1 Day(s)

 

Welcome to Luxor and to our website www.egypt-nile-cruise.com

Luxor is the worlds greatest open – air museum, filled with the awe – inspiring monuments of ancient civilization. It contains nearly one third of the world’s antiquities. There is hardly a place in Luxor which has not a relic that reflects the greatness of the ancient Egyptians and their civilization that dates back to seven thousand years ago.

During the new kingdom (1567-1085) the capital of Egypt was Wesset which means “mace” to express the extreme authority of this city, then the name was changed to “Thebes” and Homer described it as “City of the Hundred Gates”. The Arabs called it “Luxor” means” The city of Palaces” because they were impressed by its magnificent edifices and huge buildings.

It still attracts hordes of visitors from all over the world to enjoy the monuments of the eternal city and its temples with their towering pillars

On the two Banks of the Nile

On the east bank of the Nile, in the city of the living, Luxor and Karnak temples greet the sunrise. The sunset on the west bank throws shadows through the City of the Dead: the Tombs of the nobles, the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut’s temple.

Recently, a bridge connecting the east and west banks has been constructed to speed up tourist traffic to the west bank.

The visitor of Luxor can make a journey to enjoy the wonderful tourist sites of Luxor soaring in a Hot Air balloon above the temples on the east and west banks to discover Luxor from the Sky. We organize daily balloon journeys about 45 minutes on air which last for around one and half hour.

East bank monuments  

Luxor Temple

The Southern temple, dedicated to the principal of Thebes Amon, it was built by the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenophis III, and expanded over centuries by famous pharaohs including Ramses II, Tit, and also Alexander the Great.

The grandeur of the edifice represents that of Thebes at its zenith

It was known to the ancient Egyptians as “lpet Reseyet”, the harem of the South. Read More

Karnak Temples    

Leading to the temples is the avenue of the rams, representing the supreme Theban god Amon, symbol of fertility and growth. Beneath the rams heads, small statues of Ramses II were carved.

Karnak is composed of a vast complex of temples, chapels and other buildings of various dates. The name Karnak comes from the nearby village of El-Karnak. Whereas Luxor to the South was Ipet-Ray, Karnak was ancient Ipet-Isut, the most select of places.

Theban kings and the god Amon came to prominence at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. From that time, the temples of Karnak were built, enlarged, torn down, added to, and restored over more than 2000 years until Roman times.

The ancient Egyptians considered Ipet-Isut as the place of the initial rising of the first time, where Amon-Ra made the first mound of Earth rise from Nun. At Karnak, the high priests recognized a king as the beloved son of Amon,king of all the gods.

The coronations and jubilees were also held here. Staffed by more than 80,000 people under Ramesses III, the temple was also the administrative center of enormous holdings of agricultural land.

The largest and most important part of the site is the central enclosure, the great temple of Amon proper. The layout of the great temple consists of a series of pylons of various dates. The earliest are Pylons IV and V,built by Tuhtmosis I, and from then on the temple was enlarged towards the West and South. Courts or halls run between the pylons, leading to the main sanctuary.

The temple is built along two axes, with a number of smaller temples and chapels and a sacred lake. The northern enclosure belongs to Montu, the original god of the Theban area, while the enclosure of Mut lies to the south and is connected with Amon’s precinct by an alley of ram-headed sphinxes. An avenue bordered by sphinxes linked Karnak with the Luxor Temple, and canals connected the temples of Amon and Montu with the Nile. Read More

 

The Sound and Light Show

This spellbinding show, through the exquisite use of words, light and music, tells the story of these magnificent Karnak temples .The program is presented in Arabic, English, French German, Spanish. Read More

Luxor Museum 

The museum is situated between the Temples of Luxor and Karnak. It houses pharaonic relics from Luxor and the nearby areas. Read More

Mummification museum

Recently inaugurated in the visitors centre in Luxor, it is the only one of its kind in the world. It houses 150 relics of mummies, coffins, tools the ancient Egyptian physician used, and paintings representing the religious funeray rituals. Read More

West bank monuments

The Colossi of Memnon

These two statues of Amenophis III measuring 18 meters once marked the entrance to the largest temple in Thebes It covered 385,000 square meters (4,200,000 square feet), and it was even larger than the temple of Amon-Re at Karnak.

