@TimBryars

Antiquarian map & bookseller in Cecil Court, WC2. Half of Bryars & Bryars; co-organiser London Map Fair; co-author 'A History of the 20th Century in 100 Maps'.

 London
bryarsandbryars.co.uk
Joined August 2009
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Much to digest from the last few days, but the 6th century Christ Pantocrator at St Catherine's Monastery, expressing Christ's humanity and divinity in a single image, is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen, and no photo can do it justice.
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Massive excitement - the Merneptah Stele! A massive inscription of Egyptian victories in Canaan and, among the people defeated, is “Israel”. Not only is this the first use of Israel BUT… the hieroglyph for Israel is for a nomadic people…
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Fayum mummy portraits in the old Cairo museum. Like walking down a street in Greco-Roman Egypt.
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Night out in Cairo with our friend Joseph Tawadros and pals. Really delicious hawawshi, stuffed pigeon, kofte rolled in fat, liver, brains... I think Joe was testing us! Pinda's softpack Cleopatras were pronounced hardcore, and we relearned how to cross the road (be decisive!)
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Coptic Cairo. We were permitted to say morning prayer in the Hanging Church - a privilege. Such a warm welcome everywhere!
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Extraordinary syncretic Greco-Roman-Egyptian funerary art in the catacombs in Alexandria illustrating how 'ordinary' people (rather than a ruling elite) practiced paganism in the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, either side of Christianity becoming the state religion.
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A taste of the surviving frescoes, which give a sense of how richly decorated the churches were.
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The monasteries of the Western Desert are simply extraordinary, not just for understanding the roots of monasticism but for visiting some of the oldest (4th-5th century) churches in continous use.
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In Cairo tonight. The view from our restaurant - not AI generated or even tweaked! I know it will look very different in the morning.
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It was indeed all ok again by daylight!
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Look on my works ye mighty, and despair. Local vibe, Ramesseum.
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Black tie dinner on the Nile (after Eucharist, of course).
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Night train to Luxor
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About to ascend Mount Sinai by camel at 2am this morning. With my fellow @StBartholomews pilgrims, we ascended the penitential steps (glad it was still dark when we did that) in time for a spectacular sunrise at the summit of the holy mountain.
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Last match of the season
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Homemade scones and cricket at Lord's. Perfect.
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The bat which @StBartholomews parishioner W.G. Grace carried when he made his first century in 1864.
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Wartime dictionary to help free Poles understand idioms: not English - what Brits are actually talking about (different things entirely). Any guesses for 'swop horses in the middle of a river', 'to go on a wallaby track', 'the Bishop has set his foot in it' or 'my cake is dough'?
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'Ninth part of a man' also eluded me, but apparently it's tailors: nine tailors make a man. 'Irishman's dinner' I could also guess - I wonder what the Polish translation is for that! 'My cake is dough' is about half baked ideas. Poor Poles though! 'My hovercraft is full of eels.'
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Mafeking in April 1900, a month before the siege was lifted, part of a series which was hurriedly cobbled together, generally considered amongst the worst maps ever issued to the British Army ('not to be considered as absolutely accurate' is quite the understatement).
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Strangely, very few maps open naturally to the right, suggesting that the map mounting was done by the same left-handed individual working for civilian printing firm Wood and Ortlepp in Cape Town.
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