Hi Everyone!!!
I
arrived in
The
next day we headed out to
This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops; coordinates 29°58′31.3″N, 31°07′52.7″E), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren; coordinates 29°58′42.6″N, 31°08′05.0″E), and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus; coordinates 29°58′19.8″N, 31°07′43.4″E), along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids, and most noticeably the Great Sphinx. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards), signifying the reverence to those buried in the necropolis.
View away from Pyramids and city.
These were our tour guides for the trip. Very knowledgeable and can speak like 5 languages!!!
After lunch we went to the
forgettable
After the show we went back to the hotel to relax.
The next morning we went
to the
1st thing we did was visit
The ancient Egyptian city of Thebes,
Girls just want to have fun.
Luxor Temple is known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or "the southern harem", the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was, during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name
It’s dark now and time to check in to our boat (King Tut II) and grab some dinner.
The next morning we all
get up waaaayyy to early and visit: The Colossi of
Memnon, The Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, The Temple of Hatshepsut,
a tourist trap for statues made from Alabaster and then the
You would never guess they are tired.
.
Colossi of Memnon
The original function of the
Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's
memorial temple (or mortuary
temple): a massive cult centre built during the pharaoh's lifetime, where
he was worshipped as a god-on-earth both before and after his departure from
this world. In its day, this temple complex was the largest and most opulent in
Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth
dynasty of ancient
Egypt. She was believed to have been co-regent from about
1479 to 1458 BC (years 7 to 21 of Thutmose III) . She is
regarded as the earliest known queen regnant in history
and as the first great woman in recorded history. She was only the second known
woman to assume the throne as "King of Upper and
Hatshepsut reestablished the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos' occupation of Egypt (the Second Intermediate Period), the wealth of the 18th dynasty that has become so famous since the discovery of the burial of Tutankhamun began to be collected. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt. The expedition set out in her name with five ships, each measuring seventy feet long, and with several sails; each ship accommodated 210 men, including sailors and thirty rowers. Many goods were bought in Punt, notably myrrh, which is said to have been Hatshepsut's favorite fragrance. Most notably however, the Egyptians returned from the voyage bearing thirty-one live frankincense trees, whose roots were carefully kept in baskets for the duration of the voyage. This was the first ever recorded attempt to replant foreign trees. She reportedly had the trees planted in the courts of her Deir el Bahari mortuary temple. She had the expedition commemorated in relief at Deir el-Bahri, which is famous for its unflattering depiction of the Queen of Punt. Although many Egyptologists have claimed that her foreign policy was mainly peaceful, there is evidence that she led successful military campaigns in Nubia, the Levant and Syria early in her career.
Karnak consists of four main parts, of which only one is accessible for tourists and the general public. This is also the "main" temple part and by far the largest part. One can probably on that basis redefine the term Karnak, as to be understood as being the Precinct of Amon-Re only, as this is the only part most visitors normally see. The three other parts are closed to the public.
There are also a few smaller temples and sanctuaries located outside the enclosing walls of the four main parts, as well as several avenues of ram-headed sphinxes connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amon-Re and Luxor Temple.
The key difference between
Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in
In the courtyard at Karnack.
We leave Karnack for a stop at the Papyrus shop. And I spend a 100 bucks on a painting I had to have.
Goddess Hathor. Goddess of Love, Music, Beauty...and Alcohol.
In Egyptian mythology, Hathor
(Egyptian for house
of Horus) was originally a
personification of the Milky
Way, which was seen as the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly
cow. Hathor was an ancient goddess, worshipped as a cow-deity from at least 2700 BC, during the 2nd dynasty,
and possibly even by the Scorpion
King. The name Hathor refers to the encirclement by her, in the form
of the Milky Way, of the night sky and consequently of the god of the sky, Horus. She was originally seen as
the daughter of Ra, the creator
whose own cosmic birth was formalised as the Ogdoad cosmogeny.
Ahh!!! Back on board sailing up the nile.
Next morning Edfu
The town is known for the
major Ptolemaic temple, built between 237 BCE to 57 BCE. Of all the temple
remains in
The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Hellenistic royal family
which ruled the Ptolemaic
Empire in
Ptolemy,
a Macedonian and one of Alexander the Great's
generals, was appointed satrap
of
The first pylon at
Horus
Inside the 1st Pylon
By now, we are learning to read.
