ExploreTube | Luxor City in 6 minutes
Located in Upper Egypt Luxor has been described as the world’s largest open-air museum. Nowadays it has been elevated to the status of governorate, although it is still classified as being in the province of Qena. Luxor has a population of round about 230,000, most of whom are employed in tourism somehow, although there are many who are employed in agriculture and commerce. Luxor is one of the most popular destinations in Egypt and qualifies as one of those places that you simply must see. Because of this almost every Egyptian tourist company has an office somewhere in the town.
It has been estimated that Luxor contains about a third of the most valuable monuments and antiquities in the whole world, which makes it one of this planet’s most important tourist sites. Monuments such as The Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Deir El-Bahri (the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut), the worker's village at Deir El-Medina, the list goes on and on and on. Alhough most visitors will stay for just a few days, it would take a substantial amount of time to visit everything in this amazing town.
Once known as Thebes, Luxor’s importance in ancient Egyptian history cannot be denied. It was the religious capital almost all throughout the Pharaonic period which is why the town is dominated by the two temples: the Temple of Luxor and the immense Temple of Karnak: the world’s largest temple complex.
Dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Amun Ra, the Temple of Karnak was constantly expanded by successive pharaohs, each adding his, or her, tribute to the god. The site dates back to the Middle Kingdom under the reign of Mentuhotep (11th Dynasty), but most of what can be seen today are from the New Kingdom. Other parts of the complex include sites dedicated to Mut, the wife of Amun Ra, and their son Khonsu.
Most people know that Luxor was once Thebes, but “Thebes” was not what the ancient Egyptians called it. Ancient texts show that it was called T-apt, “The Shrine”, with the ancient Greeks calling it Tea Pie. The Arabs had problems with pronunciation and so it became Thebes to them. The name vanished then as the area submitted to the desert and then by the 10th-century Arab travelers thought the ruins were of grand buildings so started to call it Al-Oksour, or “site of the palaces” which evtnually became Luxor.
Luxor is situated 670km (416 miles) to the south of Cairo, 220km (137 miles) to the north of Aswan, and 280km (174 miles) to the west of Hurghada. It is the second most popular place to visit in Egypt, behind Cairo, and is accessible in a number of ways.
TOP 13 MUST EAT FOODS in Chiang Mai, Thailand (DIY Thai Food Tour)
We lived in Chiang Mai for 5 weeks eating delicious Thai food, and we narrowed it down to our top 13 foods/drinks you MUST get in Chiang Mai. You can find all the details of where we ate on our website: :) They range from street food on motorbike stands to cute cafes, and they’re ALL AMAZING!
Travel vlog 571 | Chiang Mai, Thailand | Country #82/100
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Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, we got married June 2013 and quickly caught the travel bug! We started “travel hacking” & finally decided we wanted to travel for one year. After 2 years of saving $ and over 2 million miles and points, we sold our cars and apartment and left home January 10, 2016. We started this YouTube channel to share our experiences with friends and family, then decided we really liked vlogging and traveling! So we extended our 1 year trip to now FOUR years :) Now we have a goal of traveling to 100 countries before 2020! We are incredibly thankful to do something we love every day. :)
LUXOR TEMPLE & VALLEY OF THE KINGS | EGYPT Travel Vlog 2
Check out my new video:
The stunning sites and monuments of Ancient Egypt, built between 4.6 and 2 thousand years ago.
UNESCO World Heritage Site Ancient Thebes (Luxor) with its necropolis
Luxor is often called the world’s greatest open-air museum, but that comes nowhere near describing this extraordinary place. Nothing in the world compares to the scale and grandeur of the monuments that have survived from ancient Thebes.
The old capital of Egypt, Thebes, was on the West bank of the Nile. That is where most of the ruins and tombs are.
The Luxor has many places to see. Definite highlights, not-to-be-missed, include:
the Valley of the Kings
the temple complexes of Luxor and Karnak
Medinet Habu
the Tombs of the Nobles
The Ramesseum Temple
Egyptian Pancakes: The Making of Mouth Watering Fatir at GAD
- Here's a short video that I took while in downtown Cairo, Egypt at a popular Egyptian restaurant called GAD. This place cooks up all sorts of food, but my favorite was the Egyptian Pancakes! If you visit Egypt, make sure you head over to GAD to get yourself an Egyptian Pancake.
Visit my website below for more Travel Tips, Reviews, Photography, Videos, and Inspiration for your next trip!
