Sightseeing

The Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa are considered the first catacombs in the whole world. It is a complex of impressively decorated tombs dating back to the Roman period. It is located in the district of Karmouz to the east of Alexandria.

The Kom el Shoqafa is its Arabic name, meaning in the English language the mound or hill of potsherds, referring to the broken dishes and plates that was found in this place. Also, the word Catacomb means a rock-cut tomb around a well.

This place is considered an open museum, as, besides tombs, there are several Roman monuments as the fountain and the bathtub.

The Catacombs of Alexandria This Catacomb was discovered by chance in 1900 when a donkey fell in the well. It is one of the most important examples referring to the fusion between ancient Egyptian art and Greco-Roman art.

The Catacomb originally belonged to a wealthy Roman family who started to use it for burial in the middle of the 2nd century AD. Later, the catacomb was expanded to be a public cemetery.

It consists of 3 floors housing rock-cut tombs in the 1st and 2nd levels, but the 3rd is completely underwater. These two levels can be accessed by a central spiral staircase to a depth of 35 meters around a well.

When you descend the catacomb, you can see a circular hall with a vaulted ceiling called the rotunda. This hall contained 5 busts (now these busts are displayed in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria).

After that, you will move to the Triclinium hall, where the visitors of the tomb were taking some rest after descending the stairs of the tomb. This hall supports by 4 pillars and contains 3 benches, taking the shape of the letter U. It is thought that this hall was used by the visitors of the tomb for eating food.

Then there is another hall containing bones for horses. It is called Holy Horses Hall, as it is believed that these horses were used in horse racing.

Finally, there is the main shrine of this catacomb. There are 2 statues, their features combining between the ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman arts. It is thought that these statues belonging to the original owners of the catacomb.

The Tomb of Tigrane The Tomb of Tigrane is situated a few meters away from the main catacombs. It dates back to the 1st century A.D. and was discovered in 1952. It is famous for its wall paintings executed in the Hellenistic style.

You Can enjoy a virtual tour to the Catacombs via the virtual tours of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The Catacombs of Alexandria

Pompey Pillar is one of the most famous attractions in Alexandria. It is considered the longest column in Egypt, as it is about 27 meters long. It was constructed in 292 AD by the trustee of Alexandria, Postumus.

This pillar or column is divided into 3 parts. The first part is its base that has inscriptions of names of ancient Egyptian Kings, referring to that this stone was reused. The second one is the body of the column taking a circular cylindrical shape and made of red granite from Aswan. Then the crown. Al-Maqrizi wrote about this crown that he heard the Alexandrians said that this crown allowing 22 persons to sit on it and having their food.

Different Names to This Pillar Pompey’s Pillar is a misleading name. It is believed that when the Roman General Pompey fled to Alexandria from Rome, Ptolemy XII murdered him and his head was put on the top of the column, but that is not true and this pillar has nothing to do with Pompey.

Arab called it masts pillar because they thought that it looks like the masts of the ships.

The closest to the right name, according to an inscription written beside the column, is Diocletian Pillar. This text refers to the trustee of Alexandria, Postumus, who built this pillar in gratitude for the Roman Emperor Diocletian as there was a famine in the city so Diocletian ordered that a portion of the wheat be sent to Rome annually be given to the Alexandrians. As well, he exempted them from paying taxes during these hard times.

Besides the pillar, there are two sphinxes and an open museum displaying what was discovered in the Serapeum, dedicated to Alexandria’s patron god, Serapis.

Throughout ancient history, Alexandria was known as a center for learning and melting different cultures because it houses the library of Alexandria or Bibliotheca Alexandrina the most famous destination for students in the ancient world.

It is important to be referred that there are two libraries of Alexandria libraries (the ancient library of Alexandria – the modern library of Alexandria).

The ancient Bibliotheca Alexandrina During the Ptolemaic period, Ptolemy II built the ancient Alexandria Library. This library contained many books in different specialties, so it became the main destination of many science students in the ancient world. It is said that it houses about 700,000 books, as it contained books from the ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations, as well as, the library obligated its scholars to leave a copy of their writings in the library. This led to making this library very rich with books in several specialties and from different cultures.

Some of its students were Euclid and Archimedes. This library was divided into three parts the original library or the Muses, the smaller library, and the book store.

It was a public library, in contrast to the libraries of temples at that time, which were accessed only for priests of temples.

Unfortunately, the ancient Library of Alexandria was destroyed during the attack of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII against Ptolemy XIII in 48 BC, where the ships in Alexandria port were burned by Caesar and this fire spread to the library.

The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina was built on the 16th of October 2002 when Lotfy Dowidar and the Egyptian Government asked UNESCO to revive the ancient Library of Alexandria.

The library is surrounded by a great wall, decorated with the letters and signs of 120 languages, referring to the wealth of knowledge in that building.  This wall is made of the granite of Aswan.

