Luxurious Luxor - The West Bank (Day 1)

The colossi of Memnon.



These 2 statues of Amenhotep III are all that remain of a massive compound this Pharaoh built to house his mortuary temple. According to archaeologists the site would have been bigger than Karnak Temple on the East Bank, making it the biggest such complex in all of Thebes. Built on the flood plain of the Nile, however, it washed away and all that remains now is this pair of headless, 60 ft. high statues. From about the middle of the 1st century B.C. until the early 3rd century A.D., when a crack in it was fixed by Septimus Severus, the northern statue of the pair used to make a low wailing noise each morning. The Greek explanation associated the statue with the Homeric character Memnon and the noise with him singing a greeting to his mother Eos, the goddess of the dawn.





Upper Egypt lies in the Nile Valley to the south of Cairo. Since the Nile flows downhill from its headwaters, this is considered Upper Egypt. This area is the richest and most exciting part of the country for anyone with an interest in Egyptology and Ancient Egypt.



Luxor is divided into the West Bank and the East Bank. The West Bank is mostly fertile farmland and contains the necropoli (tombs) since the sun sets in the west and that signifies the end of life.



The East Bank is more cosmopolitan (hotels, restaurants and more active), and contains the temples since the sun rises in the east and that signifies the beginning of life.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.

This temple was built by Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt as queen between about 1479 and 1458 B.C. Even though she was a successful ruler, subsequent Pharaohs effaced her name from her monuments whenever possible (including one of her obelisks in Karnak Temple).

The temple has 3 massive terraces. Two of the terraces were covered with trees, and you can still see the stumps there!

The Valley of the Kings.

Here are densely packed clusters of magnificent tombs that include the most famous of all ancient burials, the final resting place of Tutankhamun. We were able to visit 3 tombs, Ramses II, Ramses III and Ramses IX, since they have to rotate the sites in order to preserve them from the every day wear and tear of so many visitors. We were not allowed to photograph the inside of the tombs for the same reason, but it was simply stunning to see the preserved hieroglyphics and sarcophagi (tombs).











Entrance to the tomb of Ramses II














After sightseeing, we escaped the heat of the day by going to lunch at this Greek restaurant recommended by the Frommer's guideook - Sofra. It was delicious - we had different hot and cold mezzes, but ate too much bread with them, so we quickly filled up. Just like the locals, we took a siesta (we needed one since we had been up and going since 2 AM), then Ayman picked us up and took us to the Karnak Temple sound and light show. Our 1-hr. tour started @ 8 PM with a voiced over show that tells the history of the temple while you progress through the courtyard, hypostyle hall and the sacred lake. Even though Frommer's described the show as cheesy, we loved it, and it helped prepare us for our tour of Karnak the next day. Probably the most fun after that was trying to explain to Ayman what cheesy meant - he ws hilarious!