ExploreTube | Luxor Temple Travel Vlog
Largely built by the New Kingdom pharaohs Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BC) and Ramses II (1279–1213 BC), this temple is a strikingly graceful monument in the heart of the modern town. Also known as the Southern Sanctuary, its main function was during the annual Opet celebrations, when the statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were brought from Karnak, along the Avenue of Sphinxes, and reunited here during the inundation.
Amenhotep III greatly enlarged an older shrine built by Hatshepsut, and rededicated the massive temple as Amun’s southern ipet (harem), the private quarters of the god. The structure was further added to by Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Alexander the Great and various Romans. The Romans constructed a military fort around the temple that the Arabs later called Al Uqsur (The Fortifications), which was later corrupted to give modern Luxor its name.
In ancient times the temple would have been surrounded by a warren of mud-brick houses, shops and workshops, which now lie under the modern town, but after the decline of the city people moved into the – by then – partly covered temple complex and built their city within it. In the 14th century, a mosque was built in one of the interior courts for the local sheikh (holy man) Abu Al Haggag. Excavation works, begun in 1885, have cleared away the village and debris of centuries to uncover what can be seen of the temple today, but the mosque remains and has been restored after a fire.
The temple is less complex than Karnak, but here again you walk back in time the deeper you go into it. In front of the temple is the beginning of the Avenue of Sphinxes that ran all the way to the temples at Karnak 3km to the north, and is now almost entirely excavated.
The massive 24m-high first pylon was raised by Ramses II and decorated with reliefs of his military exploits, including the Battle of Kadesh. The pylon was originally fronted by six colossal statues of Ramses II, four seated and two standing, but only two of the seated figures and one standing remain. Of the original pair of pink-granite obelisks that stood here, one remains while the other stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Beyond lies the Great Court of Ramses II, surrounded by a double row of columns with lotus-bud capitals, the walls of which are decorated with scenes of the pharaoh making offerings to the gods. On the south (rear) wall is a procession of 17 sons of Ramses II with their names and titles. In the northwestern corner of the court is the earlier triple-barque shrine built by Hatshepsut and usurped by her stepson Tuthmosis III for Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Over the southeastern side hangs the 14th-century Mosque of Abu Al Haggag, dedicated to a local sheikh, entered from Sharia Maabad Al Karnak, outside the temple precinct.
Beyond the court is the older, splendid Colonnade of Amenhotep III, built as the grand entrance to the Temple of Amun of the Opet. The walls behind the elegant open papyrus columns were decorated during the reign of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun and celebrate the return to Theban orthodoxy following the wayward reign of the previous pharaoh, Akhenaten. The Opet Festival is depicted in lively detail, with the pharaoh, nobility and common people joining the triumphal procession. Look out for the drummers and acrobats doing backbends.
South of the Colonnade is the Sun Court of Amenhotep III, once enclosed on three sides by double rows of towering papyrus-bundle columns, the best preserved of which, with their architraves extant, are those on the eastern and western sides. In 1989 workmen found a cache of 26 statues here, buried by priests in Roman times, now displayed in the Luxor Museum.
Beyond lies the Hypostyle Hall, the first room of the original Opet temple, with four rows of eight columns each, leading to the temple’s main rooms. The central chamber on the axis south of the Hypostyle Hall was the cult sanctuary of Amun, stuccoed over by the Romans in the 3rd century AD and painted with scenes of Roman officials: some of this is still intact and vivid. Through this chamber, either side of which are chapels dedicated to Mut and Khonsu, is the four-columned antechamber where offerings were made to Amun. Immediately behind the chamber is the Barque Shrine of Amun, rebuilt by Alexander the Great, with reliefs portraying him as an Egyptian pharaoh.
To the east a doorway leads into two rooms. The first is Amenhotep III’s 'birth room' with scenes of his symbolic divine birth. You can see the moment of his conception, when the fingers of the god touch those of the queen and ‘his dew filled her body’, according to the accompanying hieroglyphic caption. The Sanctuary of Amenhotep III is the last chamber; it still has the remains of the stone base on which Amun’s statue stood, and although it was once the most sacred part of the temple, the busy street that now runs directly behind it makes it less atmospheric.
