We enjoyed an early morning tour of the temple at Edfu. This is a well preserved temple and features the angry god Horus in the form of a falcon (see photo). The stories attached to the images, as recorded on rock and papyrus, show great imagination on the part of the ancient Egyptians.
The day was mostly taken up with a relaxing cruise on the Nile for 9 hours from Edfu to Luxor. Passing through the lock half way was special entertainment specially watching the ship in front of us almost run aground!
This was followed by an evening tour of the Temple at Luxor. After our experience the previous evening we took a torch which aloud us to see the images better as well as the uneven ancient paving. The columns in this structure were awe inspiring in grandeur some represent house building reeds (see photo) and the dusk light gave this visit a very special atmosphere.
We were very impressed and at times amazed at the intricate nature of the rock carving we saw. The carving seemed to cover every available space in these huge structures.
An amazing 3km long avenue of Sphinx is being excavated at Luxor after demolishing and relocating houses, hotels, churches and mosques. Over 2,000 sphinxes are expected to eventually be uncovered in this project. About 70 have been excavated so far (see photo) and would have made a remarkable processional approach to the Temple.
Both temples were buried under many metres of silt as evidenced by
• graffiti high up on columns and
• the presence of a Mosque built at ground level in the 14th Century which is now well up in the air on the top of columns.
And then a demonstration of Papyrus manufacture. Papyrus is manufactured from layers of the strips of the internal part of the stem of the papyrus plant flower. After days of soaking and Days of pressing, a strong and impressively flexible material is formed which was the basis of many records in the 3rd Century BC to the 1st Century AD.
Both of the temples we visited today were used by the early Egyptian Christians as churches who sometimes defaced the images of the pagan gods and at other times covered them with render.
Day 23 – 24th February 2010
The day was mostly taken up with a relaxing cruise on the Nile for 9 hours from Edfu to Luxor. Passing through the lock half way was special entertainment specially watching the ship in front of us almost run aground!
This was followed by an evening tour of the Temple at Luxor. After our experience the previous evening we took a torch which aloud us to see the images better as well as the uneven ancient paving. The columns in this structure were awe inspiring in grandeur some represent house building reeds (see photo) and the dusk light gave this visit a very special atmosphere.
We were very impressed and at times amazed at the intricate nature of the rock carving we saw. The carving seemed to cover every available space in these huge structures.
An amazing 3km long avenue of Sphinx is being excavated at Luxor after demolishing and relocating houses, hotels, churches and mosques. Over 2,000 sphinxes are expected to eventually be uncovered in this project. About 70 have been excavated so far (see photo) and would have made a remarkable processional approach to the Temple.
Both temples were buried under many metres of silt as evidenced by
• graffiti high up on columns and
• the presence of a Mosque built at ground level in the 14th Century which is now well up in the air on the top of columns.
And then a demonstration of Papyrus manufacture. Papyrus is manufactured from layers of the strips of the internal part of the stem of the papyrus plant flower. After days of soaking and Days of pressing, a strong and impressively flexible material is formed which was the basis of many records in the 3rd Century BC to the 1st Century AD.
Both of the temples we visited today were used by the early Egyptian Christians as churches who sometimes defaced the images of the pagan gods and at other times covered them with render.
Day 23 – 24th February 2010
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