ANCIENT EGYPT
BY KELLI GAZA NOWINSKY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRAD FEINKNOPF
Egypt. It’s a place frozen in time, a land of magnificent monuments to humankind’s enduring accomplishments. Glamour, romance, mystery and grandeur set the tone for this country in northeast Africa. Pencil in majestic pyramids, the Sahara desert and the Nile, the longest river on Earth, and you have a destination unlike any other on our planet.
Egypt is known for the Pyramids of Giza and the Valley of the Kings, but what lies still undiscovered? A group from Columbus was about to embark on a mission that forever changed their lives.
COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, has worked on an exhibit for the last five years called Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science about Egypt and archeology. A year ago they started asking, how can we convince people to care about what life was like more than 4,000 years ago? They ended up finding the answer to that question on the shores of the Nile.
Three COSI staff members, Kate Storm, Carli Lanfersiek and Josh Kessler, along with WOSU videographer Cindy Gaillard, traveled to Egypt to interview archeologists and Egyptologists. They also brought Egypt’s magical charm and secrets to life through video and photography. And who better to photograph the ancient architectural perfection than world-renowned Columbus-based architecture photographer Brad Feinknopf. This was a shoot unlike any other that Feinknopf encountered.
“Day three, I had an epiphany,” Feinknopf says. “I have been given a tremendous lifetime opportunity that comes with great responsibility. I am seeing firsthand what many of the people who attend the COSI exhibit will never see: even if they travel to Egypt, they will never be given the access to many of the closed tombs and sites to which I am being given. It’s my obligation, to those hundreds of thousands of people who will visit this exhibit, to open their eyes to the amazing treasures that Egypt offers.”
The crew had 12 days to capture the power, energy and symbolism of Egypt and bring it back to incorporate into the Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science exhibit. They interviewed nearly a dozen of the most important archeologists in the world including Dr. Mark Lehner, director of the Ancient Egyptian Research Associates, and discoverer of the Lost City, where they gained unprecedented access to the archaeological dig site. They shot more than 15 hours of film and took more than 2,000 photographs. At the Tombs of Ipuy in the Valley of the Queens and Ipuki in the Valley of the Nobles, guards cut seals and rolled stones away from the entrances. Each adventure into the dark and humid tombs started with tremendous contrast from the blazing sun and scorching sand. Each room had more spectacular hieroglyphics than the one before – each one more humbling than the next.
The ancient proverb “Man fears time…but time fears the Pyramids” couldn’t be more true. And the Great Pyramid, the last true Wonder of the World, the oldest structure in the world and one of the greatest architectural mysteries, proved to be absolute pure perfection according to Carli Lanfersiek, COSI marketing manager. “The original Egyptian word is ‘mer’ meaning ‘ascending to heaven.’ When you stand in the shadow of the pyramids, touching the cold 5,000-year-old limestone, you truly feel like they could reach the sky,” says Lanfersiek.
There was little time to stand in awe. After a frenzied day of shooting photos and video, the crew had brief moments to linger over coffee in Cairo or drink a glass of shai (tea) in Luxor. It was at those times that the magnitude of this project hit them. Josh Kessler, an associate exhibit developer for COSI, quickly realized that the exhibit they were building was becoming bigger than any one of them anticipated. He says, “These ancients speak to us about their lives, their loves, their hopes and their dreams through each and every discovery. Almost all of that took place thousands of years ago, and we’ve spent the past few days retracing their footsteps.”
The secrets from the sand keep tourists flocking to Egypt year after year. Kate Storm, director of experience development for COSI, hopes that those mysteries and fascinating stories transcend the exhibit into an inspiring, educational experience. “The work of each person we spoke with is so critical, like pieces to a puzzle. They influence each other. It’s that synergy that provides new insights into our world. All the experiences we’ve had here will allow us to tell the story of Egyptian archaeology in our exhibit, but the scientists’ stories are providing such a beautiful and dramatic look into what science is all about. It’s simply amazing,” says Storm.
COSI’s Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science is on display through Sept. 7, 2009. For more information, please visit www.cosi.org.
A FEW FACTS
• The population of Cairo is 18 million during the day and 16 million at night (2 million commute into the city to work)
• The population of Ohio is 11 million
• 90% of Egypt is desert, 5% residential, 5% farmland
• Cairo is 1,000 years old
• Islam was introduced to Egypt in 641 A.D.
• 90% of the country’s population is Sunni Muslim
• Eucalyptus trees grow everywhere due to a climate similar to Australia
• The Nile runs north!
• The Sphinx faces east toward the sunrise
• The Sphinx was cut from a single piece of limestone
ITINERARY
