Lovely Luxor

On Thursday, we loaded back up into the bus and drove three hours north to Luxor, another main import/export city along the Nile loaded with temples. That day, we visited Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, and Al-Deir Al-Baharti Temple. Each on was cooler than the next, but we mostly used this time to take ridiculous photos around the temples - walking like Egyptians, mummies, jumming, yoga, ecertra. Thankfully our tour guide Imad (who was also with us in Aswan) was really patient with us, enjoyed our energy and humored us as our photographer. Everywhere we went, we attracted a crowd with our non-stop laughter and photo sessions. People were taking photos of us and with us constantly! 

One interesting thing about one of the temples (I think the Luxor Temple, but I can honestly not be positive) was that before the temple was discovered, there was a mosque built on top of it. The sand had long since buried it, leaving no trace of its existence  until the top of the tallest pillars began to appear. Because a mosque cannot be destroyed, they had the build support under the mosque as they unburied the temple. Now, they mosque stands in the center of the temple, supported by some of the pillars of the temple and a later added basement. 

While visiting another temple (again, not sure which one), we learned that the Egyptian government gifted an Oblisk from the temple to the USA and it now rests in New York City's Central Park. Additionally, the Washington Monument in DC was modeled after the ancient design of the Oblisks. 

On our final day in Luxor, we went to the Valley of the Kings, which ended up being one of my favorite parts! In the earliest Egyptian history, the overzealous Kings built massive tombs so they could be remembered. The bigger the tomb, the greater the King (example: the Giza Pyramids). In the later history, the Kings were beginning to realize that they large displays were just an invitation to tomb raiders and theives to break in and steal all of the gold and riches they were buried with. As the kings become more wise, they began to create their tombs below ground and less of a spekticle to avoid the theift, thus creating the Valley of the Kings. More than 60 Kings, Queens and other important people were buried in lavish tombs in the desert mountains of Luxor. When an Egyptologist discovered the tombs thousands of years later, many of the tombs were in fact raided for the riches, defaces and used as hideouts during the crusades. As he uncovered 60 tombs of the Kings, he realized that there was a gap in history and a missing tomb. Later, the tomb of King Tut Ankh Amun (the famous King Tut) was found accidently and the only one discovered completely entact with gold and whatnot.

Let's be honest, King Tut is really the only King I remember from Egyptian history and I am sure most would say the same. You would think that he was some big, really important King that everyone loved and adored and made a huge impact the way that he has stuck out in ancient history. The fact of the matter is that he was a young King and died at the age of 19. He accomplished nothing during his reign, but did not have a bad reputation either. The only thing that made him special in history is that his unremarkable tomb was untouched and his mummified skeleton was still resting peacefully in his sold gold coffin. There is also some contriversy surrounding his death because they do not know if he died of natural causes, or if he was killed.

Anyway, while visiting the Valley, we were able to visit three different tombs of various Kings. The famous King Tut was an addition 100 LE, but I just had to see his tomb and his mummified body. However, it proved to be rather anti-climatic as it was the smallest and most unimpressive of all the tombs we saw (everything but his mummy had been moved to the museum). His mummy was a black skeleton-like figure. Although we were not supposed to take photos in his tomb, or any others, we managed to sneak just a few... afterall, this was the King Tut's tomb. The other tombs were much more impressiver - long hallways and staircases lined with drawings and heiroglyphics, several rooms and several tombs to trick the theives. They were large and colorful (well, restored colors) and really magnificent!

We visited a couple more temples after that (shocker) and by the end of the day, I was hot, tired, cranky and completely Templed-out! I know that I am lucky to have these opportunities, but one can only see so many decrepid piles of stones before they all look the exact same! Last stop before home was at an alabaster factory so we could watch how they produce alabaster (natural stone unique to the mountains of Luxor).

We spent the night next to the Nile drinking some Egyptian wine and smoking Hookah after some market shopping! The next day, we took a flight back to Cairo and spent our last day wondering the streets of the capital with our friend, Fadi. We got to do a little shopping and see a different side of Cairo from a local perspective that was really wonderful. Fadi also took us out for a wonderful last meal in Cairo. Overall, such a wonderful experience!