Luxor city

Luxor has so many historical sites and monuments that it is sometimes called “the world’s best open-air museum.”

This is because the pharaohs of ancient Egypt worked very hard to ensure their rule would last forever. On both sides of the Nile, you can find the ruins of old temples and other places where people were buried.

On top of these old foundations, a new city was built. This makes an interesting contrast between old and new that you can only find in Luxor.

A great example of this is the area around the karnak temple Complex and the luxor temple .Their new building is very different from their old one, which was made of stone.

In the area around Luxor and on the other side of the Nile, you can find a lot more temples and tombs.

To thoroughly check out all of the archaeological sites in the area would take quite a few days. You can learn much about ancient Egypt and its people at each location.

The easiest way to group the places around Luxor is by whether they are on the eastern or western side of the Nile. When the sun rose on the East Bank, it brought life and prosperity to the people there. However, the sunset on the West Bank meant that the people who had died there were moving on to the next life.

What to do in Luxor ?

• Buying souvenirs is always essential on our trip; in Luxor, you will find many places to purchase different items at various prices.
• A ride in a hot air balloon at sunrise over Luxor is one of the most memorable things to do there. Find out why so many people think Luxor is the best outdoor museum in the world. Also, it’s a great way to get to know Luxor’s many tourist spots. From above, you can see how big the buildings are and how carefully they were planned before they were built. The morning light makes this meeting even more beautiful than it already was. As the sun rises in the east, it casts a beautiful light on the temples.
• The Sound and Light Show at the Karnak Temple is like nothing else. When the sun went down, a movie was shown inside the Temple, and it told about the building’s history and how people lived in ancient Egypt. With the help of special effects, it looks like the Temple has been brought back to life.
• Before leaving the city, you must go to Dendera and Abydos for the day. These ancient Egyptian temples have been kept in excellent condition and are among the best. Parts of the walls of these grand temples once painted are still bright with color. Abydos was where the ancient god of the underworld died and was laid to rest. King Seti I started building the Temple, and King Ramses II finished it. The Egyptian goddess of love and pleasure has a temple at Dendera named after her.

• Karnak temple 

The Karnak Temple is the largest temple in the world and the most significant religious building ever built. It is located in the city of Thebes.

Karnak Temple is known as the Temple of Amun; it was called “I pet-Isu,” meaning “The Choicest of Places” in the Middle Kingdom, also known as “Pr-In,” meaning “House of Amun.” From 2055 BC to around 100 AD, it was built for 2000 years

The Karnak Temple consists of a group of temples. Their most significant space and the center of the temple covers sixty-one acres and belong to Amon-Ra (the male God of Thebes). We can see in the south of the central area of the wife him the Mut, and more temples such as the Temple of Khonsu, the Temple of Ptah, the Temple of the Ipt, the Temple of Osiris, and the Temple of Montu. Karnak Temple was not only for the gods but also for the Egyptian rulers who wished to be memorized; that’s why they left their architectural mark throughout the centuries, from the beginning of the old kingdom, the middle kingdom, the new kingdom, and the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

• Luxor Temple

The city of luxor is famous for its temples because it was the ancient capital of the New Kingdom. One of the important temples is the Luxor Temple, which is located south of the  karnak temple is the heart of the ancient capital of Thebes.

Luxor Temple is considered the second largest Temple in Egypt after Karnak Temple. The Luxor temple is notable for its colossal appearance. Amenophis III built the oldest building in the Temple, and the last was made by Alexander the Great.

The Luxor Temple was called “Ipest-resit,” which means the women of the south (a reference to the wife of Amun, goddess Mut). It is said that on the site of the Luxor Temple was another temple dating back to the twelfth dynasty of the Middle Kingdom.

The Temple was built by order of Amenhotep III in 1400 BC (Dynasty XVIII) and is dedicated to the triad of ancient Thebes, Amun-Ra, his wife Mut, and his son Jon. Its architect was Amenhotep (the son of Hapu). The reconstruction of the Luxor Temple started in the period of Horemheb, Tutankhamon, and Ay, who finished the wall decorations and added columns and statues.

Queen Hatshepsut and King Tuthmosis III built a small building consisting of three dedicated rooms for the Theban Triad, and King Ramses II may rebuild these shrines and recorded his name on them. In the reign of Ramses II, some constructions were added, and Shabak later added new buildings, Nectanebo I, and the kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Alejandro Mango renovated the Temple and added a chapel to the boat of the god of the Temple. In the Roman period, the Temple was a military center and camp, and later, the rooms were converted to churches by the Christians. Also, the Muslims built a mosque in 1244 AD. C. on the hypostyle hall of the Temple of Luxor.

• The Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings is located in the heart of a hill and is the final resting place of the great pharaohs of Egypt’s new empire (1570-1070 BC). The extraordinary Valley of the Kings served as a royal burial ground for the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties of pharaohs and privileged noblemen from the 16th to the 11th century BC.

The Valley is considered one of the most valuable monuments of the ancient world for its cultural and historical importance. It contains about 63 rock-hewn tombs and chambers that vary in size and are decorated with beautiful scenes from ancient Egyptian mythology and images of their daily life that provide information about their history, culture, and religious beliefs during this period, but unfortunately they were objects of many robberies by looters and grave robbers.

