The Sex Lives of Ancient Egyptians

How did Ancient Egyptians view love, sex and marriage? What were their views on homosexuality? Did women have equal rights? And what was childbirth like?

Ancient Egyptians were a lot less prudish when it came to sex than we are today.

All it takes is a trip to one of the many impressive temples that have stood the test of time for thousands of years to establish a lifelong admiration for the Ancient Egyptians. The Pyramids at Giza are but one testament to their ingenuity. 

And the more I learn about their society, the more impressed I am. When it comes to sexuality, equal rights and divorce, for instance, the Ancient Egyptians were surprisingly enlightened. Sure, there was their predilction for incest — but aside from that, they had some pretty forward-thinking ideas, especially for the time.

“The rights of a divorced woman were far ahead of their time.

A divorcée controlled her own possessions and was entitled to a percentage of the assets acquired by the couple. ”

Premarital sex and children born out of wedlock were legal and carried no stigma.

How did Ancient Egyptians view sex?

They most likely didn’t have the same puritanical prudishness about sex that lingers in the West to this day.

“It seems clear, from references in the poetry and other sources, that there was no moral prohibition against physical love between young unmarried persons, nor was there any stigma attached to children born out of wedlock,” writes Barbara Mertz in Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt.

A statue depicting a lesbian couple from Ancient Egypt

These men are shown in a pose usually reserved for married couples.

What about homosexuality?

The signs point to Ancient Egyptians being OK with the gays. One case in point: There’s a Fifth Dynasty tomb at Saqqara that was jointly used for two men in the manner of a husband and wife. Though both were married with children, the men are depicted in a nose-to-nose embrace in one wall carving — a pose typically used for spouses. 

“Were these men lovers?” Mertz asks. “Your guess is as good as mine, though I think the evidence points in that direction.”

Marriages focused on cohabitation; a couple became husband and wife once they crossed the threshold of the house they would share.

What were Ancient Egyptian marriages like?

Well, it certainly wasn’t a major industry like it is for us. In fact, marriages might not even have been officially celebrated.

“We know very little about the ceremony of marriage, but most authorities agree that it was unimpressive, if indeed it existed,” Mertz writes. “Evidently, a man simply built a house and invited a woman to share it; when she moved in, the couple was considered to be married.”

This looks like a happy family — but if the woman wanted to get divorced, it was quite easy.

Could you get divorced?

No problem. In fact, a lack of compatibility was enough to end a marriage. By the Late Period, there were divorce documents that read, “If I repudiate you, if I take a dislike to you and want someone else…”

And the rights of a divorced woman were far ahead of their time. A divorcée controlled her own possessions and was entitled to a percentage of the assets acquired by the couple. Women could also pass on their property to whomever they wanted — rights that married women in England and America didn’t even obtain until the 19th century, Mertz points out.

Women had a surprising amount of rights — especially for an ancient civilization. They could hold property, get fair divorce settlements and hold even the highest office, that of pharoah.

How were women treated?

There was some equality among the sexes, with evidence of women holding even the highest positions, with the best example being Hatshepset, the woman who became king, or pharoah, and ruled over all of Egypt.

“We know of female treasurers and officials, and even a vizier — the highest position under the king,” Mertz writes. “One woman held the fascinating title of ‘Overseer of Doctors.’ Were these women doctors? Was she a practicing physician? Nobody knows for sure. The rarity of such titles indicated that they were exceptions to the general rule of male domination of the professions and crafts.”

Akhenaten and Nefertiti are famous for being a loving family, depicted holding their daughters — a slice of daily life that just wasn’t done at the time.

And one of the queen’s titles translates to something like, She for Whom Anything She Says Is Done. Sounds pretty powerful to me.

What about the harems?

Ancient Egyptian harems weren’t like the ones in the Muslim world. Mertz argues that a better translation is “women’s quarters.” The words that meant wife and concubine were occasionally interchangeable — which gives us a clue that these were women of status. 

“Some houses didn’t have separate areas for women; some did; but the dwellers therein were free to come and go as they liked,” Mertz writes. 

The royal family in particular practiced incest, emulating the gods, including the brother and sister pairing of Osiris and Isis.

Is it true that Ancient Egyptians practiced incest?

Well…yes. Certainly in the royal family. 

Ancient Egyptians didn’t have the same taboos we do (and, as smart as they were about architecture and so many other things, they obviously didn’t realize the dangers of depleting the gene pool by having kids with close relatives). 

Plus, they were emulating their gods. Just as in Ancient Greece and Rome, the deities of the Egyptian pantheon had some brother and sister pairings — most notably, Osiris and Isis.

Is it a mere coincidence that the word “senet,” at some periods in Ancient Egypt, meant both sister and wife? 

Egyptian women squatted during childbirth and were supported on either side (though not usually by cow-headed deities).

How did Ancient Egyptians give birth?

To see how Ancient Egyptian women delivered babies, the best evidence we have lies in their word for childbirth: The hieroglyph shows a woman squatting (or kneeling) with the arms and head of a baby emerging from between her legs. Hey, why not let gravity do its part?

A hieroglyph for childbirth reveals how Ancient Egyptians would have given birth.

The pregnant woman would have been supported on either side by females of the household, with a midwife helping with the delivery. 

How did they celebrate birthdays?

They probably didn’t. “One event that was never recorded was the year of an individual’s birth — and I mean any individual, king, commoner or prince,” Mertz writes.

From views on homosexuality to the rights of women, Ancient Egypt turns out to be a particularly progressive civilization. –Wally

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LEARN MORE: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Diseases, houses, food: What was it really like to be an Ancient Egyptian?

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

How long did Ancient Egyptians live — and what did most people die of? What were the houses and schools like in Ancient Egypt? What did Ancient Egyptians eat and drink? Egyptologist and author Barbara Mertz unearths these secrets.

What was in an Ancient Egyptian’s diet? How long did they live? And, most importantly, were they cat or dog people?

While I love learning about world religions, mythology and history, not everyone can be a ruler or high priest. It’s nice to also think about the little people. As we explored the wonders of Egypt, I kept finding myself wondering what it was like for the average person. 

It was surprisingly difficult to find a book that covered this subject. There are tons of tomes covering the temples, tombs and pharaohs. But one that tells you how most Egyptians at the time kicked the bucket? Hard to come by. 

“Before we start feeling superior to our ‘primitive’ predecessors, we should bear in mind that a good many people in today’s ‘civilized’ world live under conditions that are as bad or worse than the ordinary ancient Egyptian endured.”

— Barbara Mertz, “Red Land, Black Land”

So thank Horus for Barbara Metz (who, incidentally is the author of the delightful murder mysteries of the proto-feminist archeologist detective, Amelia Peabody). Mertz’s book, Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt, written in her oh-so-distinctive voice, was just what I was looking for.

Barbara Mertz — perhaps the most entertaining author on Ancient Egypt out there

Dear Reader, a Caveat

Part of what I find so enjoyable about Mertz is that she tells it like it is. She’s not too full of her own self-importance to be self-deprecating about herself and fellow Egyptologists. One thing she’ll never be accused of is being stuffy; in fact, there’s a sassiness and wit to her writings that delights me.

Mertz warns that you can’t take anything you learn about Ancient Egypt as outright facts. What we know about that time period could be a misinterpretation of the evidence, and a new discovery can utterly uproot existing theories. 

“[T]he most reliable books on ancient Egypt are loaded with boring words like ‘probably’ and ‘perhaps’ and ‘possibly’; scholars avoid ‘maybe’ for stylistic reasons, but it should be prefixed to at least 50 percent of the statements made in any book on Egypt — including this one,” she writes.

That’s especially true since Mertz first published Red Land, Black Land in 1966, with an updated edition that came out in 1978.

Mummies reveal a lot about how Ancient Egyptians lived — and died.

How long did the average Ancient Egyptian live?

About 35 years — and no wonder, Mertz says. They toiled hard and had limited access to healthcare: “Studies of Egyptian mummies show that these people suffered from a number of diseases, most of which went untreated,” she writes. “Poor nutrition and the inability to cope with infection contributed to high infant mortality. The flour ground on stone querns contained large quantities of grit that wore away tooth surfaces. Cavities were fairly infrequent, since the Egyptians didn’t have refined sugar, but a number of mummies have hideous gum abscesses.”

