Luxor (12/30)

It’s way more than just a fancy casino in Las Vegas. Actually there aren’t any pyramids to be found in Luxor, which was the new ancient capital of Thebes, located much farther south of the famous pyramids at Giza/Cairo. Far more impressive than the Pyramids, Luxor was the highlight of our trip in Egypt. There were three thousand year old temples, with its walls and pillars completely covered in carvings and even still showing the colors of paints. There were the amazingly preserved tombs of the Pharos of the Valley of the Kings, and there was the Nile—a true green oasis in the middle of an extremely arid desert.

Daniel

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Luxor and Valley of the Kings

Luxor gave us a true sense of the magnitude and affluence during the Egyptian Kingdoms. An early morning flight from chaotic Cairo carried us away from modern times into the heart of ancient Egypt. Honestly, we didn’t really know what to expect. We knew there were a few sites located here – after all they named a major casino/hotel after it. But we were absolutely amazed at what we saw.

First, the rural or small town setting amid enormous temples and palaces simply added to the impact. This was a huge difference from the Sphinx and the Pyramids at Giza. The KFC and Pizza Hut (just across the street) really take away from the mystique that has surrounded Giza. However, Luxor has not become overrun (yet) and the temples we visited were especially memorable. Each site was in amazing condition. Almost all the surfaces were covered with intricately carved reliefs – as sharp as if they had been completed a few years ago. Even more amazing is that when these temples were active thousands of years ago they were decorated with bright colors (mostly precious metals and brilliant natural blues, reds, and yellows). To this day, the few remaining ceiling panels of the Karnak Temple still retain most of their color.

Temples of Karnak:
These were the most impressive just based on their magnitude. The Karnak area was sacred during the New Kingdom, and each Pharaoh tried to leave his mark on the complex by adding additional pylons or temples over 500 years. It was here that we were introduced to the major cast of characters that we would hear about over and over again: Amenhotep III, Seti I, Hatshepsut (the female pharoh), Ramses II, Ramses III.

The Luxor Temple:
This was the second major site we toured – another colossal monument with towering obelisks and a massive colonnade. It is an interesting place especially because it has been built over in the past 2300 years. In one part of the complex is a working mosque that was built and still remains part of the temple. Another part has a temple where the walls were plastered over and painted with Christian frescoes by the Romans. One other fun thing about the place: the obelisk we have become familiar with in Paris (it stands today at Place de Concorde) was originally from this temple.

The Valley of the Kings:
Although the landscape here was about as desolate as you can get, the tombs below were extremely colorful. We visited four tombs on our visit, each slightly different—but with the general principle of a highly decorated passageway leading to several small rooms. The main chamber is where the mummified body was placed, in a beautiful jeweled sarcophagus. The other rooms were used as store houses for all the Pharaohs’ necessities in the afterlife. The theory was that after the tomb was sealed, the entire place would “come alive” and the Pharaoh could use whatever he had “brought” with him in his afterlife. Most of the tombs have been raided over the thousands of years since their creation, but one was rediscovered by archeologists in its entirety: the tomb of Tutankhamun (King Tut). What makes King Tut’s tomb so famous is not that he was a particularly important Pharaoh or that the tomb was especially large or special. It really is just that it is the only tomb to be discovered with all its goodies still inside. Compared to the other tombs his was tiny…only two chambers and no carvings. Historians, think that this usually meant that the Pharaoh died unexpectedly. According to tradition they must be buried in XXX days. So King Tut’s tomb was actually a rush job! The Cairo museum now exhibits all the riches and valuable found in Tut’s tomb.

Deir-el-Medina
This is the remains of the town where the artisans lived who worked to build and decorate the Pharos’ tombs in the Valley of the Kings. A rarely visited site, it was quite a treat to visit the tombs here. They were in incredible condition, with extremely vivid colors from the XX thousand year old paints carefully applied by the masters of this trade.

Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir al-Bahri)
Thiswas another desert sanctuary most famous because the Pharaoh behind its construction was not a man. Hatshepsut ruled as Pharaoh for 15 years after her husband died and their son was not yet old enough to rule – making her reagent. The temple is striking and can be seen clearly from the Nile like an entrance to a massive desert fortress. Interestingly, Hatshepsut masculinized herself, wearing the Pharaonic beard and masculine clothes—likely to increase her acceptance and legitimacy as Pharaoh. After her death, her successors took many efforts at literally erasing her from the history books—going as far as rubbing out her name at many of the temples across the kingdom.