David McConnaughey writes: “An intrepid group of Brown alumni, friends, and family joined a Brown Travelers February 2025 trip to Egypt and Jordan. From a group of six first visiting Alexander the Great’s Alexandria, we expanded to an easygoing 22 who became immersed in the history and culture of ancient treasures and timeless wonders. We scrambled the great pyramids and consulted with the still mysterious Great Sphinx. An afternoon in the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum, its own marvel, could easily have taken days. On a visit to the Village of Sakkara, we saw step pyramids that date back more than 4,600 years. We toured in reverence the grandeur and magnificence of Karnak Temple and the Luxor complex, spanning 200 acres, featuring towering obelisks, massive statues, and the Avenue of Sphinxes. We ventured to the hallowed Valley of the Kings, where a new tomb discovery was just announced. Next came sailing up the Nile by small private dahabiya making stops at important sites—Edfu, Kom Ombo, the temple of Philae, and current active digs on Elephantine Island. Finally, we flew down Lake Nasser to the awe-inspiring Abu Simbel where the remarkable story and scale of rescue by UNESCO from modern day dam flooding became all the more amazing. A group of seven went on to Jordan. There we visited Roman ruins in Amman, and Jeresh, the City of 1,000 Pillars. From the top of Mount Nebo we looked out across the Holy Land to the Dead Sea, the city of Jericho and the distant hills of Jerusalem. On to the city of Petra, hiking through twisting canyons to the famous three-story, red-rock carved Treasury. We also visited an extensive Brown archaeological excavation. Traveling on to the Dead Sea, 1,400 feet below sea level, we floated in its warm, supremely salty, soothing waters. Several of us visited the Jordan River baptism site of Jesus of Nazareth and a calm Jordan/Israel border. A remarkable trip exhausting the superlatives of our Brown-educated vocabularies. Traveling with a group of intellectually curious Brunonians was plenty of fun as we relished learning of Egypt’s and Jordan’s ancient histories and exploring their mystical mysteries.”
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Class of 1974