East Banks of the Nile
After lunch we began exploring sites on other side of the Nile River beginning with the Temples of Karnak and ending the day with Luxor Temple.
Temples of Karnak, Luxor
247 acres of temples and chapels, shrines and statues, obelisks, a Sacred Lake (where priests purified themselves before performing rituals inside), and the world famous Hypostyle Hall with its 134 enormous columns that reach a height of 15-21 meters. These temples have succeeded generations of kings and are a comprehensive record of ancient Egyptian history and architecture for over 2000 years from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman Period.
Luxor Temple, Luxor
Also known as the “southern sanctuary,” Luxor Temple is connected to Karnak by a sacred road lined with sphinxes (Avenue of Sphinx’s). Unlike most other ancient Egyptian temples, it is not laid out on an east-west axis, but is oriented towards Karnak for a reason. This is because Luxor Temple was the main venue for one the most important of ancient Egyptian religious celebrations- the Opet Festival. We walked through the complex in the late afternoon, catching the sunset that sent rays of light making the stone glow!
Lindsay View All →
Our roots will forever be from here, America, born and raised. Yet, life requires us to move more frequently than we care to count. Whether living stateside or abroad, you can always find us traveling somewhere. We scout out places that you only think you can dream of one day seeing and we seek out those that aren’t found in guidebooks. We then bring them to life here in our travel memos, so hopefully, one day you too can visit them or at least be able to live vicariously through us. This blog isn’t just about crossing off places from a bucket list. It’s about absorbing and learning how other cultures grow and fit into the same world that we do. Life is short and the world is big. Enjoy and get out there!
American Roots. Traveling Boots. 