Luxor
Nov 6–7, 2009 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
The modern-day city of Luxor stands on the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Thebes acted as the capital for long periods of time, and this makes it very rich in archaeological sites. These include the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor, the Colossi of Memnon, the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, and the extensive Valley of the Kings.
With so many highlights, you could easily have spent a week there, but unfortunately, we only had 2 days, and it was already after lunch by the time our minivan arrived from Edfu. Despite this challenge, our guide Ghandi had devised an epic 48hours that would tick off all of them...and use every mode of transport that he could get his hands on...including donkeys.
Our first stop was the astounding temple complex at Karnak. Covering approximately 100 hectares, Karnak is the largest religious building ever built. Construction began almost 4,000 years ago, and continued over millennia. It is so vast that the complex is divided into precincts, and we only had time to visit the precinct of Amun-Re. But it's not like we missed out, because this area contains the Great Hypostyle Hall (home to 134 stone columns up to 21m in height) and the tallest obelisk left in Egypt. The latter point highlights the fact that only 5 of the 30 obelisks from Ancient Egypt are still at their original sites. The tallest is now standing 32.18m above its plynth in Lateran Palace, Rome! (Karnak retained the 2nd tallest, at 29.56m)
We had squeezed every last ray of sunshine during our visit to Karnak, and it was dark by the time we returned to downtown Luxor. This meant that there wasn't enough time to visit the Temple of Luxor, but, if I'm honest, I was starting to suffer from "temple burnout" anyway. I had experienced this previously in Mexico, and it's the feeling you get when you've seen enough of piles of rocks (regardless of how epic they might be). Thankfully, the proximity of the Luxor Temple to downtown meant that we were still able to catch a few photos of it from the outside. Bathed in floodlights, this was actually a lovely way to see it (and its obelisk).
The next morning, Ghandi got us up early to finish our own version of TV's Amazing Race, and our first stop was the Colossi of Memnon. These statues are actually a bit of a misnomer, because they represent Pharoah Amenhotep III, not the mythological Greek King, Memnon.
The original function of the Colossi were to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's massive memorial temple. In its day, this temple complex was the largest and most opulent in Ancient Egypt. Covering a total of 35 hectares, it was larger than the Temple of Karnak was at that time. Sadly, (especially for Amenhotep) the Colossi are now shattered, and the memorial temple is...well, ironically, a distant memory.
Now Ghandi mixed it up, and saddled us with donkeys for a short ride through farmland to the Valley of the Kings. It seemed like a poetic way to arrive, but it was definitely not like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie. Firstly, I'm quite heavy, and this definitely didn't seem to impress my donkey. Secondly, I'm very tall, and this meant that I could basically walk with the donkey underneath me. Despite this, the ass, and his donkey, both eventually made it in one piece.
The entrance to the Valley was actually quite nondescript, compared with the monuments that we'd been seeing. Cameras weren't allowed, so we left them behind and followed our guide's advice to visit the tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses VI and Amenhotep II. The recommendation was solid, and we avoided the crowds that would have been at the tomb of Ramses II, and the disappointment that apparently accompanies a visit to the tomb of Tutankhamun. The tombs we saw were astonishing, and displayed both expert carvings and vibrant colours. In fact, one of them demonstrated the entire process perfectly. It wasn't completed before the pharoah died, so the workers just downed the tools and planted him as is. This allowed us to see all 4 phases of the artistry in one place, demonstrating that craftsmanship has barely changed for thousands of years. Marks were visible where apprentices had started to sketch the intended carvings, eventually being overwritten by their masters as they worked their way around the rooms. Then the engravers chiselled the murals into the walls, and finally the painters applied the finishing touches.
Adjacent to the Valley of the Kings are another pair of valleys that provided a glimpse at how all of this was possible; the Valley of the Workers and the Valley of the Nobles. We visited both, including the tombs of Sennedjem, an artist, and Inerka, who was a servant. Amazingly, their tombs were also awash with colourful paintings, but this time they reflected scenes from daily life (as opposed to the afterlife represented in the tombs of the pharoahs). One of the nobles, Sennofer, apparently oversaw the Garden of Amun, so he had arranged for the roof of his tomb to be decked out to look like a vineyard. What a way to go!
It had been a hell of a day, and it would be our last on the Nile. Tomorrow we would be heading west into the desert.Read more