the Giza Pyramids, Egypt
They’re not exactly along the Nile; not to be nitpicky, but if you’re looking for them, you should know. The Giza pyramids, by far the most famous of some 120 pyramids discovered to date in Egypt, are about 5 miles from the Nile and about 15 miles from the center of Cairo. The pyramids are part of the Giza Necropolis, the burial grounds of 3 4th Dynasty pharaohs, among others.
This is the Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak Temple. It consists of 134 columns in an area of over 50,000 square feet. Most of the columns are 50 feet tall, but two rows of 6 columns flanking the central aisle are 80 feet tall and 30 feet in circumference. (!)
The hall was built around the 13th century BCE, an addition to the existing temple. Originally, a roof covered the hall, but it is long since open to the sky. (In architectural terms, a hypostyle indicates a space covered by a roof supported by columns.)
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a cat mummy at Luxor’s Mummification Museum
For those interested in mummies and/or ancient Egyptian religion, the Mummification Museum in Luxor is well worth a visit. Most of the mummies on display are animals (currently there is just one human mummy), which gives insight into the reverence ancient Egyptians held for animals. The museum is dedicated to the process of mummification and the belief system behind it. Exhibits are well organized and include beautiful examples of mummification tools, sarcophagi and canopic jars, which held organs removed from the embalmed body. Thirty to forty minutes is plenty of time to see everything and leave with a good understanding of ancient Egyptian mummification. The museum is right on the Nile Corniche in the center of Luxor, just north of the Luxor Temple.
A remote valley on the west of the Nile river shelters the burial grounds of ancient kings and courtiers. To elude robbers, tombs were hidden deep in the folds of the desert mountains. Most were looted anyway, leaving only the exquisite wall paintings for posterity. To date, 63 tombs have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings, ranging in size from a single chamber to sprawling networks of passageways with over 100 chambers.
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a worker at Abu Simbel
tower of Montaza Palace, Alexandria
Mediterranean waterfront, Alexandria
A Ya’lla Tours colleague took this picture years ago and it’s still a company favorite. We call him Moses. Little boys paddling the mighty Nile in tiny homemade boats is a common site.
Sultan Hassan Mosque, Cairo
calm waters off Cienfuegos, Cuba
Santiago, Cuba
Baha’i Shrine, Haifa, Israel
Hanukkah, Jerusalem Old City
Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque, Istanbul
egret flying along the banks of the Nile
White Desert, Egypt
The ceremonial solar boat pictured above is one of several found buried at Giza, near three of the largest and most famous royal tombs ever known. The boat may have been used to carry the body of the deceased king down river to his burial. Or, the boat may have been meant for use in the afterlife, to carry the king across the sky with the sun. The ancient people of our mystery country believed the afterlife mirrored life as they knew it before death. They were buried with items from their lives that would ensure them a comfortable and successful existence in eternity.
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Aten Temple, Tel el-Amarna, Egypt
In the middle 14th-century BCE, the 18th-Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep IV broke with many centuries of tradition, when he proclaimed the sun disk Aten to be the god of gods. (This is sometimes referred to as the first instance of monotheism, but it’s more likely that lesser deities continued to be worshipped.) The pharaoh changed his name to Akhenaten to reflect his devotion and moved his capital from Thebes (modern Luxor) to a previously unsettled site 250 miles to the north.This social-cultural-political blip in the timeline of ancient Egypt is known as the Amarna period (named for a later regional tribe).
The city, named Akhetaten, was built and abandoned in little more than a decade.
After Akhenaten’s death around 1334 BCE, his son Tutankhamen moved the royal court back to Thebes and reinstated the traditional religion. Subsequent pharaohs did their best to destroy the memory of Akhenaten and his reforms by defacing royal tombs and scrubbing records of his reign. He was lost to history until the late 19th century, when archaeologists discovered the city at Tel el-Amarna.
The distinctive art of the Amarna period is a tantalizing window on the time but may raise more questions than it answers. In general, it’s more naturalistic than the formal conventions of earlier and later Egyptian art. However, portraits of the royal family, with elongated, pronounced features have caused a lot of speculation. Were they actually deformed or were their figures symbolically stylized? DNA testing on Akhenaten’s remains did not find evidence of any genetic disorder.
Akhenaten, Egyptian Museum
stele of the royal family touched by the rays of the Aten (Egyptian Museum in Berlin)
famous bust of Nefertiti, queen of Akhenaten (Egyptian Museum in Berlin)
Tel el-Amarna is way off the standard tourist track (about 200 miles south of Cairo and 250 north of Luxor) and is really for those with a strong interest in Egyptology. Much of the city was carted off and recycled as building materials in other places, leaving foundations and some mud brick walls. Despite vandalization, the most vivid remains are royal and noble tombs in the cliffs at the north and south ends of the city. The site is quite spread out, about 6 miles from one end to the other, and not particularly well-marked. A licensed guide is recommended.
A great way to see our mystery country is to cruise its legendary river. Weekly 3 and 4 night cruises travel between Luxor and Aswan in the south of the country. Cruises spend the better part of each day in port to allow passengers to see the sites. These cruises are not destinations in and of themselves but floating hotels moving passengers between the centers of touring along the river. Daily group tours are included in the cruise fare. Tour highlights include some of the most awesome cultural/historical remains anywhere. Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings top that list. Traditional life, little changed through the millennia, continues on the river banks, and is as impressed on my memory as any of the country’s grand monuments.
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Luxor Temple, Egypt
Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
sailing the Nile
Giza Plateau, Egypt
Philae Temple, Egypt
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