• Jenn J
  • Jenn J

Pharaohs & Pyramids + Petra

21-päiväinen seikkaillu — Jenn J Lue lisää
  • Ancient Temple of Esna

    24. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Built by Roman Emperor Tiberius.

    The ancient name for Esna was (Ta-Senet), classical Latopolis). The temple, dating to the Ptolemaic and Roman Period and one of the last temples built in Egypt. It was dedicated to the god Khoum and several other deities, including Neith, Heka, Satet and Menheyet.

    Esna Temple would once have been built to a plan similar to the temples at Edfu and Dendera but all that now remains is the hypostyle hall which was built by the Roman Emperor Claudius who extended earlier buildings. The oldest part of the structure seen today is the west (back) wall which would have been the façade of the original temple, depicting reliefs of Ptolemy VI Philometer and Ptoiemy VIII Neos Philopator. The earliest king mentioned here is Ptolemy V; who is being offered a libation by his son Ptolemy VII. The part of the Temple we see today is around a quarter of the size of the original building.
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  • Aswan High Dam

    25. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
  • Egypt Day 6/7 - Aswan

    26.–27. marrask. 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    Located at the first cataract of the Nile, a set of rapids coursing through a rocky riverbed, Aswan has long been a terminus town on the Nile, where traders began, ended or paused their long journeys. Today, the trading tradition continues in the city's lively market near the Nile's banks. The city also thrived due to the massive quantities of granite quarried here to build the country's countless ancient temples, obelisks and pyramids. In the 1960s, completion of the Aswan High Dam created Lake Nasser. As the lake rose, the city became a magnet for archaeologists intent on saving ancient temples from submersion.Lue lisää

  • Nubian Village

    26. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Nubian villages preserve one of the world's oldest civilizations

    ANCIENT NUBIA
    In ancient Nubia, around 5000 BC, herdsmen and hunters from what is now the Sahara migrated toward the Nile River and became farmers and fishermen. As more people moved into the region, the diverse mix of people grew. The Nile River allowed farmers to grow grains, fruits and vegetables as well as herd cattle, which indicated stature and wealth. Nubia became a passageway for extravagant products such as ebony, incense and ivory, which were brought from Africa to Egypt and the Mediterranean.

    PRESENT-DAY NUBIAN VILLAGES
    In southern Egypt, in and near Aswan and along the banks of the Nile River, Nubian families carry on the traditions of their ancient Egyptian and African ancestors, immersing visitors in Nubian life through the tastes, sights, smells and sounds of their vibrant villages.
    In local markets, colorful pashminas woven by resident artisans are displayed behind baskets of fragrant, flavorful spices in every hue imaginable. Guest houses offer visitors a taste of some typical Nubian beverages, including hibiscus tea, red tea with fresh basil and jabana coffee prepared from Sudanese coffee beans combined with ginger and sugar. The scents of perfume and incense waft through the streets. Deep red geometric patterns and botanical designs, painted on using dye from the henna plant, can be seen on the hands of local women. The rhythmic sounds of drums, clapping and the rababa, a bowed string instrument, fill the air with the strains of traditional Nubian music. And Nubians, who are known for their hospitality, share their colorful culture and rich heritage.
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  • Temples of Philae

    26. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Agilkia Island (Temples of Philae)

    Agilkia Island, located in the Old Aswan Dam reservoir along the Nile, is home to such ancient wonders as the Gate of Diocletian and the Temple of Augustus. But the most ancient monument on the island, built sometime around 370 BC, is a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. This historic structure is part of a complex of temples called Philae that has been relocated from its original spot in the first cataract of the Nile, as it had been in a precarious state ever since the Egyptians started damming the river. When the Old Aswan Dam was put into place at the turn of the 20th century, the complex was flooded or completely underwater for months at a time. Visitors could only take boats to the temple, which was mostly submerged, and envision the mysteries locked deep within the river.

    As part of the UNESCO Nubia Campaign, requested by the Egyptian and Sudanese governments in 1959, Philae was disassembled and moved to Agilkia Island. It took workers eight painstaking years to fully deconstruct the temple and relocate the complex. In total, the Nubia Campaign transplanted 22 monuments and architectural complexes via 40 technical missions across five continents—a project that took nearly 20 years to complete.
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  • Kom Ombo Temple

    26. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    The Kom Ombo Temple is dedicated to two triads of deities: Sobek, his wife Hathor and their child Khonsu; and Horus, his wife Tasenetnofret and their child Panebtawy. Given Sobek and Horus's high status as two of ancient Egypt's primary gods, the temple was also known as the "House of the Crocodile" and "Castle of the Falcon." This dual temple boasts two entrances and two sanctuaries. Depictions of Sobek, bearing the body of a man and the head of a crocodile, can be found throughout. Archaeologists have found mummified crocodiles at the site, and some say more than 300 of the reptiles were found inside the temple.