Due to an earthquake in 27 BC, these statues were damaged and became known for a bell like tone that usually occurred in the morning. They were associated by the early Greek travelers with the figure of Memnon, the son of Aurora whose mother, Eos was the goddess of dawn. Read More

 Med net Habu Temple 

This complex was built by Ramses II in the form of a fortified town which includes a temple, a place, and several chapels. Scenes depicted on the walls commemorate his victories over the Libyans, the Sarinians, the Cretans and others. They also includes unique reliefs of a sea battle.

Later Kings including Hatshepsut and Thutmose II added chapels to the complex, and Ptolemaic Kings renovated it. Read More

 The Ramesseum

 This is the warrior King Ramses II’s mortuary temple at western Thebes that has inspired Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias”. Its murals record the renowned Battle of Kadesh against Halite’s. Its hallmark is a pillard hall with giant statues of Ramses II in Osirid form, wrapped in a blanket and holding sceptres. Read More

 Queen Hatshepsut Temple

El-Deir El-Bahari

Hatshepsut, the only woman to rule over Egypt as pharaoh, named her temple “Djeser-Djeseru” the splendor of splendors.

The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most dramatically situated in the world. The queen’s architect, Senenmut, designed it and set it at the head of a valley overshadowed by the Peak of Thebes. A tree lined avenue of sphinxes led up to the temple, and ramps led from terrace to terrace. On the lowest terrace are reliefs depicting the transport of obelisks by barge to Karnak and the miraculous birth of Queen Hatshepsut?

Reliefs on the South side of the middle terrace show the queen’s expedition by way of the Red Sea to Punt, the land of incense. Along the front of the upper terrace, a line of large, gently smiling Osirid statues of the queen looked out over the valley. Read More

 

Tombs of the Valley of the Kings        

King Tut Ankh Amon’s Tomb

The Kings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th, dynasties carved their towards into the limstone mountains here and decorated them with designs showing the deceased Kings with the gods in the afterworld and texts from the book of the dead, and the book of the underworld.

King Tut Ankh Amon’s tomb, the most famous tomb in the Valley of the Kings, circa 1352 B.C In 1922, Howard Carter’s discovery of king Tut’s fabulous treasures caused a worldwide sensation Other interesting and well-preserved tombs are those of Seti I,Ramses III,and Ramses II. Read More

Valley of the Queens 

Queen Nefertari’s Tomb

The tombs of Nefertari wife of Ramses II is the most renowned at the Valley of the Queens. It boasts restored vivid murals and instions. Read More

Tombs of the Nobles

The most important are: the tombs of Nakht, Menena, Ra’as mes Ramuza, Senefru. Read More

 Deir el-Medina

 The most important is the tomb of Sen Negem. Read More

Seti Temple

Temple of Sety I, called The Domain of Amen in the West of Thebes, lies at the northern end of the Theban Necropolis, directly across the Nile from the Temple of Karnak. The location is lovely; there is a fine view of a large palm grove and the Theban Hills from atop the temple enclosure walls. The temple is very well preserved and was a favorite subject of nineteenth century watercolorists. Read More

Visitors of Luxor can make a day trip to see the temples of Esna 60 KM south of Luxor or in the north of Luxor Dendara and Abydos Temples

Temple of Dendera

On the West Bank of Qena city 60 km north of Luxor, It is one of the Greco-Roman temples for the worship of goddess Hathor. It was built by King Ptolemy III and its construction was completed by the Roman Emperors. The ceiling of the hypostyle room has an astronomic decoration with the symbolic representation of the sky. Read More

Temple of Abydos

 

Temple of Esna

South of Luxor, constructed for the worship of god Khnum, the god of creation, in the form of a ram’s head. It is one of the Greco- Roman temples within the hypostyle hall constructed by King Ptolemy VI and completed by the Roman emperors.

Nearby is a Christian monastery. It is the monastery of Manaus and El Shohada, constructed in the fourth century. But the monastery of the three thousand six hundred martyrs includes two churches; the walls of one of them are decorated with a fresco that dates from the tenth century. Read More

Religious sites of Luxor

Abul-Haggag al-Oqsuri mosque at Luxor Temple, Coptic Church neighboring the mosque in Luxor temple

Monasteries

El-Shayeb Monastery, 7km north of the city

Mari Guirgis Monastery on the west bank

 Muhareb Monastery, 4km from the west bank of the Nile

How to reach Luxor?

By air:

You can reach Luxor by air, as it has an international airport which can receive international flights as well as local domestic flight, you can fly directly to Luxor from several European town.

By Train:

You can travel between Cairo, Luxor by 3 different types of train:

Daytime air-conditioned express trains

Overnight deluxe sleeper train

Overnight air-conditioned express seating trains