Luxor

We're back in Cairo, and Luxor was amazing.

On day one we visited the temples of Karnak and Luxor. These temples were built at the site of the Egyptian city of Thebes, known in pre-Hellenic times as Waset. Dedicated to the sun god Amun, these magnificent monuments have stood the test of time as Egyptian and Greek temples, churches, mosques, and archaeological sites.

On day two, we saw the Valley of the Kings and the temple of Hatshepsut. The first is the burial site of pharaohs from the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties, long after the pyramid builders of the Old Kingdom but known to us as the time of the Hebrew exodus. Among the four tombs we entered were those of the warrior king Thutmoses III and the boy king Tutankhamen. The temple of Hatshepsut was built by the longest-reigning pharaoh in Egyptian history. Although her nephew, the aforementioned Thutmoses III (notice, by the way, that Moses's name may well be a shortened version), attempted to wipe out the of her building and claim the temple as his own, it is clear from the appearance of the statues that the figure was female.

Our guide, Mahmoud, was a great guy. He knew all the technical questions you just have to wonder about when you realize that not only did the Egyptians build these monuments three thousand years ago, but they did it without a pulley system.

For lunch we ate at a traditional Egyptian restaurant in Luxor where we met up with other members of the tour. They'd been on a different sort of extension, taking a Nile River cruise. Speaking of the Nile:



















So we flew back to Cairo. Tomorrow it's the pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, and the Egyptian Museum. Check my Facebook for a whole album of pictures.

Until then, ma as-saalamah!