Egypt - Part 4

TEMPLES GALORE

Kom Ombo - Luxor - Cairo

1 May 2009

Kom Ombo

This morning we got off the Feluccas and headed to Kom Ombo Temple - The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic dynasty . Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period. The building is unique because its 'double' design meant that there were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods, the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu and god Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder, along "with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor) and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands).

Me outside Kom Ombo Temple ----->

<------ Some Egyptian traffic

After that we went to the Edfu Temple - It is the second largest temple in Egypt after Karnak and one of the best preserved. The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, was built in the Ptolemaic period between 237 and 57 BCE. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt. In particular, the Temple's inscribed building texts "provide details [both] of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation.

This temple is huge! Edfu Temple ---->

After those temples we went to our fancy, pants hotel in Luxor. I managed to get some oh so good drugs that were expensive, but cleared me right up.

The afternoon we spent laxing out by the pool, unfortunately this is also when my camera got soaked so all further pictures are courtesy of other people from my tour.

< -----Sphinx's at Luxor Temple

In the evening we headed to Luxor Temple - the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple to stay there for a while.

Luxor Temple has a row of Sphinx's that used to stretch 3kms to nearby Karnak Temple and which I also have just read a statue of Amum was paraded down it to stay for a while at Luxor Temple.

<------Luxor Temple at night

2 May 2009

This morning was another early one, so after a scrummy breakfast we headed out to the Valley of the Kings. On the way out there we made a quick stop to see these giant statues, think it used to be a temple and for a photo op on a donkey!

We then kept on Trucking along until we got to the Valley of the Kings - The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .

At the Valley of the Kings we were allowed to go into three tombs, Rameses - 1, 4 and 6.

The Tomb of King Tutankhamum - the only tomb ever to be discovered fully intact - was there also but I didn't go in as it cost extra.

The three Rameses tombs were cool, quite different from each other all with hieroglyphics and one had beautiful painted colours that are still vibrant today. You aren't actually allowed to take photos down there but sometimes the guards will pull you aside and for a fee you can, hmmm. Corrupt much?!

<-- excavating Egyptian style, no diggers around here

Temple of the Queen ---->

Pretty much anywhere in Egypt throw a bit of cash around and anything will happen!

After that we headed to Deir-Al-Bahri also know as Temple of Queen Hatshepsut - Deir el-Bahri is a complex of mortuary temples. In 1997, 58 tourists and 4 Egyptians were massacred here by Islamic terrorists from Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in what has become to be known as The 'Luxor massacre'. Also from Queen's Temple ----->

Hmm, never knew there was a massacre there, the tour leader didn't mention that! I believe this temple is on the other side of the hill from the Valley of the Kings.

A little templed out??

I was ... but wait theres more. In the afternoon we headed across the river in a motor boat and went to Karnak Temple - The Karnak temple complex describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings. There are several avenues of human and ram-headed sphinxes connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re, and Luxor Temple. -

Sphinx's at Karnak Temple ---->

This the temple that used to connect to Luxor Temple by the Sphinx's although the Sphinx's at this end have Ram's heads. That night we boarded our overnight sleeper train back to Cairo.

Walking like Egyptians at Karnak Temple ----->

3 May 2009

This morning we headed back to Cairo and another fancy pants hotel, after a freshen up we headed out to a perfume factory and then Cairo markets.

Cairo markets are a lot more pleasant than other markets are, they are monitoured by the Tourist police and therefore the locals don't hassle you as much.

<---- Sobhy our tour leader

In the afternoon we spent it laxing by the pool and the night was spent having dinner at the extremely overpriced restaurant, conveniently for them though there weren't any others nearby, and then the night dancing it out at the discotech.