I hope you enjoy these images of the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, near Luxor, Egypt.
Click to see our tours to Egypt, most of which include a visit to Deir el Bahari.
Foto Friday – Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor, Egypt
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Tag Archives: luxor
Foto Friday: More Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
Foto Friday – Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
Foto Friday Favs
Dhofar, Oman
Amra Castle, Jordan
camel races, Oman
Chora Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
Deira, Dubai
Ya’lla group at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
El Aqabat in Egypt’s Western Desert
Fez medina, Morocco
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo, Egypt
on the Nile in Egypt
NAME THAT COUNTRY Episode 54
For thousands of years, Hathor was one of the most beloved goddesses of our mystery country. Her attributes and powers broadened over the centuries as she mingled with and absorbed a number of other deities. She was “the mother of mothers,” patron of women, fertility, childbirth and children. As the “mistress of life,” she represented joy, love, beauty, art, music and dance. She was a sky goddess, who gave birth to the sun god Ra each morning and conceived the coming day with him each night. In the underworld, she welcomed the souls of the newly dead with motherly reassurance as they made their way to eternal judgement. She was often represented as a cow or as a woman with cow ears, as above in the Chapel of Hathor at the Temple of Hatshepsut near Luxor.
Can you name that country?
See below for answers.
The Ankh: What Does it Mean?
Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor
Probably the most recognizable Ancient Egyptian symbol, the ankh hieroglyph represents eternal life. Egyptian gods and pharaohs were frequently shown holding the ankh or in close proximity to it. Fundamental life-giving elements, such as water, air and sun were often represented by the ankh. In some tomb paintings ankhs are shown pouring over the resident pharaoh from an upturned vessel or being blown into his mouth.
Kom Ombo Temple
tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens
The origins of the symbol are lost to the mists of time but some suggestions are that it first represented the ever-holy sun sitting on the horizon, with the sun’s path stretching below; male and female reproductive parts, separated by the fruit of their union; or a sandal strap. It’s easy to see a connection between eternal life and the sun or the male, female and offspring, but a sandal strap, not so much. Imagine this – the loop of the ankh fits around your ankle; the arms of the ankh wrap around your foot, and there you have it, a sandal strap. The word for sandal strap ‘nkh’ was very similar to the word for life ‘ankh’ so the symbol was used to represent both words. That’s one theory anyway.
Click to see tours to Egypt, the birthplace of this powerful and enduring symbol.
Foto Friday – Zoom
Foto Friday – Painted Egypt
Just a few shots of ancient painted surfaces in Egypt.
WOW Places – Hagia Sophia, Karnak Temple, Sahara Desert
HAGIA SOPHIA, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) rises like a rust-colored mountain near the end of Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, overlooking the confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus Strait. The city originated on this peninsula and Hagia Sophia has been there almost since the beginning. OK, that’s not quite true, but it has been there for a very long time. The city originated, as Byzantium, in the 7th century BCE. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine claimed Byzantium as his capital and renamed the city Constantinople. Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome. The building we know as Hagia Sophia was built in 537 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, on the ruins of two previous cathedrals. Hagia Sophia stood as the largest cathedral for almost 1,000 years. The dome spans over 100 feet and is 180 feet high. Upon conquering the city in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II was so impressed with the building, he made it his imperial mosque. The design of many subsequent mosques built in the city was influenced by the Hagia Sophia.
It’s very impressive from the outside but, for me, the real WOW experience happens inside. It’s just so big and wide-open, you really feel like a speck of dust in there. Continue reading
Foto Friday – Ya’lla Groups 4
Happy Friday. Some random shots of Ya’lla travelers:
at Ernest Hemingway’s house in Cuba, Finca Vigia
at Ernest Hemingway’s house in Cuba, Finca Vigia
in the Bastakiya district of old Dubai
at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
at Caesarea, Israel
at Caesarea, Israel
at Masada, Israel
at Bethany Beyond the Jordan in Jordan – likely baptism site of Jesus
a group on the tour bus in Oman
in Oman
at Pergamum, Turkey
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