Egypt "Upper Egypt" "Southern Egypt" Abu Simbel, Luxor, "Valley of the Kings" and Aswan.

for seven fantastic days in August 2005 we cruised along one of the mightiest and longest rivers in the world the River Nile from Luxor south to Aswan and back our home for the week was the 35 cabined Viking 3 we soon got into the relaxing swing of ship-borne life sitting on the upper deck watching the world go by as the Sun began to set on our first evening we settled down over a cold drink to take in the sights and sounds of Luxor by Egyptian standards Luxor is a modern city built up on the proceeds of tourism since the Roman times which has given the local shopkeepers plenty of experience in how to separate the tourists from their money look saw al-aqsa in Arabic was the ancient Egyptian capital known as thieves the greatest capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom and the glorious city of the God Armin rah Luxor has been called the world's greatest open-air museum as indeed it is and much more the number and preservation of the monuments in the Luxor area are unparalleled next morning we board our coach for our first excursion to the spectacular West Bank temple at the arrow battery dear el bakry in arabic ad Deir el-bahri literally meaning the northern monastery is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the nile opposite the city of Luxor as the temple faces east the structure is likely to be connected with the Sun cult of Wrath and the resurrection of the King the focal point of the Deir el-bahri complex is the jessa Jesse rue meaning the Holy of Holies it is a colonnaded structure which was designed and implemented by Sinemet Royal steward an architect of hatshepsut to serve for a posthumous worship and to honor the glory of our moon Jetha yo saroo sits atop a series of colonnaded terraces reached by long ramps that once were graced with spectacular gardens and avenues of swings and is built into a cliff face that rises sharply above it these restored statues on the uppermost level are depicting hatshepsut wearing a false beard and the twin crown of Upper and Lower Egypt it's believed that the statues were damaged after a death under the orders of Thutmose the third as an act of revenge for depriving him of what he considered as his rightful status as the true Pharaoh for the first time in Egyptian art text and a pictorial cycle tell of the divine birth of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut and her autobiography including stories of a fabled trip to the Land of Punt considered by some scholars likely to be what is today Eritrea or Somalia today the terrace of the Arab re only conveys a faint impression of the original intentions of cinemates all the statue ornaments are missing the statues of a saris in front of the pillars of the upper colonnade the Sphinx Avenue in front of the court and the standard sitting and kneeling figures of the Queen all were destroyed in a posthumous condemnation of the female Pharaoh to the north of the arab re lies the Valley of the Kings in Arabic Wadi beeban elma look gates of the king here for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to the 11th century BC tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful Nobles of the new kingdom in modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun with its rumor of the curse of the Pharaohs and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world the Theban Hills are dominated by the peak of our home known to the ancient Egyptians as aheadand it has a pyramid shaped appearance and is considered to have been the reason why the kings of Egypt started to be buried beneath it it's isolated position resulted in reduced access and special tomb police the meji were able to guard the necropolis the valley was used for primary burials from approximately 15 39 BC to 1075 BC and contains at least 63 tombs beginning with it Mo's the first and ending with Rama seized the 10th or 11th a few miles south lies the valley of the queens the valley of the queens also known as beeban el harem is where the wives of pharaohs were buried in ancient times it was known as tacit neferu meaning the place of the children of the pharaoh because along with the queens of the 18th 19th and 20th dynasties many princes and princesses were also buried with various members of the nobility the tombs of these individuals were maintained by mortuary priests who performed daily rituals and provided offerings and prayers for the deceased nobility this necropolis is said to hold more than 70 tombs many of which are stylish and lovely decorated the colossi of memnon known to locals as l colossus or s selamat are two massive stone statues of pharaoh amenhotep the third for the past three thousand four hundred years they have stood in the theban necropolis the twin statues depict arm and hope depth the third in a seated position his hands resting on his knees and his gaze turned eastwards towards the River Nile and the Rising Sun the statues are made from blocks of quartzite sandstone when constructed including the stone platforms on which they stood they reached a towering 18 metres around 60 feet in height returning to the boat we stopped at a perfume Factory where we learn and see how the beautiful Egyptian perfume bottles are made we listen to how Egypt exports the essence used to make perfume all around the world to companies such as Chanel and Dior and then in Egyptian style comes the big sell this is one kind for man this the business of cool water there is your four men's men's ones will go to Delhi access to the temple of Luxor was and still is for the thousands of tourists who flock there every day from the north where the causeway lined by many hundreds Fink's once led all the way to the mighty Karnak