Walking around Luxor (Ancient Thebes)

We had some down time from the tour in most of the cities- at least a few hours- to walk around a bit on our own. This was very difficult in Asswan and Luxor especially, as Egypt is noticably starved for tourism and you do get hassled a lot...but it's still worthwhile to venture out!

In walking around Luxor I saw some interesting graffiti that I really liked. 

Also walking around, I got to see Luxor temple. This is one of the few temples that's open at night, making for some really beautiful views. Since it was late and we were meeting back to get on another sleeper train I didn't have the time to go in, but still was impressed. 

This temple and all of Karnak were at one point connected with a large road that was flanked by hundreds of small sphinx statues. As they excavate more and more in the area, they are sowly starting to open up this road. Ahmed told us that in the next few years they are hoping to open it all up so that you can actualy walk from Luxor temple all the way to Karnak on this sphinx road. This is a section of it that they have open now. 

For those of you who've also been to Paris, the obelisk there is the twin to the one pictured here from Luxor. It once sat on the opposite side of the entrance to the temple. I just loved seeing this all at night. 

Interestingly, smack in the middle of this temple....is a mosque. Apparently, this whole temple area was burried under the sand. True to form of most religions, the people in power coming in took note that this site was important to the people and instead of building a new holy place just built right on top. When, years later, some artifacts were found and the area began to be excavated, the houses and people that were there were moved. However, it was decided that there would be too much uproar over moving the mosque that was there. So.... it's still there, still open, and just sitting right in the middle of an ancient Egyptian temple! You can see it all lit up below on the right. 

My donkey and I ride into the Valley of the Kings!

Two rather enormous and impossing statues sit guarding the entry way to the most amazing tombs in the entire world... The Valley of the Kings. 

For centuries, this area is where the ancient Egyptians brought the Pharoahs and other nobels to be burried. It's an incredible area, just across the Nile from Luxor and up into the hills there. Still today they haven't found all the tombs that they think are there, but the ones they have discovered are absolutely stunning! I saddled up on my trust donkey (I will love him, and pet him, and squeeze him, and call him George) and we rode on in!

Funnily enough... I seemed to be the only one who could control their donkey well. George and I took off far down the road and had to both circle back and wait several times for the others who were all being led by their handlers. Hee hee hee. Onward, George!

Sadly, you can't take pictures at all in the main area of the Valley of Kings. They don't want people taking pictures inside the tombs (Again, they've said it's for preservation....but even Ahmed is highly suspect of that...), but so many people have snuck their cameras in to take pictures (Ahem) that they now don't allow cameras into the main valley at all. However, the largest of all the tomb's- Hapshpsut's- is one that you can photograph. 

It's an absolutely impossing tomb that you can see all the way from Luxor, carved right into the side of the hill, 3 stories high. 

They have closed off the lower level for work and preservation, as we were told some things needed repair, but you can see the second and highest levels. The second level is flanked on either side by 2 temples- one dedicated to the goddess of fertility, and one to Anubs, the god of the dead. The top has another temple directly in the center. 

(I also just want to note here... Egypt is very safe, and they are just fine with women who don't have their hair covered. While it's not the norm, it's also not an issue unless, of course, you were going inside a mosque. I have my head covered here simply because it was blazing hot out and there is absolutely NO cover or shade there!) 

The other tombs in the Valley of the Kings were absolutely filled with the most stunning detail I've seen yet in the paintings. I don't know why this isn't talked about more!! I had absolutely no clue that so much was remaining from antiquity- and it's just breathtaking. You can see on each layer of the clothing that's painted on the figures different patterns and colors and textures. The ceiling of blue and "stars" in one of the tombs also clearly had constellations and other astrological markings on it. Each and every hiroglyph was painted in different colors. Feathers were all painstakingly detailed. It was just midblowing to see for me. 

Hapshepsut's tomb had some of this detail still left as well, seen in the pictures below. If you can zoom in to various areas on your screen....it's just stunning. Plus, this gives you some idea of just how colorful the walls really would have been. Remember that the background all would have been white-washed as well as you picture it. Ah! What I would give to go back in time to just look at it for a minute in it's full glory!!!!!!

Hapshepsut was also a fascinating figure in history. She was the only female ruler of Egypt. Although a lot of people would point to Cleopatra to argue, by that point in Egyptian history she was just a figure head. By comparison, Hapshepsut took full power when her brother/husband died. He had fathered a son with a non-royal woman, though never with her. Hapshepsut refused to acknowledge him as an heir since he wasn't fully of royal blood, and assumed the throne herself. However, since women were not regarded as able to rule, she created an entirely new history for herself, saying that she was born directly from the Gods and thus not really just a woman. She then dressed as a man, and in all depictions of her was portrayed with a man's body. Even though she often has the typical beard as well, her statues did still have a feminine face to them- as you can see in each of the statues that guard the columns to the upper level of her tomb. 