There are
numerous reliefs, including a depiction of the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting,
the annual reunion between Horus and his wife Hathor. The reliefs are mostly
situated on the inside of the first pylon, and spiritually connect this temple
with Hathor’s Temple at
the Dendera complex. During the third month of summer, the priests at the
Dendera complex would place the statue of Hathor on her barque (a ceremonial
barge) and would thus bring the statue to the
East Gate (
Inner Sanctuary (NAOS)
A quick ride back through town to our ship.
Cruising Up the
The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple built during the rule Ptolemaic dynasty in the Egyptian town of Kom Ombo. One side of the temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world. The other side is dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder. The temple was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145 BC) at the beginning of his reign and added to by other Ptolemys, most notably Ptolemy XIII (47-44 BC), who built the inner and outer hypostyle halls. Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes, and later builders who used the stones for other projects. Some of the reliefs inside were defaced by Copts who once used the temple as a church. A few of the three-hundred crocodile mummies discovered in the vicinity are displayed inside the temple.
Back to the ship for the party.
The twin temples were carved
out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a
lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his
alleged victory at the Battle
of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors. The complex
consists of two temples. The larger one is dedicated to Ra-Harakhty, Ptah and Amun,
The greater Abu Simbel
temple is generally considered the
grandest and most beautiful of the temples commissioned during the reign of
Ramesses II, and one of the most beautiful in
The facade is 33 meters high, and 38 meters broad, and guarded by four statues, each of which is 20 meters high. They were sculptured directly from the rock in which the temple was located before it was moved. All statues represent Ramesses II, seated on a throne and wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The statue to the left of the entrance was damaged in an earthquake, leaving only the lower part of the statue still intact.
Nubian Slaves
The Smaller Abu Simbel Temple is located north of the Greater Temple. It was carved in the rock by Ramesses II and dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of love and beauty, and also to his favorite wife, Nefertari, for "whose sake the very sun doeth shine." The façade is adorned by six statues, four of Ramesses II and two of Nefertari. Most unusually, the six are the same height, which indicates the esteem in which Nefertari was held. The entrance leads to a hall containing six pillars bearing the head of the goddess Hathor.
Hathor has the two horns with the sun in the middle. Nefertari has the high double crown of royalty. So it’s both Goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari.
Quick
trip to the Dam: I’m not sure what
After the Dam we head out
for my favorite
"Every
part of
but the only place to which the epithet beautiful can be
correctly applied is the
Robert Curzon, from 'Visits to the Monasteries of
the
The island temple at
The temple is really a complex of temples, the main temple being dedicated to the Goddess Isis, built by Pharaoh Ptolemy XI. Also to be seen here is the Pavilion of Nectanebo I, dedicated to Hathor, and Trajan's Pavilion, rebuilt by the emperor Trajan and with reliefs showing him offering gifts to the Egyptian Gods. The complex contains all the elements of ancient Egyptian history, with Egyptian, Greek and Roman architecture blending together.
View from
Not really panoramic but you get the Idea
The beautiful reliefs on the temple walls depict musicians playing for the entertainment of the gods, all in accordance with the patron deity Hathor, of singing, music and dance .
Trajan's Kiosk
Where the sacred barge
with the statue of
The Unfinished Obelisk
Much of the red/pink
granite used for ancient temples and colossi came from quarries in the
.This was me explaining to the group how the Egyptians would use Durite Stone to cut Granite. The Durite is in my hand. It’s a really hard black stone. You would smash it down on the Pink Granite to take chips out of it to cut it. That’s how they did it.
Back to the ship to relax.
This was the excursion to
the Nubian village, I’m not on the ferry, that’s how I took this picture. I did
manage to steal some pictures from my fellow travelers who were on the ferry
though. So I have included them on this page. Of course I didn’t ask permission
to use the pictures and if you haven’t guessed I didn’t write all of the
captions on these pages either. That is not an admission of guilt for anything.
I’m just being efficient when I borrow stuff from the web. You can call my
lawyer in
The rest of us stayed on
the boat during the
We disembark the next morning to start out on our long trip across the desert.
We stop for lunch
After lunch it’s a convoy
across the desert to Hurghada by the
Security in numbers.
Nothing out here but bandits.
Halfway point. Armed security surround the nearby hills.
“Mister Mister take my picture for a dollar”
Out on the Town
Bandits!!!
Saying Goodbye L
Well,
the trip home,
Scott
Look!!! There is a person in my drink!!!!