Ancient Egyptian doctors didn’t do the best job at fighting off a host of diseases.

What diseases were the most common?

Studies of mummies from Ancient Egypt have revealed a host of illnesses, including malaria, tuberculosis and smallpox. “Black lung disease resulted from the smoke-filled, poorly ventilated houses, and desert lung disease from the constantly blowing sand,” Mertz writes. “Perhaps the worst and most common illness was parasitic infection, which still occurs in Egypt today. The most pervasive parasite goes by two names, bilharziasis or schistosomiasis. I won’t go into details, since they are really revolting, but if not treated, the infection produces calcification of the bladder, fibrosis of the intestine, scarring of the liver, serious anemia, chronic fatigue and possibly heart disease. It isn’t fatal except in rare cases, but the sufferer probably wishes it were.”

It all sounds pretty awful — but Mertz points out, “Before we start feeling superior to our ‘primitive’ predecessors, we should bear in mind that a good many people in today’s ‘civilized’ world live under conditions that are as bad or worse than the ordinary ancient Egyptian endured.”

Ancient Egyptian homes weren’t too shabby; they had four rooms, plus the rooftop.

What was an Ancient Egyptian house like? 

For the middle and upper classes, there were typically four rooms in their homes. The room facing the street had no windows, aside from grates near the roof. Beyond this was an all-purpose room with columns and a higher ceiling, where the family slept, ate and entertained. A raised platform was used for a couch, bed or possibly to give birth. And behind this were two more small chambers: a kitchen and a storeroom or extra bedroom. There was a basement for storage, and a flat roof that served as extra living space. 

Beds tilted slightly downward, so instead of a headboard, there was a footboard to keep the sleeper from gently sliding down onto the floor, Mertz writes. And no down-filled pillows were to be found: “the item that would finish most of us was the pillow, which was not a pillow at all but a headrest of shoulder height, with a support curved to fit the neck,” she explains.

Dining tables were also unheard of. Even in royal palaces, every guest or pair of guests had their own little table to eat at.

In the kitchen, there weren’t any counters. While it doesn’t sound very sanitary, all cooking prep was performed on the floor, from grinding grain to kneading bread.

Egyptian homes didn’t have counter space, so meal prep was done on the ground. Consequently, a lot of food had grit in it that wore away at the teeth.

Privacy wasn’t really an option, as homes were filled with extended family members.

At Amarna, a city that briefly served as Egypt’s capital, the villas of chief courtiers even had bathrooms — a small, walled-off space with a brick-supported seat and a removable vessel beneath.

A model of an Ancient Egyptian home. Peasants’ homes were made of mud brick and would be reduced to nothing in a bad downpour.

What about the homes of the lower class?

Their huts would have been made of mud brick, containing a single room that everyone — including any domesticated animals — shared. And while it doesn’t rain often in Egypt, when it does, it’s a deluge. “A heavy downpour would reduce a peasant’s house to a pile of mud,” Mertz writes. “On the positive side, such domiciles were easy to build.”

Bread and beer were the two main staples of the Ancient Egyptian diet.

What did Ancient Egyptians eat and drink?

The key staple of the Ancient Egyptian diet was bread. In fact, some loaves have survived to the present day! 

They were also quite fond of beer. These two items top the list of the mortuary texts that list the food most desired in the afterlife. 

Early Egyptians ate a lot of fish — the River Nile offered a never-ending supply.

Milk, cheese, beans, lentils and chickpeas were also consumed. 

Vegetables played a large part in the Ancient Egyptian’s diet, primarily onions, garlic, radishes and lettuce (which was an aphrodisiac and features prominently in a bizarre myth about Horus and Seth). 

“Meat was probably scarce in poor households, but well-to-do families raised cattle and such exotic animals as oryxes and gazelles for food,” Mertz writes. 

They also domesticated pigs, sheep, geese and ducks.

Wealthy nobles, not surprisingly, ate better than the peasants. For one, they could sweeten their food with honey, and they ate carob, which is as close to chocolate as the ancients got.

They ate fruit, including dates, figs, melons and grapes, which were also dried into raisins or made into wine. 

More wine? Egyptians seemed to prefer beer, but as these amphoras attest, vino was popular, too.

“People ate with their fingers,” Mertz writes, “and when the meal was over a servant, or a daughter of the household, came around with water, which was poured over the hands.”

This carving shows what appears to be an Ancient Egyptian school.

Did Ancient Egyptians go to school?

We’re not sure, but we can presume that some of the upper class children, particularly the boys, were educated at a temple or in a room of a scribe’s house. 

The tools of the scribe’s trade

They were given the equivalent of pen and ink, and they wrote on ostraca, broken fragments of pottery or stone, because papyrus was too expensive for educational purposes. As you can imagine, they wrote in the hieroglyphic Egyptian script (“the most beautiful system of writing ever devised,” according to Mertz).

“Incidentally,” she continues, “the correct noun form for the little images is ‘hieroglyphs.’ Popular writers occasionally call them ‘hieroglyphics,’ and this small error scratches at the sensitivities of Egyptologists like a fingernail on a blackboard.”

Ancient Egyptians got a lot of things right — including a love of cats, which they domesticated.

How did they feel about cats?

It’s believed that Ancient Egypt was the first place cats were domesticated. 

They were also at the center of the worship of the feline-headed deity, Bastet: “Mummified cats have been found in large numbers,” Mertz writes. “I regret to say that the majority appear to have been deliberately done in, presumably as an offering to the goddess in question. (Don’t ask me to explain the logic of this.)”

The Egyptian word for cat might have been an onomatopoeia: It’s spelled miw. “How it was vocalized we may safely leave to the imagination of any cat-owning reader,” Mertz writes, cheeky as ever. –Wally

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KEEP READING: The Sex Lives of Ancient Egyptians

Learn their views on premarital sex, children born out of wedlock, homosexuality, women’s rights and more!

Fabyan Villa Museum and Its Frank Lloyd Wright Connection

Tour the picturesque Riverbank estate, with the Fabyan Forest Preserve, a Japanese garden, a windmill, quirky curios (a suspect mummy!) — and a codebreaking legacy.

The Fabyan Villa can thank Frank Lloyd Wright for its cruciform shape. The house and its grounds are worth exploring if you want to take a day trip from Chicago.

Before my parents make their annual visit to Wally and me in Chicago, we plan an interesting day trip, do a little research and look for something quirky to do. Typically it’s somewhere a bit farther afield since neither of us has a car. I can’t recall how we settled on the Fabyan Villa in Geneva, Illinois. It’s entirely possible that I came across it on the Atlas Obscura website, given Wally’s and my proclivity for attractions that don’t always make their way into guidebooks. Or it could've had something to do with Frank Lloyd Wright, the Japanese garden or the circa-1850 Dutch-style windmill located on the grounds of the sprawling estate. 

Colonel George Fabyan

George Fabyan, Country Squire of Riverbank

In 1905, Colonel George and Nelle Fabyan purchased 10 acres of land in Geneva, including a Victorian-style farmhouse, as a country retreat from their residence in Chicago. Fabyan (pronouced like Fay-bee-yen) came from a wealthy and prominent Boston family. His father was a co-partner at Bliss, Fabyan and Company, one of the country’s largest dry goods and textile merchants, known for Ripplette, a lightweight, crinkly fabric similar to seersucker, which needed no to minimal ironing after washing. 

Fabyan inherited his father’s wealth — around $2 million dollars (equivalent to over $57 million today). He acquired an additional 300-plus acres over the next 20 years and named the estate Riverbank. 

George and Nelle indulged in a variety of unconventional interests, including cryptology, Japanese gardening and the construction of a scientific laboratory complex that let them pursue their research interests.

“Some rich men go in for art collections, gay times on the Riviera or extravagant living. But they all get satiated.

That’s why I stick to scientific experiments, spending money to discover valuable things that universities can’t afford. You can never get sick of too much knowledge.”