She's my kinda gal. Do what you gotta do to rule the damn place! 

Aswan and a night on the Nile

Aswan- Egypt's southern most city. After going through Abu Simbel, we had some time to explore this city. There's a large bazaar that I walked around in for a bit. 

Unfortunately, most of Egypt is really starved for tourism after the Arab Spring. This is even more apparent in Aswan and Luxor, since tourists can jet in and out to see the pyramids and be done with it. They are clearly really hurting with the warnings that the US have given to all of us- though honestly, there isn't anything dangerous about it. It was interesting to me though that the top questions that I got were either "How many camels?" or "Where from?" When I answered America, the next question in Aswan was inveribly "Why Americans no come to Egypt anymore?" 

However, walking around is...well...a hassle. It's hard to walk 10 feet without someone trying to sell you something or get you to come with them or look at what they're selling. They also don't take no for an answer, but will follow you around for awhile. (Granted, I'm a much bigger target for them as a single woman walking about.) They were respectful at all times, which made this much easier than India was for me- where the men felt free to touch me and grab me- but it was still just tiring to be constantly saying "Lo shakuran" (No thank you) again and again. 

After a bit of free time in the city, we got on a boat and took a tour of Elephanitine Island. This area is still a Nubian village, and we went around the island with one of the locals who told us some of the history of the area, the island, and the Nubians. 

Here you'll see a still-working ancient water wheel for irrigation purposes. There would be horses hooked up to the large wheel inside which would power the buckets of water coming up and into the trough. 

After a tour around the island, we went onto the island itself to have a home-cooked meal with one of the other locals (Another Ahmed!). Not only was the food delicious, but it was great to chat with the locals and get some insight into the culture. He brought out his wedding album (So cute!!) and we talked with him all about their traditions. 

The things I learned were far too numerous to really count here, but the most amazing fact to me was this: The Nubians have 2 main dialects, but neither are in a written form. All language has been passed down through families. Up until very recent history, it was completely forbidden to teach anyone who wasn't Nubian the language. This was true even if you wanted to marry outside of the Nubians, so they never did. They can trace their lineage back over 5000 years, completely untained!!!! Holy crap!

Annnndddd, along with that, when Nubians do marry, the man moves into the woman's family home... after a wedding which usualy has up to 2000 people in attendance!!!!! (The rehersal dinner is much smaller, clocking in at a usual 800-900 people! What the what?!?!) 

Here's a little pic of my intrepid group at dinner, though the room was a bit too tight to get us all in the shot! We had a good time though!

The next morning we loaded up early onto a felucca- a traditional Egyptian sail boat- to sail up the Nile towards Luxor! It was such a beautiful and peaceful journey. 

I mentioned it was relaxing, right?!

That night, we had dinner and then slept out on the boat. It was quite a wonderful experience...until 2 am. Apparently, there was a wedding going on up the river from us, and the sound system could probably be heard in a 20 mile radius....and there were fireworks to boot. This went on to the extent that it actually rocked the boat until the call to prayer at 4:00am...when it stopped for about 20 min before continuing again. *sigh* It was wonderful while it lasted.....

Next stop, Luxor (Thebes)!!

Karnak

AH!! Karnak!! 

I toured through this amazing temple complex today, and was completely awestruck! I also got quite a bit of video for you all, but as I have yet to have enough bandwidth to upload any of it (And, well...let's face it people. Technology in general is not my strong suit. The fact that I am even blogging should be counted as a near-miracle!). SO, for the time being, again I will give you pictures. 

The whole area is actually comprised of several areas that were added on over time to an original temple. Seen in the picture below, the enterance way is now absolutely gigantic and the whole complex is very expansive. It was also built in a "classic" style, with 2 pylons that made up the initial gate-way, opening onto a courtyard with 12 columns. Beyond that are 2 more pylons with more columns, but this area would have been covered. Lining the way into the whole area are dozens of ram sculptures, and obelisks would have been on either side as well. In ancient times, the Nile ran almost right up to this entry. 

Standing inside the first area, they have rebuildt one of the 12 original columns, which you can see are just massive. Flanking the entry way into the next section are 2 large statues of Ramses II. This whole area, as well as the area just past, were the newest sections and -mostly- built by Ramses. However, there is evidence that his father had actually started the columns and building in this second area, and when he came in and took over he had his father's name scratched out and inserted his own. 

