Deir el-Bahari

Deir el-Bahari was Hatshepsut's mortuary temple. She, you may remember, was that relatively unpopular female pharaoh who Thutmose III succeeded (she was his regent...). Her mortuary temple is interesting because it is very different from most others - although it is modelled on one made by Mentuhotep II, the founder of the Middle Kingdom- and because, as you enter deeper and deeper into the temple, representations of her become more and more feminine.




What do you think, man or woman?


Here is a funny picture of some painted bread from an offering table - doesn't it look like it has measles?

Karnak Temple

Karnak is the biggest temple ever. Or pretty close. It has the largest hypostyle hall anywhere, and was begun by Amenhotep III and added to by about a million other pharaohs after him. Everything about it is massive. See below:



Remains of the mudbrick ramp they would've used to build this massive wall.



These columns are huge! And guess who built them? Oh yeah, Ramses II. Of course...

Nile Cruise

The sunset from our cruise boat, with a little bit of curtain to prove I'm on a boat...

Kom Ombo

Remember that morning that I woke up at 3:00am? And it was worth it, because I got to see Abu Simbel? Later that day - around 11:30am - we boarded a Nile Valley Cruise boat. And then that same evening, we visited another site - Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek - at night.

It was a big day.







Here's a crocodile on an offering table with some bread. Look, he even has a sun disk on his head (no, that one's not a piece of bread, unfortunately...). Isn't he cute?

Abu Simbel

Once upon a time, I woke up at 3:00am. Why would anyone do that? For Abu Simbel...







It was worth it.

Valley Schedule

Tomorrow we set off on the Valley Tour!! It begins, as all adventures in Egypt do, with a bus ride. A seven hour bus ride, from Dakhla to Luxor. AND then the adventure really begins!

Our schedule, so you can imagine me wherever I am, even if I'm a few days late with my blog posts (Ha! As if that ever happens!):

February 23
Travel to Luxor (7 hour bus ride!). Night in Luxor.
February 24
Travel to Aswan. Visit El Kab and Gebel Silsilla. Night in Aswan.
February 25
Visit Qubbet el-Hawa and Elephantine. Night in Aswan.
February 26
Visit Philae, Kalabsha, Beit el-Wali. Night in Aswan.
February 27
Visit Abu Simbel (optional). Afternoon: board a boat for our Nile cruise! Visit Kom Ombo in the evening. Night on boat!
February 28
Visit Edfu. Night on boat.
March 1
Visit Luxor and Karnak. Night in Luxor.
March 2
Visit Medinet Habu & Deir el-Bahari. Night in Luxor.
March 3
Visit Luxor Museum (optional). Night in Luxor.
March 4
Visit Deir el-Medina and Valley of the Nobles. Night in Luxor.
March 5
Visit Dendera (my site!). Night in Luxor.
March 6
Visit Abydos. Night in Sohag.
March 7
Visit White & Red Monasteries. Night in Sohag.
March 8
Visit Beni Hasan. Night in Minya.
March 9
Visit Amarna and Tuna el-Gebel. Night in Minya.
March 10
Travel to Cairo. Night in Cairo.
March 11
Day off. Night in Cairo.
March 12
Visit Fayyum and Karanis. Night in Cairo.
March 13
Visit Saqqara. Night in Cairo.
March 14
Visit Egyptian Museum. Night in Cairo.
March 15
Visit Roman fortress of Babylon, Coptic churches, Ben Ezra Synagogue, and Mosque of 'Amr. Night in Cairo.
March 16
Visit Islamic Cairo (Gayer-Anderson, Ibn Tulun, Sultan Hasan). Night in Cairo.
March 17
Visit Bayn al-Qasryn. Night in Cairo.
March 18
Visit Kom el-Dikka. Night in Alexandria.
March 19
Visit Kom el-Shugafa, Serapeum, and National or Library Museum. Night in Alexandria.
March 20
Visit Abu Mina, Marea, and Huwariyya. Night in Alexandria.
March 21
Visit Mustafa Pasha & Chatby tombs and Syrian Monastery in the Wadi al-Natrun. Night in Cairo.
March 22
Visit Giza (optional! Ha!). Night in Cairo.
March 23
Travel! (Most people go Cairo-New York, I'm going Cairo to DAHAB! Yay!)