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Published: July 11th 2007
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Well I was up early again this morning to join my motorcade to Luxor four short, cramped hours and I was there, I headed for the Hostel and checked my stuff, before heading out to explore the Luxors East Bank.
Luxor and its surrounding area contains almost 80% of Egypts ancient treasures. The city itself is an enormous open air museum, and tourists have been coming here since antiquity, It was seemingly as much on the Greek and Roman world tour as it is in the 21st century, as many of the monuments are not onlky adorned with heirogliphyics but also ancient greek and latin grafitti. Although Luxor is most famous for its pharonic architectural monuments, its name is inherited from its muslim occupation as the actual name Luxor derives from the Arabic for palace: al-Uqsur.
Many tend to talk in terms of 'Luxor', however the area in fact is made up of three distinct sections. Luxor town, Karnak to the north, and the Necropolis on the west bank.
Luxor had been the capital of Egypt a number of times either of Lower Egypt or the combined kingdoms. During the period of the New Kingdom (The XVIII and
XIV dynasties: 1540 - 1186 BC) it was a thriving centre for all art, architecture and finance. This was the period of huge investments in building by the various rulers. The most famous of these rulers was Ramses II ( The Great), but there is also a fair chance that you will have heard of one of the lesser kings of the XVIII dynasty: Tutankhamun. (Arts degree just paid for itself!)
This is not, thouigh the place for a scholarly lecture on Egyptian history, there are far better and more interesting places if you need in depth coverage. In essence though the East Bank in Luxor, is indicative of life, as this is where the sunrises and teh West bank inheretly represents teh afterlife, as this is where the sun sets or dies. I spent the entire day spread between the two greatsest life giving temples in Egypt, 'The Temple of Karnak' and 'The Luxor Temple'
The temples of Luxor and Karnak are separated by about three kilometers with the sacred lake between them. The Temple of Karnak is as splendid at that of Luxor, perhaps even more so, and offers some rare glimpses into the ancient past of Egypt
The size of the temple of the main temple is amazing. It is the largest temple supported by columns in the world. The most imposing structure is the hypostyle hall which measures over 300 feet long and 159 feet wide. Within its area stands 34 columns, each almost 70 feet high, with open papyrus shaped capitals. Stones resting on top of these columns offer some of the best views of what the temple was like in ancient times. Protected from the Sun the hieroglyphics on their underside are still the brilliant colors they were over three thousand years ago.
both the Luxor and Karnak temples were predominantly commissioned by two pharaohs; Amenhotep lll and Ramses ll. The temple was dedicated to Amun-Ra, whose marriage to Mut was celebrated annually, when the sacred procession moved by boat from Karnak to Luxor Temple. Both of these temples were fantastic and to imagine the impact they would have had in antiquity is unfathomable, after spending the whole day between these temples beneath teh scortching 50'C Egyptian sun, I was exhausted. So I went in search of a Sharworma and some sleep as tomorrow I was to be up early again for the escorted
trip across the Nile to Luxor's West Bank, to discover the eternal resting places of many the greatest Egyptian Pharos in 'The Valley Of The Kings.
Well another early start, to meet the 5am convey across to the West Bank of the Nile and the Valley of the Kings. The area named the Valley of the Kings has been a focus of concentrated archaeological and egyptological exploration since the end of the 18th century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest. In modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of thetomb of Tutankhamun (with its rumours of the 'Curse of the Pharos'), and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world
Not all tombs are open, and officials occasionally close particular tombs for restoration. The style of the tombs underwent significant changes throughout the New Kingdom so I chose to see seperate dynastical tombs that the spanned the 600 years that the Valley was in use.
The first was the tomb of Tuthmose III is at the far end of the East Valley and is one of the earliest in the Valley. Its burial chamber is in the shape
of a cartouche (oval-shaped) and its inscriptions are interspersed with stick figures. The climb up the modern metal staircase outside and then the descent into the tomb is am essential aid and highlights the ingenuity of the ancient architects
The last was the Tomb of Ramesses VI (Not The great Ramses, as unfortunately his is in a state of ruin and sealed to tthe public) Ramesses VI's tomb has a magnificent burial chamber in which lie the broken remains of the large stone sarcophagus. Along the length of the chamber's ceiling are two images of the sky goddess Nut which depict both the swallowing and rebirth of the sun disc. It is amazing to see the original and vibrany paint which still adorns teh walls some 3000 years after it was applied. Thye entire Valley was incredable and teh intense morning heat combined with the desert silence created a magical and surreal atmosphere.
From The valley of the kings I trekked some three kilometers to the otherside of the pyramid shaped crest that guards the valley to Hatshepsut's mortuary Temple
Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builder pharaohs of ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both
Upper and Lower Egypt that were grandour and more numerous than those of any of her Muddle Kingdom ingdom predecessors.
In the fashion of the pharaohs, the masterpiece of Hatshepsut's building projects was her mortuary temple complex at Deir el - Bahri. The focal point was the or "the Sublime of Sublimes", a colonnaded structure of perfect harmony nearly one thousand years before the Parthenon was built. Djeser-Djeseru sits atop a series of terraces that were once graced with gardens. Djeser-Djeseru is amazingly cut straight into the cliff face that rises sharply above it. This was an amazing structure, as it semingly melts right into the rock face from whiuch it is hewn. It was however under tight military survielence as it was also the sight of the fatal terrosit masacre that killed 67 tourists in 1997.
At this stage teh Egyptina Heat had hit a staggering 52 degress, so I headed back toward the East bank, with one short stop in mind. The Colossi of Memon, two gigantic sandstone colossi representing Amenhotep III standing some 20 ominating meters above teh ground and weighing over 1000 tons, they dwarf everthing in their presence.
I collasped in a heap after
that, packed my things and headed for the station, as Im taking teh overnight train back to Cairo tonight, to try and source some transport to Sinai then to Jordan.
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Toby
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Here endith the lesson!
Buddy it's not hard to see what you majored in at Uni! Bloody interesting though. I would love to see those sites; perhaps with you as a tour guide some time. The temple complex at Deir el - Bahri puts our advanced modern post war civilisation into perspective doesn't it? I was in the Pathenon earlier this year and it is one of the many impressive buildings of Rome (my favourite city). Built around 20AD i think. I was awed to stand in the centre of such an advanced constuction that was 2000 years old and consider that our western democratic civilisation has it's origins here in the traditions of the grecco-roman empire. What is truely staggering is that your architectural wonder of Deir el-Bahri pre-dates it by another 1000 years. Antiquity indeed. Look after yourself in Sinai; be careful near the border areas and make sure everyone knows you're an australian tourist. Best to stay with the bigger groups if you can. Israli border soldiers don't like single young men wondering towards them. I would get the Australian embassy's number and keep the phone on you if it were me. Just in case. In an emergency they are most useful. Ok, enough big brother crap. Paul, heard you had a good night on Saturday. Did you like the Japanese place? Have a great time Luke, speak soon. Toby