Tag Archives: Egypt

VALLEY OF THE KINGS – PHARAONIC GLORY HIDDEN

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Constellations of the night decorate the ceiling of the vaulted burial chamber.
Constellations of the night decorate the ceiling of the vaulted burial chamber of Seti I.

The west side of the Nile at Thebes – Waset to the Egyptians, like further upstream at Memphis, was reserved for the next life. At both sites, the bank of the setting sun became the home for the Afterlife. Cemeteries predominately lay on the west side of the river as Egyptians believed human life paralleled the path of the sun, rising in the east and setting in the west. In the land of the setting sun lie the underworld. Line up with the others to witness the Egyptian version of eternity.

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LUXOR TEMPLE – APOTHEOSIS ON THE NILE

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The Solar Courtyard of Amenhotep III shines in the darkening dusk light.
The Solar Courtyard of Amenhotep III shines in the darkening dusk light.

Luxor Temple stands at the southern end of the Avenue of the Sphinxes in the center of the City of Luxor. Along with Karnak, Luxor Temple rates as one of the most popular visitor sites in Egypt. The temple (Ipet Resyt or Southern Opet to ancient Egyptians) became dedicated to Amememopet, “Amun in Opet”. This particular form of Amun-Ra was specific to this temple, especially tied in the idea of royal ka or the spirit of kingship entering into a king’s body at the time of his coronation. Evey year the Opet Festival took place in which the king visited the Luxor Temple in order for the royal ka to be ritually reborn, reconfirmed and re-energized.

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MAGIC AND RESURRECTION AT ABU SIMBEL

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Baboons hold court above the entrance facade at Abu Simbel.
Baboons hold court above the entrance facade at Abu Simbel.

Far to the south, not far from the border of Egypt and Sudan, lies one of the greatest monuments surviving from the New Kingdom and its most prominent pharaoh, Ramses II. The magnificent temple complex erected here at Abu Simbel demonstrated the power and supremacy of Egypt over Nubia lying to the south. This became the most extravagant of all of the many building projects the great Pharaoh commissioned over his long life.

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KARNAK – TEMPLE GLORY ILLUMINATE THE BANKS OF THE NILE

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Light from the chariot of Amun-Ra dominates the magnificence of the Great Hypostyle Hall.
Light from the chariot of Amun-Ra dominates the magnificence of the Great Hypostyle Hall.

Waset to ancient Egyptians and Luxor today, Thebes is best known probably for its Greek name – not to be confused, of course, with the city-state in ancient Greece. Thebes in upper Egypt also served originally as a city-state. The city developed into the ascendant city of all Egypt around 2000 BC. Armies from Waset went forth to reunify the country at the end of the First Intermediate Period – 2125-2010 BC. Today’s armies are tourists from all over the world seeking to recapture some of the glory of the ancients.

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GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA – REMAINING WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

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The three great pyramids of Giza with towers of Giza and Cairo beyond.
The three great pyramids of Giza with towers of Giza and Cairo beyond.

It is amazing to hear how many people dream of seeing the pyramids. While they are worthy of a visit … a journey? After having spent a couple of weeks along the Nile, if not for a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum – literally next door to the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the wonders of further south near Luxor are where I would set my sights upon. But the pyramids are impressive – especially when you consider their age – and worth a visit if you are in Cairo. Coming to Egypt, I recommend you visit the Memphis necropolis at Saqqara and Dashur first, however, to give you a little sense of how the pyramids developed from much simpler burial tombs and where they went after the Great Pyramid era ended with the end of the Fourth Dynasty.

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SAQQARA NECROPOLIS – OLD EGYPTIAN KINGDOM REVISITED

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Looking north at the Step Pyramid of Djoser at the Saqqara Necropolis.
Looking north at the Step Pyramid of Djoser at the Saqqara Necropolis.

Egypt was first united into one kingdom around 2950 BC under the rule of King Narmer – also known as Menes. He might have had a couple of predecessors coming close to uniting the country, but most scholars give Narmer the nod as becoming Egypt’s first pharaoh – though that title only utilized much later. Narmer came from the city of Abydos located about 15 miles north of the great Qena bend on the Nile. The city lay in a wide area of rich agricultural land on the west bank of the river. It was also the take off point from the water to a main caravan route leading to the oases of the Western Desert making Abydos an important communication center, as well.

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EGYPTIAN BASICS – to the Land of Pharaoh we go

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Camels, pyramids and the burgeoning metroplex of Cairo beyond.
Camels, pyramids and the burgeoning metroplex of Cairo beyond.

Egypt, the Land of Pharaohs and Pyramids. The Nile continues to attract visitors in large number ever since Napoleon “visited” in 1799. He, as we are still today, was moved by the sheer ancientness of the land – “From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.”

As a destination, Egypt winds up on many people’s bucket lists. It certainly appeared on my wife’s. She had been enthralled by the ancient civilization back to her days as a young teen-age student. So, even though the Nile did not show up in my bucket – even if I had one – I agreed to accompany her on a trip celebrating one of those decade birthdays.

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