It was the evening of day 4 when the sun became a little less murderous that we were made to venture out for our first glimpse of the multitude of treasures that Luxor has to offer, this time for a tour of the Luxor temple.

Al-Uqsur, Thebes, Luxor, different names for a place at once mysterious, enchanting, dramatic, full of glory. Luxor was the capital city of the New Kingdom, which was known for its abilities in construction on a scale not known since. We were going back to 1550-1070BC, and delving deeper into Egyptian history. Were we glad that we were going from recent past (30BC!!) to more ancient history! Its difficult to prevent a sense of callousness and dismissal that inevitably sets in when one is in Egypt: anything even within a century of the birth of Christ is noveau!

The Temple of Luxor, which was discovered less than a century ago, was begun during the reign of Amenhotep III (grand-father of Tutankhamen(?)) and was dedicated to the Theban trinity of Amun Re, his wife Mut and son Khonsu. Ramesis II expanded the temple and, guess what? He added lots of his own statues (as you would begin to expect by now) and two obelisks, one of which was gifted away by an overgenerous Muhammed Ali to France in 1831, in exchange for which the Egyptians apparently received ... a clock. (Oh, by the way, did we mention that the clock has never worked?)

Back to the temple. The curious aspect of both this and the Karnak temple is that they began to be built from inside outwards. So you would find Amenhotep's constructions in the interiors, while subsequent pharaohs added elaborate archways, columns and grandiose courtyards. There is a Abu Haggag mosque built much later, that is perched high up, and gives one a good idea of the extent of debris that must have covered the temple before it was uncovered. In fact, statues were being discovered as late as 1989, most of which are in the Luxor museum today. Keep a look out for the impressive Avenue of the Sphinxes which have close to 70 ram headed sphinxes that supposedly connected the temples of Luxor and Karnak (1-3 kms) at one time.

© Vixabs Vacations Unlimited

May 01 2003