The Luxor Temple

The Luxor temple was built in the New Kingdom by Amenhote III. and Ramesses II. to honor the holy triad of Amun, Mut and Chons. The Luxor temple and the great Amun temple at Karnak were connected by a 3 km long procession road. Annual processions were held on this road.

The six colossal statues of Ramses, which once stood in front of the pylons, are no longer there. Two seated statues and a standing portrait of Ramses are all that remain. Originally two obelisks stood in front of the temple. The smaller of the two was given to France as a gift and is now at the place de la Concorde in Paris.

Expect to spend at least 2hrs to see Luxor temple.

The Karnak-Temple

The temple of Karnak is actually a temple city. Today, as well as in ancient times Karnak is the largest and most important temple complex in Egypt.

Building of the complex began during the early part of the Middle Kingdom. In the following 2.000 years the complex was under constant construction. The history of Thebes is closely associated with this complex.

In the center of Karnak is the great temple of Amun with it's six pylons make up the most important part of the temple complex. The pylons begin in the so-called great court and lead to the great hall of columns. Covering an area of 5.000 sq. meters, with 134 ca. 24 meter high, carved and painted stylized papyrus columns, this enormous sacred complex was in ancient times considered a wonder.

Passing the six pylons you reach the holy alter, where the statues of gods were kept. Other temples composed the East gate, which made up the end of the complex. Before this gate stood the ca. 30 meter high Lateran obelisk, which is now in Rome.

Karnak is about 3km North of Luxor. It can be comfortably reached by horse and carriage.

Expect to spend about 4hrs to see all of Karnak.

The Luxor-Museum

In 1975 a museum was opened on the Nile promenade(Corniche). The museum does a wonderful job of displaying historic artifacts and works of art discovered in Thebes and the region.

The museum opens after noon. For exact times please contact us.

Expect to spend at least 1-2 hrs. to visit the Luxor museum.

Direct on the Nile promenade (Corniche) near the Luxor temple is the museum of mummification.

The museum is dedicated to the ancient Egyptian science of mummification and has a fine collection of human and animal mummies.

Sound and Light

Let yourself be enchanted by a light and sound show in the Karnak Temple complex. Duration approx. one hour.

The Bazar

Pictures aof the Bazar

The valley of the Kings

Biban el-Muluk

The "Valley of the Kings" runs directly into a mountain range near Thebes, where a mountain peak forms a natural pyramid. The valley derives ifs name from the stunning carved tombs of the pharaohs of the 18th,19th and 20th dynasty. These royal tombs, some carved some 200 meters into the mountain, consist of side chambers, niches, connecting tunnels and a burial chamber. The walls are decorated with scenes from the book of the dead. These scenes portray joy and suffering in the after life.

The belief in an after life drove the ancient Egyptians to go to great lengths to ensure themselves a comfortable after life. As counterpart to their tombs a funeral temple played an important and necessary part of the preparation and fulfillment of the after life. These funeral temples are usually several kilometers from the tomb and located in the Nile valley. The best examples are the temple of Ramesses II. (Ramesseum), Ramesses III. (Medinet Habu) and that of Hatshepsut (Deir el-Bahari).

We can only imagine the great treasures, which were meant to accompany these great kings in the after life. The discovery of the tomb of the rather unimportant king. Tutankamun gives us a small hint as to the treasures, which were to be enjoyed by the pharaohs in the after life. Most of these tombs were opened and plundered in ancient times, leaving only the royal mummy. In the 19th century an archeologist discovered a tomb, where many of these royal mummies had been moved and collectively buried. These royal mummies can be seen at the Egyptian museum in Cairo. The mummy of King Tutankamun is in the Valley of the Kings where it was laid to rest some 3.000 years ago.

Of the 65 discovered tombs only about 10 are really worth visiting. In chronological order:
Thutmose III. (Nr.34), Amenophis II. (Nr.35), Tutankhamun (Nr.62), Horemheb Nr.57), Ramesses I. (Nr.l6), Sethos I. (Nr. 17), Merenptah (Nr.8), Ramesses III. (Nr. 11), RamessesVI (Nr.9) and Ramesses IX (Nr.6).

Expect to spend about 4-5 hrs. to visit the Valley of the Kings.

The temple of Hatshepsut

Deir el-Bahari

Queen Hatshepsut is probably the most famous of all the women who ever rose to the throne to become Pharaoh. Her funeral temple is one of a kind and very well preserved. lt is at the foot of a 300 meter high cliff and consists of three terraces connected with ramps.

The tombs of the Nobles

Schech Abd El-Kurna

The tombs of about 500 citizens, priest and officials have been found in Thebes West. These tombs are decorated with breathtakingly elaborate and colorful frescoes depicting daily life in ancient Egypt. They are a strong contrast to the frescoes of royal tombs, which portray mainly ritual scenes. The most impressive of these non-royal tombs are:
Tomb of Nacht,
Tomb of Rahmose,
Tomb of Sennefer,
Tomb of Rechmire.

The Ramesseum

Funeral-temple Ramses II

Ramses II. erected a temple for the supreme god Amun of the edge of the fertile Nile valley. This temple, like many others, was misused as a quarry since ancient times. Only about 50% of the temple is still in existence.

The fallen colossal statue of Ramses II. is impressive.

Dêr el Medina

The village of the workers

In a small canyon leading to the Valley of the Queens are the ruins of a small city. This city was reserved for the artisans, who built these fantastic tombs. The work they did was secret and here they were isolated from the rest of the population for the rest of their lives.

Some of the artisan built tombs for themselves. The tomb of Sennodjen is probably the most beautiful of these tombs.The tomb is rather small,but is wonderfully painted and should not be missed.

The valley of the Queens

Here, members of the royal families were buried in over 90 tombs.

The most beautiful tomb, that of Queen Nefertari, the second chief wife of Ramesses II, is unfortunately closed. However, the tomb of the son of Ramesses III, Amenherkhepshef (QV 55), the tomb of Prince Khaemwaset (QV 44), and the tomb of Queen Titi (QV 52) are highly worth visiting.

Medinet Habu

The funeral temple of Ramses III.

Another well preserved temple complex in Teben West. It probably the most complete complex. The temple is decorated with amazing wall reliefs depicting various pharaohs and their victories over foreign nations. Remnants of the original paint can still be seen today. We highly recommend visiting this temple.