April18, 2018 – Luxor, Egypt

Called the “Hundred-Gated City” by Greek historian Home, Luxor is set on the west bank of the Nile river. The city was once known as Thebes and served as the capital of Egypt’s New Kingdom. Today, it is UNESCO World Heritage Site lined with beautiful colonial hotels and some of the world’s most ancient and significant ruins. Many consider this city, watched over by graceful single sailed feluccas plying the Nile, one of the world’s great open air museums. The sprawling temples of Luxor and Karnak on the east bank are linked by an ancient avenue of sphinxes. On the west bank, in the Valley of the Kings, lie the tombs of Egypt’s great pharaohs.

.We are docked in Safaga, Egypt, which is on the Red Sea. It is about 600 km south of Alexandria and 240 km SW to Luxor. The main industry here is the port and mining. It has tourists in the winter, which brings the population from 10,000 to 25,000. Egypt has 94% of its country in Africa and 6% in Asia (Sanai Peninsula). Of the 1 million square km. that make up Egypt, 90% of it is desert. The longest river in the world is the Nile, and it runs through eight countries before it gets to Egypt and then empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Bedouins consider themselves people of the desert, so do not feel that they belong to a country. They used to roam from one well to another, but today the government has built them housing, urging them to put their children in school. They survive on tourism and smuggling.

We took the included tour today, which was a trip to Karnak to see the temples. Because of the distance to get there, it was a four hour bus ride there and back. And, it was 106 degrees. I have been having trouble with car sickness and was told to take a sea sick pill so I would be okay. What I did not know is that it also dehydrates you. So, about ten minutes into the temple tour, I almost passed out as I had heat exhaustion. It took about 30 minutes, sitting in the shade, to feel that I could walk back to the bus. In the mean while, Steve continued the tour and most of these pictures are what he saw, and not me.

There is a lot of security in Egypt. We had an armed guard on our bus and with us where ever we went. Along the way you had many checkpoints that you had to stop at.

Coming out of Safaga, it was all desert. It was a very interesting terrain. There were some Bedouin homes that we saw also.

Once we got within the vicinity of the Nile, the terrain got a little greener and we started to see small towns. They have a lot of sugar cane and wheat. It appears they harvest this by hand.

Our first stop was for lunch at a very nice restaurant and a look at the Nile.

We then visited what many believe to be the largest temple ever built, Luxor’s ancient Temple of Karnak complex. The temple complex of Karnak is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. It covers 247 acres and includes three precincts with some buildings outside the compounds. The modern name comes from the village of El-Karnak. The Egyptians called the complex Ipetisut which means “Most Select of Places.” 

The existing structures at Karnak date to the New Kingdom period. These buildings likely replaced older structures but no remains of them exist today. Successive rulers up to Roman times rebuilt, added to or restored Karnak’s buildings. Building at Karnak was a way to ensure immortality for the pharaoh and the favor of the gods.

Pharaohs commissioned carvings that detailed their building projects at Karnak. They also recorded their restoration work. These records indicated that the pharaohs believed restorations were as important as new buildings. A pharaoh would also complete unfinished projects started by his predecessor, especially his father.

A variety of scenes decorate the columns and walls of the temples. Some show rituals or festivals conducted in a specific area of the temple. Other inscriptions tell about the dedication of a building or an object. Records of a pharaoh’s military exploits decorated some buildings. The Egyptians painted these decorations but most of the color has worn away.

Egyptians worshiped many deities at Karnak but each precinct had a main temple. The three deities worshiped in these were Amun, Mut and Montu. Some of the other deities who had temples or chapels were Osiris, Ptah and Khonsu. The Theban Triad (Amun, Mut and Khonsu) traveled from Karnak to visit the mortuary temples on the West bank or to visit Luxor.

While you are still driving on the west bank you see the remain of a road lined with sphinxes. Also, here are the ruins of the queen’s palace. The road used to go from her palace to the Karnack temples.

The first thing you see as you walk into the complex is the replica of what is within it.

Then you see the massive wall that surrounds the temple.

From here you wander through the complex and it is just unimaginable to believe that this was done so long ago.

We then went back to the bus and the ride home. We got back about 6:30 and were in bed by 8 as tomorrow we have to get up at 3:45 AM. It is two busy days.