26 July 2008:

We packed a small bag for our 2-day trip to Luxor, and left our main luggage in the Cairo hotel. It took us quite some time to finally decide to go to Luxor because it is an 11-hour overnight train ride from Cairo, and we weren’t sure of the conditions on the train.

We had seats in the first class section of the local train, but it’s not first class by first-world standards, but by Egyptian standard. The train had definitely seen better days but despite the worn and dirty state of the seats, they could still recline slightly more than those on a budget carrier with a lot more legroom.

Being seated at the end of one carriage, we were constantly jolted out of our rest by people opening the door to go between the carriages for a smoke and then deciding it was better to leave the door open so the passengers could “enjoy” the smell of their rough cigarettes and the sound of the wheels bouncing on the track. The number of times people left the door open was enough for Pedro to master the art of keeping his face covered with his jacket while swinging an arm at just the right speed to slam the door shut every time someone would go out for a smoke.

In Luxor lies the largest ancient religious site in the world - the Karnak Temple. This open-air museum is vast and complex. Only the precinct of Amun-Re is open to the public.

The temple complex is dedicated to the god Amun-Re. In ancient times, Amun-Re was the local god of Thebes, and he was identified with the Ram and the Goose. The Karnak temple was the dwelling place of Amun-Re, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu, the moon god.

The Karnak Temple was constructed over 2000 years by approximately 30 pharaohs. The reason for this continuous building is that they believed that once building ceased, the temple would “die”.

Construction work began in the 16th century BC.

This large scarab beetle was built by Amenhotep III to signify good luck. Legend has it that if you walk around the beetle counter-clockwise seven times, you will have good luck!

One of the most successful female pharoahs of all time was Hatshepsut. She had twin obelisks (a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top), at the time the tallest in the world, erected at the entrance to the temple. One still stands (to the left of the above pic), as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth; the other has broken in two and toppled.

Obelisk of Hatshepsut at Karnak

An obelisk isn’t just a tall monument. It was an amazing feat of engineering! It was made of a single block of stone carved out from a quarry, transported to its designated location, and made to stand tall, straight and steady on the ground - all achieved by human hands, without any machinery. Even modern men have had trouble erecting obelisks using ancient methods.

The temple of Karnak is famous for its 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows in the Hypostyle Hall. 122 of these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters.

The Hypostyle Hall at 54,000 square feet with its 134 columns is still the largest room of any religious building in the world.

The Hall is astounding, considering its size, design and complexity, and the fact that all of this was built by hand, by hundreds of thousands of Egyptians.

 The Hypostyle Hall

Built early in the Nineteenth Dynasty by Seti I (ruled c. 1291-1279 BCE), the Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak Temple was finished by his son, Ramses II (ruled c. 1279-1212 BCE).

The outer walls depict scenes of battle, Seti I on the north and Ramses II on the south. These scenes may not show actual combat, but could have a ritual purpose as well.

Coloring is still seen on the reliefs at the top

 Coloring from more than 3000 years ago. Unbelievable!

The reliefs and inscriptions in the Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak temple are decaying rapidly. This is caused by groundwater containing salts which attack the surface of the stone, destroying the reliefs.

We wished we knew what most of these reliefs mean..

 These carvings lasting longer than anything else

Walls are covered with endless scenes of worship rituals, often showing the pharoah with the god.

The Pharaoh played a unique role as the sole mediator between humanity and the divine world.  Here it shows Ramses II kneeling in front of the god Amun-Re.

Scenes like this one of the king making offerings to the gods cover the walls and columns inside the Hypostyle Hall. In return for worship and offerings, the gods gave “life, prosperity, and health” to the king and to Egypt.

 Statue of Rameses II at Karnak Temple

Rameses II (19th dynasty), son of Seti I, was around thirty years old when he became king of Egypt - and then reigned for 67 years. He had many wives, among them some of his own near relatives, and was the father of about 111 sons and 51 daughters.

 A row of Ram-sphinxes. They are a symbol of the god Amun.

After visiting the Karnak Temple, we walked over to the Luxor Temple.

The Luxor temple was dedicated to the three gods of Amun, Mut, and their son, and was the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from Karnak Temple to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility.

It was built by Pharoah Amenhotep III.

 Entrance to Luxor Temple

That is the cartouche of Alexander the Great!

This wall is inside the Sanctuary of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great, who was a Greek King, built this shrine, depicting himself as a pharoah so as to convince people of his power.

In the photo above, Alexander the Great (second figure from the right) is dressed as a pharaoh. In these scenes, he receives the two crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, and also participates in offering rites.

You can still see the Roman mural that had been painted on another layer over the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

 Roman painting. How amazing!

More Roman mural covering the walls

To the right is the Colonnade of Amenhotep III.

A grand statue of Amenhotep III with his favorite wife Tiye within the colonnade. This statue was considered highly unusual because his wife’s statue was built in the same size as his, as a demonstration of his love.

This shows the unification of the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt.

 Statues of Ramses II

Statues of Ramses II. Many of the heads and faces were destroyed by the Romans so that the people would only worship Roman gods.

Head of Ramses II cut off by the Romans

 The Avenue of Sphinxes is believed to link the Luxor Temple with the Karnak Temple 3 km away

28 July 2008: We hired a local guide to take us to Old Cairo which contains a concentration of Christian coptic monasteries and monuments. Old Cairo, Masr el Qadima, lies within the old Roman fortress of Babylon. It was a walled but heavily fortified city with narrow streets and cobbled alleys.

