Sunrise, Sunset: 24 Hours in Luxor

Best Of IgoUgo

Overview

Hypostile Hall Photo - Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt

Quote:

The great capital of ancient Egypt, Luxor is defined by the river Nile. The river bestowed its bounty in the riches coming downstream from Africa, and upstream from the Mediterranean. Yet if it was a road, the river also functined as a metaphorical barrier. The eastern bank of the Nile was associated with the rising of the sun and hence life in the minds of the ancient Egyptians; it was there that their towns and temples were largely sited. In comparison the western bank was the domain of the darkly-aspected god Set, associated with the setting of the sun and death. This is why tombs were often located to the west of the Nile, whether we are talking of the Tombs of the Nobles across from ...Read More

Cheer!
Flag

Karnak Temple

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction

The Dying of the Light Photo - Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt

Quote:

"There is a row of sphinxes there. I don't know what that is all about. There is a big wall. Again, don't know why that is there. If you have any questions, ask each other. I will overhear other guides and tell you what they say. I am not a tour guide; I am a taxi-driver" So began our guide Adl taking us around the massive temple complex of Karnak. He was, of course, joking, but his self-deprecation was a good counterpoint to one of the most impressive temple complexes in the world. It is maybe not as iconic as the Acropolis or as atmospheric as Angkor Wat, but Karnak is a sheer spectacle, and was the heart of the religious practices of ancient Egypt for thirteen centuries. Its c...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

Karnak Temple
North Luxor on Corniche Ave
Luxor, Egypt

Cheer!
Flag

Luxor Museum

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction

The Plum-Coloured Pharoah Photo - Luxor Museum, Luxor, Egypt

Quote:

At E£70 the Luxor Museum is overpriced - the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is only E£50, as is entrance to Karnak Temple. However it does have some lovely exhibits, particularly statues, murals and mummies, all labelled in English. It is also clean, well laid out, and fully-wheelchair accessible. An added bonus is that it is open until pretty late in the evening, 8 or 9pm, and so is a suitable location to visit if pushed for time. For me, the highlights of the museum are located just to the right once you enter. Down a ramp is the Cachette Hall. There is a sup...Read More

At E£70 the Luxor Museum is overpriced - the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is only E£50, as is entrance to Karnak Temple. However it does have some lovely exhibits, particularly statues, murals and mummies, all labelled in English. It is also clean, well laid out, and fully-wheelchair accessible. An added bonus is that it is open until pretty late in the evening, 8 or 9pm, and so is a suitable location to visit if pushed for time.

For me, the highlights of the museum are located just to the right once you enter. Down a ramp is the Cachette Hall. There is a superb collection of statues on display here, found only in 1987 buried in the Cachette Court of Karnak to protect them from invaders. The pieces are individually spotlit and labelled like art exhibits. Top of the bill for me is at the far end, a plum-coloured statue of Amenhotep III. The 'bare flesh' is smooth and burnished, but his head dress, kilt, armbands and sandals have been left rough to provide a contrast of textures. It really is the sort of statue that needs to be touched - though obviously you are not allowed! With his bruised lips and almond-shaped eyes, his projecting beard throwing a shadow onto a hairless and not overly-muscled chest, this Amenhotep looks, well, alien. I would say that this is the finest statue I saw in my time in Egypt - and it wasn't even mega-bombastic like your Ramses IIs.

Other works in the Cachette Hall include a giant striking cobra, and alabaster sphinx, and a kneeling Horemheb.

Returning to the main museum there is a selection of other fine pieces, from different locations around Luxor. In particular look out for another statue of Amenophis III, this time in white stone, seated with the crocodile-god Sobek. This leads in to 'Thebes Glory', an explanation of the materiel and tactics that powered the expansionist policy of the New Kingdom pharoahs - notably a war chariot belonging to King Tutankhamun. Just up from here are a couple of royal mummies (no extra charge to enter, unlike in the Egyptian Museum): Ahmosis I, and what is assumed to be Ramses I (discovered in a rather unlikely location - Niagara Falls!).