EGYPT 486 - FEASTS & BANQUETS in Ancient Egypt - (by Egyptahotep)
FEASTS & BANQUETS in ANCIENT EGYPT,
FESTIVAL of DRUNKENNESS:
Paintings in Tombs Show scenes which illustrate that there were Feasts & Banquets,in Ancient Egypt (at Least for The High Class) and for several motives,Weddings,To Honor Guests, Births Etc. Moreover In the calendar of Ancient Egypt there were 105 parties between religious and civil, agricultural festivals covering the funeral, the Pharaoh. Since the life of the Egyptian religion was based, all parties were in themselves a religious background at parties all the people involved The most important festivals were:
During his first day Thot arrival of the new year was celebrated.
On the 11th celebrating the appearance in the sky of the star Sothis Sirius (For some this day was the beginning of the new year)On the 15th of this month was held,the Festival Of Drunkenness,: The Pharaoh offered to the goddess Hathor (goddess of love) jars of wine,(between dances), which subsequently consumed it.Between 17 and 22 celebrating the great feast of the dead or party Uag, in which he praised the god Osiris, always in transit to further and it was taken out in procession on 22 at the end of the party.From day 22 of the month of Jaiak celebrating the mysteries of death and resurrection of the god Osiris.In the month of Tiby celebrating the feast of the god Nekheb-Kau god Ka provider. During the Shemu harvest time in the month of Pashon the feast of the goddess Ermuthis goddess of the harvest was celebrated.
During the month of Pashon the feast of the god is also celebrated fertility god Min. These festivals were held in the city of Koptos with competitions between animals for selection of the best representatives of the breed. All Pashon month was dedicated to the sun god.In Ajet station during the month of Paophi the Opet festival that lasted a total of eleven days celebrated.In the month of Epiphi reunion party held between Horus and Hathor. During this festival the goddess Hathor at Dendera left town to go to the city of Edfu to meet her husband the god Horus. These festivities lasted for fifteen days.
One of the most important holidays in Egypt was the feast of Sed or Jubilee, in which Pharaoh celebrated thirty years of his reign, in which he renewed his power. Some pharaohs adelantaban this event for several years, but very few were those who managed to celebrate. The gods were moved to the city of Memphis to attend the party.In the month of Meshir coinciding with the day December 25 of the Julian year, Egyptians commemorated the birth of the god Horus.In addition to these festivals minor local festivals were celebrated. Every day celebrations and rituals were held to different gods.
(*) FESTIVAL of DRUNKENNESS:
a recent discovery of a porch of drunkenness from a Hathor chapel of Hatshepsut, to the Mut complex in Thebes shows that these festivals took place early in the XVIII th Dynasty. Although scenes of banquets in XVIII th dynasty Theban tombs have been connected to the Beautiful Feast of the Valley, recent studies suggest that not all are, and that some banquets are celebrations of these Hathor feasts, particularly when accompanied by musicians and dancers. This paper will discuss other evidence that these rites for Hathor are commemorated in 18th dynasty tomb paintings, including representation of offerings and ritual vessels related to them against a backdrop of activities in the marshes.Celebrated during the first month of the Egyptian year, it was closely tied with religion. It was a celebration in honour of the Eye of Ra and myth of the slaughter of mankind, principally held to appease the goddess Sekhmet, but it was also an important celebration of those goddesses who also held the title, such as Hathor, Tefnut and Mut.
As part of the ritual, the sleeping celebrants would be awoken by the sound of drums and music, so the drinkers could commune with and worship the goddess. Dancing and the lighting of torches were all part of the ritual celebration, all in the hopes that worshipers would receive an epiphany from the goddess.Interestingly, the reference to traveling through the marshes is, probably an ancient Egyptian euphemism for having sex. This theory is supported by graffiti depicting men and women in different sexual positions. Thus the hall of travelling through the marshes was possibly a place where the worshipers would be involved in more intimate encounters during the Festival of Drunkenness. When linking this to the goddess Hathor, this aspect of the festival is unsurprising, as she was also the goddess of love.Thus alcohol was not only central to the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians, but it was also one of the ways in which they could worship their gods, and maybe experience for themselves what it meant, to them: To be divine.
EGYPT 246 - SETH & APEP *Egyptian Gods VI* (by Egyptahotep)
SETH :The animal represented in Seth has intrigued Egyptologists and zoologists during many time. He has the body-shape of a dog, which gives it a muscular physique and clawed paws, and a curved snout. He usually has some sort of weapon for a tail, He was the god of wind and storms. Seth was who stood in the front of the solar barque to defended the sun god Ra from his most dangerous foe, the serpent Apep. At this time, he seems to have had no conflicts with the cults of Isis or Osiris. In fact, he was part of the same family of gods, and married to his twin sister, Nephthys.
