Egypt
Egypt facts & history
in brief
Egypt is surrounded by the
Mediterranean and Red Sea, Israel,
Sudan and Libya.
Mainly hot and arid, year/s can pass without rain.
Most of the population of nearly 60 million,
live in or around Cairo or the fertile Nile valley.
Egypt's history goes back five thousand
years or so and being one of the
first civilisations on earth.
Some of the interesting things are
the history, Pyramids, Sphynx, other
ruins, Suez Canal, Aswan High Dam,
the River Nile and the great Qattara
Depression.
We entered the Sinai from Eilat in Israel.
After a lot of hassle at the Egyptian Border Post,
we had to return to Eilat, get another Visa and have
another try the next day.
After some more hassles with the
transport operators and a delay of 5-6 hours,
we were on our way in a rickety
old taxi to the St Catherine's
Monastery in the desert,
at the foot of Mt. Sinai.
Christians, Muslims and Jews around
here all believe in buckshi (Bribe or tip).
By a van, that rushed just before
a scheduled bus to 'pinch' his customers,
(We only found out as we progressed),
we crossed the other half of the Sinai to Suez.
After exploring Suez and the
sorrounds, we bussed to Alexandria.
From Alexandria we trained to Cairo
and after a few days on to Aswan.
In Aswan we took time out to fly to Abu Simbel.
Finishing with Aswan we were driven
by a van to Luxor, visiting all the
attractions in between, like Kom Omo
Temple and many others.
Luxor of course another thing altogether.
It is chock-a-block with attractions.
Karnak and Luxor Temples, Hatshepsut
and the Valleys of the Kings and
Queens just to mention a few.
Than we returned to Cairo to for
a final look and farewell Egypt
and an unforgettable experience.
Karnak
Karnak (El-Karnak or Hermonthis),
village is on the Nile River and
occupies the northern half of ancient
Thebes, the southern half is Luxor.
Karnak is best known for the ruins
of a group of temples built about 2134 BC.
The temples, with avenues of sphinxes,
and walled enclosures covers
over 3 sq km.
The most important is the temple
of Amon with its hypostyle hall,
(the roof of which rests on 122
columns that are more than 21 m
(70 ft) high and built in nine rows),
stands in an enclosure
measuring about 140 sq m temple.
As usual in ancient Egypt walls,
columns and statues are adorned
with hieroglyphic relieves and inscriptions.
You can click on these photos for an enlargement.
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Karnak 1. |
Karnak 2. |
Karnak 3. |
Karnak 4. |
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