Egypt and Beyond * Installment 8
Part 3 * Edfu, The Luxor Temples and the Valleys
The Nile River Cruise, Temples and Events Along the Way;
Beauty, Mystery, Adventure
Edfu:
Our Carriage Ride
(Neither of us looks happy about the horse)
The temple of the Royal Falcon God Horus. (See Oberon and I by the Falcon within
the walls). This temple, built in
Greek/Roman times is one of the most intact temples in Egypt. As told, Horus, married to the Goddess
Hathor who lived in the Dendera temple.
As is documented in the temple they traveled back and forth between the
two temples to see each other. The
fight between Horus and Seth is as well documented here. What makes this such a magnificent site
is the fact it is mostly intact.
In order to get to this temple from the cruise ship, you take a cart and
horse – note the look on both mine and Oberon’s faces as we were upset that
hour horse was hurt and still working.
Once we arrived at the temple – we INSISTED the horse be removed from
the cart - - our hope after the guide insisted we walk away was that they would
do just that. And when we returned
to the cart area after viewing the temple, we did have a change in cart and
horse – so our pony seems to have been saved a few hours work anyway.
For me, again, being faced with so many “men with guns” had
begun to take its toll. I took a
lot of pictures here, and as I looked at them later discovered there were many
views with men in plain clothes walking around with guns hanging from their
hands. Actually I have about a
hundred pictures of men with guns from the whole trip - - only a few were taken
intentionally. Some, well, it just spoiled the photo as I later noticed them
standing in site line with guns in hand.
While I realize they are there for our protection, it became hard to
know who was the protector and who did we need to worry about, if at all. Just my random thoughts.
The Luxor Temples
Karnak:
Dedicated to the sun god Amon Re (identified by the ram and
goose). With me being a staunch
Aries, those rows of ram sphinxes lining the road to the entrance just
fascinated me. It was easy to see why this temple is the second most visited
site in Egypt. One of most famous
aspects of Karnak, is the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re (one of
four, and the only one open to the public) a hall area of
50,000 sq ft, with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows. 122 of
these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a
diameter of over three meters. The architraves on top of these columns weigh an
estimated 70 tons. As you look up
at them it is certainly with wonder at how they remain standing still
today. This “hall” will give you a
view like no other you will ever see.
Sitting on the east bank of Luxor this is truly the temple of
temples.
Within the temple sits one of the largest obelisks built and
if you get your camera ready you can get some incredible photos – you simply
can’t go wrong no matter which direction you point your camera. We were able to get our shots with the
moon high in the sky adding a spectacular element.
Luxor Temple of Thebes 
To me, one of the most fascinating parts of this temple is
on the interior where you will find an Islamic Mosque built over the Pharonic
temple and the red granite obelisk that is breathtaking and a sitting Ramesses
II that simply stole my breath.
The temple used to be connected to the Karnak temple via a long stone processional,
lined with ram sphinx’s (score for me).
Some of these rams still sit on either side of the pathway leading into
the temple. What is a little
confusing is this great temple sitting in the city, and just across the roadway
from the Nile. So out of one side
you see cars, trucks, etc. and the other is the great Nile river.
Valley of the Kings
I had no idea what to expect here. A small valley with various chambers was not what I had
expected, but it was what we saw.
You arrive by motor coach and then load onto shuttle trains and are
moved via small roadway into the small valley of chamber entrances, King
Tut’s included.
FASCINATING. We were not
allowed flash photography inside the tombs – and many of the walls had a
plexi-glass covering so that the oils of people’s hands/fingers would not
affect the painted reliefs / hieroglyphics that remain to this day on walls
throughout the chambers. I had
some concern about my little “problem” with small spaces. However, the chamber paths were all
wide and most 8 plus feet high - open enough that I had no problem at all.
The doorway into Ramses II Chamber
Valley of the Queens
As we drove into this valley via motor coach, off in the
distance we could see what seemed to be a tiny little temple up against the
mountain. As we got closer it of
course grew to a magnificent size.
The motor coach stops quite a distance from the temple. You will walk most of the way including
up the 156 steps to the first level of the temple. We hit Hatshepsut’s temple, midday, so there was little
shade to be had with the sun straight up over us. As you look around this valley, you will see various chamber
entrances and areas that are still being worked on. There is a great deal of security here at this particular
site, a little un-nerving, but it quickly is forgotten as you begin the
journey.
That is a lot of steps!
As women, and knowing some of the history of this amazing
woman and her temple, it was with reverence that we walked up those many steps
and later sat hand in hand at the entrance below - - taking in the fact that
“SHE” walked in this same place and knowing how lucky we were to be there. Her very name Hatshepsut means Foremost of Noble Ladies and was
the fifth pharaoh
of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
She is generally regarded by
Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any
other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty. This woman accomplished so much in her short time at the
helm/throne. She was one of the
most accomplished builders of the pharaohs, commissioning hundreds of
construction projects throughout both Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt – many of
them grander and more numerous than those of any of her Middle Kingdom
predecessors and embarrassingly, some pharaohs who followed her reign tried to
claim some of her projects as their own.
One of these, were the twin obelisks – that when constructed at the
Temple of Karnak and are said to have been the tallest in the world. One survives to this day still standing
at Karnak.
So much
about her had been destroyed and hidden.
It is generally recognized that Hatshepsut was a pharaoh - her reign
usually given as 22 years. Her death is known to have occurred in 1458 B.C.,
which implies she became pharaoh in 1479 B.C. During the reign of Thusmose III and his son, an attempt was
made to remove Hatshepsut from historical and pharaonic records. In a more devastating way this removal
is seen with the chiseling off some of her cartouches and images from temple
walls – which in fact leaves clear Hatshepsut-shaped gaps in the artwork.
This was
one of my favorite spots on the entire trip - - hot as it was.
Next: Final Thoughts, THE LIST, and Zaina's Next Step! Egypt HERE I COME AGAIN.