— Colonel George Fabyan

The Fabyan Villa Museum

A Tour of Fabyan Villa

The four of us arrived at the forest preserve, parked the car and followed the steps leading up to the house, which sits on a hillside overlooking the Fox River. We purchased tickets ($10 per person) and met a docent from the Preservation Partners of Fox Valley (PPFV) outside who told us about the historic home. In 1907, the Fabyans commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to enlarge and remodel the existing farmhouse in the Prairie style. While it’s no Fallingwater or even Graycliff, it has its charms.

Additions included the two-story south wing, which added symmetry to the dwelling’s long, low cruciform shape, three projecting porches, wood-spindle screening and overhanging eaves, adding to the horizontality of the overall design. 

Our tour began in the Fabyans’ reception room, which is paneled in dark walnut and furnished with Victorian-era wood and glass display cabinets, showcasing the couple’s memorabilia, taxidermy and Asian ephemera. Among the notable acquisitions on display are a white marble statue of Diana and the Lion (Intellect Dominating Force) by American sculptor Frank Edwin Elwell, which stands in the dining room and was originally exhibited in the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. There’s also a Japanese samurai suit and a vitrine filled with bodhisattva statuettes.

On the back porch is a display case holding a mummy. Its body is wrapped in strips of linen and clutching what uncannily resembles an infant. Turns out the mummy is actually a forgery. In 1982, an expert examined the mummy, and an X-ray revealed it to be fabricated with nails, plywood, sawdust and a single bone inside the wrappings — and that bone came from a dog. Apparently, no one’s certain of its provenance or if the original owners knew it was a fake. One theory is that it may have been featured as a sideshow oddity or was an artifact purchased by Fabyan from the Field Museum. 

The Fabyans’ mummy turned out to be a hoax.

Beyond the dining room is Nelle Fabyan’s bedroom and en suite bathroom with custom furniture designed by Wright. Nelle had a hanging bed, suspended from the ceiling like a giant swing, and it’s speculated that this was to promote air circulation and protect her from contracting tuberculosis. Many of the original furnishings were auctioned off when the estate was sold in 1939, but locals who owned pieces donated them back to the landmark, which is managed by the PPFV. 

Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t build the Fabyan Villa from scratch — but he did renovate it, infusing it with Prairie style aesthetics and symmetry.

Wright’s Prairie style aesthetic is also evident in the open floor plan and warm earth tone color palette used on the walls of the interior. 

Upstairs is the music room, where Nelle’s Victor Talking Machine aka Victrola, encased in a wood cabinet, stands sentinel. Only the wealthy could afford the innovative Victor-Victrola model, whose initial selling price was $200, expensive for the time.

Duke and Wally explore the estate.

Duke and his parents in the rose arbor (which was noticeably lacking roses at the time of our visit).

Connected to the music room is the sleeping porch, where the pet monkeys, Mike, Patsy and Molly, would stay during the winter months. The floor of the room is tinplate, with drainage incorporated for obvious reasons (monkey waste). Perhaps the simians filled the vacant role of children to the childless couple?

Furniture, art and light were an integral part of Wright’s conceptual philosophy, creating compositions that functioned as a cohesive whole. As such, he would have most likely despised the ornate Victorian bed in the second floor bedroom. Wright’s leaded glass cathedral-style windows or “light screens” as the architect called them, fill the room with light. They’re not the intricate geometric stained glass affairs he was famous for elsewhere, as, out here in the countryside, he didn’t want to obscure the beauty of the natural view. 

The house’s grounds lead down to the Fox River.

Fabyan’s Animal Kingdom 

In addition to that trio of monkeys, a menagerie of animals lived on the estate, including Cayman alligators, a pair of black bears (named Tom and Jerry after a popular Midwestern milk punch served at the holidays), cows and dogs. A bear cage remains southwest of the garden, and according to local lore, loaves of bread were baked in the basement of the windmill to feed Fabyan’s pet bears. 

Japanese gardens were a craze with the elite in the early 1900s, and the Fabyans added a lovely one to Riverbank.

Turning Japanese: The Fabyan Japanese Garden

Awaiting visitors outside and just beyond the villa are the Japanese gardens and rose arbor, which lead from the bottom of the slope at the rear of the villa down to the banks of the Fox River. After the Japanese embassy created a garden for the 1893 World’s Fair, they became a status symbol among the wealthy. 

The Fabyans’ gardens were built between 1910 and 1913 by landscape architect Issei Taro Otsuka, a Japanese immigrant gardener who later redesigned the 1893 Wooded Island in Jackson Park for the Century of Progress International Exposition, the second world’s fair hosted by Chicago.

The gardens were closed on our visit, but we were able to see the torii gate, traditionally found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine and demarcating the passage from the earthly to the sacred. The gardens looked beautiful from afar, with conifer pine trees, traditional stone lanterns and a graceful curved bridge reflected in the pond beneath it. 

Although Fabyan didn’t serve in the armed services, he was given the honorary title of colonel by Illinois Governor Richard Yates out of gratitude for his public service work after Fabyan allowed the National Guard to use the estate as a training ground — and from that time on, George was known as Colonel Fabyan. He also received Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, a decoration of honor awarded for his invaluable participation in peace negotiations with Japanese emissaries, a few of whom stayed on the property when the Colonel and Nelle hosted them. 

Riverbank Laboratories, owned by Fabyan, conducted acoustic research and later became instrumental in codebreaking.

Codebreaking at Riverbank Laboratories: Birth of the NSA

The Fabyan estate also carried on extensive scientific research, with greenhouses where they would grow exotic plants and conduct genetic experiments. Across the street from the villa is Riverbank Laboratories. This was Fabyan’s think tank. He was interested in subjects as diverse as acoustics and, perhaps the Colonel`s most famous legacy, the cryptology laboratory.

The acoustics laboratory, which is still in operation today, was built around an ultra-quiet test chamber for the study of soundwaves and was designed by the top acoustics expert in the country, Professor Wallace Sabine of Harvard University. 

One of the Colonel’s odder obsessions was a belief that Sir Francis Bacon was the true author of some (or even all) of Shakespeare’s literary works, and that Bacon had left coded messages within the plays and sonnets. Fabyan hired Elizabeth Wells Gallup, a scholar and author of The Bi-literal Cypher of Sir Francis Bacon, to decipher a binary alphabet to reveal secret messages in the works of Shakespeare. 

Fabyan was convinced that there were clues in Shakespeare’s plays that revealed that their true author was actually Sir Francis Bacon.

Gallup’s team included Elizebeth and William Friedman, who spent years honing their cryptology skills researching the Bard’s works using Bacon’s ciphers. Though largely inconclusive, their efforts weren’t entirely in vain: The couple was instrumental in breaking codes and ciphers during World War I and World War II. Because the U.S. military didn’t yet have a dedicated department devoted to codebreaking, Fabyan’s Riverbank Laboratories ended up being the foundation for the NSA, the National Security Agency.

Fabyan was quite proud of his windmill. Make sure you cross the Fox River and check it out.

Over the River to the Windmill

In 1914, Fabyan purchased a Dutch-style windmill for $8,000 from Yorktown, Illinois, about 20 miles from its current location, and spent around $75,000 reconstructing it on the east bank of the Fox River. The windmill stands at an impressive 68 feet high and was originally built by Louis Blackhaus, a German immigrant and craftsman, between 1850 and 1860. 

But it was mainly a toy for Fabyan, who enjoyed showing it off to his Chicago friends. In 1979, the windmill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the following year, it was selected to be on a U.S. postage stamp as part of a series in a booklet called Windmills USA. 

Look for the fun Egyptianate benches on the lawn.

Preserving the Legacy of the Fabyan Villa and Forest Preserve

George died in 1936 and Nelle in 1939, and because they had no offspring, the Forest Preserve District of Kane County purchased the majority of the estate and opened the residence as a museum the following year. Starting in 1995, the nonprofit PPFV was enlisted to maintain and provide tours of the historic dwelling. The house was added to the National Registerof Historic Places in 1984. 

The four of us had a wonderful time wandering the paths that cross the bucolic park-like setting of the historic estate, with plenty of photo opportunities along the way. It’s an easy drive (just over 40 minutes from Chicago) and it’s remarkable to consider the lasting scientific achievements that germinated from the Fabyans’ private research center. If you’re looking for a fun place to visit that combines architecture and nature, the Fabyan Villa is open for tours from May to October. –Duke

 

Fabyan Villa Museum & Japanese Garden

Fabyan Forest Preserve
1925 South Batavia Avenue
Geneva, Illinois, USA 

11 Tips When Visiting Xochimilco

Here’s what to know about trajineras, how to rent these Xochimilco boats, and how to get the most of your trip to chinampas and the Isla de las Muñecas.

