treasures of Luxor

It may seem strange, but many of our visitors, not just vacationing in Hurghada, and have not seen one of the main wonders of Egypt – the great temples of Luxor. But they are only 250 km away from his beloved Russians resort on the Red Sea. Indeed, in order to go to Luxor, you need to spend a whole day, and it felt so sorry to tear off from a short week holiday by the sea. But the miracles that will be opened to you, believe me, worth it.

The tour starts early, around five in the morning. Order it needs to advance, and the cost ranges from $ 50 to $ 70 (including tickets to all museums and lunch). At six in the morning a caravan of more than a hundred large buses accompanied by police sent to the coast of Hurghada, in the direction of the Nile. Initially, the road goes along the coast, then removed in mountainous lifeless desert. But suddenly the landscape changes: there is a green grass, then – sown fields and palm groves. It is the Nile valley, which in the days of the pharaohs of ancient Egyptians fed and which today is the main lifeline of the vast country. Virtually all the 65 millionth Egypt’s population today live along the narrow strip of the Nile Valley – the world’s greatest river, stretching for six and a half thousand kilometers from the Great Lakes to the Mediterranean:

But on the big modern bridge tourists cross the Nile to go on its left bank – in the City of the Dead, where, starting from the XVIII dynasty (1500 g. to N.NS.) Buried the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, who ruled his vast empire flourishing of new capital – Thebes. The path to the Valley of the Kings, and today is guarded by two 20-meter-long colossus of Memnon. These giant sitting on the throne of the Pharaohs – all that remained of the once huge temple of Amenophis III (by the way, from the same temple and the famous native of St. Petersburg Sphynx). According to legend, in ancient times, one of the colossi published at dawn lingering and sorrowful sound. Today scientists explain this phenomenon vibration cold stones under the influence of the first sun rays. And the ancient Greeks argued that it is the voice of the deceased by the hand of Achilles son of the goddess Aurora – Mnemnosa: Next stop travelers – Valley of the Kings. In this narrow rocky gorge found 62 tomb of pharaohs, of which today are available for visiting about ten. Historians are unknown why the first pharaohs of Tutamos I buried here decided to build tombs not near the lush temples, but in secret caves. But thanks to this, they have survived to this day. Of course, the peace of the kings was not long – almost all the tombs were ruthlessly looted, and the descendants of ancient priests secretly saved mummies. At the end of the last century, the miraculous mummy of Amos I, Amenophis I, Tutamos III and Ramses II (they were discovered in a deep well in one of the local villages) were transported to the Cairo Museum. The history of discoveries in the valley of the kings is completed: it is possible only to imagine the shock, which was experienced by the expedition of Howard Carter, when on November 4, 1922 she penetrated into the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamon, in which, in a happy randomness, did not visit robbers. Later, Carter himself recalled that among the glitter of gold and precious stones collected in the funeral chamber, it was most struck by a small bouquet of dry flowers, laid on the sarcophagus of the young wife of 18-year-old Pharaoh:

All the tombs, the availability of modern travelers, built on the same principle: a narrow square corridor leads to the funeral hall, where he kept the mummy of Pharaoh, and the many decorations and items that might be needed to Pharaoh in his future eternal life. The walls of the funeral cameras are made up with hundreds of drawings showing the Pharaoh’s path to the Outdoor World. : Here the soul of Pharaoh is transported on foot through the sacred lake. : Here is the heart of the deceased weigh on the scales of good and evil. If the heart is lighter than the pen, then the righteous will be part of God Osiris. If not – it will be burned by a monster with a crocodile head: the drawings of the tomb can be viewed infinitely – their paints are perfectly preserved, despite the past millennia. True, now they face a new danger – our domestic tourists immediately begin to joyfully click the shutters of their cameras, as soon as they hear that it is forbidden to photograph in the valley of the kings of the kings – after all, each photo list destroys invaluable images:

But no matter how much you wanted to stay in the valley of the kings, new wonders are waiting ahead of tourists. The first of them is the Tsaritsa Khatsepsut temple – a huge structure, knocked out in limestone rocks for a half thousand years BC. Originally surrounded by hanging gardens and pools, the amazing temple was very destroyed and is restored now. Today you can get to the upper terrace of the temple, where great bas-reliefs have been preserved, telling about the doubt of the courage of the Music Tsaritsa Khatsepsut (they say, she even tied up with the beard so that the subjects would not guess that their pharaoh – a woman) in the distant Punt country (probably this is the current Ethiopia and Somalia).

Leaving the city of the dead, tourists return to the right bank of the Nile in the kingdom of living. Here, not far from the modern Arab city of Luxor, the capital of the new kingdom was erected in antiquity "Thawrates", What did this city called Homer. Today, the two greatest monuments of antiquity are reministed about those times – a huge Luxor temple on the shore of the Nile, and a few kilometers from him an even more grand carnak temple. Karnak Temple Complex dedicated to the God of Amon PA, is a whole sacred city, spreading in Square in several hectares. A city consisting of a variety of individual temples, countless giant sculptures of pharaohs, huge pylons, bas-reliefs dedicated to the military victories of the powerful Egyptian kings. For one and a half thousand years, Pharaohs, replacing each other, completed and rebuilt this city, built new huge buildings, trying in any way (including simply destroying it before) to surpass the fame and power of the previous ruler. Today the grand hall of the central temple of Amon with 34 giant columns of the 23-meter height is especially impressive. In the time of the pharaoh of the network, more than 80 thousand slaves worked on its construction. Nearby – Giant Obelisk of Tutamos Epochs I Tall 23 meters and Weight 143 tons. The daughter of Tutmos, who already known to us the Queen Hatshepsut, joining the throne, erected a new obelisk nearby – Of course, it is still grand:

Giant walls of the Carnac Temple are reflected in the waters of the Holy Lake, where temple ceremonies took place in antiquity. On his shore on the marble column, the image of the beetle scarab – ancient Egyptian gracious symbol. Tourists who are confident in the power of ancient prophecies immediately rush to sculpture in order to go around it seven times around him and get their piece of happiness: nearby the omnipresent merchants offer painted gypsum ("Real Alabaster, Mr!") Scarabs of all kinds and sizes: the larger the scarab you can buy, the more health and wealth will be waiting for you at home. Prices fall rapidly – if you are offered a beetle pounds for thirty, then you can buy it in half a couple of pounds ($ 0.7).

In the evening, it appears in all its magnificence the Luxor temple – thanks to the skillful illumination, it seems even more majestic and mysterious. This is a magnificent temple, also dedicated to God Amon PA, is the only surviving structure of the legendary capital of the ancient Egyptian empire. The entrance to the temple is towers a 25-meter pylon dedicated to the victory of Ramses II over Hitts. The second is the same obelisk since 1833 decorates the Paris Square of Consent. Two colossus in the form of seated pharaohs guard the entrance to the gigantic halls of the temple, built by Ramses II, Tathmos III and Amenophis III. And again the majestic colonnades, the sculpture of pharaohs and bas-reliefs dedicated to military victories:

Of course, for a day excursion it is impossible to see the tenth of the wonders of the ancient fiv. A little more than you can know, having arrived here on a two-day trip or spending a few days in Luxor at the time a very popular cruise on the Nile River on a modern five-star liner. But in any case, it will be only the first touch of the mysteries of the great empire of the Pharaohs. Secrets that you can discover all his life.