Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Luxor (egypttoursandexcursions.com)

Luxor
Luxor is the world's greatest open - air museum, filled with the awe - inspiring monuments of ancient civilization. It contains nearly one third of the world's antiquities.There is hardly a place in Luxor which has not a relic that reflects the greatness of the ancient Egyptians and their civilization that dates back to seven thousand years ago.
During the new kingdom (1567-1085)the capital of Egypt was Wesset which means "mace"to express the extreme authority of this city ,then the name was changed to "Thebes" and Homer described it as " City of the Hundred Gates".The Arabs called it "Luxor" means" The city of Palaces"because they were impressed by its magnificent edifices and huge buildings.
It still attracts hordes of visitors from all over the world to enjoy the monuments of the eternal city and its temples with their towering pillars      
On the two Banks of the Nile
On the east bank of the Nile, in the city of the living, Luxor and Karnak temples greet the sunrise.The sunset on the west bank throws shadows through the City of the Dead: the Tombs of the nobles, the valley of the kings,Queen Hatshepsut's temple.
Recently,a bridge connecting the east and west banks has been constructed to speed up tourist traffic to the west bank.
Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the great capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom, and the glorious city of the god Amon-Ra. The city was regarded in the Ancient Egyptian texts as w3s.t (approximate pronunciation: "Waset"), which meant or "city of the sceptre" and also as t3 ip3t (probably pronounced as "ta ipet" and meaning "the shrine") and then, in a later period, the Greeks called it Thebai and the Romans after them Thebae. Thebes was also known as "the city of the 100 gates", sometimes being called "southern Heliopolis" ('Iunu-shemaa' in Ancient Egyptian), to distinguish it from the city of Iunu or Heliopolis, the main place of worship for the god Ra in the north. It was also often referred to as niw.t, which simply means "city", and was one of only three cities in Egypt for which this noun was used (the other two were Memphis and Heliopolis); it was also called niw.t rst, "southern city", as the southernmost of them.

The importance of the city started as early as the 11th Dynasty, when the town grew into a thriving city, renowned for its high social status and luxury, but also as a center for wisdom, art, religious and political supremacy.[3] Montuhotep II who united Egypt after the troubles of the first intermediate period brought stability to the lands as the city grew in stature. The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom in their expeditions to Kush, in today's northern Sudan, and to the lands of Canaan, Phoenicia and Syria saw the city accumulate great wealth and rose to prominence, even on a world scale.[3] Thebes played a major role in expelling the invading forces of the Hyksos from Upper Egypt, and from the time of the 18th Dynasty through to the 20th Dynasty, the city had risen as the major political, religious and military capital of Ancient Egypt.
The city attracted peoples such as the Babylonians, the Mitanni, the Hittites of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), the Canaanites of Ugarit, the Phoenicians of Byblos and Tyre, the Minoans from the island of Crete.[3] A Hittite prince from Anatolia even came to marry with the widow of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun.[3] The political and military importance of the city, however, faded during the Late Period, with Thebes being replaced as political capital by several cities in Northern Egypt, such as Bubastis, Sais and finally Alexandria.
However, as the city of the god Amon-Ra, Thebes remained the religious capital of Egypt until the Greek period.[3] The main god of the city was Amon, who was worshipped together with his wife, the Goddess Mut, and their son Khonsu, the God of the moon. With the rise of Thebes as the foremost city of Egypt, the local god Amon rose in importance as well and became linked to the sun god Ra, thus creating the new 'king of gods' Amon-Ra. His great temple, at Karnak just north of Thebes, was the most important temple of Egypt right until the end of antiquity.
Later, the city was attacked by Assyrian emperor Assurbanipal who installed the Libyan prince on the throne, Psammetichus.[3] The city of Thebes was in ruins and fell in significance. However, Alexander the Great did arrive at the temple of Amun, where the statue of the god was transferred from Karnak during the Opet Festival, the great religious feast.[3] The grandeur of Thebes would still remain a site of spirituality, and attracted numerous Christian monks in the Roman Empire who established monasteries amidst several ancient monuments including the temple of Hatshepsut, now called Deir el-Bahri ("the northern monastery").[3]

The visitor of Luxor can make a journey to enjoy the wonderful tourist sites of  Luxor soaring in a ballon above the temples on the east and west banks.Some agencies organize  daily ballon journeys which last for one and half hour.

Luxor
East bank monuments  
Luxor temple

The Southern temple , dedicated to the principal of thebes Amon, it was built by the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenophis III, and expanded over centuries by famous pharaohs including Ramses II,Tit,and also Alexander the Great.
The grandeur of the edifice represents that of Thebes at its zenith
It was known to the ancient Egyptians as “lpet Reseyet”, the harem of the South.
Karnak Temples    
Leading to the temples is the avenue of the rams , representing the supreme Theban god Amon,symbol of fertility and growth. Beneath the rams heads, small statues of Ramses II were carved .
Karnak is composed of a vast complex of temples, chapels and other buildings of various dates. The name Karnak comes from the nearby village of El-Karnak. Whereas Luxor to the South was Ipet-Ray,Karnak was ancient Ipet-Isut,the most select of places.
Theban kings and the god Amon came to prominence at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. From that time,the temples of Karnak were built,enlarged,torn down,added to,and restored over more than 2000 years until Roman times.
The ancient Egyptians considered Ipet-Isut as the place of the initial rising of the first time, where Amon-Ra made the first mound of Earth rise from Nun. At Karnak,the high priests recognized a king as the beloved son of Amon,king
of all the gods.