temple over three kilometers away the temple proper begins with the 79 foot high first pylon built by Rama seized the second the pylon was decorated with scenes of ramasees military triumphs later pharaohs particularly those of the nubian and Ethiopian dynasties also recorded their victories here this main entrance to the temple complex was originally flanked by six colossal statues of Ramses 4 seated and 2 standing but only two both seated have survived modern visitors can also see the eighty two foot tall pink granite obelisk it is one of a matching pair the other was given as a gift to a French King and taken to Paris in 1835 where it now stands in the center of the plaster la concorde luxor temple is known in Arabic as if it Greece yet or the southern sanctuary the temple was dedicated to the Theban triad of gods our moon mutt & Chong's and was built during the New Kingdom in 1400 BC the pylon gateway leads into a peristyle courtyard also built by ramasees ii this area and the pylon were built at an oblique angle to the rest of the temple presumably to accommodate the three pre-existing bark shrines located in the northwest corner the main part of the temple the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep the third and a later addition by rama sees the second surrounding the courtyard are massive statues of Ramses the second interrupted by papyrus columns it is a top four columns of this courtyard that the Abu Haggard mosque was built on the eastern side a doorway leads soo realistically out into thin air some 26 feet above the ground after the peristyle courtyard comes the processional colonnade built by Amenhotep the third a 328 feet long corridor lined by 14 papyrus Capitol columns beyond the colonnade is another peristyle courtyard which also dates back to armand hope tips original construction here also sits a statue of the young king tutankhamun and his wife the southern side of this courtyard is made up of a 32 column hyper style court that leads into the inner sanctums of the temple to the rear of the temple are chapels built by Tut Moses the third and Alexander the Great these begin with a dark antechamber of particular interest here are the Roman staccatos that can still be seen atop the Egyptian carvings below in Roman times this area served as a chapel where local Christians were offered a final opportunity to renounce their faith and embrace the state religion moving further in stands a bark shrine for use by our moon built by Alexander with the final area being the private quarters of the Gods and the birth shrine of Amenhotep the third his divine origin is depicted in careful touching detail on the walls one sight not to be missed is the Luxor Museum of Antiquities inaugurated in 1975 the museum is housed in a small purpose-built building the range of artifacts on display a far more restricted than the country's main collections in the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo this was however deliberate since the museum prides itself on the quality of the piece as it has the uncluttered way in which they're displayed and the clear multilingual labeling used among the most striking items on show are grave goods from the tomb of Tutankhamun and a collection of 26 exceptionally well-preserved New Kingdom statues that were found buried in a cache in nearby Luxor Temple in 1989 two of the most striking items are the mummified remains of ramasees the first and his son the greatest Pharaoh of them all ramasees the second in the afternoon we arrived at the Magnificent temple of karnak Karnak is one of the premiere sites in all of Egypt and one of the most visited although badly ruined no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak the key difference between karnak and most of the other temple sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom continued through to potala mayic times approximately 30 Pharaoh's contributed to the buildings it is the largest temple complex ever built by man and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders the Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples with the precinct of Armin rah being the only one open to the public there are many smaller and closed temples and several outer temples all located about three kilometers north of Luxor karnak is actually the site's modern name its ancient name was if it a suit meaning the most select or sacred of places today visitors normally approach the temple from the west by way of a key built by ramses ii which gave access to the temple from a canal which during ancient times was linked to the nile a short avenue of cryo Sphynx leads from the key to the temples first pylon these cryos Fink's have ram's heads symbolizing the great state god our moon and each holds a statue of the king protectively between their paws the huge entrance pylon is actually unfinished as attested by the unequal heights of its upper regions the uncut blocks which project from its undecorated surfaces and the remains of the mud brick construction ramp that is still present on its interior side passing through this pile on the first courtyard now when closes an area that was originally outside of the temple as evidenced by a number of cries Fink's like those outside that were displaced from their original position along the processional route inside this courtyard to the left is the granite and sandstone triple barked Chapel of settee the second opposite this shrine is a small Sphinx with the features of Tutankhamun thanks to the magic of animation and the Egyptology Department of UCLA we can take a virtual flight into the temples first court for a look at what hasn't been seen for 2,500 years the second pylon was begun during the reign of Horemheb the last ruler of the 18th dynasty and completed