Egypt
Presentation
| Capital : Cairo | Official language : Arabic |
| National holiday : 23rd of July | Currency : The Egyptian Pound |
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Most people who think of Egypt think of antiquities, but Egypt offers much more. Certainly it is a prime location to see our great heritage from the ancient world, including Pyramids and wonderful temples, but it is also part of the Holy Land, and tours to Christian and other religious monuments are popular. Yet Egypt also offers nature and desert treks, great scuba diving and even golf, fishing and birding expeditions. One may choose to relax on the wondrous Egypt Red Sea or Sinai coasts, take in the high culture of Cairo, or even leisurely float down the Egyptian Nile on a luxurious river boat.
Egypt is synonymous with Pharaohs, the pyramids, temples and antiquities from ancient civilizations. And at the centre of these great civilizations lies the Nile River that has influenced their economics, social life, politics and religion. It is the oldest travel destination on earth: Greek and Roman travelers came in 430 BC to wonder at some of the very sights that make it a modern travel destination today. The magnificence of the painted Valley of the Kings, exquisite temples and the pyramids were all sought-after subjects of admiration, and many were already 2,500 years old! From desert landscapes and dry, rugged mountains that reach to the sea, dusty cities full of exotic sounds and smells, and green strips of agricultural land snaking along the banks of the Nile, Egypt has something to offer all travelers from all walks of life. Spectacular diving in the Red Sea; unique desert experiences, whether on the back of a camel to Mount Sinai or on a jeep safari to the inner oases; the color and chaos of Cairo and its markets; and felucca cruises on the Nile River are just some of the exotic attractions awaiting visitors. Egypt promises an unforgettable experience of history and relaxation, a mixture of discovery and pleasure. |
Places of interest
PyramidsAlthough the construction of the pyramids was only an episode in the long history of the pharaohs, this period has left us some of the most impressive monuments that can be seen. Besides the three giants of Gizeh, more than 70 pyramids can be counted along the Nile.
Guarded by the familiar lone lion-bodied Sphinx are the three Great Pyramids of Giza. Over 4,000 years ago, the mummified bodies of Kings Cheops, Kefren and Mykerinos were ferried down the Nile to be buried and prepared for the journey to the afterlife within these massive monuments. The largest, oldest and finest of all three is Cheop's Pyramid, simply known as the "Great Pyramid". It was the tallest structure in the world until the end of the nineteenth century (145 meters). But Kefren's Pyramid, Cheop's son and successor, makes a bigger first impression. On higher ground with its limestone cap still intact, it looks loftier even though it's 4 meters shorter. The smallest of the three, Mykerinos' Pyramid, makes up for its size with its fine funerary and valley temples.
One of the three Pyramids, the Solar Barque Museum, the Sphinx Complex and the Sphinx Sound and Light Show. But the Giza necropolis is also the final resting place of the Pharaoh's family and high officials. Buried inside the mastabas and minor pyramids which dot the plateau are queens and royal courtiers. There are also tombs of the craftsmen and engineers who toiled over these epic edifices.
There were originally 11 pyramids at Dahshur, although only the two Old Kingdom Pyramids, the Bent and the Red Pyramid, remain intact. Pharaoh Sneferu, father of Khufu and founder of the 4th Dynasty, built Egypt's first real pyramid, the Red Pyramid, here. It is a quiet place where you will be able to enjoy the monuments in peace.
Time has all but erased the once mighty Memphis from the Egyptian landscape, however, the city of the dead has been excavated and exhumed from the desert sands, the vast necropolis of Saqqara. Memphis is some 23km south of central Cairo, in the center of the floodplain on the western side of the Nile. Memphis was traditionally founded in 3000 BC by Menes, the legendary figure credited with the creation of a politically unified Egypt. Memphis served as the effective administrative capital of the country during the Old Kingdom and partly in later times. It's eleven pyramids, countless mastabas and lone Coptic monastery stretch over 7km from north to south, and span three and a half thousand years of Egyptian civilisation. At its centre sits King Djoser's "Stepped" Pyramid, the very first pyramid and the first great stone structure in the world. North of the pyramid, inside a stone "serdab", sits the Ancient Pharaoh himself. Saqqara also includes the Serapeum, represented by a life-sized sculpture of limestone, the original of which is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and an astonishing collection of mummified Apis bulls in gargantuan granite coffins. Of its eleven pyramids, King Teti boasts the best preserved burial chamber, with pyramid text lined walls mapping out his journey to the afterlife. The walls of Mereruka's multichambered maze-like tomb are covered with exquisite murals, showing scenes of everyday life.