There isn't a single surface area of the original walls, columns, or ceilings that wasn't carved. Some of them, like the one here, are giant in scale (I'd say the figures in this one were approximately 15 feet high) while others were much smaller and intricately detailed. You can also see that once again, and much to my surprrise, you can see COLOR!!! If you look at the underside of the beam in the upper right-hand corner here, you'll see what I mean. 

While you can get some sense of how much color there once would have been on all of the walls and columns- as well as how detailed much of it would have been- most of it was destroyed when the French came in around the turn of the century. There was a lot of salt that had built up on much of the stone. In thinking that it could just be washed off, one of the archeologists at the time had the wall around Karnak torn down to allow the Nile to wash through the area. Devastatingly, it not only washed away the salt, but also much of the paint that remained- as well as toppling and destroying quite a bit of the temples. 

Idiot. 

The obelisks were wonderful in the area, with Hapshepsut's (The obelisk seen below on the left) in almost perfect condition. When her step-son took control of the kingdom, he wanted all evidence of her destroyed. However, as her obelisks were the largest (And heaviest) ever constructed, pulling it down would have meant potentailly destroying areas around it. So, he had it enclosed in stone... and thereby unknowingly preserved it against time!

Walking through different areas, you can definitely see the difference in styles of the art from the various periods that the complex had additions from. This was especially true of the faces that were on the statues. 

This area below is in some of the oldest areas of the complex...and here again, look at the paint!!! All of the ceilings in every structure that we went into had some blue on them. I was told that every ceiling was painted blue with stars covering them to represent the sky. 

As I was walking around (The complex expands off in either direction from the front 2 areas, and even include a small man-made lake that the Pharoah and priests would have used to purify themselves before coming into the temples) 2 small local guys motioned for me and said "Come! Come!" I said "No money!" but they insisted and shouted again. I told them again I wasn't giving them money, but they just kept motioning, so I walked over. They opened up a sealed wooden door and told me to go inside. This is what I saw:

Completely incredible! It was really beautiful inside, and this was in the oldest section of the area as well. There was also a delapitated looking stone in the middle of the room, with just a few partial sections of carving still left on it. One of the guys told me to come and look at it. There was a little area that looked as though it had been rubbed about a billion times, so much so that the rock was glossy. He said "You know what is? Cobra. Cobra. Snake." and then touched my hand, then touched the rock, then took his hand to touch the rock then his head. He motioned for me to do the same, and made me do it 3 times. Then he motioned that I touch then cobra and touch my heart 3 times as well. I still have no clue what this was all about, but he seemed very pleased. (I have probably now been cursed by the cobra or something, but... live and learn!) 

Look how huge the columns are!!

Massive statues were all over the place, around just about every corner, and would have created long hallways of statues once. 

Again here, you can see how every surface was just covered in carvings. Apparently, you can still see so much of the color (That of what remained after the French washed it away anyhow) because when Alexander the Great came through Egypt, he was extremely clever in how he concurred. He came into Egypt claiming himself to be one of the Pharaohs- in the same family line- and then went about in several areas restoring buildings and essentially doing good civic deeds. The people widely accepted him since the previous few rulers had done little to nothing for the people. Karnak was one such area that was restored...although even that was centuries ago!

Look closely at the detail that was painted at the top of each column!

All of Karnak was at one point joined by a very long road- the road of the Sphinx- to Luxor temple, about a mile or so away. Archeologists have just recently discovered this road and all the sphinx that lined either side of it. They are in the process of excavating more of it and hope to have the whole things open someday so that you can walk from Karnak straight to Luxor temple on this old roadway. 

Although I have always been facinated and had an enormous respect for the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians, what I've seen so far has just completely exceeded any expectations and made me that much more impressed. What an incredible trip I am having!

Abu Simbel

Today, I went out to Abu Simbel which is outside of Asswan, further South in Egypt. These are 2 massive temples built by Ramses II- the larger which he built for himself, and the sun god, and the smaller which he dedicated to his wife, Neferterri. I actually took video to really show you all, but as I just don't have the bandwidth to get it uploaded for you all, for now pictures will have to do. With any luck, I will find somewhere soon that I can get that video up, too!

Ramses built these temples, on the then-boarder of Nubian land, after he had defeted them in battle as a sort of warning. A marker that said "I am watching you." Considering all but the Pharoahs and Kings of the time would have lived in tents or extremely simple dwellings, I'd say this was a fairly impossing warning! 

