Thebes

Temple of Karnak

Valley of Kings & Valley of Queens

Hatshepsut, Memnon & Ramesseum

 

Luxor Temple

Thebes, called Waset in ancient Egypt, was located east of the River Nile about 500 miles south of the Mediterranean. Thebes's ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor. Thebes has a troubled history being Egypt's capital city on and off many times over. During two centuries from 1550 B.C. Thebes was the most powerful city in the world. However, even in times that Thebes was not the capital of Egypt, Thebes remained a powerful city in ancient times, specifically because of the presence of the sanctuary of the Egyptian supreme god Amon-Ra in Karnak.

Hatshepsut was the second female pharaoh and came to the throne of Egypt in 1478 BC. Her mortuary temple was built close to the entrance of the Valley of Kings. The Colossi of Memnon garded the entrance of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III of which so little is left. The Ramesseum is the mortuary temple of Ramesses II.

A temple without equal. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach an unparalleled size of over 303 acres. So many elements of the Temple of Karnak survived the ravages of time that all you can think of can be marvelled at: obelisks, beautiful dromen, enormous statues and a precinct  with whopping 134 pylons of 49 feet high. Karnak is my most favorite temple by far.

 

The Valley of the Kings has been used during 500 years for pharaohs and nobility. Until today 62 tombes have been excavation but the number might rise in future as excavation continues. A limited number of tombes can be visited; every six years they rotate the tombes open to the public. As sunlight cannot enter the chambers the colors of the murals are absolutely stunning.

The Luxor Temple is connected to Karmak via its drome, flanked by sphinxes. This is the only place in the world where - inside the walls of an ancient Egyptian temple and built on the place of a former Christian church - an Islamic mosque can be found with an ancient Egyptian shrine depicting animals and humans within its walls.