Early in the morning, we start from El Gouna Hotels our ride to the first stop of our Abydos-Dendera-Luxor – El Gouna day trips incl. Overnight stay. The Abydos Temple of Seti I in Al Belina is located near the city of Sohag, about 160 km from Luxor.
Abydos Temple – Temple of Seti I
Abydos Temple was built for celebrations, coronations and processions. At the time of its creation, it was located on the processional path from
Karnak Temple in
Luxor to
Deir el Bahri.
You visit a temple complex that was restored based on the old flooring plan and presents the former original condition very well.
Seti I built the temple as a mortuary temple for
Ramses I, the father of
Ramses II. Ramses II was the one who completed the construction of the temple.
The
Temple of Seti I, also called
Abydos Temple of Osiris, built over several terraces, is similar to its construction of the
Hatshepsut Temple. On our tour, we visit some of the most famous objects in the
Abydos Temple, the so-called “
Abydos King List” and the main sanctuary of the
God Osiris, located on the highest terrace and a place of worship in the history of
ancient Egypt. After that, we make our way to the next sight on our 2 Day
El Gouna day trips, the
Dendera Temple – Dendera Zodiac
Dendera Temple, the temple of the goddess
Hathor, is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt and about 55 km away from
Qena (a city in
Upper Egypt), in the so-called
Qena Arch, where the
Nile River curves from east to west on its way to Cairo. Instead of building the
Dendera Temple Complex, like all the other
temples of Egypt from east to west, it was decided, to build it from north to south.
Hathor Temple, built in honour of the
Hathor goddess (“cow goddess”), was only freed from the sand which buried the temple complex in the 19th century. For this reason, the temple is in such a well-preserved condition. On our visit to the
Dendera Temple, we come across
Osiris again. Enjoy a look at the
Dendera Zodiac, the world-famous
Zodiac Dendera sculpture (the original plate is in
Louvre Paris since 1821) on the ceiling of a chapel in the
Dendera Temple Complex. That indicates that high priests dealt with
astrology even then. From this beautiful temple with its fascinating wall drawings, we start our way to one of the other
Luxor sights, the largest
temple complex and
open air museum in the world, the
Karnak Temple
We enter
Karnak Temple, one of the
UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1979, through a sphinx-lined entrance, part of a processional path that led from the
Luxor Temple to the
Karnak Temple and was restored in a long restoration process. From there, we enter the
Hypostyle Hall, a big pillared hall made of 134 columns. The height of the
Hypostyle Hall is so impressive that one wonders how the Egyptians were able to create this masterpiece in the time of the pharaohs.
The
Karnak Temple on
Luxor East Bank, built for worship, is home to several chapels. The white chapel, the oldest structure in the
Temple Complex, the red chapel, built by
Queen Hatshepsut and the alabaster chapel of Thutmose. Among several temples, you find the temple of
Ramses III. You will quickly notice that this is a pretty large complex. Visit the
Holy Lake on the edge of
Karnak Temple before we bring you to your
Hotel Luxor Egypt. Here you have time to relax after this eventful day.
Would you like to relax? No problem! For all “evening active” people, we offer an optional visit to the
Karnak Sound and Light Show. A wonderful experience in the
Karnak Temple Complex. Alternatively, for all early risers, how about discovering
Luxor sights from a different perspective, with a
hot air balloon Luxor ride at sunrise?
After breakfast and the check-out from the
Hotel Luxor Egypt we continue our Tour on the...