Craig and Amy in the Land of the Pharaohs: Oh, Great Thebes!

“It may be that the traveller who finds himself for the first time in the midst of a grove of Sequoiadendron gigantea feels something of the same overwhelming sense of awe and wonder; but the great trees, though they have taken three thousand years to grow, lack the pathos and the mystery that comes of human labour. They do not strike their roots through six thousand years of history. They have not been watered with the blood and tears of millions…But every breath that wanders down the painted aisles of Karnak seems to echo back the sighs of those who perished in the quarry, at the oar and under the chariot wheels of the conqueror.” - Amelia Edwards, ‘A Thousand Miles Up The Nile’, 1876

Thebes was the great capital of the New Kingdom (modern day Luxor) and it was at its height in the 18th and 19th Dinasties, over 3500 years sgo. The greatest, biggest and most amazing temple here is Karnak, over 2 square kilometers of ruins. We got here about 9 am after a 2:30 am wake up call and a 7 am flight from Cairo to Luxor. The most incredible place here is the hypostyle hall, a huge space as big as St Peter's in Rome and with over 130 gigantic columns. It was built by SETI I and Ramses II and is truly one of the great spaces anywhere.

All the columns are carved and at one time were painted with bright colors. Now, onlycarvings underneath the lintels retain their color, albiet greatly faded.

“…we crossed the shade upon the threshold, and passed into the famous Hypostyle Hall of Seti the First. It is a place that has been much written about and often painted, but of which no writing and no art can convey more than a dwarfed and pallid impression. To describe it, in the sense of building up a recognizable image by means of words, is impossible. The scale is too vast the effect too tremendous, the sense of one’s own dumbness, and littleness, and incapacity, too complete and crushing. It is a place that strikes you into silence; that empties you, as it were, not only of words but of ideas.” - Amelia Edwards, ‘A Thousand Miles Up The Nile’, 1876

The tallest obelisk in Egypt is here, erected by Queen Hatshepsut in the 18th Dynasty. It is 100 feet high, but her nephew, Tutmoses III obliterated all carvings of herself.

Karnak is great for wandering around. We left our tour group and headed to the back of the temple. Here we met the Keeper of the Key to the small Chapel of Tutmoses III. This is a beautiful little temple with many carvings, some retaining beautiful red and blue colors. Mr Key was very nice and showed us many things, including a false door with seven actual doors

We kept wandering and wandering, hrough different courtyards and past giant pylons, or stone gates, carved with pharoahs smiting their enemies. Ramses II was very well known for this. He would have himself carved on a gigantic wall, himself smiting many Nubian prisoners.

On the far side of the complex is the wonderful Temple of Khonsu. This is a very well preserved temple, with a small hypostyle hall and many beautiful carvings. The guardian had his two grandchildren with him as it was Friday, the holy day here in Egypt.

For lunch, we left the tour group and went to a wonderful local restaurant called Sofra. This is a real Egyptian place and we had pigeon stuffed with herb rice and a lovely roasted rabbit, served with a traditional soup made out of herbs. Deeeee-licious!

Pigeon...