In the late 70’s his attention, along with Yoko would turn to the ancient Egyptians as their latest fad.
(photo from google images)
In January 1977 an exotic far away adventure was arranged by Yoko, Sam Green had learned from someone he knew, about a archeological dig being conducted in Egypt to unearth an ancient temple. The project, however, needed funding to complete the excavation, and as soon as Green told of this news to Yoko, she wasted no time in sending the money to Cairo as fast as she could and soon began planning a visit to the site with her husband, who had at the time put himself into a sort of self hibernation. Lennon was also very excited by the prospect of an the hunt for ancient artifacts, and he couldn’t wait to get on the plane and get on his way to the land of the pharaohs. John soon was departing for Cairo, a while also stopping in Geneva for a week. His recent boredom seemed to be lifted by this new exciting adventure he was about to go on!
(Photo from, meet the beatles for real, blog)
John quickly filled his sketchbook, drawing cartoons of Egyptian deserts dotted with camels and Bedouins. He go a new wardrobe of clothes for the journey, he got himself a new passport photo, and changed his hairstyle. He was in full swing, he wanted everything to go well on the trip. During his life John would often want to uncover items from the past, once he even nearly went into a short lived quest to find the ‘spear of destiny.’ Meanwhile Yoko and Sam Green were finalising the details of a complicated plan to sidestep the Egyptian authorities. At the time most of Egypt’s ancient national treasures were in demand by international art dealers, Egypt’s government instituted safeguards to protect these sacred treasures and would stop at nothing to try and keep them from being taken and sold on. John being the ever drug loving rocker, was happy to find out as well as pass ports, new clothes and other normal holiday items, an amount of quite potent marijuana would be coming with them on their trip!
(photo from google images)
Arriving in Cairo, the Lennons checked into their hotel of choice, the Nile Hilton. When they arrived John when and took a nap before he went into the city to buy another wardrobe for the excavation. An excited and happy John spent his first night exploring one of the seven wonders of the world, the great Cheops Pyramid, built by Pharaoh Khufu, built in around 2680 B.C. He then took in the nightly Giza light-show extravaganza, a commercial tourist attraction he enjoyed thoroughly. He was for the first time in a long while out of his shell and out of the Dekota enjoying life.
The following day Lennon was full and refreshed. John was always interested in history and he got his fill of it here, he toured the pyramid at Saqqara, which he found even more fascinating than the sites he saw the night before. he was like a kid at Christmas exploring the underground chambers, he ran his hands across the hieroglyphics and studied the ancient artwork that filled the stone walls. It is said that he even came across an open sarcophagus.
(photo from google images)
John was somewhat obsessed with death in some ways, maybe because he had (as he would often comment) experienced so much death in his life, losing people around him. The somewhat still childish part of Lennon was unable to resist the temptation ripping of a scrap of material as a special souvenir. It was an action he would later wonder if it had been a good idea or not, he worried that the action had made him incurred the mummy’s curse. He was worried enough to even call for a meeting with a mystic who sometimes worked for Yoko, to get himself checked. While Lennon was exploring Egypt he did so alone, Yoko was arranging a visit to the excavation that was currently using their money.
The more she wanted to see the sight the more Green didn’t want her to, fearing she might cause problems at the site. He put together a mad up story that the an art director had gotten word of their plans to take artifacts and was prepared to alert the authorities himself unless all parties left Egypt immediately. A psychic backed up the made up story, and Yoko became concerned enough to abandon the plan. Only a few days into the trip they decided to return home, John wasn’t all that disappointed, he had already had a big enough adventure on the first days, and he was ready to get back his ivory tower in New York.
Lennon and Ono’s passion for Egyptian relics went a lot deeper then just a love of history, it is rumored that they both believed they were reincarnations of ancient Egyptian royalty. “I love Egyptian art. I make sure to get all the Egyptian things, not for their value but for their magic power. Each piece has a certain magic power” Yoko told in one interview. In a Yoko album with the Plastic Ono Band callee “Feeling the Space”she appears as the Sphinx herself.
(photo from google images)
Yoko even purchased a real Egyptian sarcophagus, and had it be delivered to the Dakota. Inside the coffin that the mummified remains of an Egyptian princess laid resting. This is obviously an item much more fitting of a museum then a room in a New York apartment, but Yoko had another reason for wanting it...... Yoko believed the dead princess was a sully herself in a past life, she even wanted to break into the coffin to see if it looked like her! The item is still in Yoko’s possession and still lays in one of the many rooms in one of the many apartments in the Dakota building that Yoko currently owns.
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