The coronations and jubilees were also held here. Staffed by more than 80,000 people under Ramesses III,the temple was also the administrative center of enormous holdings of agricultural land.

The largest and most important part of the site is the central enclosure, the great temple of Amon proper. The layout of the great temple consists of a series of pylons of various dates. The earliest are Pylons IV and V,built by Tuhtmosis I,and from then on the temple was enlarged towards the West and South. Courts or halls run between the pylons,leading to the main sanctuary.

The temple is built along two axes, with a number of smaller temples and chapels and a sacred lake. The northern enclosure belongs to Montu, the original god of the Theban area, while the enclosure of Mut lies to the south and is connected with Amon's precinct by an alley of ram-headed sphinxes. An avenue bordered by sphinxes linked Karnak with the Luxor Temple, and canals connected the temples of Amon and Montu with the Nile.
LUXOR
The Sound and Light Show

This spellbinding show ,through the exquisite use of words,light and music, tells the story of these magnificent Karnak temples .The program is presented in Arabic,English, French German,Spanish.
Luxor Museum 

The museum is situated between the Temples of Luxor and Karnak. It houses pharaonic relics from Luxor and the nearby areas .
Mummifucation museum
Recently inaugurated in the visitors centre in Luxor, it is the only one of its kind in the world.It houses 150 relics of mummies, coffins, tools the ancient Egyptian physician used,and paintings representing the religious funeray rituals.

West bank monuments
The Clossi of Memnon

These two statues of Amenophis III measuring 18 meters once marked the entrance to the largest temple in Thebes It covered 385,000 square meters (4,200,000 square feet), and it was even larger than the temple of Amon-Re at Karnak.
Due to an earthquake in 27 BC,these statues were damaged and became known for a bell like tone that usually occurred in the morning . They were associated by the early Greek travelers with the figure of Memnon, the son of Aurora whose mother,Eos was the goddess of dawn.
Med net Habu temple 
This complex was built by Ramses II in the form of a fortified town which includes a temple, a place,and several chapels. Scenes depicted on the walls commemorate his victories over the Libyans,the Sarinians,the Cretans and others.They also includes unique reliefs of a sea battle.

Later Kings including Hatshepsut and Thutmose II added chapels to the complex, and Ptolemaic Kings renovated it
The Ramesseum
This is the warrior King Ramses II's mortuary temple at western Thebes that has inspired Shelley's sonnet “Ozymandias”. Its murals record the renowned Battle of Kadesh against Halite's. Its hallmark is a pillard hall with giant statues of Ramses II in Osirid form, wrapped in a blanket and holding sceptres.

Queen Hatshepsut's Temple
El-Deir El-Bahari

Hatshepsut, the only woman to rule over Egypt as pharaoh, named her temple “Djeser-Djeseru” the splendor of splendors.

The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most dramatically situated in the world. The queen's architect, Senenmut, designed it and set it at the head of a valley overshadowed by the Peak of Thebes. A tree lined avenue of sphinxes led up to the temple, and ramps led from terrace to terrace. On the lowest terrace are reliefs depicting the transport of obelisks by barge to Karnak and the miraculous birth of Queen Hatshepsut.

Reliefs on the South side of the middle terrace show the queen's expedition by way of the Red Sea to Punt, the land of incense. Along the front of the upper terrace, a line of large, gently smiling Osirid statues of the queen looked out over the valley.
Tombs

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LUXOR
Tombs of the Valley of the kings        
King Tut Ankh Amon 's Tomb

The Kings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th, dynasties carved their towards into the limstone mountains here and decorated them with designs showing the deceased Kings with the gods in the afterworld and texts from the book of the dead,and the book of the underworld.

King Tut Ankh Amon's tomb , the most famous tomb in the valley of the kings , circa 1352 BC. In 1922 ,Howard Carter's discovery of king Tut's fabulous treasures caused a worldwide sensation Other interesting and well-preserved tombs are those of Seti I,Ramses III,and Ramses II.
Valley of the Queens 
Queen Nefertari's Tomb
 

The tombs of Nefertari wife of Ramses II is the most renowned at the Valley of the Queens. It boasts restored vivid murals and instions.
Tombs of the Nobles :The most important are:the tombs of Nakht,Menena,Ra'as mes Ramuza,Senefru.
The Tombs of Deir el-Medina: The most important is the tomb of Sen Negem.

Temple of Dendera
On the West Bank of Qena city 60 km north of Luxor. It is one of the Greco-Roman temples for the worship of goddess Hathor. It was built by King Ptolemy III and its construction was completed by the Roman Emperors. The ceiling of the hypostyle room has an astronomic decoration with the symbolic representation of the sky.

Temple of Esna
South of Luxor, constructed for the worship of god Khnum, the god of creation, in the form of a ram's head. It is one of the Greco- Roman temples within the hypostyle hall constructed by King Ptolemy VI and completed by the Roman emperors.

Nearby is a Christian monastery. It is the monastery of Manaus and El Shohada, constructed in the fourth century. But the monastery of the three thousand six hundred martyrs includes two churches; the walls of one of them are decorated with a fresco that dates from the tenth century.

Religious sites of Luxor
Abul-Haggag al-Oqsuri mosque at Luxor temple.Coptic Church neighboring the mosque in Luxor temple
Monasteries
El-Shayeb Monastery, 7km north of the city
Mari Guirgis Monastery on the west bank
Muhareb Monastery, 4km from the west bank of the Nile.Visitors of Luxor can make a journey to see the two temples of Dendera and Esna

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