Xochimilco is nicknamed the Venice of Mexico City — though the boats are much more whimsical than Italian gondolas.

Wally enjoyed a pleasant few hours at Xochimilco.

1. Pronounce it properly.

It’s “So-chee-meel-ko.”

“A long table runs the length of the trajinera, situated under a canopy. Food and socializing are the main priorities. ”

Floating gardens called chinampas line the waterways.

The Xochimilco canals are some of the only remaining features from Aztec times.

2. Learn a bit about its history before you go.

The Xochimilco canals are a vestige of the ancient Aztec Empire and still provide much-needed water to Mexico City. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they’re located about 17 miles south of the Centro Histórico. 

The name is from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and translates to Flower Garden, a reference to the “floating gardens” now known as chinampas. These man-made islets are situated throughout the waterways and are covered with fruits, vegetables and other plants. (We passed a large poinsettia farm on our excursion.) They’re a clever way to create more arable land in the midst of a wetland. 

We chose to launch from Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas.

3. Choose your embarkation point.

This confused us a bit, as there are a few different spots you can launch from. We ended up choosing Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas, as it’s the best spot to leave from to visit the closest Island of the Dead Dolls (see below). 

Duke and Wally aboard the Esperanza

No motors on these boats — they’re propelled and steered by a pole.

4. Don’t worry about haggling over the price.

Duke and I walked the docks, looking out at the brightly colored armada, wondering how we were going to choose one of the flat-bottomed boats known as trajineras, which sport painted archways and look like Mardi Gras floats. But then one of the captains, Sandro, approached us and offered to take us out for 500 pesos an hour (about $25 an hour). We had no idea if this was a good price — but he pointed to an official sign that had that rate right on it. That sold us, and we were glad we didn’t have to barter. So Captain Sandro aboard the Esperanza (which translates to Hope) it was!

A nearby store provided snacks and adult beverages to enjoy on our boat ride.

5. Bring some food and drinks.

As our Uber pulled into Nativita, the first thing we did was pop into a local market and buy some snacks and booze. We were glad to find a shop but next time we’ll plan a bit better and make sure we have a picnic, including fixings for margaritas. In fact, it would be a lot of fun to have a party on one of the boats. A long table runs the length of the trajinera, situated under a canopy. Food and socializing are the main priorities. 

Some of the boats in the waterways are the equivalent of floating food trucks.

The delicious quesadillas we had for lunch that were made by a nice couple aboard a trajinera.

6. But save room for the waterborne food vendors.

It’s not too tragic if you forget to bring along some food. There are people who paddle narrow, flat boats along the canals, selling freshly made Mexican dishes. We bought quesadillas from a nice couple who parked near the Island of the Dead Dolls (hold your horses — it’s coming up).

Hire a mariachi band and have a dance party aboard your trajinera.

Strains of mariachi music can often be heard on the canals.

7. Hire a floating mariachi band.

We cheated and just enjoyed hearing the strains of the lively music as we passed by. There are entire boats filled with musicians in their traditional garb, and we saw a couple of bands aboard a rented trajinera, playing their tunes as people danced.

Horrifying (but cool) dolls like this are strung up all over the Island of the Dead Dolls.

The creepy Isla de las Muñecas

8. Plan a trip to the Island of Dead Dolls.

If you like creepy, off-the-wall spots, like we do, you have to stop by la Isla de las Muñecas, aka the Island of the Dead Dolls. This small isle is covered with dolls left in offering to appease the ghost of a little girl who drowned. Duke and I had found a doll on the street behind the Uptown Theater in Chicago, brought it with us to CDMX and left it on the island. Read more about the Island of Dead Dolls here.

As the day wears on, the canals get more and more crowded.

9. You might want to go a bit early in the day. 

We had a relatively early start to our excursion, and the canals weren’t too busy for most of the time we spent there. Until, that is, we started heading back, and the canals were utterly clogged. When we got back to the embarcadero, I didn’t know how we were going to get through the traffic jam to dock. But Captain Sandro somehow eventually  maneuvered us through the deadlock. 

While we visited Xochimilco, the bizarre Danza de los Voladores was taking place.

10. Don’t miss the Danza de los Voladores.

After a pleasant couple of hours on the canals, we disembarked and walked around Nuevo Nativitas, where some market stalls had been set up. We cut over to head back to the parking area — and beheld quite a sight! Four men were hanging head-first in the air, spinning around a pole, held by ropes tied around their ankles. They circled the pole while one of their compatriots played something between a pipe and a percussion instrument while sitting atop the pole. I had actually seen such a spectacle on the Yucatán and knew it was a traditional ceremony — it’s part of the native Totonaca people’s folk culture and is known as la Danza de los Voladores, or the Dance of the Flying Men.

While you’re in this neck o’ the woods, visit the Museo Dolores Olmedo to see a large collection of Frida and Diego paintings on the grounds of an amazing estate.

11. Pair Xochimilco with a visit to the Dolores Olmedo Museum.

This gorgeous estate holds one of the largest collections of the works of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Come for the art, stay for the peacocks that roam the grounds. From Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas, it’s about a 10-minute drive away. Read more about the Museo Dolores Olmedo here. 

Before we left for Mexico City, a couple of friends who had lived there told us we absolutely had to check out Xochimilco — and they were right. It’s definitely one of the things that we will do again when we return. –Wally

This perro hopped from boat to boat in search of food and affection.

Duke’s on a boat!

 

How to Cast a Wicca Ritual Magic Circle

A ritual to perform before casting Wiccan spells or practicing witchcraft, as well as what you need for your Wiccan altar.

Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned practitioner, this is the first thing you should do before casting a spell or conducting a Wiccan ritual. It’s not necessary (that’s the beauty of the religion — you don’t have to do anything), but it can make your magic all the more powerful if you do.

Also, keep in mind that you can modify this based on what you have handy, or the time you have available, or what just feels right to you. I don’t have a lot of space at home, so I often just set up the four candles and skip right to the part where I chant as I light each, invoking the spirits of the Old Ones.

You can also add whatever you want to represent the season or festival. If it’s Samhain, for example, Halloween decorations and some black candles lend an appropriately macabre air to the ritual. And evergreens, mistletoe, holly and Christmas lights add a special touch at Yule. 

Before you start your ritual, you have to set the mood and find the right music. I always play the Twin Peaks soundtrack because I was obsessed with the show when it came out, and the ethereal music by Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise puts me into a trancelike state.

Now you’re ready to work some magic!

Casting the Circle

Cleanse the area with a ritual broom.

Use four candles to mark the cardinal points: green for north, yellow for east, red for south and blue for west.

Begin with the north and work clockwise (unless you’re performing black magic, in which you should move counterclockwise or the enticingly named widdershins). Light each of the candles. 

Now take some salt (or some other sort of markers, such as flowers or pine branches), and form a circle, keeping the cardinal point markers inside it.

Light your incense. Lift your athame (ritual dagger) or wand and touch its point to a bowl of water, saying:

I consecrate and cleanse this water that it may be purified and fit to dwell within the sacred circle. 
In the name of the Mother Goddess and the Father God [or the names of specific deities], I consecrate this water.

Visualize your knife or wand blasting away all negativity from the water.

Then touch the point to a bowl of salt, saying: 

I bless this salt that it may be fit to dwell within the sacred circle.
In the name of the Mother Goddess and the Father God, I bless this salt.

Now stand facing north, at the edge of the circle. Hold the knife or wand out at waist level.

Walk slowly around the circle’s perimeter, clockwise (or widdershins if you’re being naughty), charging it with your words and energy. Stretch the energy out, visualizing it forming a complete sphere, half above the ground, half below. 

Say:

Here is the boundary of the circle.
Naught but love shall enter in.
Naught but love shall emerge from within.
Charge this by your powers, Old Ones!

When you arrive back at the north, place your athame or wand on the altar.

Take up the salt and sprinkle it around the circle, beginning and ending in the north, moving clockwise. 