Not only is the sheer size of these temples impressive, having been carved directly into the hills that they sit in, but the engeneiring is absolutely unbelievable. The main temple was built in a way that the sun comes in through the door and strikes all the way back to the 4 statues at the very back only 2 times a year; October 21st, which was Ramses' birthday, and February 21st, his corronation day! Even more impressive is that the 4th statue, situated on the far left, is the god of darkness. This statue somehow never has light that ever touches anything more than the side of it's arm!!!!

Both temples had to be moved, piece by piece several years ago after the Asswan damn was built and the area where they were flooded. Painstakingly, archeologists and experts broke apart and reassembled not only the temples, but even the hills that they are in and moved them 65 meters back!! However, with all the knowledge and modern technology that we have, they were never able to get them as precise again. The sunlight now comes in a full day later each time of the year- October 22nd and February 22nd. 

The temples are wonderful on the outside, but their true wonder is inside. The walls and ceilings are carved with scenes and hieroglyphics everywhere. You can even see some of the paint on the walls!!! I had no idea that that could be seen anywhere here! Sadly, you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the temples at all.

For Neferterri's temple, looking at the statues I originally thought that the largest statues were either representative of the gods, or were Ramses and Neferterri, then the smaller were either their children (Or If the largest had been the gods, then smaller would then be Ramses and Neferterri and so on). However...Ramses wasn't quite that generous to the Queen. All 4 of the male statues are of him, and 80% of the scenes and writing inside is also dedicated to him. I suppose if you commision the temple though....  The paint that was visible is the most present in this temple, especially on the back side of the colums that are in the interior. I assume this is largely attributed to the smaller entrance way. 

Ok...so.... You REALLY aren't supposed to take pictures inside the temples. And no, it has nothing to do with destroying them with the flash or anything. They want you to buy the pictures in the books and postcards that they're selling. However, I did attempt to take some shots... and would have gotten away with it, too if it weren't for that pesky guard and his dog (Ok. Kidding about the dog). 

I knew I should have popped the lens cap back on once I got a few shots, but I didn't and the guard looked at me sidelong as I came out of one room. I may have been almost arrested.....(Hi, Mom!) Pulled a seriously girly move and started to almost cry, appologizing profusely and saying to just let me delete the pictures. He at first insisted that he was taking me to the police (They are outside of all the temples) and took my camera away, but eventually my pitiful pleading left me with having to delete all but this picture and having to take the battery out. *Phew!!!* I did learn my lesson though.... no more pictures for you guys that I'm not supposed to take. Sorry! This one IS pretty cool though. : )

Cairo, and the Pyramids!!!

I'm here at the pyramids!!!!

Today, I fulfilled a lifelong wish, and got to go and see the pyramids. Truly one of the most incredible things I have been able to do in my life, as I've dreamed of this since I first heard about them and about Egypt. 

Better yet, I was able to go INSIDE the Great Pyramid of Cheops. I can't show you all any pictures of the inside, as they aren't legal to take (You will note the large security guard in the blue shirt at the entrance...Although, he did offer me 1 million camels to "Be his queen" or, alternatively, he said he'd kill anyone I want. Tempting, but...). 

The crawl up into the main chamber is truly something else, and way longer, steeper, and more claustrophobic than I ever anticipated. You really have to go deep into and then far up to the heart of the pyramid to get into it, but once you do?! OH! How incredible! The room is absolutely perfect (The angles, the precision of the stonework) even though the blocks of stone used are staggering in size. I was additionally lucky, as there were only 3 others inside the chamber, and all 3 were quietly absorbing it- 1 was meditating. I was awestruck by the whole thing. Sinking down onto the floor against 1 of the walls, I sat and meditated there for as long as I dared without holding up my entire group. It's still soaking in that I was INSIDE a pyramid. Inside something that was 5000 years old and that a pharoah had been in! Literally sitting and meditating inside history. 

We went by camel part of the way there. Completely touristy, but...when in Rome! I personally got a total kick out of it, though that's just the kinda cheesy girl I am. My camel seemed to be a little cheesy for the camera, too. Isn't he handsome?

Next we went over to the Sphinx.... which is shockingly tiny! I don't know who's been photographing it all these years, but they've done a fabulous job making it appear as though it's as grand as one of the pyramids. It is not. 

But it's still pretty cool to see!

With our intrepid guide, Ahmed- who loves photo bombing me- we then went on to the Museum of Antiquities to see some more artifacts- including all those from Tutenkamen's tomb. They have so much that is insanely well preserved. (Full papyrus scrolls that don't have a chip on them!) Egypt is now in the process of building a much larger museum that will be near to the pyramids. The museum they have now currently showcases about 100,000 artifacts- the new one will house over 900,000. And they're still digging....