Egypt 5

Website of Johanna Ouwerling

Egypt 5

There is a lot to see in and around Luxor. Lets start with a map of the center.

The Temple of Luxor that you visit today was built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, although Akhenaten and Tutankhamun contributed to the complex. After the death of Tutankhamun, Horemheb destroyed almost all the inscriptions that carried his name. It is believed that Horemheb did this to please the priests of Amun who associated Tutankhamun with Akhenaten, the heretic king.

The temple is dedicated to the mysterious primeval form

of Amun. Once a year the Barques of Amun, Mut and

Khonsu left Karnak and were carried in sacred procession

to this site for the Opet Feast.

The Statue of Amun of Luxor also traveled in procession

every ten days across the Nile to the temple of Amun at

Medinet Habu.

The temple site was occupied by previous temples and was (and is) considered a holy site. The Romans used it for their

worship and a mosque dedicated to a local saint was built

into its walls in the 18th century.

In Luxor you can also visit the Camelmarket.

(Photo by Jim Rees)

Then there is of course the Temple of Karnak.

It begins with an avenue of Sphinxes.

The Karnaktemple (from www.discoveringegypt.com)

Located at the northern end of the town of Luxor, Karnak Temple has three main sacred areas that honour three gods: Montu, an ancient local warrior god; Amun, the chief god of Thebes; and the goddess Mut, wife of Amun. Amun, Mut and their son, Khonsu, were members of the sacred family known as the Theban Triad.

The construction of Karnak Temple began in the Middle Kingdom and was completed during the New Kingdom, some 1,600 years later. Every successive king of this era added to the temple, which covers two hectares (five acres) of land. It is a complicated site with four courtyards, ten pylons, a sacred lake and many buildings.

An avenue of sphinxes with curly-horned rams’ heads leads to the entrance to the first pylon. The sphinxes represent a form of the sun god, Amun-Re. Between their paws is a small figure of Rameses II, who won the famous Battle of Qadesh against the Hittites in Syria (1274 B.C.).

Then on the other site of the Nile, the Westbank, you can visit the Valley of the Kings; with lots of

tombs;f.i. of Toetanchamon.

eastvalleyof the kings.jpg (39706 bytes)

There are dozens of tombs in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor in Upper Egypt, although not all are royal tombs and the persons for whom many were constructed or begun are not known. The style of tomb construction often gives clues as to which dynasty it belongs.

The Valley of the Kings actually has two components - the East Valley and the West Valley. Those in the East Valley, the one most visited by tourists, begin with the letter KV, while those in the West Valley to the north begin with WV.

The numbering system was begun in the 1820s by John Gardner Wilkinson who painted the number of his sequence up to 21 at the entrance to the tombs he was aware of in the East Valley. For the West Valley, Wilkinson used the designations W1 to W4, but today they are given as WV 22 to WV 25. A few minor tombs not listed below are given other designations.

TOMB	OWNER	DYNASTY	TOMB	OWNER	DYNASTY
KV 1	Ramesses VII	20	KV 32	Unknown	18
KV 2	Ramesses IV	20	KV 33	Unknown	18
KV 3	Constructed for a son of Ramesses III	20	KV 34	Tuthmosis III	18
KV 4	Ramesses XI	20	KV 35	Amenhotep II	18
KV 5	Sons of Ramesses II	19	KV 36	Maiherperi	18
KV 6	Ramesses XI	20	KV 37	Unknown	18
KV 7	Ramesses II	19	KV 38	Tuthmosis I	18
KV 8	Merenptah	19	KV 39	Unknown	18
KV 9	Ramesses V/VI	20	KV 40	Unknown	18
KV 10	Amenmeses	19	KV 41	Unknown	18
KV 11	Ramesses III	20	KV 42	Unknown	18
KV 12	Unknown	18	KV 43	Tuthmosis IV	18
KV 13	Bay	19	KV 44	Unknown	18
KV 14	Tausert / Setnakht	19	KV 45	Unknown	18
KV 15	Seti II	19	KV 46	Yuya and Thuya	18
KV 16	Ramesses I	19	KV 47	Siptah	19
KV 17	Seti I	19	KV 48	Amenemopet	18
KV 18	Ramesses X	20	KV 49	Unknown	18
KV 19	Mentuherkhepshef	20	KV 50	Unknown	18
KV 20	Thutmoses I/ Hatshepsut	18	KV 51	Unknown	18
KV 21	Unknown	18	KV 52	Unknown	18
WV 22	Amenhotep III	18	KV 53	Unknown	18
WV 23	Ay	18	KV 54	Unknown	18
WV 24	Unknown	18	KV 55	Amarna Cache	18
WV 25	Unknown	18	KV 56	Unknown	18
KV 26	Unknown	18	KV 57	Horemheb	18
KV 27	Unknown	18	KV 58	Unknown	18
KV 28	Unknown	18	KV 59	Unknown	18
KV 29	Unknown	18	KV 60	Unknown	18
KV 30	Unknown	18	KV 61	Unknown	18
KV 31	Unknown	18	KV 62	Tutankhamun	18

And then of course the beautiful temple of Queen Hatsjepsut. See for more info on her here

And further we go

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