Egypt Trip, Part 2
By Greg Petty
May 2008

"In Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred gated Thebes." Homer, Iliad, Book 9

After a brief flight from Cairo, our tour group landed in modern Luxor, known in ancient times as Thebes or in Egyptian Ipet-isut meaning "The Most Select of Places." The trip to our hotel, The Maritime Jolie Ville Luxor Island Resort, was full of everyday sights of life along the Nile. The resort itself lies on an island in the Nile River and it was our first up close glimpse of the vegetation and farming along the mighty river.
Luxor receives more than 5 million visitors every year, even more than Cairo. They come, as we did, for three of the world's most famous sites: The Temple Complexes of Karnak and Luxor, and the Valley of the Kings. We would spend three days in the area and points further south to explore modern life and ancient treasures of Egypt has to offer.

The first full day in the region started with a drive about 40 minutes south of our hotel to visit the Coptic Church and monastery of St. Pachomius. We were welcomed into the community of St. Pachomius Monastery and given a guided tour by Father John. He made a great effort to speak to us in English and to explain the history of the saint and how the monastery came about. St. Pachomius, 292-348 AD, lived in Thebes but was abducted as a young man by the Romans and forced to serve in their army. During his forced servitude he was fed every day by the Christians. This impressed him and after his service he was converted and baptized in 314. He is famous for organizing the monastic way of life for the Christian church. Roman Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox and Lutheran churches venerate him.

Looking down the Hypostyle Hall into a courtyard area at Karnak.

Father John (Anas) led us in a Coptic prayer, and in return we sang a Lutheran hymn. He then gave us some bread that we would use that evening for our worship and communion service. The group then spread out through the monastery to see the religious shop, garden and the woodworking area. The entire experience was one of gratitude for being able to share our Christian heritage with fellow believers in remote Egypt.

We drove back to Luxor and spent the rest of the day at the Temple of Karnak. As with the Pyramids, I had heard about this temple and seen so many pictures of it that I had to pinch myself to believe it was actually right in front of me! The western entrance was lined with the ram-headed sphinxes on both sides of a causeway. Very dramatic and impressive.

Thebes became the capital of Egypt in the Middle Kingdom (12th Dynasty) and remained so through the height of Egyptian power in the 18th through 20th Dynasties. The Pharaohs built here so that they could build their hidden tombs in the Valley of the Kings and hopefully escape the rampant tomb robbing. Tomb robbing was probably the world's second oldest profession. The Temple of Karnak was begun in the 12th Dynasty and was built to worship the main Egyptian god Amun, his consort Mut and their son, the lunar god, Khonsu. The temple complex was added onto and expanded by many Pharaohs.

Because of the extensive additions (Pharaonic "Keeping up with the Jones') Karnak is the largest temple complex ever built by man. It encompasses 247 acres! There is another sphinx-lined causeway linking it to Thebes two miles to the south. During the Beautiful Feast of Opet, in the second month of inundation by the Nile, the god Amun visited the Amun who resided in Luxor Temple. The god's portable barque was carried on the shoulder of priests down the two-mile long sphinx-lined causeway to Luxor. At the end of the festival (11-27 days long), it was returned via boat and up the western causeway to be placed back into the Holy of Holies at Karnak. This festival was seen as a rejuvenation of Amun and the Pharaoh as well as worship for continued fertility.

Entrance to the tomb of Amenophis II at the Valley of the Kings.

Highlights of the complex are the Hypostyle Hall with 134 huge papyrus columns, the only remaining obelisk of Hatshepsut (she raised 4), the Holy of Holies of Amun, the pylon of Shoshenq showing the world's first depiction of Semitic people (conquest of Israel) and the temple of Tuthmosis III's with its wall colors still visible. Ramses II, after seeing Hatshepsut's name and monuments being all but obliterated by her successor Tuthmosis III, carved his cartouches into the columns so deeply they could not be chiseled out.

We finished the day with two more stops. First a carriage ride around Luxor beginning at the south entrance of Karnak, down through Luxor itself and its bustling marketplace. Unlike Cairo, our group did not have an armed police escort everywhere we went. We found this reassuring. The marketplace was a sight to behold as it was primarily for the people of Luxor and it was the least "touristy" place we had been so far. The variety of food and articles for sale was amazing, but we were not going to stop the carriages. We did see a few brave foreigners walking through the market.

Up next was a stop at Al Fayed's Perfumes Palace & Handicraft Glass. This is the famous Fayed family now resident in London and owner of Harrods. His son Dodi, died with Diana in the Paris car crash. The manager of the house sat us down and offered all a drink. Barb chose the Turkish coffee that was so thick and strong she could not drink it. I believe she was afraid it might give her a heart attack! The refreshments were followed by a well-rehearsed comedy routine that incorporated many of the essential oils and their uses. Many famous perfumes derive from these plant and flower extracts.

Luxor at night. Fabulous!

After dinner we were treated to the Luxor Temple at night. The statues and columns are impressive during the daylight but are so much more dramatic when lit at night. The entrance has only one of the original obelisks in front as the other was given to the French residing in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The French had so much trouble moving it that they did not accept any additional obelisks as gifts! My personal favorites at Luxor were the two colossal statues of Ramses II (The Great) and the wall detail of Alexander the Great becoming Pharaoh.

The following day our group was included in a caravan south to Edfu in Aswan province to visit the Temple of Horus. An armed police escort accompanies all trips south of Luxor in front and back of the caravan. We were used to the escorts by now, but it was a reminder that foreigners must beware here, and all areas are not secure. The temple was notable for being one of the best-preserved sites and for having the second largest pylon at any Egyptian temple. It was also important because Horus was such a notable deity to the ancient Egyptians.

