Feb. 25

After our short sleep and early wake up yesterday, we slept well 
last night. The River Tosca is a comfortable ship with the ambiance of times past with dark wood panelled walls, burgundy carpets, and interesting pieces of art and artisan works. Classic and opulent would arguably describe her well.

We were up before 6 am for a quick breakfast and 7 am departure to the Dendeara Temple, one of the best preserved. It was built by the Ptolemys probably in the 1st or 2nd century BC, so it is not nearly as old as some other sites. Cleopatra (who Akram our guide refers to as Elizabeth Taylor) was the last of the Ptolemy rulers of Egypt. She is pictured on the sass of the Temple presenting her son Caesarion  (from her relationship with Julius Caesar) as the new ruler.

Entrance to the Temple

Carvings near the Main Entrance

The Temple is dedicated to the female god Hat-Hor, the god of love and childbirth. Her image is frequently displayed inside and outside the main 
building. 

Image of Hat-Hor




In some of the interior rooms, the paint on the wall carvings and pillars is clearly visible from 2000 years ago. The height of the interior rooms is impressive as are the massive columns just inside the main entrance. 

Interior Room 


Cleopatra (left) presenting her son as Ruler.



One of the Local Temple watchmen

We were a small group today; this temple is a bit off the main tourist route, so many people miss it. Too bad for them, but good for us. The main building still has its roof intact and we were allowed to visit that area, too.

While the country seems safe, we still have security personnel. These fellows were part of this mornings security detail.


Comments

  1. PeachFebruary 25, 2020 at 10:39 AM

    looked up the ship. Looks swanky. Interior looks like a good movie setting

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To-Do Lists, Weather Reports, Packing, and Flights...

Image
We have been diligently ticking off the tasks that need to be done before we head off on our Middle-East adventure. One of these tasks is checking the weather forecasts for our visit. We expect quite a range of temperatures with lows of single digits (C) in Jordan and possible highs approaching the upper 20s or even 30C near Aswan, the southern most point of our itinerary.  We ordered currency for Jordan and Egypt ahead of time as our local currency exchange office does not routinely keep Jordanian Dinars or Egyptian Pounds in stock. Here are samples of the paper notes of Egypt and Jordan. Egyptian pounds are worth about 8.5 cents each while 1 Jordanian Dinar has a value of about $1.86. We will acquire our visas for Jordan at the airport in Amman. Our pre-trip research convinced us that the better option for an Egyptian visa was to complete the process on-line and avoid potentially long lines at the Cairo airport. One of our spare bedrooms has been converted to a st...
Read more

Luxor and Royal Tombs - Valley of the Kings

Image
Above the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens near Luxor The temple of Queen Hatshepsut is below the prominent craggy cliff face left of centre. The distinct limit of the irrigation from the Nike River is evident by the abrupt border of the farm fields. Burial chamber in a royal tomb - Valley of the Kings If the Pharaoh ruled for a long time, the workers had many years to build and decorate his tomb with intricate symbolic art. The original paint still remains. Walls were decorated floor to ceiling. Even the ceiling was painted, usually blue and yellow like the night sky. Baboons appear frequently in the tombs and temples. The boats symbolize some of what the pharaoh would need in the afterlife. Many figures are servants who would assist him with his needs. Some are images of various gods.
Read more

Cruising the Nile - Karnak Temple

Image
Monday Feb. 24 We had to wake up dark and early today. After a quick breakfast - and thanks to the hotel staff for opening the breakfast restaurant early to accommodate our departure time - we were off to the Cairo airport and our 1 hour flight to Luxor.  The staterooms on board the ship would not be ready when we landed, so we visited the Temple of Karnak nearby. This is a fantastic, massive temple complex built here by Ramses II, one of the great pharaohs of Egypt.  The weather was perfect. Lots of people were there, but with a little patience, some interesting photo ops emerged. After a couple hours at the temple, we drove the short distance to the River Tosca, our floating home for the next week as we cruise the Nile River and visit historic sites along the way. In Karnak, about 60% of what is now standing has been restored and reconstructed. At places, big cranes are installed to move stones that had fallen or newly cut stones where needed...
Read more