during the reign of setae the first the second pylon opens into the famous great hypostyle hall which is one of the most impressive areas in the whole of the Karnak temple complex with its towering columns there are a total of 134 papyrus columns including 12 in the center which are taller than the others they measure about 69 feet high while a 122 others measure 49 feet at one time these columns supported a roof with small windows while the roof is gone some of the windows remain they would have provided a muted illumination for the interior once again we can jump back in time to imagine what the hole would have looked like the whole was begun by Amenhotep the third however the decorations were initiated by satay the first and completed by ramasees the second within the whole the decoration shows scenes from the daily ritual and also processional scenes as well as mythical topics such as the Kings interaction with various gods Amenhotep the third initiated the third pylon though its entrance porch is part of the later ramesside period beyond this pylon is the obelisk court where for such structures were erected by Tut moses the first and third this obelisk stands almost 22 meters in height including the pedestal which is 1.8 meters square most estimates place its weight between 128 and 143 tonnes the obelisk is made of red granite the remains of two long-lost obelisks of hatshepsut are found a short distance away one now standing with the upper part of the southern obelisk broken into pieces it is mounted on concrete blocks in the proximity of the sacred lake to the south of the girdle wall of Ramses the second is a rectangular sacred lake dug by Tut Moses the third it is the largest of its kind that is known of and is lined with stone and provided with stairways descending into the water it measures some 393 feet by 252 feet it is believed that most temple precincts included a sacred lake water from the lake filled with groundwater was used by the priests for ritual ablutions and other temple needs and was also home to the sacred geese of our Moon as raw the Sun God leaves yah the moon God takes his place to see the temple of karnak from a different perspective a visit to the nightly sound and light show was a must maybe even insoles and welcome you O traveller from Upper Egypt you will travel no further because you are gone here you are at the beginning of time and a great week of the creation of the world and the separation of the earth and the water you are at the house each Pharaoh told himself with a fart poverty and 28 inches the result is this fabulous labyrinth of facades and passages Esplanade and corridors perspectives and detours to which only priests and Pharaoh had access which have been paired the theme for the birth city the city of cities Oh me in a week this sacred lake on the banks of which you have come to dream for one can only understand by dreaming this mirror said in the rock has reflected the finest firework display of ante what a dazzling gleam that has lasted twenty centuries as soon as one cluster of stars faded another Pharaoh fired another salvo they are Olympics come to life was for today farewell to you you don't worry like there's been wings sprinkling the darkness of the river slipping our moorings the next morning we sail south down the Nile passing some beautiful countryside as we lazed on deck or in the pool the tranquil peace every now and again was shattered as we passed another cruise ship while the captain seemed to have a little game to see who had the best ships horn later we came upon the oldest cruise ship on the Nile the venerable old Sudan built at the end of the 1800s sedan was to become a film star Agatha Christie took a cruise on the old steam paddle ship which impressed her so much she wrote death on the Nile with a plot based around the ship when the book was made into a film it was shot on board in the early evening we closed on esna where ships must wait for transit through two massive locks with 300 nile cruise ships the locks caused massive congestion while the ship's wait to be called through local entrepreneurs seize the moment and in typical Egyptian style if you can't get to the shops they'll bring the shops to you just after midnight we started to inch our way through the lock all Nile ships are a standard 14 meters wide with the lock only 15 meters half a meter space each side isn't much at all especially in the dark however we pass through safely and next morning find ourselves alongside esna town cruise boats often make this town their first port of call after leaving looks or to visit the remains of the Potala mayic temple in the center of the town the ancient name for asthma was LUN Yin or tar sunette the temple is dedicated to the ram headed God nama the god of creation but Moses the third laid the foundations of the temple in the 18th dynasty but per Ptolemaic and Roman emperors from 40 to 250 AD completed it it is one of the last temples built in Egypt and stands today in its excavation pit 9 meters below the modern ground level while all that remains of the temple is the great hypostyle Hall the roof of the Hiva style hole is still intact supported by 24 columns each with varied floral capitals there are 16 different parm and plant capitals on the columns some still with excellent color the walls are covered with four rows of reliefs showing four Ptolemaic and roman emperors dressed in Pharaoh costumes leaving esna in the late afternoon we sail ever southwards watching Egyptian daily life unfold before us early next morning we arrived at the sleepy town of Eid Phu ed Phu has the second-largest temple in Egypt after Karnak and undoubtedly the best-preserved the entire temple was covered by the desert sands the sand has helped to preserve the