a short sleeve shirt layered overtop, boots, cargo pants with SPF 50 protection and lastly a photojournalist vest to utilize its many pockets. In
addition, Burke said he always carried a flashlight, for use in the dark tombs beneath the pyramids along with a multi-purpose tool, to fix broken items.
Throughout his travels Burke has visited numerous Egyptian locations including it's capital city Cairo, with a growing population of 16 million people; Aswan; Luxor, site of ancient Thebes; King Tutankhamun's tomb; the Museum of Antiquities, which houses a massive collection of King Tut
artifacts; the Pyramids at Giza; the Valley of the Kings; Zoer's mortuary complex; the step pyramids at Saquarra and numerous temples at Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Philea and Edfu.
Burke added that Egyptian police patrol tourist sites on camel, in pick-up trucks and from lookout towers. The police are also authorized to carry automatic weapons, a much different contrast compared to here in the U.S.
"Their rules and laws are much different than ours," Burke noted.
In addition to watching a slideshow presentation students also had the opportunity to view numerous artifacts from the region such as a prayer rug, which are handmade by 12 year-old girls; Egyptian money, including a $5 note worth 85 cents in the U.S.; and handmade papyrus paper.
When describing Egypt's well-known sphinxes, Burke said the famous icons were constructed of lesser quality stone than what the pyramids were made of. The sphinx's sandstone has been repaired on numerous occasions.
"The sphinxes are made of sandstone and have been repaired on numerous occasions. They are constantly working to preserve them," Burke said.
He also explained that several of the ancient runes were re-located to higher ground as they were positioned too close to the Nile River, which often overflows its banks. This difficult task was often carried out by Europeans, Americans and Italians.
"Egypt is home of some of the worlds earliest artisans," Burke said.
He noted that in addition to drawings found in ancient ruins, artwork in the city's numerous mosques' are quite intricate and inlaid with colorful tiles.
In an interesting twist, no human or animals figures are shown in any of the mosque's artwork. Designs are strictly geometrical.
Burke said he has always been interested in history and carried it as a minor when attending Villanova University. He often visited the Egyptian exhibits in museums in New York, at Temple University and the British Museum in London.
"Meeting others in their native lands and conversing about things important to them has broadened my knowledge and understanding of issues that we often deem trivial but are actually quite significant," Burke said. "Another very
interesting thing that we always do when abroad is visit the local grocery stores to see what the local consider popular items."
Burke began traveling in 1997 and has visited England, Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Italy, and Costa Rica. During many of his adventures, Burke has traveled with a group of tourists from
International Horizons, a Hillsborough N.C. based company, which is operated by Dr. Ken Ostrand, a retired professor of ancient history and Egyptologist. His wife Cynthia, accompanies Burke on all of his journeys.
"This year we have a booked a three-week trip to England in May on our own and a trip to the tour company to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for two weeks in October," Burke said. "We are also planning to visit Morocco and Turkey sometime in the future and plan to return to Egypt in January 2010."
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 February 2008 )
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