Around the World in 180 Days with D and N: Luxor: the West Bank

The monuments of Luxor (the ancient Thebes) are scattered over both banks of the Nile. We started our exploration on the more rural West Bank, passing through fields of sugar cane and banana and date palm trees. We were welcomed by the two huge Colossi of Memnon, all that remains of what was once the largest temple complex in Egypt. Each statue was cut from a single block of stone and weighs over 1,000 tons.

We then moved on to the Valley of the Kings, the location of 64 royal tombs from the New Kingdom period (1550-1069 BC). No photographs were allowed inside, but we viewed some quite well-preserved wall decorations, statues and sarcophagi in the several tombs we entered. We then visited the Temple of Hatshepsut, one of the most famous of Egypt's female pharaohs. The temple is partially cut from the cliffs surrounding it and was designed by a court architect also assumed to have been her lover. Hatshepsut ruled for 15 years (1473-1458 BC) and was succeeded by her stepson, Tuthmosis III, who attempted to wipe out all references to her in existence by defacing the many statues and representations of her, evidently a rather common practice by successor pharaohs.