building which was found to be almost completely intact when it was first cleared and excavated by Auguste Mariette in the 1860s the temple dedicated to the Falcon god Horus was built in the Potala Mayock period between 237 and 57 BC carvings on the massive twin towers of the 118 foot high entrance pylon are almost mirror images of each other with the traditional scenes of the Kings smiting his enemies before Horace within the pylons is the colonnaded courtyard with distinctive paired columns which lead into the great hypostyle hall ahead is the main temple facade in front of which stands the famous colossal black granite statue of Horus as a falcon wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt the facade has screen walls with engaged columns in the usual style of late period and potala mayic temples this is the outer hypostyle Hall of Pranay us with 18 tall carved columns to support a ceiling decorated with astronomical figures representing the sky the usual offering scenes decorate the walls but there are also well-preserved reliefs from the temple foundation ceremony the second type of style Hall the nails so great Court is older and smaller than the Pranay as' the ceiling is supported by 12 slender columns this hyper style has a number of chambers leading off to each side next we come to the Holy of Holies the sanctuary which was the most sacred area of the temple the sanctuary contains the oldest object in the temple a granite naor shrine which would have contained the cult statue of Horus in a chapel behind the sanctuary there is a low pedestal on which stands a reproduction of the bark or ceremonial barge of Horus around the inner temple is an ambulatory or corridor carved with more foundation and building text and also scenes from The Ed food drama the triumph of Horus that tells the story of Horus mythological triumph over Seth which was celebrated each year as a mystery play we sailed overnight and much of the next day before arriving at calm ombo in the late afternoon c'mom bow is one of the smallest and arguably prettiest of the nile temples sitting as it does on a low plateau overlooking the great river nile the temple of colombo is an unusual double temple built during the rule of the Potala mayic dynasty one side of the temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek the god of fertility and creator of the world the other side is dedicated to the falcon god harris also known as horus the elder the stone color differs from that of all the other temples perhaps because it was covered with sand for so long much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile earthquakes and later builders who use the stones for other projects one of the finest high reliefs in the temple is that of potala me the 12th receiving the waters of purification from the gods Horus and thought the first type of style Hall has three transverse rows of fine bundled columns each with a bill Capitol the ceiling is decorated with astronomical scenes and the vulture the symbol of neck vet and Odette the calendar here at c'mon bow is thought to be the oldest in the world the Egyptian calendar was divided into 365 days 12 30 day months and one five-day month depicted in hieroglyphics on a wall leading to the sanctuary our engravings of what is thought to be the first representation of medical instruments for performing surgery including scalpels Koretz forceps dilator scissors and medicine bottles dating from the days of the Roman Egypt with the Sun setting we made our way back to the ship tonight was to be our Galibier party the Galibier is a tunic worn by Egyptian men everyone on the ship dressed in the Egyptian style for a night of belly dancing competitions and party games overnight we sail to aswan egypt third city behind Cairo and Alexandria aswan is the ancient city of swearnet which was in antiquity the frontier town of Egypt it is perhaps the most scenic city on the Nile and in Aswan the River Nile is at its most beautiful it lies roughly 900 kilometres south of Cairo on the borders of Nubia only 30 miles from Sudan there is something unique about an Egyptian souk which makes them unlike any others in Arabia maybe it's the sounds sights and smells of herbs and spices that invade your senses or perhaps just the very friendly people I thankfully visited this market on the Friday Sabbath so the normally bustling crowds were not present I have mentioned the Potala Me's and the Potala made period many times in this video the Potala Me's were a Greek royal family which ruled Egypt for almost 300 years from 305 CC to 30 BC they were the 32nd and last dynasty of ancient Egypt after lunch a short drive brought us to feel a where we were too bored small boats to take us to the penultimate temple of our week by 1960 UNESCO had decided to move many of the endangered sites along the Nile to safer ground fillets temple complex was moved piece by piece to the island of Aguila 550 meters away where it was reassembled and remains today the main temple is dedicated to Isis and was the center of the cult of Isis and Hathor during the Roman period it was the last pagan temple in use in Egypt the island was so scenic it was called the pearl of Egypt in bloom as it was when we visited I can see why beginning at the south of the island neck medieval structure is a hole with screen walls linked by graceful columns there are two colonnades on the east and west sides of the courtyard this leads to the first temple pylon the first pylon was built by / Ptolemy the 12th and decorated in traditional Egyptian style with reliefs of the kings of doing his enemies and worshipping the goddess Isis on the eastern side of the inner court is another colonnade with a number of chambers behind it in front of the second pylon the natural