Funny, we’re about to go and see a temple that was dynamited for building purposes as late as 1896.

Part of it is that most Egyptians consider themselves a separate people to the ancients — descended from Arabs, rather than the old society. Another element is that there is simply so much history here, why bother?

What I found so interesting was that my Egyptian tour guide commented that Egyptians generally think all these are “just a bunch of insignificant stones”. That made a part of me wonder — why are these so important?

I ask also because I’ve noticed that in America, often, we raze down so much that seems unimportant today…

I highly, highly recommend it. You do need to take the sights at your leisure, and read quite a bit around them, which you clearly have, but it is so worthwhile to actually see them for real. There is a jaw on the floor moment with the pyramids, that’s repeated with your first temple — and some of these are absolutely amazing. It really does make all the hassle worthwhile.