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Egypt '80 Queen Hatshepsut's Temple is in a spactacular site. Its concept and scale is amazing.
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| Cairo | Luxor and Karnak | Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's Tem | |
| On the road | Edfu Temple | Temple of Isis | |
| Aswan Dam and Temples of Abu Simbel | |||
| Egypt '80 | |||
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Mother and I went to Egypt in February, 1980. Egypt is adjacent to Libya with history going back to ancient times and world famous Pyramids. It was an opportunity not to be missed. Mother was having a difficult time in Libya and the trip was also intended to distract her from her miseries. A Japanese doctor stationed at the embassy (he made periodic visits to other Japanese embassies in Africa to check on staff health) took us around Cairo.
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_ds191106165830.jpg The Great Pyramid of Giza  |
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_ds191106170324.jpg Giza Pyramid complex  |
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_ds191106172247.jpg Step Pyramid of Saqqara  |
_ds191106172541.jpg Excavation in progress  |
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_ds191106173506.jpg Sphinx of Memphis  |
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_ds191106173747.jpg View from the hotel  |
_ds191106174155.jpg The pyramids were closer than expected. The city has expanded and is encroaching them.  |
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_ds191106180635.jpg Egyptian Museum in Cairo  |
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_ds191106180733.jpg Mosque of Muhammed Ali  |
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Outside Cairo, we got on a tour for Upper Egypt. It took us to Luxor, Karnak, the valley of the Kings and Abu Simbel at Aswan.
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_ds191107160756.jpg Luxor Temple comple was built by various pharaohs over centuries beginning around 1400 BC.  |
_ds191107160849.jpg Obelix of Ramesses II  |
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_ds191107162038.jpg Karnak Temple Complex in Thebes near Luxor.  |
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_ds191107162320.jpg The Great Hypostyle Hall. Open papyrus umbel capitals  |
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Valley of the Kings and Temple of Hatshepsut. Valley of the Kings is where many tombs of the ancient kings lie, but not open to public, one only sees the desert. Queen Hatshepsut's Temple, embedded into a spectacular cliff was an amazing sight. All the Egyptian archaeological sites continue to be excavated and researched to this day.
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_ds191107171109.jpg Valley of the Kings  |
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_ds191107172231.jpg Imagine having to put these pieces together.  |
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In the middle of a field, suddenly two giant statues appear. They are called Colossi of Memnon. They are actually statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and in 1350 BC, they stood in front of his mortuary temple which does not exist now. The Greeks thought they were statues of Agamemnon when they found them.
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_ds191107173742.jpg Colossi of Memnon  |
_ds191109175544.jpg Near Luxor were two huge statue of Amenhotep III. The figures were to stand guard of the temple which does not remain today.  |
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_ds191107171015.jpg Nile River  |
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Edfu Temple in the Upper Nile was built around 200 BC. During the Roman Empire, non-Christian worship was banned and some of the reliefs were damaged. The temple since then fell in neglect and was buried in shifting desert sand over centuries until discovered in 19th century. But because it was buried, it had remained fairly well preserved.
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Temple of Isis was built around 690 BC.
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There are two temples in Abu Simbel. One for The Great Ramesses II and the smaller for his queen Nefertari. They were relocated by UNESCO in 1968 when they were to be submerged under Lake Nasser of the Aswan Dam.
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_ds191109183156.jpgLake Nasser  |
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_ds191118170704.jpgThe temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in 13th century BC but now set on an artificial hill made of domed structure.  |
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_ds191118170019.jpg Temple of Ramesses II  |
_ds191118171002.jpgIts scale is amazing.  |
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_ds191118172705.jpg Temple of Nefertari.  |
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