Pomp & Splendour: Ancient Thebes

We arrived in Esna to take the lock through to Luxor only to find that it was closed for cleaning and that probably meant “lack of water” too.  So we bussed down to Luxor to visit the huge Karnak temple complex, including the Temple of Amun-Re.  Amun was the chief Theban deity of the New Kingdom and the site of Karnak was the great capital of Thebes. 

Amazing detail in the carving

This is an amazing complex loaded with additions and changes over time – meaning 2000 years.  Although we had guide & Egyptologist, Nagwa, somehow the dynastic pharaohs lost us all in a seeming jumble of (jaw-dropping) temples, sphinxes, obelisks, statues and ruins.  Hatshepsut, the first woman pharaoh, had a Red Chapel built to house sacred barks and Ramesses II built the Temple of the Hearing Ear.  We wondered how you could possibly worship the scarab beetle, loved the idea of a hippopotamus goddess and noted that even sacred geese had a sacred lake to play on. 

Scarab Beetle - Khepri, the dawn form of the Sun God Ra

A feeling of monument fatigue overtook us - we were slipping into dangerous overload, so a carriage ride around town was just the ticket.  Needless to say we bypassed an interesting silver shop and made a mental note for later.  We walked back to our bus parked near the Temple of Luxor (thankfully closed – our heads were spinning), so it was back to Miss Melodie for our last night aboard. 

Carving on Hatshepsut's second obelisk

Luckily we had been purchasing a great little guide book series, Egypt Pocket Guides written by Alberto Siliotti (2002, published by the American University in Cairo Press) over the course of the tour.  They are very informative, don’t waffle and have helpful illustrations, maps and photographs.  They also fit neatly into a handbag/day pack and are a handy reference before, during and after monument visits.  So when our little eyes started to glaze over with the incredible amount of information our wonderful guides bestowed upon us, we could fill in all those missing bits…. without appearing to be academics gone mad!

Ram-headed sphinxes

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