Egypt, Part 3: Luxor And The Valley Of The Kings
An alarm was set for 4 a.m., because we had go by a bus to Luxor, which is approximately 285 km. Egyptian drivers are notorious for traffic laws don’t say them much. To see how we are going to the opposite direction, there was nothing for our nature. It was 40 degrees on sun. Interesting, that Jozko told us (he was our Egyptian guide, who converted to Christian) were about the relationship between men and women. In Egypt works like this - if a man likes some girl, they meet each other secretly somewhere in the tearoom. If they like each other, the man and his family are going to a family of the girl. During this visit the girl´s family scan the hopeful suitor. They found out where does he work, if he already has some another woman, just does such a job interview. Then bride's father shall suitor, so it needs three weeks to respond. During this period he his upcoming son-verify. He calls his employer and explains that the guy is interest in his daughter. Then follow questions like what is the salary, how long it works there, what is man, and so on. It identifies you from all available sources of information as possible. If his future son in law has seems ok and with only the best references, he allows engagements that take place in the temple. Weddings can be in one year. During this period, the spouses can meet in public, but can´t live together in one household. Such a normal wedding guests 2000 counts. Muslims can have more wives, but he must to care of all of them same way.
Shopping with erotic undertones
On the way we stopped in the parking, where was except the toilets also the shops and "stalls" with different things. I loved the straw hats. Suddenly, young Egyptian caught my hand and tried to take me away. At the first moment I didn’t know what´s up, but from his English and gestures I understood he wanted to show me more hats. My views on the other meant – just don’t leave me alone. Of course, my roommate followed us quickly. In a small shop he began to show me lot of hat and I had to try all possible colours. Finally, I liked one, so we started to talk about price. Three euro satisfies both of us, so I started looking for small purse, but suddenly someone grabbed my butt. My immediate reaction was to turn around and punch him proper. Well, slap the Arabian guy in this foreign country is not probably the best idea, so I quickly gave him 3 euros and flew as bird from the shop. My roommate is laughing and ran with me. We could him shout remarks about how much he loves Slovak girls.
Western Thebes
We stopped to see the Colossi of Memnon. Once they were a guardian temple of King Amenhotep III., and built in 1400-1370 BC. At present you can see only two giants, which are evidence of the existence of this structure. Colossi of Memnon represent Amenhotep III. sits on a throne. The throne is covered with reliefs of plants and hieroglyphs. On the sides are smaller statues depicting mother and wife of Pharaoh.
Finally, Luxor
About 700 kilometers south of Cairo lies one of the oldest and most important cities of Egypt. Its current name is Luxor. But the oldest known name was hanging - from the beginning of a small town on the Nile. He was also the birthplace of one of the most famous book heroes, Egyptian Sinuheta, the book writer M. Waltariho. The city is built in accordance with the rules of the Egyptian religion: the sunrise is the symbol of birth, respectively. life, the west is a symbol of death. Therefore, all temples, houses and other buildings serving the living, were built on the east bank of the Nile. The West Bank was a burial ground. They are situated on him Landmarks such as the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Today Luxor is a major tourist centre.
Valley of the Kings
Our path led to the Valley of the Kings, is a valley in Egypt, which served as the burial place of pharaohs and nobles during the New Kingdom, from 18 to 20 Dynasty. It divides the East Valley and West Valley. In the East Valley are the most important tombs and is open to the public. Jozko tried to speak Czech to tell us the history of this area. We learned that the Pharaohs built temples and his tomb, because they believed in an afterlife. Amenhotep I wanted to build a pyramid that would be inconspicuous and not see her, it would be protected from thieves. The architect found a mountain, protected from flooding, which looked like a pyramid, and so created the Valley of the Kings. The tomb was only possible to build during the reign of the sovereign, so long he ruled, had a tomb of a large, colourful murals on the walls, and if ruled briefly, and his tomb was poorer. Built with only 3 months of the year. Ramzes II. the monarch, who had 100 women and 177 children, of whom 112 sons, even the last 3 wives were his daughters. The first pharaoh, which we can say with certainty that there was buried, was Thutmose I. The most important was Ramzes II., and the best known Tutankhamun and. Throughout the West Valley is open to the public only one grave, grave and high priest Ay, who was the successor of the king Tutankhamen. In the East Valley, which is open to the public, is most important tombs. Just to visit the tomb of Tutankhamen's need to have special permission. The tradition of burying the rulers in the Valley of the Kings apparently introduced Ahmose, the first ruler of the 18th Dynasty. In the Valley of the Kings was discovered still more than 62 tombs (only 24 of them royal), some are sunk to 100 m deep into the rocks.
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
Near Luxor and the Valley of the Kings you can see a very interesting place. It is the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, who in his drawings reminds her famous message of Somalia. It is the mortuary temple of Her Majesty. This palace can take you a few things. It is very well preserved because it is relatively young. It is beautifully set in the rocks and walking into it by a wide staircase. Queen Hatshepsut was very interesting and power-hungry woman. She married her half brother, Pharaoh's daughter, and it spawned. Pharaoh, however, had a son. After the Pharaoh's death, stepson rid of by being sent to a religious mission to the temple at Karnak. During his absence, she reigned alone. When he returned, entered into an agreement with him that he marries her daughter Hatshepsut and remain in power. The people did not want to accept that it dominates a woman, and paid bribes to the clergy, to spread the legend that she is a final descendant of the gods. He even began to dress as a man and fastened the beard. When her son in law finally came to power, let her kill her and all the portraits in the palace were cut out and today these places are empty.
Finally in the evening
After the tour we cruised by a small boat cruise down the Nile to the boat, where we had lunch. After accommodation in the cabin, we went on a tour followed by cruise ships and off until dinner. After a hearty dinner, the program was on the boat. Under the program, we had the opportunity to see dance performances. The free program was followed. Some people went to see the night city and the others went into the cabin to relax a bit. Inside the cabins pleasant surprise awaited us, above the door hung a monkey made out of towels and toilet paper. Night on the ship was relatively calm. What was the tour of Karnak, what you can find there, and many other interesting things - in next part.
Text a photo: Karin Hörmannová
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