Circling round to the upper level, there is a collection of exhibits illustrating aspects of Egyptian life - games, or furniture, or sailing. None of it is as immediately appealing as the stuff downstairs, save perhaps for a resconstructed wall from Akhenaten's heretical Aten temple. A busy diorama, it depicts a festival. Akhenaten and Nefertiti are shown with the disturbing physical characteristsics of the 'Amerna style', all pot bellies and elongated heads.

The Museum is expensive for Egypt - but I suppose it still only equates to £6.50 GBP. And some of the works on display are up there as the finest you will see in Egypt. I enjoyed visiting it, and I felt I used my evening in Luxor productively. Karnak and the West Bank necropolis are obviously the two main things to see in Luxor, but this museum is not a bad way to pass an hour. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

Luxor Museum
Center Corniche Avenue
Luxor, Egypt

Cheer!
Flag

New Windsor Hotel

Best Of IgoUgo

Hotel

Quote:

For a basic place to stay in Luxor the New Windsor should be okay. The rooms are a decent size, with small (and dark) ensuite bathrooms. They come complete with one of the quieter air conditioning systems I came across in Egypt too. And the hotel is exceptionally central, just behind the Corniche, in a short alley off Sharia Lahaib Habachi. It is less than a five minute walk north to Luxor Museum, and an equal distance from Luxor Temple to the south. There are banks, restaurants,internet cafes and even a pharmacy right on your doorstep. Good things about the hotel include a great complimentary breakfast - one that includes cereal and milk. Criticisms would be the expense of any extras - i...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

New Windsor Hotel
Sharia Nefertiti
Luxor
095/237-5547

Cheer!
Flag

Oasis Café and Gallery

Best Of IgoUgo

Restaurant

Quote:

You remember in the movie Casablanca they say "Everybody comes to Rick's"? I think in Luxor everybody comes to the Oasis Cafe. Oasis Cafe is very nice and plush, if sedate. It is not the largest place in the world, being a series of interconnected rooms off a main lobby. The waiters wear tarboushes, there are 1920's photos on the walls, and they have the International Herald Tribune for reading. The clientele tend towards to the genteel rather than backpackers, and the prices reflect this. But what the American owner and his English friend have done is create a restful... well... oasis in the centre of Luxor's hustle. The cusisine is well cooked and Western, which is welco...Read More

You remember in the movie Casablanca they say "Everybody comes to Rick's"? I think in Luxor everybody comes to the Oasis Cafe.

Oasis Cafe is very nice and plush, if sedate. It is not the largest place in the world, being a series of interconnected rooms off a main lobby. The waiters wear tarboushes, there are 1920's photos on the walls, and they have the International Herald Tribune for reading. The clientele tend towards to the genteel rather than backpackers, and the prices reflect this. But what the American owner and his English friend have done is create a restful... well... oasis in the centre of Luxor's hustle.

The cusisine is well cooked and Western, which is welcome after a week of fuul, koshary and shish tawouk. Most people went for burgers, but I opted for steak and rice. The waiter offered me the choice of medium or well-done, but was perfectly happy with my request for medium-rare (maybe a sop to travellers' worries about whether they can trust the local meat?). Anyway, the steak was fab and juicy. In addition to the bed of rice it came with a plate absolutely full of side-salad. The burger-eaters seemed to enjoy the scran just as much as me - they were real two-handed jobs. Equally large are the fresh fruit juices: 'small' are LE10, large are LE15.

I was more than happy to have a proper dessert. What a delight. I was tempted by a selection of muffins, but went for home-made lattice-topped apple pie, made from the owner's brother's own recipe. It came served with vanilla ice cream, and was a little taste of back home.

