Monday, May 03, 2010
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Welcome to Luxor
We took advantage of a four day weekend to visit Luxor for a second time in February 2010. They say 80% of the world's antiquities are still in Egypt and if that is so, Luxor has more than its fair share. Luxor Temple, Karnak, the Colossi of Memnon, Hatshepsut's Temple, Medinet Habu, Dendara, Abydos to name the sites we visited on this trip. For anyone interested in history or antiquities, Egypt should top your list. Or you can visit the world's great museums in New York, Paris, Berlin and London to see the small treasures of Egypt. And definitely go to Cairo to see the museum and pyramids. But Luxor, or Thebes as it was known, was once the center of the universe. Cruise the Nile and wander among the columns of Karnak and you will feel weight of millennia like nowhere else in the world.
Roseanne in Luxor Temple
She's happy because she knows there is a glass of French white wine waiting back at the Winter Palace Hotel Bar.
Archaeological Excavation at Luxor Temple
Several hundred years ago most of Luxor was buried in sand with a village setting on top. Much of it remains unexcavated. The Avenue of the Sphinxes runs a mile or more between Luxor Temple and Karnak. Much of central Luxor is being relocated to make way for the excavation.
The Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor Egypt
The Sofitel Winter Palace is a fantastic English colonial hotel dating from the 1880's. The setting, bar, gardens and architecture are definitely five star. One can easily spend an entire day at the pool soaking up the sun and Stella Artois. The restaurants however are truly awful. We took a taxi to the Hilton for dinner after two overpriced meals in the WP.
Hot Air Balloons over the River Nile
This photo was taken from the window of our third floor room overlooking the Nile River in the Winter Palace Hotel.
Hatshepsut Temple
The major attraction on the west bank of Luxor is the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh. Strikingly modern in appearance, the temple is 3500 years old. The temple presents a dramatic setting against the mountains flanking the valley of the Nile. It is also the site of a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists that killed 62 tourists in 1997. Needless to say, military roadblocks are a common feature of the travelling landscape. Our taxi driver needed a special day-to-day permit to travel outside the city of Luxor.
Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu is the mortuary temple of Ramses III, a lightly unvisited temple on the west bank of Luxor.
Medinet Habu Sphinx
This black granite goddess was the most impresssive sculpture remaining in Medinet Habu.
The Colossi of Memnon
The first stop of any trip to the West Bank of Luxor is the Colossi of Memnon.
Temple of Seti I in Abydos, Egypt
Otherwise know as the Great Temple of Abydos, it dates from around 1280 BC.
Horus, God of the King, the Sky and Vengeance
Much of the art and wall carvings in the Tomb of Seti I are remarkably well preserved - literally thousands upon thousands of square feet covered with carvings and hieroglyphics. The amazing thing was how few tourists there were. The infrastructure was minimal, just a guy selling tickets and a small cabana style gift shop selling water and some sort of awful chocolate bars.
Osiris and the Pharaoh
Egyptologists were in short supply at Abydos, but perhaps Osiris is here offering Seti I the ankh, conferring the gift of eternal life on the Pharaoh.
Inside the Temple of Seti I at Abydos
Outside of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, Abydos has the best preserved art found here in the Temple of Seti I dating from 1280 BC.
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