Day 5-6      11/6/22 - 11/7/22

Egypt - Luxor

Frank's Trip

CLICK on any image to enlarge - use mouse cursor to move enlargement it if doesn't fit area

Luxor is the modern name of the ancient city of Thebes

Temple Complexes of Luxor Egypt...

Today was "2 days" because 1 day was travel to Luxor from Cairo. I've had good luck with trains in other places in the past - so I took the train. The seats were large and comfortable and the fare was cheap. The train arrived a little over an hour later than scheduled. The trip itself was like riding in a freezer compartment with fans turned up high. Very cold!

The current city of Luxor is the site of the famous city of Thebes of Ancient Egypt. For a time beginning around 2000 BC it was the capital of Ancient Egypt

Luxor is divided into 2 different areas. The East Bank has the Temple of Karnac and the Temple of Luxor. It really took a day to explore these complexes. While they are literally ruins, they are fascinating and the scale of them is awesome - people standing near a column or statue are dwarfed.

Seeing the ruins themselves and the colossal sizes of the pieces and the remains of the magnificent carvings into the stone is about the best anyone can do here; deciphering what is what and where, even though well documented, would be a huge effort. It seems unimaginable the amount of human time and effort that was put into just the carvings into stone - never mind the quarrying and cutting and shaping of the stone pieces themselves or the transport of them.

By around 300 AD these temples were mostly abandoned anyway when Roman Emperor Constantine the Great recognized Christianity and in 356 AD Constantius II ordered the closing of pagan temples.

Pigeon Towers

I saw a lot of these while in Egypt and asked about them... The pigeon tower is an ancient method of raising and keeping pigeons. Pigeon towers are unique icons and beautifully shaped, made with all natural materials and a design that allows fresh air to blow through.

Karnac Temple Complex

This temple complex dates to 1900 BC - 3,900 years old. The Great Temple of Amun is Karnak's main temple building. It was, at its peak, the largest and most important religious complex in ancient Egypt. The most significant structure, and the largest religious building ever built, is the Temple of Amun-Ra, considered to be where that god lived on earth with his wife, Mut, and son, Khonsu, who also have temples at the site.

There is detailed information about this site covering each of its many aspects: who built them, their relative position within the site, and what they were all about. Without spending at least a couple of days of intense study at the site, I don't believe anyone could really figure out what is what among the ruins.

The Sacred Lake

Can you imagine the connections needed to get a spot for a refreshment / snack area within this hot, dry complex where there are no other vendors?

The lake is about 250 feet by 400 feet. It represents the primeval waters from which life arose.

Granite Scarab Statue

Right: Hatshepsut Obelisk

The Avenue Of The Sphinxes

It is the processional way that connects the temples of Karnac and Luxor. It is a little over 1.5 miles and is about 250 feet wide and is flanked by 1,060 statues of Rams and Sphinxes about 13 feet apart.

Temple of Luxor

This temple dates back to 1400 BC - 3,400 years old. Begun by Amenhotep III the temple was completed by Tutankhamun and Horemheb and added to by Ramses II. So, effectively, it was under construction for well over 100 years.