Luxor Things to Do Tips by catkin

The temple at Luxor was once the centre of the capital of ancient Thebes, which covered all of what is now Luxor and Karnak..
It was built between 1390-1352 B.C. by Amenhotep III, the 18th Dynasty “sun king”.
He built a bigger temple on the west bank of the Nile but all that remains of that temple are the two colossal guardians known as the colossi of Memnon.

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Luxor temple is approached by an avenue of sphinxes which originally linked the temple of Luxor to that at Karnak two miles to the north.
Although not complete now, you can still glimpse part of the avenue between the modern buildings of todays Luxor.

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Luxor temple is quite well preserved having been covered in sand with the village of Luxor built on top of it. The temple excavations began in 1885 when the removal of the sand and village revealed the hidden temple.

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The temple is guarded by the colossi of Ramses. Originally there were 6 statues of Ramses II here, four seated and two standing, along with two obelisks.
Two statues and one obelisk were removed, the latter now standing in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

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The people of Luxor wanted the mosque to be left intact when the archaeologists cleared the village. The mosque still plays a large part in the local life and maintains its tradition of worship as it has done for 3,000 years.

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Queen Hatshepsut was the only female Pharoah.
The daughter of Tuthmose I, Hatshepsut married her half brother and heir to the throne. He succeeded to the throne as Tuthmose II but died in his early 30’s with only a young son as his successor. Although this young boy was named as Tuthmose III, his stepmother Hatshepsut acted as regent for the youngster. She later usurped his position and declared herself pharaoh. She is depicted on statues with the full regalia of the king and a fake beard that she apparently took to wearing.

There were originally three temples standing side by side in this area but only Hatshepsuts temple remains although it was vandalised by Tuthmose III out of spite at being kept from the throne. When discovered in the mid 19th century, the temple was in ruins and its present condition is mainly due to reconstruction undertaken by a Polish and Egyptian team.

Only the main part of the temple has been recreated. Originally there would have been a sphinx lined avenue and the huge entrance pylon seen at other temples. An inner court would have been inside the pylon at the position of the first ramp.

The queens’ obelisks are also no longer here; one of them was transported to Karnak.

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The small area known as the chapel of Hathor is to the left of the colonnades at Queen Hatshepsuts temple,and is full of columns depicting Hathor in the form of the cow goddess with her cow ears.

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Deir el-medina is the ruined township that was inhabited by workmen and is now known as the Artisan village.
The village was founded by Tuthmose I and housed the many workers and craftsmen who built and decorated the tombs within the Valley of the Kings. All that is left of the village are the stone wall which mark out the houses and the streets
When they weren’t working, they built and decorated their own tombs and you can visit two of them here. The tombs are small in comparison to those of the pharaohs and can be quite claustrophobic, but it is worth a look at the wall paintings.

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Mini brick built pyramids, some of which have been restored stand over the burial chambers alongside the artisan village.

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No trip to Luxor would be complete without a trip to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank.
Although there isn’t much to take photographs of here, as all the tombs are underground, the valley is dominated by a natural pyramid.
The entrance fee allows you to visit 3 tombs. We visited the tombs of Ramses I, III and VI and although the treasures have long gone the wall paintings are spectacular.

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