Next, carry the incense around the circle, moving clockwise. 

Finally, sprinkle water around the circle, moving clockwise. 

Sense each of these substances purifying the circle.

The circle is now sealed.

Hold aloft your wand at the north edge of the circle, saying:

O Spirit of the North,
Ancient One of Earth,
I call you to attend this circle.
Charge this by your powers, Old Ones!

Visualize a green mist rising and writhing out of the candle’s flame, becoming something of nature. When the spirit is present, lower your wand and move to the east, then raise it again. Say:

O Spirit of the East,
Ancient One of Air,
I call you to attend this circle.
Charge this by your powers, Old Ones!

Visualize a yellow mist rising and writhing out of the candle’s flame, becoming a whirlwind. When the spirit is present, lower your wand and move to the south, then raise it again. Say:

O Spirit of the South,
Ancient One of Fire,
I call you to attend this circle.
Charge this by your powers, Old Ones!

Visualize a red mist rising and writhing out of the candle’s flame, becoming flames. When the spirit is present, lower your wand and move to the west, then raise it again. Say:

O Spirit of the West,
Ancient One of Water,
I call you to attend this circle.
Charge this by your powers, Old Ones!

Visualize a blue mist rising and writhing out of the candle’s flame, becoming a wave. 

The circle breathes and lives around you. The spirits of the elements are present. Feel their energies. Stand still for a moment, visualizing the circle glowing and growing in power. 

The circle is now complete. The Goddess and God, or whatever deities you’d like, may be called and magic wrought. –Wally

Riad Alwachma, Marrakech, Morocco

Why a riad is absolutely the best place to stay in Marrakech, with their interior courtyards with fountains and rooftop terraces. We chose one that’s a quick walk to Jemma el-Fna, the main square.

The interior courtyard of Riad Alwachma, Marrakech, Morocco

Part of the fun in planning a trip is figuring out where you’re going to stay. When Wally and I settled on Marrakech, I set to work to find a few options. The only criteria was to find lodging within the medina, the old quarter of the city surrounded by rammed earth walls. 

I had narrowed it down to three riads and began showing them to Wally. He’d excitedly reply with, “Ooo, I like that one with the fountain in the middle!” To which I’d reply, “They all have fountains in the middle.” 

Then he’d exclaim, “Ooo! I like that one with the rooftop terrace!” To which I’d reply, “They all have rooftop terraces.” 

“OK,” Wally said, a huge smile on his face. “I get it.”

““Ooo, I like that one with the fountain in the middle!”

”They all have fountains in the middle.” 

“Ooo! I like that one with the rooftop terrace!”

“They all have rooftop terraces.” ”

We settled upon Riad Alwachma, located a mere 10 minutes from the Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square, and the souks.

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8 Tips to Get the Best Deals at a Moroccan Souk

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Our driver, which we had arranged in advance, dropped Wally, Vanessa and I off at the entrance to Derb Bab Doukkala and led us with our luggage in tow down the cobbled road to the riad. Most derbs (often translated as alleys, but more like lanes) in the medina are too narrow for cars — not a bad thing as there are plenty of other types of traffic throughout, including mopeds and donkey carts.

We arrived at Riad Alwachma’s large wooden door and were cordially greeted by one of the proprietors, a charming French expat named Jérôme. The three of us passed through the threshold, and the quiet of the interior courtyard enveloped us.

Most riads have unassuming front doors, like that of Riad Alwachma — but such beauty lies within!

What’s a Riad?

Riads are the traditional former residences of wealthy merchants that have been converted into private guest lodgings. The term comes from the Arabic word ryad, meaning garden, and is applied to homes built around an inner courtyard or garden. They have unassuming façades that conceal a gorgeous interior. 

Like all riads, ours had a large central courtyard that opened to the sky. In the center, a fountain laden with rose petals dancing on the surface gurgled faintly. A chirping bird was contentedly hopping along the floor.

Wally and I smiled conspiratorially at each other. Without missing a beat, Jérôme smiled too and told us that a bird in the house is a symbol of good luck.

A bird in the home is good luck, our host tells us — and a not-too-uncommon occurrence with the open-air central courtyard.

Vanessa, Wally and I sat at a table in the courtyard while Jérôme explained the origin of the riad's name. Alwachma comes from a traditional chin tattoo Berber women use to adorn themselves. I decided to nickname our riad The Girl With the Berber Tattoo.

Our host provided us with a map of the city and indicated points of interest and areas to avoid at night.

Getting Your Bearings in Marrakech

Over some pastries and our first cup of mint tea, which locals love to jokingly call “Berber whisky,” Jérôme explained that Marrakech tends to be a very safe city and that there are many uniformed police found throughout. But he did offer some advice on concealing our new camera because of the approach of Eid al-Adha, the Islamic festival to commemorate prophet Ibrahim’s obedience to Allah above all others. Jérôme explained that locals sacrifice animals on this feast day, and people occasionally do desperate things to provide their families with money to purchase a sheep or goat.

While we were more interested in the sights of the medina, from the Saadian Tombs to the El Badi Palace, Jérôme indicated Guéliz, the Ville Nouveau, or New Town, on the map. He kept saying that this was where we should go should we want to “make party,” an expression that made us giggle. 

We finished our tea while mapping out our first of many adventures to come. First stop:  Jemaa El-Fna and shopping in the souks, of course. –Duke
 

Riad Alwachma
27 Derb Sehb Bab Doukkala, Medina
4000 Marrakech
Morocco

 

Ancient Gods of the Old Testament

Who is Baal? What about Asherah, Dagon, Marduk, Moloch and the other pagan gods of the Bible? And was human sacrifice part of their worship?

Some of these ancient gods, including Molech, who had a built-in baby-burning furnace, are accused of inciting human sacrifice.

My parents were never very religious. But that didn’t stop them from sending me to bible camp in the summer. (It was tons of fun — though we all dreaded the inevitable one-on-one with our counselor, when he’d ask if we had let Jesus into heart. Every year we replied that we thought Jesus was in there but we couldn’t be absolutely sure).

I also went to Catholic school for four years. So, even though I was obsessed with the ancient gods of Greece and Rome, I couldn’t help being influenced by the Bible’s condemnation of the Canaanite deities in the Old Testament. If you asked me about Baal when I was a kid, I’d have told you he was an evil god who was second only to Satan himself.

“The god El could very well have been the original conception of the Hebrew God.

It’s right there in the “el” in the name Israel, which is usually translated as “He Who Struggles With God.””

Imagine my surprise years later, when I learned more about the gods that were so maligned in the Bible. They weren’t always the bloodthirsty incarnations of evil they were depicted as. They were simply the deities worshipped by the kingdoms surrounding Israel and Judah. Baal, for instance, was essentially just another Middle Eastern god of fertility. The Old Testament writers disparaged them because they were rivals to their extremely jealous god, Yahweh. (In fact, when God came up with 10 Commandments for his people to follow, he topped the list with, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”)

Here are the major ancient deities of the Levant, and how they’re depicted in the Bible.

Adrammelech

Aka: Adramelech, Adar-malik

Meaning of the name: Majestic King

Domain: The sun, a counterpart to Anammelech, the goddess of the moon

Biblical reference: 2 Kings 17:31: The people of the Assyrian city of Sepharvaim were said to burn their children as sacrifices to the god.

Description: This handsome devil has the face of a mule and the plumage of a peacock. He’s also depicted as having a lion’s body with wings and the bearded head of a man.

Strange story: According to Collin de Plancy, author of the Dictionnaire Infernal, Adrammelech is in charge of Satan’s wardrobe.

Asherah

Aka: Athirat, Ashratu

Meaning of the name: Happy or Upright

Domain: There’s a lot of confusion around this deity. She could be the mother of the gods. In some incarnations, she was a goddess of sexuality or of the mountains. She also could be tied to the sea or the sun.

She might not even be a goddess; asherah seems to refer to cult objects — specifically the consecrated poles used in worship at the time.

Numerous statuettes like this one are tied to the goddess Asherah.

Biblical reference: 1 Kings 18:19: The goddess’ 400 prophets eat at Jezebel’s table, along with the prophets of Baal.

