Off to the papyrus shop. The man demonstrated the process. Cut the stalks of the plant into slices about 15 cm long. They are 2-3 cm thick, and triangular in cross section - like a pyramid. Remove the green 'skin'. Chop the white core into very thin slices lengthwise and soak them in water for 7 days. They are full of sugar, so the water must be changed every day.
Lay the strips beside each other so they are just touching. Then place another layer across them, again just touching. (They are NOT interwoven). Place them between two pieces of felt and screw down a heavy press on them. Leave that for 7 days. The sugar acts as glue.
After that, the outline of a famous picture is stamped on it and an artist colours and signs it. There were hundreds, from 20cm square up to about 1.5 metres wide, but none in the beautiful gold and black that I bought yesterday.
Next stop was Luxor Museum. Not a huge collection - all of it would have fitted in one of the jumbled rooms at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. But so beautifully presented. Each statue lit to show it to advantage, all the small ones in separate glass cases.
Finally, to an cotton goods outlet which sells remainders from export lines. I had hoped to find polo shirts for Brian, but they only had XXL which would have been nightshirts for him. Still looking.
On the way back there were some flashes of lightning in the distance and the first rain we have seen in Egypt - just some spots on the bus window.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment