EGYPTIAN SPLENDOR
Globus tour QE 10 days
October 7-15, 2005
October 7-15, 2005
Day 7: Edfu and Luxor
The next morning we cruised down the river to Edfu. Here we were promised a ride in horse drawn carriages to the Temple. I am afraid that the only thing that looked sorrier than the carriage was the horse. There was some question in our mind whether the poor thing would make it at all.
Ahmed always had a great deal of information to impart in every venue. At this temple he told us the story of Horus and his wife Hathor, two of the principle dieties. Horus is the falcon god, and Hathor is the great mother diety, often shown with cow's horns. He got us to the point where we could glance at a temple wall and recite the names of eight or ten gods and goddesses just by looking at their images.
You can see here the typical arrangement of antiquities sites in Egypt. In the background is the monumental gate of the temple. But just behind us you can see the "guantlet," the row of vendor's stands that is just outside every site!
I think that Horus is a very imposing god. Sometimes he is shown as a man with the head of a falcon, and other times as a falcon wearing the twin crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, as he is here.
Upon returning to the ship, Ahmed presented an extremely informative lecture on the culture of Egypt. He is a great teacher and we got a lot of information that most tour groups never hear.
Then it was a good time to go up and relax on the deck and watch the river go by. The narrow green belt of good watered land sometimes gets very small and the desert rises rapidly behind it.
One after another the interesting scenes flowed by, as they have for 5000 years. About the only new addition is the ever present white uniformed tourist police.
Animals graze all along the banks, sometimes attended and sometimes not. There are many small boats, some carrying grass or other cargo and some seemingly just out for a sail.
As we were a small group, Ahmed had the freedom to make some deviations in the schedule. One of the best innovations was to move our scheduled visit to the Temple of Luxor into the night time. Under the lights the Temple is truly an impressive sight!
There is one of the largest remaining obelisks in front of the temple, and a beautiful and impressive avenue of sphinxes, both of which absolutely stunning under the lights at night.
NEXT DAY
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| The next morning we cruised down the river to Edfu. Here we were promised a ride in horse drawn carriages to the Temple. I am afraid that the only thing that looked sorrier than the carriage was the horse. There was some question in our mind whether the poor thing would make it at all.
| Ahmed always had a great deal of information to impart in every venue. At this temple he told us the story of Horus and his wife Hathor, two of the principle dieties. Horus is the falcon god, and Hathor is the great mother diety, often shown with cow's horns. He got us to the point where we could glance at a temple wall and recite the names of eight or ten gods and goddesses just by looking at their images.
You can see here the typical arrangement of antiquities sites in Egypt. In the background is the monumental gate of the temple. But just behind us you can see the "guantlet," the row of vendor's stands that is just outside every site!
| I think that Horus is a very imposing god. Sometimes he is shown as a man with the head of a falcon, and other times as a falcon wearing the twin crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, as he is here.
| Upon returning to the ship, Ahmed presented an extremely informative lecture on the culture of Egypt. He is a great teacher and we got a lot of information that most tour groups never hear.
| Then it was a good time to go up and relax on the deck and watch the river go by. The narrow green belt of good watered land sometimes gets very small and the desert rises rapidly behind it.
| One after another the interesting scenes flowed by, as they have for 5000 years. About the only new addition is the ever present white uniformed tourist police.
| Animals graze all along the banks, sometimes attended and sometimes not. There are many small boats, some carrying grass or other cargo and some seemingly just out for a sail.
| As we were a small group, Ahmed had the freedom to make some deviations in the schedule. One of the best innovations was to move our scheduled visit to the Temple of Luxor into the night time. Under the lights the Temple is truly an impressive sight!
|
There is one of the largest remaining obelisks in front of the temple, and a beautiful and impressive avenue of sphinxes, both of which absolutely stunning under the lights at night.
| |
NEXT DAY