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EGYPT (Luxor) - Cairo to Capetown

Bec
2004-09-20 12:37:30

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graceful Luxor temple was added to over the centuries by Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Alexander the Great and various Romans. Arabs even built a mosque in one of the courts.

Karnak
South gate of the great Karnak Temple complex built on a site reserved for worship for over 1500 years. During the Old Kingdom (2600 - 2200 BC), the object of worship was a triad of gods, Amon the male reproductive force, Mut the mother and her son Khon the moon god. In the Middle Kingdom Amon became predominant and the original Amon sanctuary of Karnak's main enclosure was built. Finally most of what can be seen today, the great pylons and colonnaded halls, were built during the New Kingdom (1570 - 1070 BC) while Amon evolved into Amon-Ra linking with the old kingdom sun god.

Nile River
The modern tourist boats in the background tie up on the right bank of the Nile where Luxor and Karnak await them. The fabled Valley of the Kings is about 12 km inland from the other shore of the Nile. You can get across on a ferry or on one of these traditional feluccas.

Luxor
The Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of Kings and their wives in the Valley of Queens, both hidden in the hills behind this ridge. The desert plain from the Nile to here was a vast city of the dead studded with temples such as this magnificent Hatchepsut Temple and the tombs of nobles.

Ramses III, of the 20th Dynasty (new Kingdom, ), was the last great military Pharaoh. His successors were weak, past her zenith, Egypt would be taken over by the Kushites from the south who formed the 25 Dynasty, By the Assyrians who created the 26th, by the Persians, by Alexander the Great in 332 BC and finally by the Romans in 30 BC. After Ramses III, Egypt began its long descent that brought it to what it is today.

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