    As with many of Egypt's historic sites, the Kom Ombo Temple fell into disrepair through the ages due to natural disasters and looting. The creep of disintegration was halted by archaeologist Jacques de Morgan in 1893, when he tidied up the Sobek side of the temple. In 1992, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake again damaged the structure, necessitating extensive renovations. Now fully refurbished, Kom Ombo's stunning carvings and massive columns form a most impressive picture.
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  • Sobek (Crocodile) Museum

    26. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

    The god Sobek (also known as Suchos) is depicted either as a crocodile, or as a crocodile-headed man wearing a headdress of ram-horns topped by a sun disk and two tall plumes. Crocodiles were both revered and feared as they had both benevolent and violent sides, and were extremely powerful creatures. The ancient Egyptians prayed to Sobek for protection, strength, and fertility, and also viewed him as a creator god.Lue lisää

  • Egypt Day 8 - Edfu

    27. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    Located on the west bank of the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, Edfu is steeped in Egyptian legend. In this sacred place, ancient myth says that the falcon god Horus battled his uncle Seth after Seth brutally killed Horus's father Osiris. To honor Horus, the people of Edfu built a grand temple from 237 to 57 BC, a young structure by Egyptian standards. Egyptologists have paid particular interest to its design, as it closely resembles that of much older temples. Nearby, an ancient settlement provides hints of life along the Nile, with its interesting artifacts dating as far back as 3100 BC.Lue lisää

  • Edfu Temple

    27. marraskuuta 2024, Egypti ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Horus, defender of order

    In ancient Egypt, the god Horus appeared as a hawk, and was variously the avenger, son of truth, lord of two lands and god of war. But always, he was the ruler of the gods and the patron of the pharaoh.

    Horus had two personae. As Horus the Elder, he was Hathor's consort; as Horus the Child, he was the son of Isis, goddess of marriage, fertility and magic, and Osiris, god of peace and prosperity. Osiris's brother Seth was jealous of the two, so he trapped Osiris in a coffin, drowned him, dismembered him and distributed his body parts all over the world. But Isis gathered all the pieces of Osiris together and performed the first Egyptian embalming to prepare Osiris for the afterlife.
    She was magically able to restore him to life for a short while, during which she became pregnant with Horus.

    Seeking to avenge his father, Horus fought Seth in an epic battle. Horus prevailed-but not before losing his eye. The wedjat eye of Horus is still a powerful talisman.

    Eventually, the Horus entities came together as Horus of Edfu. His temple in Edfu is nearly intact and one of the best preserved in Egypt. Filled with statues and inscriptions, it tells the stirring tales of this mighty hero.
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  • Jerash

    30. marraskuuta 2024, Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    The ancient city of Jerash boasts an unbroken chain of human occupation dating back more than 6,500 years.
    The city's golden age came under Roman rule and the site is now generally acknowledged to be one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. Hidden for centuries in sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years, Jerash reveals a fine example of the grand, formal provincial Roman urbanism that is found throughout the Middle East, comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates.

    Beneath its external Graeco-Roman veneer, Jerash also preserves a subtle blend of east and west. Its architecture, religion and languages reflect a process by which two powerful cultures meshed and coexisted - the Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean basin and the ancient traditions of the Arab Orient.
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  • Mt. Nebo

    1. joulukuuta 2024, Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    Mount Nebo is believed to be the place where Moses was buried and the most revered holy site in Jordan. When you stand at the top of this mountain, you can see, as Moses did, the vast panorama that encompasses the Jordan River Valley, the Dead Sea, Jericho, and Jerusalem.

    It was a place of pilgrimage for early Christians and Mount Nebo's first church was built in the late fourth century to mark the site of Moses' death. Six tombs, from different periods, have been found hollowed out of the rock beneath the mosaic-covered floor of the church. In the present presbytery you can see remnants of mosaics.
    The Serpentine Cross, which stands just outside the sanctuary, is symbolic of the brass serpent taken by Moses into the desert and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
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  • Madaba, Church of St. George

    1. joulukuuta 2024, Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    This town is one of the most memorable places in the Holy Land - Madaba, "the City of Mosaics." Amongst them, the chief attraction - in the contemporary Greek Orthodox church of St. George - is a wonderfully vivid, 6th century Byzantine mosaic map showing Jerusalem and other holy sites. With two million pieces of coloured stone and a full 25x5 metres in its original state - most of which can still be seen today - the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns, as far away as the Nile Delta. This masterpiece is unrivalled in Jordan, but there are literally dozens of other mosaics from the 5th through the 7th centuries, scattered throughout Madaba's churches and homes.

    In line with Jordan's commitment to restoring and preserving its mosaic master-pieces, Madaba's extensive archaeological park and museum complex encompasses the remains of several Byzantine churches, including the outstanding mosaics of the Church of the Virgin and the Hyppolyus Hall, part of a 6th century mansion.
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  • Al-shobk Castle

    1. joulukuuta 2024, Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    Perched in a wild, remote landscape, Shobak Castle wins over even the most castle-weary visitor, despite being less complete than its sister fortification at Karak. It's especially imposing when seen from a distance, as it sits on a dramatic hill (formerly called Mons Realis, or the Royal Mountain), imposing its might on the surrounding countryside.

    Shobak was built by the Crusader king Baldwin I in 1115. Its defenders withstood numerous attacks from the armies of Saladin (Salah ad Din) before succumbing in 1189 (a year after Karak), after an 18-month siege. It was later occupied in the 14th century by the Mamluks, who built over many of the Crusader buildings.
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