outcrop of rock on which it was built was smooth to create a nation stealer recording lands donated to the temple by potala Mina 6th the second pylon leads to the hypostyle Hall the hyper style hole is small and unassuming compared to some of the other temples from this period a series of three vestibules lead to the central sanctuary the ISIS sanctuary still contains a pedestal where the sacred bark used in the processions and festivals of the goddess would have rested leaving the temple by a doorway in the eastern side we visit the small temple of hathor built by potala me 6th and 8th with it / Ptolemaic papyrus columns nearby is the kiosk of trajan probably the most distinctive of Falaise monuments reliefs inside the rectangular structure of 14 columns with screen walls depict the emperor trajan making offerings to isis the roof is now gone and the kiosk which was at one time the main entrance to the temple from the river is airy and open we had a couple of stops on the way back to our ship the first was to the world-famous Aswan High Dam it was considered an engineering miracle when it was constructed in the 1960s the dam is 11811 feet long 3,200 15 feet wide at its base and 364 feet tall today it provides electricity and irrigation for the whole of Egypt the lake created by the dam is some 500 miles long our second stop was to a granite quarry the granite quarries of ancient US one lay beside the Nile thus providing easy access to boats for transporting this prized building stone to sites downstream a crack in the granite stopped the cutting of what would have been an enormous obelisk estimated at more than 40 metres high now the abandoned partially carved obelisk gives us much information about how ancient stone cutters worked the heat reflecting back from the granite was unbearable to work the stone in this heat must literally have been a killer back on the ship after dinner we had the treat of a nubian folk night complete with an authentic belly dance nubian dances and a demonstration a what spurred the phrase whirling dervish the highlight of the trip for me was a visit to Abu Simbel Abu Simbel comprises two massive Rock temples in southern Egypt on the Western Bank of Lake Nasser it's about two hundred and ninety kilometers southwest of us one the twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of pharaoh ramses ii in the 13th century BC as a lasting monument to himself and his queen nefertari however the complex was relocated in its entirety in the 1960s on an artificial hill made from a domed structure the relocation of the temple was necessary to avoid being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan Dam on the River Nile it was dedicated to the gods are mudra raha rock tea and Fatah as well as to the deified ramasees himself it is generally considered the grandest and most beautiful of the temples commissioned during the reign of Ramses the second and one of the most beautiful in Egypt ramasees himself came here and opened the temples five years later a savage earthquake damaged the second statue ramasees was never told and went to his grave not knowing his great temple had been damaged all statues represent ramses ii seated on a throne and wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt between his feet a statues of his wife Nefertari and his daughters above the entrance is the god rah in human form shown with a Falcons head and the Sun disk behind him inside the hyper style holes sometimes also called the Pranay as' is 18 meters long and 16 point seven meters wide and is supported by eight huge Assyrian pillars depicting the deified ramasees links to the god Osiris the colossal statues along the left hand wall bear the white crown of Upper Egypt while those on the opposite side are wearing the double crown the bass reliefs on the walls of the Pranay 'as he picked battle scenes in the military campaigns the ruler waged much of the sculpture is given to the Battle of Kadesh this hall gives access to a transverse vestibule in the middle of which is the entrance to the sanctuary here on a black wall a rock cutout sculptures of four seated figures from the right raha Rock T the day of fight King Rama sees and the gods are mudra and Fatah the temple of hathor and Nefertari also known as the small temple was built about 100 metres north east of the temple of ramses ii and was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and ramasees ii chief consort Nefertari this was in fact the first time in ancient Egyptian history that a temple was dedicated to a queen the statues slightly more than 10 meters high or of the king and his queen what is truly surprising is that for the first and only time in Egyptian art the statues of the king and his consort are equal in size inside this second temple are many images of the female gods such as Isis and Hathor as well as scenes with ramasees and Nefertari making offerings to the gods we make the most of the next day relaxing on our last full day in Egypt as we sailed back northwards to Luxor contemplating all we had seen and experienced over the last seven days there is something about the air in Egypt that makes every sunset a want to remember and we remember all of them Salam alaikum

Channel: Kevin Kilpatrick

Views: 37,745

Rating: 4.689796 out of 5

Keywords: Luxor (City/Town/Village), Kings, Valley, Valley Of The Kings (Cemetery), Egypt (Country), Aswan, Luxor, Edfu, Esna, Valley of the Queens, River Nile, Cruise, Dier el Bahri, Cruise Ship (Ship Type), Dessert, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Karnak, Tutankhamun, Ramesses, Abu Simbel, Tourism, Travel, Culture, Adventure, Destination, Nature, Museum, Landmark

Id: f9zvb_OrhIE

Length: 52min 52sec (3172 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 19 2012