2 Kings 23:4-7: Josiah had “all the articles” made for Asherah and Baal burned, and the “idolatrous priests” were done away with. The Asherah pole was also set on fire and its ashes spread over the graves of the common people. And the quarters where women did weaving for the goddess were torn down.

Description: Often depicted as a stylized tree

Strange story: She’s connected with Yahweh as a consort — meaning that before the Jews were monotheistic, their God had a wife!

Ashtoreth 

Aka: Atar-gatis; connected to Ishtar and Astarte

Meaning of the name: Star

Domain: The moon; supreme goddess of Canaan and female counterpart to Baal

Biblical reference: 1 Samuel 12:10: One of many references to people declaring they will no longer worship the Baals and the Ashtoreths. The use of the plural could indicate that these names were used to speak generally about so-called pagan deities.

The goddess in her Atar-gatis guise has legs as well as a long fish tail.

Description: As Atar-gatis, she was a woman with the tail of a fish.

Strange story: As an earlier incarnation, Ishtar, the goddess was worshipped through prostitution. And she eventually morphed into a male demon, Astaroth, a great duke of Hell.

Baal

Aka: Ba’al, Baal of Peor, Baal-Berith, Baal-Zebub

Meaning of the name: Lord

Domain: Fertility, as well as the sun and storms; supreme god of Canaan and Phoenicia

Biblical reference: The Old Testament is lousy with references to Baal. He gave the Golden Calf a run for its money. Some choice selections: 

2 Kings 10:18-28: The Israelite King Jehu tricked all the servants and priests of Baal to come to the temple for a great sacrifice, where he had his soldiers massacre every last one of them. To add insult to injury, Jehu then made the house of Baal a public latrine. 

Jeremiah 19:5: Baal’s worshippers are said to burn their sons alive as a sacrifice to appease the deity. 

1 Kings 18:28: The priests of Baal worked themselves into a frenzy and cut themselves with swords and lances.

You can see how depictions of Baal might have helped influence Christians’ concept of the Devil (aka Beelzebub).

Description: Baal is basically a minotaur — a powerfully built man with the fearsome head of a bull. He’s sometimes shown as a man wearing a toilet-plunger-looking hat  over his luxurious curls and holding a lightning bolt in his upraised hand.

Strange story: Baal’s worship included public ritual prostitution between one of his priests and a local woman.

The demon Beelzebub, whom Jesus links to Satan in the Book of Matthew, is a modification of one of Baal’s names.

Chemosh

Aka: Asthor-Chemosh

Meaning of the name: Uncertain; perhaps Destroyer or Fish God

Domain: War, mountains; primary god of the Moabites

Biblical reference: 1 Kings 11:7: Despite being held up as a paragon of virtue, King Solomon actually built a sanctuary to Chemosh — thought of as a move to please his Moabite wife.

2 Kings 3:27: The king of Moab sacrificed his firstborn son and heir to Chemosh on the city wall — and the strategy worked. The Israelites scurried away in defeat.

Description: An old man with a full beard, wearing a bulbous cap and sometimes brandishing a sword

Strange story: There’s rare archeological evidence that calls out Chemosh by name: the Moabite Stone, or Mesha Stele, discovered in 1868 at Dibon. It bears an inscription commemorating the circa 860 BCE endeavors of King Mesha to overthrow the Israelite dominion of Moab. 

Dagon

Meaning of the name: Grain

Domain: Fertility, agriculture, war, death and the afterlife; chief god of the Philistines

Biblical reference: 1 Samuel 5: The Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the temple of Dagon. In the morning, the statue had fallen over, face-down, in front of the ark. The next morning, the same thing had happened, and the statue’s head and hands had broken off. The worshippers of Dagon were justifiably freaked out, so they moved the ark from town to town — but everywhere it resided, the people developed tumors. Eventually, the Philistines returned the cursed ark to Israel.

The statue of Dagon kept falling down in front of the stolen Ark of the Covenant.

Description: A merman — half man, half fish, or a bearded man wearing a sort of giant fish cloak, with the open mouth pointing skyward

Strange story: The concept of Dagan’s appearance is fishy, though — some sources think it’s a misrepresentation of the deity.

El

Meaning of the name: God

Domain: Father of the gods

Biblical reference: Genesis 14:18–20: Abraham accepts the blessing of El.

Description: An old man, often with wings; sometimes depicted as a bull

Strange story: In the Bible, El is the supreme god of the Canaanites, yet is identified with Yahweh. In fact, he could very well have been the original conception of the Hebrew God. It’s right there in the “el” in the name Israel, which is usually translated as “He Who Struggles With God.”

If El was the prototype of Yahweh, it explains the connection between his wife, Asherah, and the Hebrew God.

Hadad 

Aka: Ramman; often conflated with Baal

Meaning of the name: Thunder

Domain: Storms, fertility

Biblical reference: It’s believed that some of the mentions of lower-case baals (gods) in the Old Testament refer to Hadad — though he also gets jumbled up with numerous other deities of the region. 

One theory, which I imagine to be controversial, states that Psalm 29 was actually about Hadad and not Yahweh, waxing poetic about the voice of God striking with flashes of lightning, shaking the desert, twisting oaks and the like.

Description: Another bearded man wielding a lightning bolt

Strange story: Like the Egyptian deity Osiris, Hadad is murdered by a fellow god, and the world goes barren before he is resurrected.

Marduk

Aka: Bel (which means Lord)

Meaning of the name: Bull Calf

Domain: Justice, compassion, healing, magic; sometimes also a storm and agriculture deity; patron god of Babylon

Biblical reference: Jeremiah 50:2: A rallying cry about the fall of Babylon, where Bel is put to shame, and Marduk is dismayed

Description: A man with a curly beard wearing a robe covered with circular devices. He’s got a pet/servant dragon.

Marduk, god of justice, defeats Tiamat, the goddess of chaos.

Strange story: Marduk killed the goddess of chaos, Tiamat (often shown as a griffin-like creature), with an arrow that split her in two. From her eyes, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers began to flow, and from her corpse, Marduk formed the heavens and earth. 

Moloch 

Aka: Molech, Molekh, Mo’lech, Moloc

Meaning of the name: King

Domain: Not sure — maybe the underworld; does sacrificing babies count?

Biblical reference: Leviticus 20:2-5: Yahweh demands that the Israelites stone to death any man who “gives his seed” to Moloch, who loved a good child sacrifice.

Description: A calf or an ox; a man with the head of a bull with arms outstretched, its body a furnace to roast infants

Strange story: There’s no real archaeological evidence of a god named Moloch. This most likely wasn’t the name he was known by among his worshipers but rather a Hebrew transliteration. Some scholars think Moloch was actually the same god as Baal.

Nisroch

Aka: Nisrok

Meaning of the name: Possibly relating to a plank of wood, specifically from Noah’s Ark, which Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, worshipped as an idol

Domain: Agriculture

Biblical reference: 2 Kings 19:36-37: Sennacherib was worshipping in the temple to Nisroch, when two of his sons came in and smote the heck outta him with their swords.

King Sennacherib’s sons flee the temple of Nisroch after killing their father.

Description: A muscular man with the head and wings of an eagle (though this is thought by some scholars to originally have been a depiction of a jinni), sometimes shown watering a sacred tree

Strange story: There’s some debate as to whether Nisroch is actually a deity or if it’s a scribal error for the god Nimrod. In later folklore, Nisroch became a demon who’s the chief cook in Hell.

Tammuz

Aka: Dumuzi

Meaning of the name: The Flawless Youth, the Good Young One

Domain: Fertility, shepherds (helping keep newborn animals from being defective)

Biblical reference: Ezekiel 8.14-15: A being of fire (even its loins were aflame) shows the prophet Ezekiel pagan atrocities. At the entrance to the Temple in Jerusalem, Ezekiel sees women weeping for the death of Tammuz, much to his horror. The fire being, though, assures him he’ll see much worse abominations, which is hardly surprising.

Description: A total hottie

Strange story: Tammuz was killed by his lover, Inanna, the goddess of sexuality, because she felt he didn’t mourn her enough when she was lost in the Underworld. Don’t worry: In a foreshadowing of Christ (and in the tradition of Adonis and Osiris), Tammuz was resurrected. –Wally

The Saadian Tombs: A Glorious Monument to the Dead

Peek inside the royal necropolis in Marrakech, which rivals parts of the Alhambra in its beauty. We can thank Sultan al-Mansur for its magnificence — and Ismail Ibn Sharif’s fear of the dead for leaving it intact. 

