Monday, January 19 – Cairo to Luxor and Two Tremendous Temples

NOTE: We are having a hard time connecting while on the boat so I'm a little behind. I will continue to post as we have an opportunity.

We had an early flight from Cairo to Luxor, so morning came a little too soon. Our bags had to be packed and ready for pick-up at 6:00 and we were on our way by 7:00 am. They do things very differently in Egypt. Everyone had a boarding pass but it didn’t seem to matter that mine had someone else’s name on it. I took the slot of someone that couldn’t make the trip, and they hadn’t changed the name. It didn’t seem to matter. Oswan said it would be fine and it was. We flew over beautiful “mountainous” desert terrain and arrived in Luxor in less than an hour. Luxor is built on site of the “New Kingdom” ancient capitol city of Thebes (Jer. 46:25). Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied of the Lord’s judgment on the city and her gods. A visit to the temple ruins and fact that today’s rulers are no longer descendants of the Pharaohs are convincing evidences of these fulfilled prophecies. (See Ferrell‘s Travel Blog)

We arrived at the flat bottomed cruise boat that will be our home for the next 4 nights with enough time for a brief excursion to the Luxor Temple which sits literately across the street from the dock. Did I mention, the boat is on the Nile River? Wow! We drove over the Nile in Cairo, but we will live on it for the next four days! This is one of 300 cruise boats that tour the Nile. You can see a line of boats in either direction. Our boat is called the “Tuya”, named after Ramses’s mother. The weather is fabulous. We walked around the entire perimeter of the temple taking pictures and even stumbled across a McDonalds. Maybe Egypt isn’t so different after all! We made it back for a quick lunch, and were back on the bus by 2:00. Next stop - Karnak and it’s Temple of Amun. It was once connected to the Luxor Temple by a 1.2 mile street lined with Sphinx, part of which can be seen adjacent to both Karnak and the Luxor Temple.

Left wall of Karnak Temple with Sphinx lined street.

Karnak was the largest house ever built by ancient Egyptians for worship of multiple gods. It is a complex with several temple compounds. The main Temple of Amun is dedicated to the gods Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. Everything about it is massive in size. It is no wonder it took workers 2000 years to build it. The complex contains, a Colossus of Ramses II, two of ten (?) remaining obelisks an ornately painted festival temple, and numerous other temples, but the highlight for me was of the Great Hypostle Hall that was originally supported by 134 of the largest columns I’ve ever seen. Many still stand today and are covered with deeply grooved carvings and hieroglyphics. There was one for every priest that served here.

Lynda, Margaret, Sandy, Ann, Danny, Sara, Janet, Linda, and Carole (l to r) listen to Ferrell ( c ) provide additional insight.

The Hatshepsut obelisk located in the temple is made of red granite, and is the tallest obelisk in Egypt. Hatshepsut was the first female pharaoh in ancient Egypt. One particularly interesting relief found on a wall in the Temple of Amun at Karnak describes the rise of King Shishak (of Egypt) against Jerusalem (1 Kings 14:25-26). This wall contains the names of 156 towns of Judah and Israel that Shishank claimed to have conquered. While we waited on some of our group to make their way back, some of us went in search of some good luck. There is a monument with a scarab on top that is said to bring the following when circled counter-clockwise the following number of times: three - money, five - marriage, seven - fertility. I’ll let you try to figure out who went around how many times. You could easily spend a day or more here, but we had another temple to cover today!

Luxor Temple at night.

We finally loaded the bus at dusk and headed back to the Luxor Temple. By the time we arrived it was twilight which made for some beautiful, but challenging photos since the temple is illuminated with floodlights that accentuate the fine carvings, statues and columns. Over the centuries the temple had been buried in sand. Until the mid 1880’s, only the heads of Ramses II and tips of obelisks stuck out of the pile of debris on which Luxor village was built. The village was removed bit by bit, and only the tomb and mosque of Luxor's patron saint Abu al Haggag remains on top of the excavated temple. It is widely believed that there are numerous other remains in this area. The current governor recognizes the historical importance and is in the process of removing additional parts of the city so excavation can begin. He has a vision that the city itself will become a museum. I cannot imagine what this place will be like in the future. Guess we’ll just have to come back...

Some stayed at the temple, some went back to the boat and another few went to the Al Fayed essence factory. This is where they use an ancient press technique to squeeze essential oils out of what seemed to be just about anything. For those of you that have been to Turkey it is much like the rug shops. We were served tea, coffee, and a drink made from hibiscus flowers. We got to sample oils of myrrh, frankincense, and a number of other interesting fragrances. Purchases were made by many so we can now fix whatever ails you-pain, stress, dry skin, age spots, and colds and sinus issues. We arrived back at the boat in time for a late dinner and then I, for one, crashed. I’m regretting it now, since I’m a day behind…but sometimes, sleep is more important than blogging, unless of course you are Jane or Ferrell!

Doug and Linda smelling the roses and myrrh and frankincense…