Luxor : Valley of the Kings.... and Queens

May 5th and 6th, 2015

Luxor means "Palaces" and it is the premier travel destination in Upper (southern) Egypt and the Nile Valley. 

The dynastic and religious capital of Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom Egypt, Luxor has much for travelers to enjoy: vast temples, ancient royal tombs, spectacular desert and river scenery and a bustling modern life.


Karnak Temple

The Karnak temple complex is huge, covering a site almost a mile by two miles in area. There are over 25 temples and chapels in the complex, including separate shrines for the three boats that took the statues of the gods on their annual trip on the flooding Nile. Sanctuaries, obelisks, and groups of columns all feature accounts of the heroic deeds of the sponsoring pharaoh.  

The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the sheer size and number of features makes it one of the most impressive temple complexes in Egypt.

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor and was founded in 1400 BC.

Bill is ready to go digging.

 The entrance to the temple itself is known as the first pylon. It was built by Ramesses II and was decorated with scenes of his military expeditions, in particular his triumph at the battle of Kadesh. The pylon towers originally supported four huge cedar flag masts from which banners would have fluttered in the breeze.

Statue of King Tut and Mrs. Tut

 Many of the columns still have the brightly painted hieroglyphics.

Construction work on the temple began during the reign of Amenhotep III in the 14th century BC. Horemheb and Tutankhamun added columns, statues, and friezes, and Akhenaten had earlier obliterated his father's cartouches and installed a shrine to the Aten.

However, the only major expansion effort took place under Ramses II some 100 years after the first stones were put in place. Luxor is thus unique among the main Egyptian temple complexes in having only two pharaohs leave their mark on its architectural structure.

   

An avenue of human headed sphinxes of over one and a half miles (3 km) once connected the temples of Karnak and Luxor

Around 1,350 sphinx statues are thought to have lined this road together with barque chapels stocked with offerings. Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1425 BC) built six of these chapels.

Valley of the Kings-  on the west bank of the Nile we we not able to take any pictures in the valley of the kings.  Here are a few stock pics:  a tomb entrance and one of the painted ceilings. For 500 yrs, from 16th to 11th century BC, the pharaohs chose their burial sites and the next 25 yrs would be spent digging out the mountain and decorating with carved/painted hieroglyphs.  The pyramids had found to be not good burial grounds because they advertised great wealth for robbing so this became the more advanced means of burial.

We did see 4 tombs on this day including King Tut's.  Our guide is an Egyptologist, and he spent 8 years working on the excavation. He even accompanied the most recent tour of the King Tut tomb items to Seattle and told us he loved it- especially the rain. Here we see Bill posing with some old statues while wearing a Masters golf cap. The Egyptologist said he liked the hat, so in keeping with the local custom, Bill gave him the hat. He was crying he was so happy.





We loved the tombs more than the temples- they were beautiful inside and so well preserved- except for all the missing items.  These tombs have been robbed as well.  

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (pronounced "Hot Chicken Soup"): 

Queen H ruled from 1503-1482 BC.  She started out as a regent for her son- but she soon just took over. Considered to be one of the most successful of the pharaohs  who did considerable building and re-established trade routes.

She had herself depicted with the kilt and beard of the pharaohs.  Interestingly, this is the location of the 1997 terrorist attack when 58 tourists and 4 guards were killed on the middle terrace. We stood there........ there have been no attacks on tourists since then. The site now is heavily guarded.  

  

Queen H's sarcophagus at her temple.

Lunch on the Nile

Our final event this day was a lunch on a feluca in groups of 8- the classic boat of the Nile.
Unfortunately, we did not have enough wind to set the sail but we had a lot of police boat protections.

Welcome back on board- next stop the Sinai peninsula......

Here's the captain (rt) and the dining room manager.