Aswan Temples

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Aswan to Hurghada
Bill Clayton
Here in Aswan are several very interesting Egyptian ancient sites.

First is the Valley of the Kings, where Egypt’s kings dug numerous deep winding passages to their eventual tombs, beginning almost immediately when they become king, and continuing until their death, when their treasure was interred with them. All of the tombs except Tutenkamen were looted.

These tombs are in an isolated, blazing hot valley where working must have been very hard. Adjacent, in another valley, is the village where the workers lived and digged their own more modest tombs in the rock. And there is still a third tomb site for the Egyptian queens.

Clearly they have all achieved immortality as legions of tourists now pay to maintain their remains and at least some of the treasure they sought to hide for eternity.

The next interesting place is the Luxor museum, which has the best displayed statuary from this period in Egyptian history, as well as a theater where you can watch a National Geographic short film on the subject. This is very nice because it is AIR CONDITIONED. In fact we considered getting a pizza and cokes and watching the film again to avoid the 110 degree heat.

Finally, the most impressive is the Karnak Temple site, covering 25 acres, comprised of a series of temple additions spanning 1700 years of construction by the various successors of power, including Alexander the Great, who of course was not a pharoh but did conquer and rule Egypt.

The final impressive visit we made was to have dinner in a native food place where a McRoyale combo meal, with fries, chocolate milk shake and large diet Coke with ice was $6.00; this fine establishment had clean rest rooms and was nicely air conditioned.

Then, its back on the truck to drive across the desert to Hurghada, a resort city on the Red Sea exploding with hotels, condominiums, and other tourist venues.

In summary, Aswan is a hot, dirty, and not particularly inexpensive place with some very interesting ancient sites.

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Photos

Fine Dining in Aswan
A cold coke with ice sure tastes good in the 110 degree heat

Valley of the Kings
Very hot and dry. Dennis says it is like his home in Yuma, AZ

tomb entrance (modern opening)
they are still finding more tombs

tomb map, goes down a long way
kept digging until the pharoh died

2300 yr old colors
small tomb with vibrant colors

Valley of the Workers
Lived here while digging tombs; then dug their own on their day off.

Karnak temple
25 acres in total, built by a succession of kings

Inside Karnak temple
132 giant columns in this temple