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 | Luxor Things To Do | Tips 21 - 30 of 894 |  |
Beyond the Hypostyle Hall there are several smaller rooms, the central one was used later as a Christian church. This area, still with some of the original roof, was the most sacred area of the temple and had a gold-plated statue of the god Amon as well as a birth room with reliefs referring to the divine birth of Amenophis III. Leave a Comment
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The Valley of Kings was the secet burial place of Middle and New Kingdom Pharaohs. The sight contains 64 known tombs and undoubtly many more are near by that have not yet been discovered. All the tombs except one (King Tut's) was robbed and contain no grave goods. However most of them include magnificent freizes, many of which preserve the original colors despite 3,000 years of aging. Unfortunately no photography is allowed in the tombs so I can not show you. It is believed that this particular site was chosen for the necropolis due to the natural Pyramidal shape of the adjoining mountain. Leave a Comment Directions: West Bank
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Colossi of Memnon are two huge statues of Amenhotep III which were originally placed in front of the mortuary temple of the king.
The temple was destroyed throughout the centuries, but it is said that it was built of white sandstone, gold and silver.
The statues show Amenhotep seated on his throne with the two Nile gods of upper and lower Egypt uniting the two lands, at his sides.
It is also interesting to know that on the right of each statue appears a small figure of Queen Tiye, wife of Amenhotep III and on the left Queen Mutemua, his mother.
The Colossi are made of sandstone.
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In King Tut's burial chamber a team of archaeologists and technicians examines the gilded wooden lid of the teenage pharaoh's outer coffin after removing the monumental quartzite sarcophagus, so Tut can be lifted out and scanned by computed tomography (CT). Then workers carried the mummy—cradled in a shallow wooden box—to a specially equipped trailer parked just outside the rock-cut subterranean tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
In the background are wall-paintings of the rituals of death. Leave a Comment Address: LuxorDirections: Egypt
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Karnak Temple, actually the Karnak site, is situated on the East Bank about 3.5km from the Luxor Temple and is the largest of its kind in the world.
The circumference of the temple is of about 4km and the largest temple in Karnak site is Amun Temple, a great Pharaonic God.
The explanation for the site's dimension is given by the fact that although it was originally founded during the Middle Kingdom, the dynasties that came afterwards continued build.
The great front yard was built by Ethiopians, while the Shashank gate and the hall of columns by King Ramsis II.
Behind these great buildings lies the obelisk built by Queen Hatshepsut, then the granite temple and the feasts hall established by King Thotmos III.
On the far horizon appears the holy lake, the remains of Osiris tomb, the series of the southern walls, the temple of the infant god Khonso and Obet Temple.
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This place is next to the Anubis Restaurant bar on the Corniche, opposite the Mina Palace Hotel.
It is only a small museum and it doesn't take long to look around but there are some v interesting items on show. There is a mummified crocodile and fish and if I remember correctly a mummified priest. There are also numerous items on display that would have been used during the mummification process such as spoons and metal spatulas and scapels for scraping out the brain!!!!
Maybe do this late morning then finish off with a drink or lunch at the Anubis next door -if you can stomach it... Leave a Comment Address: Corniche El NileDirections: Opposite the Mina Palace Hotel
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Deir El-Bahri is the funerary temple of Egypt's only female pharaoh who ruled from 1503 to 1482 BC. In order to legitimize her standing as Pharaoh all representations of her show her as a man. This is one of the most highly restored temples of Egypt and gives you a real good feeling for what it looked like when it was built. Leave a Comment Directions: West bank
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Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, known today as El Deer El Bahary, is located on the Luxor's west bank at the north end of the necropolis, about 6 kms from the Nile.
Hatshepsut, the only woman that ever ruled as Pharaoh, set up her own mortuary temple and followed her father's example of having the temple built to better secure her body.
The temple was built during the 18th Dynasty and consists mainly of three terraces linked by ramps.
The first ramp presents queen Hatshepsut giving birth from god Ra, the second one presents queen Hatshepsut journey to Bot country (today Sudan) for where she brought spices and scents and the third one, where is also the Saint of the Saints, has been transformed by the Roman Christians at their arrival on this site.
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The Valley of the Kings (VoK) is a must-visit. By now, you probably know what to expect here - pharaonic tombs to your heart's content. A few practical tips on visiting VoK:
1) Best time to visit would be early afternoon (around 1-2 pm) when most tourists wouldn't want to venture under soaring temps. Suicidal? Not really. That would be the time when tombs have least number of visitors, when you can have them all to yourself, like me. Don't fret, there are shaded areas and the tombs are well ventilated inside-actually felt cooler inside the tombs.
2) Take some time to view the 3D fiberglass model of the site at the entrance - this gives a feel of the lay of the land, as well as clues on what to expect, and help you plan which tombs would be most fun to view.
3) Rethink plan to see Tutankhamun's tomb - most of the artifacts had been moved to the Egyptian Museum, so the empty tomb may not justify the extra fees , which you pay on top of the standard EGP 70 fee (good for 3 tombs).
4) Don't miss Tuthmosis III's tomb - one the earliest to be built, it's the least accessible, and the most fun to visit-you climb a steep hill, cross a steep ravine to the entrance, from where you descend several meters below ground, crossing a deep shaft built to entrap ancient robbers. Sounds complicated? Try it yourself and you'll know what I mean. Warning: not for the faint of heart!
5) Forget what guidebooks say about bringing water - in this most tourism-corrupted town in the world, price of bottled water should be pretty much the same everywhere. Bringing water would not only be cumbersome, water would also be useless after being exposed to the sun. You can buy water at the stores located beside the main visitors' area at the entrance.
6) Respect regulations on taking photos - being alone inside the tombs, I could have switched to my shutter-happy mode, but chose not to (taking pictures inside is not allowed). The paintings are in a delicate condition and any measure to preserve them should be encouraged.
Happy tomb viewing! Leave a Comment Directions: Visitors usually see the tombs through organized tours. You could also hire a taxi for a day, which costs about EGP 120 (~USD 20) as of May 2007. It would be suicidal to bike your way to VoK during summer and even spring.
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These twin statutes of Amenophis III, once adorned his funerary temple. The temple, however was salvaged for stones by Ramses II. The Colossi has been a tourist attraction since Roman times. It was believed in these times that the statutes were of Memmon, a legendary Egyptian prince, said to have fought at Troy hence the name which has stuck with the statutes ever since. Leave a Comment Directions: West bank, thebes Acropolis
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