The Saadian Tombs in 1925

Don’t judge a tomb by its cover. The unremarkable exterior walls surrounding the Saadian Tombs in the medina of Marrakech concealed their exquisite mausoleums for centuries, attracting little more than stray cats and storks. While not much to look at from the outside, the secluded interior courtyard is a completely different matter. 

Walled in and forgotten for more than two centuries, the necropolis of the deceased Saadian royals and their descendants remained hidden until its discovery in 1917. French Resident-General Hubert Lyautey commissioned an aerial survey of Marrakech and, by chance, the photographs revealed the existence of the tombs. They were brought back from disrepair by the Service des Beaux-Arts, Antiquités et des Monuments Historiques before being opened to the general public. 

The unassuming exterior of the Saadian Tombs belies its gorgeous interior.

The historic property is located along the Rue de la Kasbah near the ruins of the El Badi Palace. Even if you have a strong sense of direction, the unmarked streets and nondescript ancient rammed earth walls surrounding many of the buildings in the medina district of Marrakech make finding a destination challenging. 

Ahmad al-Mansur

We eventually did and purchased our tickets, which cost 70 dirhams, or around $8, each. Wally, our friend Vanessa and I passed through an inconspicuous narrow corridor cut into the exterior wall and emerged into a tranquil courtyard garden. 

The royal necropolis dates back to the beginning of the 14th century and originally served as a courtyard garden of the Kasbah Mosque. It wasn’t until the reign of the sixth and most famous sultan of the Saadian dynasty, Ahmad al-Mansur (who reigned from 1578-1603 and was known as Eddahbi, the Golden), that the construction of the tombs reached a far more elegant and refined status. Before al-Mansur died from the plague in 1603, he expanded and embellished its mausoleums in the grand style of the Alhambra, the royal residence of the Nasrid Kingdom, built 200 years prior in Granada, Spain.

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Brightly tiled tombstones fill the courtyard.

A Rested Development

Seven sultans and 62 family members are interred in the Saadian Tombs, with over 100 more outside in the gardens. 

The courtyard enclosure includes two mausoleums with gabled, glazed green roof tiles of kiln-fired clay. 

The gravestones in the mihrab, or prayer niche, reminded us of prayer mats.

The main tombs are located to the left of the enclosure. The first of the three chambers was originally a mihrab, or prayer niche, and is now the final resting place of Saadian princes. Its walls and floors are covered with intricate multicolored zellij mosaic tiles. The varying shapes, colors and patterns embedded in the flat graves reminded me of prayer rugs, laid facing Mecca, for eternity. The stucco work of the archway is delicate and ornate, while the ceiling is equally impressive.

The Hall of Twelve Columns is the star of the show.

Pillars of Society: The Hall of Twelve Columns

The central mausoleum where al-Mansour lies is known as the Hall of Twelve Columns. This chamber incorporates a dozen Carrera marble pillars, carved stucco walls and gilt honeycomb ceiling vaulting known as muqarnas. Al-Mansur traded sugar with the Italians in exchange for the marble, which is fitting, as its white, crystalline surface resembles the fine granular texture of sugar. The sultan’s narrow marble headstone stands in the center of the room and is flanked by those of his son and grandson. The chamber is also home to the remains of Princess Zahra, whose epitaph reads, “Here is the tomb of the noble lady, new moon, marvel of virtues.”

A coffered cedarwood ceiling with sunken square panels of diminishing sizes representing the earth and a circle at its apex standing in for the heavens spans the columned central chamber. This sacred geometry symbolizes the passage from the material to the spiritual world. 

Recent restoration work on the Saadian Tombs began in 2013 and lasted for two years.

The Three Niche Chamber and Lalla Masuda Qubba

Beyond the great hall is the Three Niche Chamber, where those relations deemed less important, including children, are buried. The three arched recesses for which the mausoleum takes its name feature magnificent incised muqarnas embossed in gold, lending the space a luminous quality. 

The “less important” relatives were interred in the Three Niche Chamber, which is still not too shabby a place to spend eternity, if you ask us.

Between the mausoleums and throughout the gardens are descendants, wives and emirs, each resting closer or further away from al-Mansur’s sepulcher, depending on his or her status. 

The entrance to the Lalla Masuda Qubba. As with the rest of the complex, you can’t go inside —  but you can peek into the chambers.

The second and smaller structure is called the Lalla Masuda Qubba and refers to the domed roof mausoleum which contains the grave of al-Mansur’s mother. 

Lalla Masuda

The oldest and original Saadian tomb includes a cedarwood dome and two entrance porches or loggias. It was built by Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib to bury his father, Mohammed al-Sheikh, the founder of the dynasty. 

In 1591, al-Mansur had his mother, Lalla Masuda, added to the tomb. She was a Moroccan political figure in the Saadi dynasty remembered for her humanitarian work and considered an awliya, or saint. 

Fearing the Dead 

Less than two decades later, Sultan Ahmad al-Abbas was assassinated, the Saadian dynasty had come to an end, and the Alaouites had taken control of the country.  

When Sultan Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif assumed power, he wasted no time eradicating the legacy of the Saadi dynasty. He systematically set about looting and stripping most of their architectural achievements, including the El Badi Palace. However, he spared the Saadian Tombs — probably because he feared bad luck if he desecrated them and was superstitious that the spirits of the dead would pursue him. He satisfied himself with sealing up all but one obscure entrance from the Kasbah Mosque. 

Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif completely stripped the nearby El Badi Palace but left the Saadian Tombs intact. Was he nervous about disturbing the spirits of the dead?

The Saadian Tombs gave us a sense of the former grandeur of the El Badi Palace. Heads up that the various chambers are off limits to the public, but a path winds past them, letting tourists see them from outside, much like peeking into a diorama. 

While the tombs are cordoned off to human visitors, felines are another matter. We witnessed more than a few cats and kittens napping on their cool tiled floors. 

If you enjoy Islamic architecture as much as we do, then a visit to this funerary monument and tribute to the Saadian legacy is a must. –Duke

 

Notre-Dame Before the Fire

We passed by Notre-Dame de Paris every morning during our week-long visit. Now you can admire some photos of the famous cathedral before the damage from the 2019 fire.

Wally jumps for joy in the beautiful garden behind Notre-Dame Cathedral, which glows a warm pale yellow.

It was the perfect morning tradition. In 2013 we visited Paris and stayed at our friends Michael and Kent’s apartment in Montparnasse. A few days into our trip my parents arrived and Duke and I would ride the Métro to meet my parents, who were staying at a cute little hotel on Île Saint-Louis. We got off on Île de la Cité and walked past Notre-Dame, before crossing the bridge to meet my mom and dad at the oh-so-Parisian Saint-Régis café at the foot of the street. 

Wally’s parents stayed on the neighboring isle, so Notre-Dame was a short walk away en route to the Métro.

We felt so lucky to have this morning ritual: a stroll past what is arguably the world’s most famous cathedral, with its beautiful gardens and statues of saints and gargoyles peering out from its façade. 

Saints alive! (Actually, the fact that they’re saints means they’re long dead.)

Gargoyles (chimères en français) do double duty: They scare away evil spirits and act as rainspouts.

While impressive, the interior has always struck me as a bit too claustrophobic, gloomy and choked with incense — more suited to a mystery religion to honor a pagan deity than to inspire awe in the Catholic God. I’m much more of a Sacré-Cœur type of guy.

The sides of the cathedral are dark, lit only by candlelight.

Sometimes we’d drop my parents off at their hotel in the evening. We saw the cathedral in all kinds of light. It was the backdrop to our vacation. 

An electrical short most likely caused the fire that damaged Notre-Dame in 2019.

Notre-Dame and the Fire of 2019

Because Notre-Dame was such an integral part of our trip and an iconic symbol of Paris, it was with great shock and sadness that I watched news footage of the fire that consumed the cathedral on April 15, 2019. It was horrifying and heartbreaking. 