Steak, apple pie, and two large orange juices just topped LE100, which is pretty expensive for Egypt, but I think it was worthwhile. For those missing home comforts the food here is top-notch, and the American owner obviously cares about the little things that go towards creating a restful and memorable environment. It is maybe more of a lunch venue than an evening dinner one, but I would certainly recommend Oasis Cafe. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

Oasis Café and Gallery
Center of Luxor
Luxor, Egypt

Cheer!
Flag

Valley of the Kings

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction

Ascending to Tuthmosis III's Tomb Photo - Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt

Quote:

The eastern bank of the Nile was associated with the rising of the sun and hence life in the minds of the ancient Egyptians; it was there that their towns and temples were largely sited. In comparison the western bank was the domain of the darkly-aspected god Set, associated with the setting of the sun and death. This is why tombs were often located to the west of the Nile, whether we are talking of the Tombs of the Nobles across from Aswan, the famous pyramid fields from Giza down to Dahshur... or the infamous Valley of the Kings. It was not just pharoahs who were buried across from the ancient capital of Thebes (modern-day Luxor). There is a Valley of the Queens to its south, there are...Read More

The eastern bank of the Nile was associated with the rising of the sun and hence life in the minds of the ancient Egyptians; it was there that their towns and temples were largely sited. In comparison the western bank was the domain of the darkly-aspected god Set, associated with the setting of the sun and death. This is why tombs were often located to the west of the Nile, whether we are talking of the Tombs of the Nobles across from Aswan, the famous pyramid fields from Giza down to Dahshur... or the infamous Valley of the Kings.

It was not just pharoahs who were buried across from the ancient capital of Thebes (modern-day Luxor). There is a Valley of the Queens to its south, there are tombs of high-ranking nobles and functionaries - even the craftsmen and artists who worked on the funerary arrangements were allowed their own tombs by Deir el-Medina, their encampment. But it is the Valley of the KIngs that is most famous. The discovery and excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 - an event that made worldwide headlines in the age of mass media - is the most memorable event, but its other tombs had been sealed, robbed, and reused for millenia.

Visits to the tombs are strictly regulated. Often some are closed for restoration, or just to give them a rest - every single visitor adds to humidity levels which can damage the dazzling artwork the ancients left behind to extol their glories.

A LE70 ticket lets you access the Valley, and allows entrance to three of the open tombs of your choice. At each your ticket will be punched - if you are lucky enough not to get it punched you effectively gain the opportunity to visit another. A guide or a guidebook is useful to enable you to decide which you want to see, as they have different qualities - some are deeper, some are more brilliantly decorated, some have more convoluted lay-outs. A board tells you which tombs are open on any given day. On my trip I saw the tombs of Ramses IV (brilliant decorations, including a feted ceiling mural), Ramses IX (showing how wall art had deteriorated from its high point), and Tuthmosis III (a tomb so laden with traps that it seems straight out of Indiana Jones). Certainly Ramses IV and Tuthmosis III's tombs are ones I would recommend without a shadow of a doubt. I will go into them in more detail later.

Entrance to the fabled tomb of Tutankhamun is covered by an additional ticket that costs LE80. You need to decide before you enter the Valley whether you will want to tour his tomb. The reports I had read stated that there is not much to his crypt other than its fame; his tomb was hurriedly constructed and not architecturally great, and all his grave goods were on display in Cairo where I had seen them. All that there was to view was his plain stone outer sarcophagus. I and the rest of my party decided not to stump up the extra LE80.

Once inside the valley we wished we had decided otherwise. Film crews found good spots, reporters did their pieces to camera, and we spotted Dr Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities bustling by in a hat (our guide was very dismissive of Hawass, accused of monopolising all progress in Egyptology and making himself a fortune off the back of it). It turned out that that morning, Sunday 4th November, the badly damaged mummy of King Tut himself was being returned to his tomb, where he could be viewed by vistors. It made frontpage news across the world in a way that his exhumation had 85 years earlier. And we could have been there on this historic day! Oh well!