Zoser's funerary complex, Mereruka's tomb, Serapeum
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With intricately painted walls, vast colonnaded courts and columned hypostyle halls, the temples of Ancient Egypt are among its greatest cultural triumphs.
Of all the pharaohs, Ramses II was the most prolific builder of monuments and temples. Two of his greatest temples, the Great Temple of Abu Simbel and its smaller cousin, the Temple of Hathor are at Abu Simbel. Both temples originally sat some sixty metres below where you find them today. They were part of a massive UNESCO operation to save Egypt's Great Temples from Lake Nasser's rising waters. Embedded into the mountain itself, the temples had to be cut free from the rock and painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt.
At the base of a lofty limestone mountain in the desert at Thebes nestles Queen Hatshepsut's astonishing terraced temple. Hatshepsut was Egypt's greatest female Pharaoh. She fought off male pretenders to her throne for over 20 prosperous and peaceful years. Partly embedded into the mountain itself, the temple is almost forty metres wide. Its honeycomb colonnades pick up the natural lines and recesses of its mountainous backdrop. Hatshepsut's temple is essentially an extension of Mentuhotep II's temple, though several times its size. The two blend in so well together, they are indistinguishable from a distance.
Though Ramses II's triumphant twin statues stand sentry at its entrance, it was Amenhotep III who built the bewildering Temple of Luxor. Over the years, several of Egypt's legendary rulers added to the glory of the Temple of Luxor, from Tutankhamun to Alexander the Great.
The most important place of worship in all Egypt during Theban power. It was built, dismantled, restored, enlarged and decorated by several pharaohs. It's a complex of sanctuaries, obelisks and pylons, dedicated to the glory of the pharaohs. It's a gigantic site : 1.5km by 800m. Impossible to describe, this immense monument has to be seen, to be believed. From the entrance to the Amun Temple Enclosure you pass down the processional avenue of ram-headed sphinxes that originally flanked a canal connecting the temple to the Nile.
A very well preserved Egyptian temple, much newer than other temples. Its state of preservation helps to fill some historical gaps. The sanctuary of Horus contains the granite shrine that once housed the gold cult statue of Horus.
Saved from the waters of Lake Nasser and moved to higher, drier land, the Temple of Amada boasts the most wonderfully preserved wall reliefs of the Nubian style. Dedicated to the gods of the New Kingdom, Amun-Ra and Ra-Hor-Akhty, it was a collaborative effort between Tuthmosis III and his son Amonhotep II. Ramses II also restored much of the temple that had suffered under Akhenaten's rule.
It takes fifteen minutes to walk through the desert to these sites from Wadi es-Sebua. The Temple of Dakka originally stood forty kilometres further north. Dedicated to Thot, god of wisdom, its construction lasted from the reign of the Nubian pharaoh, Arkamani, in the third century BC to that of Emperor Augustus. It is worth visiting in particular for its twelve-metre high pylon which offers a striking view over the lake. Maharraqa, the smallest of the three temples, is interesting for its spiral staircase, a rare feature in ancient Egypt.
Small in scale, the temple was designed as an ode to Isis and the Nile, creator of all things. Legend relates that Isis had chosen to live on the island to grieve for Osiris, her brother and husband, murdered by Seth, and that it was on Philae that she found the heart of Osiris. Construction of the temple and its surrounding buildings dates back to the first centuries AD. The worship of Isis continued here until the closure of the temple in 537 and its transformation into a church.
The site of the Dendera temple may have been occupied since very ancient times but the temple itself dates “only” from the first century AD. Construction was started in the reign of Ptolemy IX and was completed by the Roman emperors. The temple was dedicated to Hathor, goddess of celebration, music and love, and was absorbed into the cult of Aphrodite by the Greeks.
The Temple of Sobek and Haroeris is visible from and overlooks the Nile at a wide bend in the river. Built during the Ptolemaic period, its stands on a rock rising out of the sands. It is unusual in that it is in fact two temples – one devoted to the crocodile-god, Sobek, and the other to Haroeris, the falcon-headed god (Horus the Great). The whole site is laid out along two parallel axes.
The temple of the ram-god, Khnum, has withstood the ravages of time. This may be because it was buried beneath layers of silt deposited by successive Nile floods. The hypostyle hall is an excellent example of Graeco-Roman architecture.
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