Mosque and Luxor Temple

When we were in Dendara, we met a tour guide who was originally from California. She had married an Egyptian and moved to Luxor with her son. She was happy to give us lots of tips while she waited for her group. One of her suggestions was to visit the Luxor Temple at night.

Our hotel is only 500m from the temple so it was a short walk through all the hustlers wanting us to take a caleche ride through the market. They don’t take “No, thank you’ for meaning No. They hound you and remember you. We are getting better at just not making eye contact and rudely ignoring them. Everyone wants to make a buck.

Anyways, we couldn’t find the entrance to the Temple and ended up at the doorstep to the big mosque. We were ushered in and an old man found a scarf for me to put over my hair, while another man pointed to our shoes and showed us where to put them. No one understood that we wanted to go to the Temple and we ended up having a tour in sign language through every room in the mosque. I don’t think very many tourists get that kind of treatment!

Anyways, later on I did a search to find out more about the 14th century Mosque of Abu Al Haggag. Here’s what I read:

“The mosque stands on the ancient columns of a section of the Luxor Temple. That part of the Luxor Temple was converted to a church by the Coptics (Christians) in 395 AD, and then to a mosque in 640. The site therefore has seen 3400 years of continuous religious use, making the Luxor Temple the oldest building in the world, at least partially still in use, for purposes other than archeological or tourist use.”

The mosque is right in the middle of the ruins. We finally found our way out and to the entrance of the Luxor Temple and it was a treat to see at night. We were awestruck!

This building has such a long history and is so impressive. But in a nutshell … construction of the Temple began in 1400 BC by the Pharoah Amenhotep III and completed by Tutankhamen, Horemheb and Rameses II. It’s likely that this is where most of the great pharaohs were coronated. It was also an important resting place for the pharaohs, with many buried in the tombs here. The statues and columns are spectacular.

Man, this country has a big history. So many pharaohs and gods and accomplishments and ruins.
Canadian kids should be happy that our history is so simple, haha.Read more