What was memorable to us was the trip itself. It was our chance to see the lush Nile Valley with the severe western desert adjoining the valley. We were able to glimpse life in the small the towns up as we drove through them. A major product in the area is sugar and there are over 10 factories within the province. The drive allowed us to see the people working the land perhaps as they have done for thousands of years. Riding in their carts pulled by donkeys to go to work in the lush fields. The only "modern" reminders were the telephone lines and the Mosques in the fields.

The visit to Luxor and environs would end with a visit to The Colossi of Memnon, Deir el -Medina and the Valley of the Kings. The Colossi are two large statues that guard the entrance to Amenophis III mortuary temple. The temple was probably one of the largest ever built but has been destroyed because it lies in the flood plain. The Colossi are famous since antiquity both for their size and the bell-like tone the northernmost statue issued at sunrise due to the expanding stone. The sound was silenced forever after the damage from an earthquake in 27 BC.

Looking up from the base of the Rameses II statue at Luxor.

Deir el-Medina is commonly known as the Workmen's City. It was built by the 18th dynasty Pharaohs to house the workmen and their families as they worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. There was so much tomb robbing that the overseer's segregated the workers and made them subject to inspection. There are two fabulous, and I mean fabulous, tombs preserved here. They were the personal tombs of Sennedjim and Ankerkhau. Since they were important craftsman, they prepared for their afterlives with these extravagant tombs. After going down the narrow stairway and three turns in Sennedjim's tomb you enter a room with painted scenes depicting life with his family. Since he was an important craftsman he prepared for his afterlife with this extravagant tomb. The colors and detail in the tomb were amazingly preserved and were bright and vibrant. Over 3,000 years old! This was one of the highlights of the entire trip. Now we could envision all the other tombs you had seen where the color was absent or very faded.

The famous Valley of the Kings contains 63 tombs and I believe you can enter 13 of them. It costs a little extra to see Tutankhamun and Ramses VI tombs. Everyone in our group that did so said they were pleased they had.

The tomb of Ramses IV is open to all and was the lodging of the famous Champollion as he excavated many of the tombs in the Valley. The tomb portions you are allowed to see are fully restored and are as impressive as the tomb paintings we just saw at Deir el-Medina. The most daunting challenge for tomb viewing was the trek up and down to see the tomb of the Napoleon of Egypt - Tuthmosis III. The tomb is notched at the end of the Valley and you have to walk up and down narrow steps and passageways numbering 168 steps one way. It was well worth the effort to make it to the inner burial chamber to see the dark blue ceiling with the gold stars accompanying Tuthmosis on his journey to the afterlife.

Our group had some free time so Barb and I went off the beaten path to take a trail that climbed up the side of the mountain to the entrance of the tomb of Tuthmosis IV. Our reward was an almost complete vista of the Valley of the Kings and the plains leading to the Nile.

A slice of Egyptian life along the Nile. On the bus ride to Edfu, we saw this old mosque, replete with telephone lines.

The spectacular Tomb of Hatshepsut required us to board the bus and travel to Deir el-Bahri. Here you will find the famous female Pharaoh's reconstructed complex that she built next to Mentuhotep II's earlier temple. It blends into the surrounding high cliffs and dominates the entire area. It is one of the great monuments of Egypt. We have the Polish- Egyptian mission to thank for working to restore it since 1961. The temple is entered by walking up two successive ramps. After ascending the first ramp you are in the first court. The first thing you notice are two rectangular boxes one of which contains the stump of a tree brought back to Thebes by Hatsheput herself from her famous expedition to Punt! The first court had exotic trees and shrubs and the lone tree must have survived for an amazing length of time. The temple also contains Osiride statues of Hatshepsut in the upper court, and we took several pictures of them because her face, as reflected in them, was ever changing. A different nose here, chin there or a different treatment of the eyes.

'A palace of the god, wrought with gold and silver, it illuminated the faces [of the people] with its brightness.' Tomb inscription of Hatshepsut's official, Djehuty. (The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Richard H. Wilkinson.)

Our boat captain on the Felucca ride.

Rather than take the bus back to Luxor, our guide Osama, had one more treat in store for us. A boat ride on the Nile to cross back over to Luxor. We boarded the small Felucca and enjoyed the sail up and down the river with a view of the pyramid shaped mountain indicating the Valley of the Kings on one side and Luxor, with its temple, on the other. A delightful way to say goodbye to fascinating Luxor.

Osama ushered us quickly through all the necessary customs and baggage handling issues in Cairo that is typically not an enjoyable or efficient process. He did this for all of our stops and I cannot tell how grateful we were for this valuable service.

Our last tour day would be in Cairo. We visited downtown and visited the Tomb of Anwar Sadat and the Egyptian Unknown Soldier monument. The last stop was the Khan el-Khalili bazaar. A last chance to shop for Egyptian keepsakes. You have to fend off the vendors as you walk down the narrow street, but it is expected that you will bargain with them if you are truly interested. If not interested, you just keep on walking with a polite "No Thank You."

Our hotel in Luxor, The Maritime Jolie Ville Luxor Island Resort.

Our time in Egypt was over and we were both anxious to return home and sad to say goodbye. Our travel group was unanimous about one thing… Osama was the best tour guide. If you are inspired by this article and wish to travel to Egypt, you will be in very good hands if you select him. Here is his contact information:

Osama Tawfik
Travellers Egypt
Email: raegypt@yahoo.com

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May 2008
Egypt Trip, Part 2

April 2008
Egypt Trip, Part 1

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