Throughout past, this Valley has been a mecca for archaeological exploration since the late 18th century, and its tombs and burial sites continue to stimulate research and interest to this day. In 1979, it was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

• Valley of the Queens

One of the famous royal tomb locations is the Valley of the Queens in Egypt. This Valley is 1.5 km southwest of the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the nile Ancient Thebes.

It was built to bury the royal wives of Kings, princesses, and their children during the New Kingdom. Four tombs of the 70 tombs in the Valley are open to the public: Nefertari  Titi, the two sons of Ramses III.

In the Valley of the Queens, there are more than 70 tombs of the queens of Ancient Egypt, many of which are richly decorated. The tombs were carved out of rock. The entrance to the Valley is a rocky corridor at the foot of the mountain that is less vast than the entrance to the valley of the kings 

The general design of the tombs is that there is a small antechamber after the opening. A high hall followed her. On the sides of the corridor, there are other chambers. The end of the gallery leads to the burial chamber decorated with the Book of the Dead with the gods Anubis and Osiris.

The most famous and beautiful tomb is the tomb of Nefertari. Also, the tomb of Titi, wife of Ramses X of the 20th dynasty, has beautiful paintings and scenes of Titi and the guardians of the Beyond, but some parts are damaged. Other graves; Isis, Betanta, Henuttauy, Jaemwaset, Prince Menjeperre (son of Thutmose III, Prince Ramses, Meritamon, and many others

• Hatshepsut temple 

This extraordinary and beautiful Temple of Hatshepsut is also known as “Djoser-Djeseru,” which was built for the queen of the 18th Dynasty, “Pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut.” It is one of the incomparable temples of ancient Egypt that is considered one of the most outstanding achievements of this civilization.

It is dedicated to Hatshepsut and Amon. The Egyptian monarch was obliged to honor his gods and pharaohs and immortalize their memory forever by building tombs and temples. Queen Hatshepsut was always aware of ways to raise her public image and immortalize her name; the Mortuary Temple achieved both ends. She was the daughter of a mighty god in Egypt, so she ruled as if she were a man. She headed for about two decades.

• The Colossi of Memnon

One of the important monuments in is luxor the Colossi of Memnon. The Colossi of Memnon are dedicated to King  Amenophis III in is on the west bank of the nile west of the city of Luxor, in the ancient necropolis of Thebes. For centuries, many legends and mysteries have surrounded the Colossi of Memnon and their sounds.

Amenhotep III was the 9th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom. The Colossi of Memnon are two giant statues representing Amenophis III. They were built by the architect Amenhotep son of Hapu, on the order of Amenophis III in the 14th century to protect the Funerary Temple of Amenophis III, which was 35 hectares and in his day was the largest building in all of Egypt and more significant than the Karnak temple.

This Temple was built with adobe and had many statues and monuments. In 1200 BC C., the entire Temple was destroyed, and its walls, figures, and decorations were missing. Later, pharaohs used the adobe from their Temple ruins to build mortuary temples.

Most of them were used during Merenptah’s reign to develop his mortuary Temple. These statues are the only ones left of this Temple. The annual Nile floods damaged the sculptures, and in 27 BC, they were destroyed by an earthquake. This earthquake caused cracks in the two figures, which caused a sound at dawn. Later the Colossi became a place of pilgrimage for the Romans and Greeks.

• Luxor Museum

Due to the many pharaonic discoveries in Luxor, they built the Luxor Museum, considered one of the most important Egyptian museums. It is in the center of Luxor Thebes” on the eastern banks of the nile almost halfway . The Museum has pharaonic objects, Islamic pieces from the Mamluk period, and Coptic fragments from the 5th century.

In 1962 the Egyptian Ministry of Culture hired the architect Mahmoud El-Hakim, who designed the Nubian Museum in Aswan to construct the Museum. The Luxor Museum was built between 1972 and 1975 and opened to the public in December 1975. In 1989 statues were discovered in the courtyard of the Luxor Temple, so in 1991, a new room was added to the Luxor Museum (the first extension). It reopened on December 12, 1991, after a renovation. In the second extension in 2004, new rooms were added with the name ”Thebes Glory Hall” (Hall of the Glory of Thebes) that contains the monuments of the time when Thebes reached their maximum splendor.

• Hot air ballon 

Enjoy a unique experience by riding one of the Hot Air Balloons over the sky of Luxor and witness the amazing sights of Luxor on the West Bank around the sunrise time.

• The Balloon Ride is operated daily in Luxor in the early morning after Dawn time , depending on the weather conditions each day, and confirmation in advance is Highly Recommended.
• The Duration of the Balloon Rides all over Luxor (without the transfers between the Balloon Site and the hotel) is around 30-45 Minutes depending on Weather condition.
• This activity is held according to the weather condition every day…..So, if the weather is good and suitable to fly…the authorities of the ministry of Civil Aviation give the permission to all balloon companies to fly.
  If the weather is unstable…the balloon ride will be canceled on that day, and the guests will have two options, They can decide to do the ride next day, if they have available time in Luxor, or they can get a Full Refund for this activity.