Karnak and Luxor in Egypt - and a female pharaoh

On our trip to Egypt in 2005, we hadn't planned much more than sunbathing and swimming. Then it turned out that the beach was confined to a small area behind a wall and the persistent vendors outside made life difficult. Instead, we booked the week full of excursions, which turned out to be very successful.

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Our trip to Egypt

Our first joint trip abroad was to Hurghada in Egypt, where we sunbathed, swam, dealt with annoying salesmen and went on an awesome jeep safari in the desert. To make sure we were happy, however, we needed a little bit of more adventure - it was a bus journey to Karnak and the Nile, among other places, with a night in Luxor. It was two very intense days. If you like history, Egypt is a dream!

Temple of Karnak

The Temple City of Karnak is the temple complex in Egypt that was once part of the ancient capital of Thebes. It is located about 3 kilometres north of the Luxor Temple. Fascinating to visit the remains of a civilisation that started over 3000 years before Christ! Hard to imagine what these streets looked like back then ...

Luxury temple

The temple that remains in Luxor today was built during the reign of Amenhotep III around the 14th century BC. It includes a 25 metre high obelisk, originally belonging to a couple. The second obelisk was donated to Paris in 1835, in return for the Parisians' help in excavating the temple. However, the French were unable to retrieve the obelisk themselves and had to rely on the Egyptians... The obelisk still stands today in the Place de la Concorde. Perhaps you recognise it?

Boat trip on the River Nile

At some point in your life you want to see the mythical River Nile! The Nile is about 667 kilometres long and ends at Alexandria, on the Egyptian coast towards the Mediterranean Sea. Here we made a boat trip!

Memnon's stands

In Kom el-Hetan are the Stodes of Memnon, two 18 metre high seated statues made of quartzite. The statues were named by Greeks who visited the site in ancient times. They believed that the statues represented the hero Memnon from the Trojan War.

Valley of the Kings

In the Valley of the Kings, the ancient Egyptians dug tombs for their kings between 1539 and 1075 BC. To date, around 60 tombs have been discovered here. The most famous is the tomb of Tutankhamun. This young man became Pharaoh at the age of 11 and died at the age of 19. His tomb is famous not because he was a particularly famous pharaoh, but because his tomb was intact (not looted!) when it was found.

Hatshepsut - a female Pharaoh

"Think of hot chicken soup and you'll remember the name," said our guide. And I must admit that it has helped! To this day, I remember the name of the female pharaoh who ruled Egypt from 1479-1457 BC.

It was uncommon for women to be pharaohs in ancient Egypt, but according to the Popular History women had a relatively strong position. Women worked and had professions such as scribes and priests. Despite this, being a pharaoh was not common, and Hatshepsut often had himself depicted as a man.

Identified in 2007, Hatshepsut's mummy was considered the country's most significant archaeological find since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922.

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