"Luxurious Luxor" Luxor by Ramonq

Karnak Pillars

click: Ancient Egyptian music

If you want to see ancient Egypt at its most sumptuous , nothing beats the grandeur and magnificence of the temples and tombs that have been uncovered in the searing desert around the village of Luxor. The region is virtually littered with a vast array of ancient Egyptian legacies that have pricked the consciousness of people the world over, and spawned a thousand myths and legends about this mysterious race of people. The archaelogical sites around Luxor are basically vast open-air museums where the story of the ancient Egyptian civilisation is on full display. The ancient Egyptians thought big, and they constructed magnificent structures that even the most jaded modern man will be astounded. Yes, the Pyramids in Giza in Lower Egypt are awesome but the design is quite simple and rudimentary. The temples around Luxor however, show stupefying fine details of ancient Egyptian art and architecture that must be physically seen to be believed.

Luxor can be divided into 3 sections: the town of Luxor itself, the village of Karnak to its north and the necropolis city across the fiver Nile. Luxor feeds on tourism and majority of its population derive their income from all sorts of tourist-related activities. Camels, bicycles, feluccas, taxis are all for hire on "special price just for you". Hotels restaurants and shops proliferate around the town centre to serve the tourists' needs. So geared towards tourism is this town that when the industry is down, the scarce hapless tourists are pestered and cajoled to avail the touts' services. The area near the Nile river is surprisingly very fertile but agriculture is not as lucrative as tourism, so most Luxorites stick to making the quick buck instead.

Luxorites are overwhelmingly of Muslim faith and the town is dotted by mosques that regularly announce the obligatory call-to-prayer over booming megaphones to remind the residents of their Islamic duties. I noticed that most of the people that one sees on the streets of Luxor are men, usually wearing turbans and galabeyas, flowing cotton robes sold ubiquitously in many Egyptian markets. Where are the women? Well the women are mostly at home performing their traditional roles. And if you spot one, they are generally covered up despite the unbearable desert heat that could reach in the mid-40's centigrade!

So why did the ancient Egyptian chose this spot to build this lavish complex? It's a matter of fate, Ancient Egyptian civilisation spanned around 2500 years until its dying years with the arrival of the Roman Empire. Egyptologists divide the civilisation into 3 distinct periods, the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. The town of Luxor was called Thebes during the ancient times. It was transformed from a small village during the Old Kingdom into the centre of power during the Middle Kingdom as a result of the town's pivotal role in twice reuniting Upper and Lower Egypt after a some periods of decline. Owing to Thebe's inspirational successes in reuniting Egypt and driving away foreign invaders such as the Libyans and the Hittites, the city developed such a high profile stature from the New Kingdom pharoahs that most of them decided to hold court in Thebes and constructed all these wonderful palaces, tombs, and temples that we see today. Historians say that Thebes was so wealthy that its population grew to about a million! After the gradual demise of the civilisation, the city was slowly buried under the shifting sands and the massive temples collapsed when earthquakes hit. Thebes was eventually rediscovered by explorers two thousand years later in the 1800's and dug out by archaelogists. Unfortunately, grave robbers pilfered most of the treasures inside the tombs of Valley of the Kings never to be seen again.

The world famous Temple of Luxor is surprisingly right in the middle of the town of Luxor near the bank of the Nile River. It's an absolute delight to see this spectacular complex even from the promenade street of Al-Corniche. As one approaches closer, the temple appears almost magical. I looked at the temple with child-like awe particularly at those huge statues of the great Ramses II. The temple of Luxor initiated by New Kingdom Pharoah Amenophis III but subsequent pharoahs like King Tut and Ramses II added their personal touches into the complex. Even the Hellenistic and the Roman Empire made their presence here by buiilding over the temple. And as a reminder that time never stands still, a still-functioning medieval mosque exists in one of the temple's chambers.

Apparently, this temple was connected to another temple 4 kms north through a grand avenue flanked by a series of sphynxes on both sides. A small fraction of these rows of sphynxes can still be seen inside the Temple of Luxor archaelogical site.

The other temple that's umbilically connected to the Temple of Luxor is the massive Temple of Karnak. This temple is much grander than Luxor's which means that Karnak must have been the centre of Theban power. Sometimes its difficult to make sense of some areas because of the sheer number of stone artifefacts stacked on top of each other. Many additions of different architectural styles were added into the expanding complex as succeeding pharoahs left their marks on it. The most prolific renovator was Ramses II who as prone to excessive self-aggrandisement. He liked erecting huge statues or graphical depictions on the gigantic walls on his own image, and this can still be seen in various parts of Luxor.

TheTemple of Karnak's highlight is the Hypostyle Hall which contains dozens of massive papyrus-shaped pillars that are decorated with still-visible brightly coloured patterns and hieroglyphics. This must have been the most awesome section of the temple during its heyday. The Temple of Karnak wasn't called "Ipet Isut" ie the perfect place, for nothing.

Across the Nile, on the west bank of the river, is the necropolis known as the Valley of the Kings and Queens where Egypt's royal families, the nobilities and even artisans were buried in preparation for their new life after death. So while the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the living world is built on the east bank and the dead world is situated on the west bank of the Nile. The necropolis is an elaborate cemetery designed for ancient Egyptian customs and religious beliefs.

Inside the cavernous tombs of the pharoahs and their wives, are long and wide corridors that lead to chambers which became their final resting places. There are also other chambers to store their worldly possessions for their next life. The walls of the tombs are plastered with hieroglyphic frescoes that tell stories about the occupant. These hieroglyphics have been deciphered and they made it possible for modern man to unravel the secrets of the pharoahs and life in ancient Egypt.

• Pros:Temples and Ancient tombs
• Cons:Baksheesh
• In a nutshell:The Land of the Pharoahs