Day 2: Karnak and Luxor

An "egret tree" at the resort: all the
white dots are full-sized egrets.

Breakfast visitors

After a 2 a.m. lights out, our 8:30 appointment seemed rather early this morning. However, our guide Samar was cheerful and chatty and just delightful, making up for the pain.

Part of the sphinx-lined
road that leads to
the temple of Luxor

We drove straight to the Temple of Karnak, which is actually a complex of various temples that were constructed over the centuries. All the famous names had a part: Ramses II, Hatshepsut, and more. Pointing up 20 meters on a wall, Samar showed us graffiti dating to Napoleonic times: the temples had been so deeply buried in sand in that era, that this represented ground level plus a meter or so. However, in the 20th century, there was a concerted effort to reveal the site via numerous excavations.

Interestingly, these sphinxes
had ram's heads

Pylons of the Temple of Karnak

When in their prime, these must have been absolutely stunning. Completely colored from top to bottom, carved all over, the ornamentation is exquisite. I am in further in awe of the archaeologists who look at the carvings and can tell you who is involved, what the story is saying, and what the implications are. We’re talking thousands of square meters of intricate carvings.

There’s a huge carved scarab beetle on a pediment; recent “superstition” (or tourists’ tales, probably) say that walking around it 7 times will help you conceive. On the theory that 5 is enough, I walked away rapidly without even circling the scarab. 

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A huge swimming pool (!) was fed by the Nile, and provided the source for the priests’ ablutions prior to sacred rites. The original steps still go down to the water, but the course of the Nile has changed; this means that the water is handled mechanically now, with a system of pumps and external replenishment.

Hatshepsut's image and cartouche were obliterated
by her angry son when he succeeded to the throne

Egyptian numerals went from one to ten (the up and down marks)
then in 10s (the upside-down Us). The swirly mark at the bottom
is 1000. There was no 100 mark in this sample. No one knows
why the numbers are here.

Ablution pool

Entry to Temple of Luxore

Moving on to the Temple of Luxor, we got to see more of the sphinxes that lead from Karnak to Luxor (a distance of 3 km or a little less than 2 miles). Having been buried in sand for centuries, later cultures had constructed houses, churches, and other buildings on top of the poor creatures. Obviously, the uncovering of this historic resource has caused present-day woes due to land reclamation (as a public good, the historic sites can attract tourism and so on, but the private individuals who had family houses there going back 200 years were not overly pleased at having to move, and complained that the compensation wasn’t enough to buy a replacement house).

It was rather odd seeing the sister obelisk to the one I first saw in Paris around 30 years ago. Napoleon carted that one off from one of the sides of the Temple of Luxor’s entryway. We were told that the obelisks were probably originally tipped with gold leaf, which is why that top part is never carved. By contrast, the sides (heavily carved) would also have been painted in bright colors. 

This mosque was built when the temple was buried in sand.
The door to the left was originally the entry door.

Apparently, the obelisks were installed by creating a mound (ramp) around the center of the planned location (think the shape of a volcano). The block would be heaved up the side of the volcano, then tipped carefully into place. At that point, the sides were carved using the mound as a scaffolding; the mound would be removed little by little as the carving progressed. These obelisks were single blocks of granite, and the work to quarry them (let alone carving them) is incredible.

One of the depictions of the festivity where the ceremonial
boat was carried along the Sphinx Road. These are
acrobats.

These guys are making bread, I think.

Another view of the Temple of Luxor

 After having Samar purchase some falafel on our behalf, it was time to head home for a quick bite to eat (yes, the falafel were delicious!) and then a four-hour nap. A bit of relaxation time, then dinner next to the Nile!

Love, 

Alexandra