The vistors centre at the start is well worth looking at. It has a superb glass diorama showing the topography (above and below ground) to the complex. A tourist train takes you up to the tombs themselves, though I chose to walk. The Valley is well paved, winding down bare sandstone gulleys. Occassionally security men could be seen atop the canyon walls, modern day guardians of the dead. The landscape is otherwish desolate and bone-dry - truly a place of the dead.

RAMSES IV - My first stop was actually one of the first tombs you come to, just off to the right of the main path. This tomb has superb artwork, the colours still glowing after all these years. If this had been an Indiana Jones filmset the audience would never have bought it - everyone knows tombs are dark and grim and forbidding. But the walls here and cheerful in their daisy oranges and whites, incised with heiroglyphs and technicoloured geese. These decorations were not pristine - patches were missing, and parts were overlaid with Coptic Christian symbols (figures of saints etc), as this was one of the earliest discovered tombs. In the tomb proper you find a gant granite kaaba of a sarcophagus, inscribed with magical spells. Above, the ceiling is decorated with one of Egypt's most famed images, the twin depiction of the goddess Nut (night)swallowing the sun after it had floated down the river of the day that issued from her nether regions. I would class this as one of the Valley's 'must-see' tombs.

RAMSES IX - The artwork here was indicative of the decline of artistry over the years. The frescoes here were two-dimensional rather than highlighted carvings. A steep corridor leads down to the pharoah's burial pit. On my visit the place stunk of turps as restorers were at work in here.

TUTHMOSIS III - The tomb of Tuthmosis III, the great innovator who (according to our guide) established the media, the secret police, and a whole host of other 'firsts', really WAS like something out of an Indiana Jones film. Down the end of the Valley there is a narrow ravine. A modern staircase now climbs to a high cleft in the rockface. Here an entrance leads down into a passageway. Traps are evident - you come across a deep pit which you cross via a bridge. This brings you to a hot vestibule. From here stairs lead down to the tomb proper, an unusual rounded chamber decorated with tiers of stick figures. His actual sarcophagus remains in situ, its lid slightly elevated. With a torch you can peer under the lid to see a depiction of a goddess who would have 'held' the deceased safely. Again, the spectacular setting and evidence of protective traps make this, in my opinion, a 'must-see' tomb. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

Valley of the Kings
West Bank of the Nile in the Theban Necropolis
Luxor, Egypt

Cheer!
Flag

The Ancient Worker Village at Deir El Medineh

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Deir el-Medina (the Workers' Village)"

Deir el-Medina Photo - The Ancient Worker Village at Deir El Medineh, Cairo, Egypt

Quote:

It was not just the nobility who got in on the afterlife gig in ancient Egypt. The construction and decoration of their temples and grandiose funerary architecture depended upon a specialised class of masons and artists. Well, less a class than a caste really, as fathers passed their prerogatives down to their children. When they were not paid on time, the workers downed tools and waited for their godly overlords to hastily make amends. Trade union militancy in dynastic Egypt got results! One of the privileges these workers had, was the right to create their own tombs in their off time. At Deir el-Medina, you can still see the remains of their township. The main attraction is the tombs t...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

The Ancient Worker Village at Deir El Medineh
Deir El Medine
Cairo, Egypt

Cheer!
Flag

Africa Restaurant

Best Of IgoUgo

Restaurant

Quote:

The Africa Restaurant is on the West Bank, just up from the landing stages for the boats that take you across the Nile. It is a colourfully-muralled place on several levels, though for my money the shaded roof terrace is where you want to be, with a view out towards to the river. We didn't bother with the faff of a menu. For lunches at least they have a set meal for LE25. At just over 2GBP this is one hell of a deal to refill you after traipsing through the barren valleys of the West Bank necropolis. For that price you get two courses of different plates to share - an Egyptian mezze if you will. First course comprised salad, warm flatbread and mouth-wateringly piquant tahin...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 15, 2008

Africa Restaurant
West Bank
Luxor, Egypt

Cheer!
Flag

IgoUgo

Luxor Journals

Upload Photos