Day 17: Denderah and Luxor Temple

During the night our boat sailed north from Luxor to Qena where we visited the Temple of Denderah in the morning. The temple was built for the Goddess Hathor, the goddess of pleasure and love represented as a woman with a cow’s head. Our guide told us that if an Egyptian man says, “You have the eyes of a cow,” it’s a great compliment – not an insult!

Denderah was another temple that made my jaw fall open! It was gorgeous with massive columns depicting the Goddess Hathor at the top and a roof that survived thousands of years. We were able to see the vibrant colors of the temple at the tops of the columns and half of the ceiling. Our guide explained that the archeologists have been working hard with special chemical processes to clean the temple and let the colors underneath a protective layer of dirt and sand show. The temple was so beautiful, despite the fact that the early Christians had chiseled away at all the carvings on the temple walls that were not hidden from harm under the sand. Our guide told us that he felt like crying when he imagined how spectacular the temple would be but for the defacing of many beautiful scenes.
Me at the entrance to Denderah Temple.
Us next to the entrance of Denderah Temple.
Looking at the inner temple from the courtyard.
Columns with the head of Hathor.
Pretty colors!
Half cleaned ceiling.
Paul at the sanatorium (hospital outside the temple).

We walked to the back of the temple and were able to visit one of the temple’s crypts. We walked down a few makeshift wooden stairs and shimmied through a tiny little whole in the wall. One girl in our group said if she had one more piece of pita bread at breakfast, she never would have made it! It was that small. The tiny hole in the wall opened up onto a long narrow corridor where the high priests hid gold and jewelry during ancient times.
Me in the crypts.
Scenes on the walls of the crypts.
Paul crawling out through the little entry way.
Me climbing up the rickety wooden stairs.

We spent the day getting lounging on the sun deck and swimming in the little plunge pool on the boat as we sailed back to Luxor. We saw lots of fisherman and children swimming in the water and shouting at our boat along the way. And based on a few gestures I saw, not all the children were friendly.
View from our boat.

Paul relaxing with a book as we sailed down the Nile.


Me on the bow of our boat.

In the evening we visited the Temple of Luxor, all lit up at night, and saw the Avenue of Sphinxes that runs the 3 km from the Temple of Luxor to the Karnak Temple. There is also an “open air museum” at the Temple of Luxor that has what, at first glance, looks like a big collection of random stones. All of the stones have carvings and hieroglyphics and, our guide explained, the archeologists are currently attempting to fit the pieces together. It looks like the most frustrating jigsaw puzzle I have ever seen!
Us at the entry to Luxor Temple.
Columned entry with two statues of Ramses II.
Courtyard lit up at dusk.
Us in the courtyard.
Ramses II lit up at night.
Little Cleopatra 7 (of Cleopatra and Mark Antony fame) standing next to a massive statue.
Statue of King Tut and his queen.
Jigsaw puzzle.
The whole temple lit up at night!

We got back to the boat for another delicious dinner and then slept as we sailed up the Nile to our next destination.