That’s our knowledgeable guide. He is a Muslim, and he believes Muslims and Christians should get along well together regardless of their religions. Our driver is a Coptic Christian. Religious harmony is hard to achieve in this country.

Roman remains at Babylon Fort, Old Cairo

The Hanging Church (el-Muallaqa) dates from around the 7th century and is actually built on top of the walls of the Roman fort. 

The church of St. Barbara is among the churches of Old Cairo of historic importance. It was originally dedicated to St. Cyrus and St. John who were worshipped for their healing powers. Documents from the 13th century mention that the relics of St. Barbara were kept in this church. Many of its precious items, like two door panels, a wooden screen, an icon and Bible caskets were transferred to the nearby Coptic Museum. The basilican structure and tripartite sanctuary of the church closely resembles the one of Abu Sarga. The church of St. Barbara houses some of the rarest icons.

Our guide also took us to the Saladin Citadel of Cairo.

This citadel lies in a location which was fortified by the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) between 1176 and 1183 AD, to protect it from the Crusaders.

Pillars from a Christian church were taken to be the pillars of the mosque. Here you can still see the Christian crosses.

Entrance to the Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel in Cairo

Entrance to the Mosque of Muhammad Aliwhich was built in the 1830s.

We were amazed by the grandeur of this room, and we guess much of it had to do with the hanging lights!

In the centre of the ceiling hangs a huge chandelier presented to Egypt by king Louis Philippe V of France. Including the chandelier, the mosque has 365 electric lamps which used to be all oil lamps in the 19th century.

Beautiful lights

 The Great Pyramids in the background. If you don’t look hard enough past this smog, you might miss them!

Polluted air in Cairo

A fountain in the Citadel

29 July 2008: You can’t experience Cairo without going to a souq. A souq (also sometimes spelled as ’souk’) refers to a market in an arab city.

On our last day in Egypt, we took a cab to the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, a major souq in Cairo. You could get lost in this huge maze of shops. The outer streets of the souq were not as crowded as the inner streets. Once we walked further in, it was so overcrowded that we were packed as tight as sardines in a can. There was no way we could take out our camera to record it as we were pushed around by the maddening crowd of merchants and shoppers.

The walk was a test of patience and heightened vigilance. You don’t want your belongings being snatched or be stabbed. Certain goods are found in specific parts of the souq. There would be a street with textile shops, another street with shops selling food and spices.

Where there are tourists, there’s a risk of a terrorist attack. On Feb 22 2009, there was a bomb explosion in this souq set off by still-uncaptured terrorists, killing a 17-year-old French teenager and injuring 24 other people, most of them tourists. Local terrorism damages Egypt’s tourism industry, which is the biggest industry in Egypt.

 The outer part of the souq

 We love their hanging lamps!

 Shisha pipes for sale

Spices for sale

25 July 2008:  Memphis, founded around 3,100 BC, is the legendary city of Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt. Early on, Memphis was more likely a fortress from which Menes controlled the land and water routes between Upper Egypt and the Delta.  But there is little left of the City today, at least that can be seen. Originally, the city had many fine temples, palaces and gardens.

But today, other than the scattered ruins, most of the city is gone, or lies beneath cultivated fields, Nile silt and local villages.

On our way to Memphis, we saw donkeys pulling carts.

The small museum which houses the 10 m high Colossus Of Ramses II

Ramses II is often regarded as Egypt’s greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh. He died when he was about 90 years old. He had outlived many of his wives and children and left great memorials all over Egypt, especially to his beloved first queen Nefertari.

This oblong shape enclosing several Egyptian hieroglyphs on the wrist of the Ramses statue is known as a cartouche.  A cartouche is an oblong inclosure with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. Only pharaohs could have a cartouche.

 Ramses’ name is enclosed in this cartouche

The open-air museum in Memphis

The Alabaster Sphinx

Here in Saqqara lies the world’s oldest standing step pyramid. It is more than 4600 YEARS OLD! It was designed by Imhotep for King Djoser (c.2667-2648 BC).

 The funerary complex of Djoser

Man seeking baksheesh (tipping) outside the complex

This is graffiti left behind by someone from more than 3000 years ago!

These are ancient artifacts uncovered in the site of Saqqara and now housed in the Imhotep Museum.

Well-preserved statues of Ptahhotep found in his tomb

 Remarkably preserved balls of cheese (?) found in the tombs!

 Nuts found in the tombs too!

 Stopping by a shop which sells papyrus paintings

Here comes the Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Khufu’s Pyramid, Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops). It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian King Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC.

It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis.

This is the Pyramid of Khafre. Note that the top of the pyramid is still covered by the original highly polished white limestone.

The Great Pyramid is no longer covered by the original white limestone, but some of this casing stone can still be seen around the base of the pyramid (you can see the white stone in this picture).  In AD 1301, a massive earthquake loosened many of the outer casing stones, which were then carted away by Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan in 1356 in order to build mosques and fortresses in nearby Cairo.

The Great Pyramid consists of more than 2.3 million limestone blocks. The Egyptians shipped the limestone blocks from quarries all along the Nile River.

The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.

The Three Pyramids

 The Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx is the largest monolith statue in the world. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians between 4000-5000 years ago.

This Sphinx was partially buried beneath the desert for thousands of years, abandoned and forgotten.

The entire Sphinx was finally excavated in 1925.

The Giza pyramid complex is not in some remote part of the Egyptian desert as some might envision. There are run-down residential buildings around. There’s even a Pizza Hut and KFC. This is the view of the Great Pyramid from inside the Pizza Hut!