TravelQuest and Sky & Telescope invite you to travel with us to the land of the ancient Pharaohs to witness the March 29, 2006, total solar eclipse in Egypt (not a partial solar eclipse), behold the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, and cruise the River Nile. Since this is a total solar eclipse and not a partial eclipse, you could say this could be the greatest eclipse to experience with it being in Egypt.
As with all TravelQuest / Sky & Telescope tours, we have gone to great lengths ...Show more
to provide you with the finest and safest conditions when traveling far from home. We have also enlisted the preeminent Egyptologists and have secured
the premiere western-quality hotel within 200 miles of our specially selected eclipse-viewing site in Egypt’s western desert — the very best location in Egypt for witnessing this amazing celestial event!
The March 29, 2006, solar eclipse in Egypt will feature nearly four minutes of totality, and Sky & Telescope study leader, David Tytell, will be on hand to lead discussions on general astronomy as well as ancient Egyptian astronomy and eclipses. While many cultures credit the ancient Egyptians for their prowess in astronomical understanding, very few records remain of this culture’s knowledge and relationship with the heavens. Solar eclipses were reported in Egypt in the 9th century BC and again in 610 BC. The later eclipse was predicted in 584 BC by the Greek philosopher Thales, who was trained in Egypt. This corresponds with records from AD 200 in which Diodorus Siculus wrote that ancient Egyptian astronomers could predict solar eclipses. Alas, all concrete evidence of this purported astronomically minded civilization was lost when the Great Library in Alexandria burned during the time of Cleopatra.
In addition, we’ll tour the tombs of ancient pharaohs, visit temples of leaders past, and witness the marvels of Egyptian construction, past and present. For those of you unable to join this extensive 11-day program, we also offer two shorter 4-day and 7-day eclipse packages that are described in this brochure.
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