The blaze started in the attic (who knew Notre-Dame even had an attic?!), causing the spire to plummet like a spear, piercing the stone vault of the 850-year-old cathedral. The most likely cause? An electrical short.

The spire, designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, melted from the heat of the blaze, plunging down into the heart of the church. It once pointed heavenward 295 feet high.

Two of the biggest issues from the fire are toxic lead from the melted spire and damage to the flying buttresses, which support the vaulted ceiling.

Les pompiers, the French firefighters, had been trained how to handle such an emergency. They used low-pressure hoses and focused on saving priceless artworks and the bell towers. 

While the damage wasn’t as devastating as it could have been, one of the major issues now is that the roof and spire were made of lead, which melted and poured the toxic liquid into the damaged building. Some of it formed stalactites of sorts that remain to this day. 

And the very structure of Notre-Dame is at risk: The architectural innovation that supports its vaulted ceiling, the flying buttresses, tottered dangerously, threatening to collapse the structure before being shored up by temporary wood bracing.

Here’s hoping that this magnificent cathedral is someday soon renovated to its former glory. In the meantime, here are some of the photos we took on our visit before the fire. –Wally

Notre-Dame served as the backdrop of Wally and Duke’s trip to Paris.

I never promised you a rose garden — but there’s one behind Notre-Dame.

Duke in front of the bell towers, which were a priority for firefighters to save.

Duke puts Wally on a pedestal.

The carvings on the façade of Notre-Dame are quite ornate.

Notre-Dame is one of the most impressive examples of Gothic architecture.

This guy has lost his head. Saint Denis of Paris was a 3rd century bishop who was decapitated for his religious beliefs.

Adam and Eve — and the serpent, depicted as a temptress

A tarnished bas-relief

Sharp angles and monsters on Notre-Dame’s exterior

Creepy (but cool) gargoyles, their screams set in stone

Medieval griffons form this geometric pattern.

Sculptures of the kings of Judah line the façade of Notre-Dame, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

One of the more hideous gargoyles seen at Notre-Dame

The main aisle of the cathedral is narrow — though surely groundbreaking at the time of its construction.

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

A statue of Joan of Arc (known as Jeanne d’Arc in her native France)

H is for…?

The stained glass windows add vibrant splashes of color to the otherwise gloomy interior.

Light a votive candle and admire one the famous Rose Windows.

Doubting Thomas pokes one of Jesus’ wounds after the resurrection.

A container in the cathedral is filled with letters people have written, one supposes, to God.

A model of the cathedral

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
6 Parvis Notre-Dame
Place Jean-Paul II
75004 Paris
France

 

The Crumbling Ruins of El Badi Palace in Marrakech

Once praised for its massive scale and beauty, El Badi Palace soon became a mere shell of its former grandeur. Only storks now call it home.

A ruined palace sits within the medina of Marrakech.

It must have once been quite a spectacle. El Badi Palace was commissioned by Ahmad al-Mansour, a Saadi sultan who ascended to power after his brother’s untimely death in 1578. Its financing came from ransoms paid by the Portuguese to release their prisoners who had been captured and enslaved following their defeat after the Battle of al-Qasr al-Quibir.

A ransom paid by Portugal financed the construction of El Badi Palace.

Al-Mansour and the Battle of Three Kings

The young and impetuous King Sebastian of Portugal wanted to reclaim coastal Morocco for his country and intended to convert the Muslim populace to Christianity. He combined forces with the deposed sultan al-Mutawakkil, who had his own aspirations to reclaim sovereignty. 

When King Sebastian, al-Mutawakkil and their troops landed at Tangier, they were met by Sultan Abd al-Malik and his men. Within a mere six hours, the Muslim army easily forced the invading Christians to retreat to the port city of Larache — but while fleeing across the Wadi al-Makhazin at high tide, Sebastian and al-Mutawakkil drowned. 

Exhausted from combat, Abd al-Malik fell ill and expired the following morning. In the end, all three died. For this reason, the event is also known as the Battle of Three Kings.

“Al-Mansour asked his court jester what he thought of his palace complex.

The jester replied, “It will make a magnificent ruin.” ”

Was this stork once a human being? Or is it off to deliver a baby?

Say Hi to the Storks: Visiting El Badi Palace

While staying in the Marrakech medina, we spent a day trying not to get lost and seeing the sights, including El Badi Palace. 

Outside the site are shops. An open-air restaurant with charcoal braziers filled the air with oily black smoke. Enormous storks nests that could easily accommodate the three of us have taken up residence atop the remains of the rammed earth walls. The storks of Marrakech are considered to be holy animals. Even before the arrival of Islam, an old Berber belief held that storks were actually transformed humans. As a Westerner, I’m only familiar with storks delivering babies.

The silhouettes of storks seen at sunset. The birds find niches in the ruins of El Bahi Palace to build their nests.

Wally, our travel buddy Vanessa and I paid 10 Moraccan dirham (about $1) at the kiosk located outside the palace. We entered through a towering doorway and found ourselves enclosed in a massive bare-walled chamber open to a cloudless blue sky. These are the ruins of the Qubbat al-Khadra or Green Pavilion. The two-story pavilion most likely had a pyramidal roof of green terracotta tiles, a common material of the period. 

El Badi means the Incomparable One.

Nothing Compares 2 U: The Incomparable Palace

The name of the palace derives from one of the 99 names of Allah given in the Qur’an, and translates to “the Incomparable One.” It served as the reception palace of al-Mansour, who spared no expense in building his lavish monument to the Saadian dynasty and its growing power. 

While the palace was widely acknowledged in its time as a spectacular architectural achievement, it was plundered for its rich decorative materials only a century after its construction. However, you still get a clear sense of its monumental scale. The courtyard features four symmetrical sunken groves planted with lemon and orange trees surrounded by footpaths and separated by a large central basin, which was dry upon our visit but once provided irrigation for the orchards. 

The sunken courtyards house small orchards of citrus trees.

It took nearly 16 years over the course of Sultan al-Mansour’s reign to complete, using materials imported from numerous countries, including onyx, Carrera marble from Italy, gold from Sudan, cedarwood and ivory. Walls and pathways were covered with multi-colored glazed zellij tiles arranged in geometric patterns. 

The zellij tile floor is the one section of the palace with some color.

We met a fussy tomcat who at first craved our attention and then just as quickly grew fickle, batted a paw and hissed at us. (I think it was an angry jinn who became unhinged as we didn’t have any scraps of food to offer it.)

Sixteen-century Moroccan architecture during the Saadian period was heavily influenced by Andalusian decorative traditions, an Islamic architectural style that spanned across North Africa and Spain. El Badi’s layout follows a rectilinear grid similar to the Court of Myrtles at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, but on a much larger scale.

Foreign ambassadors of the time gushed about El Badi’s unparalleled beauty and grandiose domed pavilions: In addition to the Green Pavilion, there’s the Qubbat ad-Dahab (Golden Pavilion), the Qubbat az-Zujaj (Crystal Pavilion) and the Qubbat al-Khayzuran (Khayzuran Pavilion). According to a plaque outside the latter, Khayzuran comes from the Arabic name for wild myrtle and is believed to have been the harem’s quarters. 

I’d suggest bringing bottled water and sunblock, as the site is mostly exposed. Although there isn’t a dress code, it’s respectful to stay modest wherever you go in Morocco. Wally and I both wore linen pants, and Vanessa covered up appropriately. 

It’s too bad the grandeur of the palace didn’t last long. Moulay Ismail stripped El Badi and repurposed the materials to build a new residence in nearby Meknès.

El Badi’s Short-Lived Beauty

Less than a century after the construction of El Badi, the 17th-century Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail decided to move the capital from Marrakech to Meknès, and spent over 10 years systematically stripping El Badi of its riches to reuse for his palace in the new capital city. 

This could explain why, as far as ruins go, El Badi might have once been astounding, but now it just doesn’t inspire much awe. That being said, according to local lore, al-Mansour asked his court jester, who was in attendance at the official opening, what he thought of his palace complex. The jester replied, “It will make a magnificent ruin.” And indeed it does. –Duke

If you have a few days in Marrakech, you should visit El Badi Palace. If time is limited, skip it and do the souk and Jardin Majorelle instead.

El Badi Palace
Ksibat Nhass
Marrakech 40000
Morocco