Part IV: Sailing Down the Nile
Part V: The Red Sea
Part VI: Jeff Climbs a Mountain
Wow, the ancient Egyptians were prolific! And they knew how to build. The grandeur of the temples we visited cannot be overstated. I suspect when the Egyptians threw a party, they THREW A PARTY! They didn't know how to do anything small. Every temple we went to required throwing back your head and looking straight up to get the whole picture. Giant columns and pillars, enormous facades, gargantuan statues, millions and millions of hieroglyphics - some intentionally damaged by other religions of the day. I wonder how they managed to make "copy after copy" of hieroglyphics that were so exacting in detail. I really would like to meet an ancient Egyptian scribe. It would be fascinating to see him (or her) at work.
Anyway, we saw a lot of temples. Here's the list: Philae Temple, Abu Simbel Temple, Kom Ombo Temple, Edfu Temple, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, and Habu Temple. We also spent some time in the Valley of the Kings (which was definitely a highlight of the entire trip!).
It would be impossible to tell the story behind every temple we went to, so instead I'll write a brief summary, then throw some pictures up here for you to enjoy...
Both Philae and Abu Simbel temples were actually submerged by Lake Nassar when the Aswan dam was built. They were subsequently removed piece by piece and put back together in a different (less wet) location. Philae, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, and Edfu temples are in the south of Egypt, the Aswan region. Luxor, Karnak, Al-Deir Al-Bahari, and Habu temples along with the Valley of the Kings are in Luxor (the city was once known as Thebes). All of them are huge and in surprisingly good shape considering some were being lived in by farmers (the knees of a Ramses II statue were used as a shelf and other things jutting out of statues as hangers for clothes. Did people really not realize that these were made by humans and maybe should be shown a degree of respect? Many of these places were mostly buried by sand but were rediscovered (by said farmers) and dug out so that we tourist can now enjoy climbing in and around them (I guess that means I should ask myself the same question I wanted to ask the farmers...).
These were all in honor of the gods save the Valley of the Kings which is a burial ground for the pharaohs. We were unable to take pictures in the Valley of the Kings, so no photos for you. But, wow. These tombs were amazing. Again covered by full-color hieroglyphics. I could have spent all day there but we were given only a couple of hours. It's possible that Hanna, Jeff, and I made the whole group run a little late because we just couldn't stop ogling the hieroglyphics. Simply amazing. If you google the Valley of the Kings for images, there are some (illicit I'm sure) photos of the hieroglyphics to give you a small taste of how decorated these tombs were. Definitely one of my favorite places on this trip.
Oh, we got to experience a sand storm at Karnak temple. Ahmed, who grew up in that area and is around 30, was thrilled to hear thunder and feel the (very) trace precipitation. He had never hear thunder before, and the trace precip was the first rain in 5 years!
So, without further ado, here are pictures from all our temples. Enjoy!
PHILAE TEMPLE
ABU SIMBEL TEMPLE
Wow, the ancient Egyptians were prolific! And they knew how to build. The grandeur of the temples we visited cannot be overstated. I suspect when the Egyptians threw a party, they THREW A PARTY! They didn't know how to do anything small. Every temple we went to required throwing back your head and looking straight up to get the whole picture. Giant columns and pillars, enormous facades, gargantuan statues, millions and millions of hieroglyphics - some intentionally damaged by other religions of the day. I wonder how they managed to make "copy after copy" of hieroglyphics that were so exacting in detail. I really would like to meet an ancient Egyptian scribe. It would be fascinating to see him (or her) at work.
Anyway, we saw a lot of temples. Here's the list: Philae Temple, Abu Simbel Temple, Kom Ombo Temple, Edfu Temple, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, and Habu Temple. We also spent some time in the Valley of the Kings (which was definitely a highlight of the entire trip!).
It would be impossible to tell the story behind every temple we went to, so instead I'll write a brief summary, then throw some pictures up here for you to enjoy...
Both Philae and Abu Simbel temples were actually submerged by Lake Nassar when the Aswan dam was built. They were subsequently removed piece by piece and put back together in a different (less wet) location. Philae, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, and Edfu temples are in the south of Egypt, the Aswan region. Luxor, Karnak, Al-Deir Al-Bahari, and Habu temples along with the Valley of the Kings are in Luxor (the city was once known as Thebes). All of them are huge and in surprisingly good shape considering some were being lived in by farmers (the knees of a Ramses II statue were used as a shelf and other things jutting out of statues as hangers for clothes. Did people really not realize that these were made by humans and maybe should be shown a degree of respect? Many of these places were mostly buried by sand but were rediscovered (by said farmers) and dug out so that we tourist can now enjoy climbing in and around them (I guess that means I should ask myself the same question I wanted to ask the farmers...).
These were all in honor of the gods save the Valley of the Kings which is a burial ground for the pharaohs. We were unable to take pictures in the Valley of the Kings, so no photos for you. But, wow. These tombs were amazing. Again covered by full-color hieroglyphics. I could have spent all day there but we were given only a couple of hours. It's possible that Hanna, Jeff, and I made the whole group run a little late because we just couldn't stop ogling the hieroglyphics. Simply amazing. If you google the Valley of the Kings for images, there are some (illicit I'm sure) photos of the hieroglyphics to give you a small taste of how decorated these tombs were. Definitely one of my favorite places on this trip.
Oh, we got to experience a sand storm at Karnak temple. Ahmed, who grew up in that area and is around 30, was thrilled to hear thunder and feel the (very) trace precipitation. He had never hear thunder before, and the trace precip was the first rain in 5 years!
So, without further ado, here are pictures from all our temples. Enjoy!
PHILAE TEMPLE
ABU SIMBEL TEMPLE
KOM OMBO TEMPLE
EDFU TEMPLE
AL-DEIR AL-BAHARI TEMPLE
HADU TEMPLE
KARNAK TEMPLE
LUXOR TEMPLE
Fascinating. The photo of Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple actually looks like a modern building from a distance.
ReplyDelete@Kathy: Yeah, I was thinking some sort of Bureau of Reclamation "Tribute to Dam Workers" monument or something myself. It does look very modern (or maybe our modern architecture looks very ancient...). This one was heavily reconstructed, and I think this is the only one of 3 original temples remaining at this sight.
ReplyDeleteIn other interesting (though less fun) news, this was the location of a nasty terrorist attack in 1997, as snipers shot tourists from the hills above (over 60 people were killed). There is now a fairly heavy police presence, with both uniformed and undercover police carrying machine guns. Egypt is an interesting place.
May I just point out, in case you didn't notice, that some of those temples have hieroglyphics IN FULL COLOR? That is the original paint, 3000+ years old. Mind-blowing. The paint in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings (especially Ramses V/VI, where you had to pay extra to go in, but it was completely worth it) is much more impressive, as it wasn't exposed to the elements at all, but they didn't allow photos in there.
ReplyDeleteHere are some links to a few images from this tomb:
Awesome vultures
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=16299
Overall view of one of the rooms:
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=15080
Osiris:
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=10985
And this one from the ceiling is a pic you can zoom in and pan around (slow, but amazing detail):
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=15071
You weren't kidding about the color, especially on osiris!
ReplyDelete