Sphinx’s leading from Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple are the main two Temples on the eastern side of the River Nile at Luxor. There was originally a avenue connecting the two and on either side of the walkway are Sphinx’s. The original Avenue is about 2700 metres in length and built between 380-362 BC.
At night, each of the Sphinx are flood lit and creates a spectacular view.
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Luxor Temple – at Sunrise
Up nice and early to take some photos from the top of our Nile Cruiser. Looking east gave a silhouette of the Luxor Temple, the place that we had visited the night before. Towards the left of the photo you can see the first pylon and the tip of the Obelisk. Moving to the right, a cross of a church can be seen and then the minaret of the mosque that is located in the Temple. AT the extreme right of the photo, you can see the outline of the pillars that make up the processional colonnade built by Amenhotep III.
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Luxor Temple Obelisk
Many of the temples in Egypt have great needles made of granite that rise to the sky and shaped like a pyramid on top. They are made of one solid piece of Granite and the one in the photograph above was made of Pink Granite. The main source of Pink Granite in Egypt is Aswan which is located which is about 220km. With these obelisks being cut out of the granite, an example is the unfinished obelisk in Aswan, and floated down the Nile to Luxor must have been an absolute feat. Then to get them into an upright position is amazing to think how this was achieved.
The Hieroglyphics and Cartouches on the Obelisk tell a story. and the top of the obelisk was normally coated with a highly reflective metal like gold to allow the suns rays to be reflected. Unfortunately there is no gold on them now.
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Luxor Temple Pylon
In the evening, the flood lights come on and shine on the pylon at the front of the Luxor Temple – giving the nubian sandstone a real yellow golden colour. at the front of the entrance to the temple are two seated statues of Ramses II. There were four other standing statues in front of the pylon, but these have been damaged.
In addition to the statues, there were two obelisks. Only one remains with the other being donated to the French and now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. I understand the French donated a clock at to the Egyptians which is now at the Mohammad Ali Mosque and has fallen into disrepair. I certainly know who got the better end of that deal.
The remaining Obelisk is made from Pink Granite and stands approximately 25 metres in height.
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Ramses II – Luxor Temple
Luxor is well known for its Temples. There are two main Temple complexes in Luxor, Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. At night we visited the Luxor Temple which was walking distance from the Nile Cruiser that we were staying in. The Temple is very large and is made predominately from Sandstone called Nubian Sandstone.
Ramses II also known as Ramesses the Great, was the third Pharaoh in the Nineteenth Dynasty and is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated and most powerful of the Egyptian Empire. As we travelled around Egypt, there are many memorials to Ramses II including Abu Simbel, Memphis and of course, Luxor. On the eastern side of the Nile at Luxor is the Ramesseum which is was a temple built by Ramses II.
Luxor Temple has many statues of Ramses II and others and the photo above is one of him in a seated position inside the Temple Complex Courtyard.
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| Welcome to dulkeith I hope you find the articles are more than the photos. I have put much information to try and explain the location that the photos have been taken so that you get a greater appreciation of the photo. Many of the photos that appear in these articles can be viewed in a higher quality and are also available for sale. Just click on the photo to see a larger and high quality version of the photo. |
| Current happenings for Dulkeith Recently went for a weekend trip to Echuca-Moama Planning on a few weeks home prior to doing a weekend trip taking photos around Western Victoria I have also introduced a Photo Diary so you can see the photos taken on particular days. Check it out by selecting the Photo Diaries on the Menu. |
| Latest Photo Whilst in Echuca, we visited the Old Port are and there are many things to attract your attention. One such thing is the methods of transport that would have been used.  Old Ute in the Port Area of Echuca |
| We had a really great time visiting Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Greece. I am slowly going through the photographs and writing short snippets of infomration on the places we visited - To look at the places that we visited and some great photos - please visit Rob and Ann Petty’s Holiday to Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Greece – March 2014 |
| Topics Being worked on - Israel Trip in 2014 - Heatherlie Quarry - Victoria |
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