Seth had killed Osiris by tricking him into a coffin, which he threw into the Nile. When Osiris' wife Isis heard about this, she started searching desperately for her husband's body, to bury it properly. She asked everyone she met and finally some children told her where it was. Isis mourned for her dead husband. Then she hid the body, while she went back to look after her son Horus, still a baby. Seth was terrified that Isis might be able to bring Osiris back from the dead, since she was a great magician. So Seth found where she had hidden the body and cut it into pieces, which he scattered up and down the Nile. Isis had to find all the scattered pieces of Osiris. Whenever she found a piece, she buried it there and built a shrine. This means that there are lots of places in Egypt where Osiris was buried! Osiris himself became the King of the Dead, and all Egyptians hoped they would join him after death.
APEP (or APOPHIS) is the serpent god of evil and destruction. In ancient Egypt, he was the deification of several evil concepts including darkness, chaos and destruction. He was definitive enemy of one of the most powerful gods, the sun go Ra. Apep is believed to threaten the god especially during his nightly travels across the sky. Because of his menace to the sun god, he is connected to the idea of the destruction of creation because the whole world would plunge into darkness if he successfully devours Ra. It is also because of his malevolence that several other deities were enjoined to protect the sun god. Originally, it was Set and Menhen that protected the god in his solar barge. They would usually cut the belly of the serpent to release Ra from his clutches. However, in later years, Set evolved to become and equal if not Apep himself so the duty was passed on to other deities including Isis, Bastet, Sekhmet, Neith, Serket, Geb, Aker and even the followers of Horus. They female protectors were collectively known as the Eyes of Ra. Sometimes, even the god Shu as a personification of all the dead would help in subduing Apep in order to maintain the principles of Ma'at.
Showreel Egypt oases
Showreel of footage shot in Egypt.
Assignment by Beljon Productions in the Netherlands. Filmed in November 2006
Copyright Beljon Productions.
Time Lapsing at Dusk from the White Desert, Egypt
EGYPT 234 - AMENTET,HATMEHIT & SOTHIS *Egyptian Goddesses IV* (by Egyptahotep)
AMENTET (or Imentet) The Hidden one was a Goddess of the west, which is where the underworld was said to be. The direction west has often been associated with death, since that is where the sun dies every day. Amentet sometimes took the form of a hawk who lived in a tree at the edge of the desert. From here, she could watch the gates of the underworld. When a newly deceased person came to the gates, she would welcome them with a drink of water.
She was depicted as a beautiful woman as wearing the hieroglyph of the west on her head, carrying a scepter and the ankh of life in her hands. She is occasionally seen as a winged goddess, when linked to the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. The standard of the west is usually a half circle sitting on top of two poles of uneven length, the longer of which is tied to her head by a headband. Often a hawk or an ostrich feather is seen sitting on top of the standard. Occasionally, she is shown wearing just the hawk on her head.
HATMEHIT was a goddess attested since the 4th dynasty. symbolized and incarnated the 16th nome of Lower Egypt. Hatmehit means Before-the-Fishes, possibly referring to her being foremost among fish deities. A perhaps less likely interpretation might be that she was a primordial deity preceding marine life.Fish deities were few and far between in ancient Egypt. And while fish were the people's main source of proteine, they were not offered to the gods. There were even times and places, when eating fish would cause ritual impurity. Only a few artifacts showing the goddess have survived, among them statuettes and amulets, the oldest of which date to the Third Intermediate Period.Hatmehit is depicted as a woman with a fish like animal emblem on her head. The fish cannot be identified; catfish or dolphin possibly.
Sothis was the goddess personifying the dog-star Sirius, the bright appearance of which in the July dawn sky announced the annual flooding of the Nile.
SOTHIS (or SOPDET) She was portrayed as a lady with a star on her head.
As early as the First Dynasty, Sothis was called bringer of the New Year and the Nile Flood. The agricultural calendar started with the rise of the Nile. Gradually Sothis became linked with the constellation Orion, because of the prosperity which resulted from the fertile silt left by the receding waters of the river.
In the Pyramid texts, there is clear evidence that the king unites with his sister Sothis who gives birth to the morning star. She is also the king's guide to the heavenly Field of Rushes.In the Lamentations of Isis and Nephtys. In the Late Period, the cult of Isis-Sothis resulted in less individuality for Sothis, and Greek versions of this double deity caused Sothis to be even further separated from her Pharaonic origins.