This library is much more than a library, as it houses:Four Museums:
• The Antiquities Museum
  It is considered the first archeological museum to be situated within a library. The museum collection displays the ancient history of Egypt from the ancient Egyptian civilization to the Roman period. Part of the museum collection is displayed under the water of the Mediterranean Sea.
  The museum texts are written in three languages (English, Arabic, and French).
• The Manuscripts Museum
  This museum distinguishes with housing the largest collection of digital manuscripts in the whole world. It provides digital access to more than 6,000 rare books, maps, and documents.
• The Sadat Museum
  This museum contains many personal belongings of the Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat, as his Nobel Prize medal and his military robe stained with blood, which he wore on the day of his assassination.
• The History of Science Museum

Also, six specialized libraries:
• The Arts and Multimedia Library/li>
• The Taha Hussein Library for the visually-impaired

  This library is named with Taha Hussein Library because its materials are specially designed for blind and visually impaired people. These materials enable them to read books.

• The Children’s Library
• The Young People’s Library
• The Exchange and Archive Section
• The Rare Books and Special Collections Library

Also it contains:
• The Planetarium Science Center
• Culturama: It is a patented nine-screen interactive technology created by the Egyptian Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) in 2007. Culturama allows the library to inform information that could never have been displayed by traditional displaying methods. Culturama exhibits three times from Egyptian history (Ancient Egyptian Period – Highlights of Islamic Civilization – Modern Egypt).

The new library of Alexandria seeks to revive the old library approach, as it is dedicated to recapturing the spirit of openness, spreading culture, and acting as a public research center.

The Cave church, Saint Simon Church, or the Tanner Monastery lies in the Mokattam Mountain, near Garbage city or in Arabic language El Zabbaleen city.

This monastery is carved into the Mokattam Mountain in 1975. It houses many Coptic churches.

Saint Simon Church is one of the hidden treasures in Egypt and the Middle East. It is famous for its design, taking the shape of amphitheater. It is considered the biggest church in Egypt, as it accommodates 20 thousand people.

St. Simon St. Simon worked as a tanner, lived at the end of the 10th century. He was in charge of the legend of the transferring the Mokattam Mountain.

The Garbage City The garbage city or El Zabbaleen city in the Arabic language is famous for its populations are working in collecting, sorting, and recycling the garbage.

Enjoy discovering this hidden treasure with Egypt Vacation Tours team with Cairo Day Tours.

The Nilometer is founded by the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil in 861 AD. It is considered the second Islamic sightseeing built in Egypt after Amr Ibn Al-Ass Mosque.

The Nilometer was used to measure the level of the water of the Nile River to set the taxes. The water measurement occurred by a marble octagonal column 19 cubits in length standing in the middle of the building. This meter has become unused after the building of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s.

The structure is divided into two parts. The first part is the conical dome. The second part is a flight of spiral stairs leading down, with depth markings along the walls.

Visit this amazing attraction with Egypt Vacation Tours team with Cairo Day Tours.

Also, enjoy visiting this sightseeing and Manasterly palace on a virtual tour provided by the ministry of tourism and antiquities via this link

The Southern Tomb Location and dimensionsIn the southern end of the Great Court is a long building with a low, vaulted roof known as the South Tomb. The elements of the substructure are very similar to those of the pyramid (although on a reduced scale) but differ somewhat in their arrangement. The burial chamber was at the bottom of a vertical shaft, 7 x 7 metres and 28 metres deep—the same dimensions as the one under the pyramid and on more or less the same North-South axis. It was made out of the same pink granite and there is even evidence for an earlier limestone version with stars carved into the ceiling. The interior of the tomb was far less disturbed by robbers than the Step Pyramid and the ‘manoeuvre chamber’ has survived reasonably intact. Even the beam used to lower the granite plug was still in place. The walls were of limestone and the ceiling had been carved in imitation of palm logs.

The Southern Tomb Substructure: In the South Tomb at Saqqara, a descending corridor led down to the tomb—although from the west rather than the north, as was the case with the step pyramid. About halfway down was a rectangular gallery about 30 metres long, filled with pottery and stone jars. On top of them was a wooden stretcher, a wooden box and a set of poles from a canopy—still bearing traces of gold leaf. Lauer assumed the stretcher was used to carry the vessels into the tomb and then simply left behind but, given the other equipment found, transportation of a statue seems a little more plausible.

The Southern Tomb Decorations:There was a similar arrangement of galleries, including a number with the same faience decoration mimicking the appearance of reed mat panels and doorways—again, probably representing the private apartments of the royal palace. There is every reason to believe that this suit of rooms was constructed before those under the pyramid, which were far less accomplished and less complete. As was the case in the latter, the false doorways contained reliefs of the pharaoh taking part in various rituals. On the door jambs and lintels were carved the name and titles of the king. He is invariably referred to by his Horus name, Netjerykhet. Apart from much later graffiti, the name Djoser does not appear anywhere in the complex.

The king is shown wearing only a skimpy loincloth (at most), a false beard and the crown of Upper Egypt. In his right hand he is carrying a flail, an agricultural tool used in threshing grain but also an important symbol of power for the pharaoh. In his left hand he is holding a fishtailed object, presumably the flint version that figures so prominently in the predynastic archaeological record and is thought to have been used in the ‘Opening the Mouth’ ceremony to reanimate the deceased. Hovering over his head is Horus, the god of kingship, holding an ankh symbol (the hieroglyph for ‘life’) in his talons. In front of him is a standard bearing the image of a jackal (Wepwawet, the ‘Opener of the Ways’). He is striding between two pairs of horseshoe-shaped territorial markers.

The Southern Tomb Function:Secondary tombs can be found at some, but by no means all, Old Kingdom pyramids. In some cases, they are thought to belong to the pharaoh’s principal wives. but the burial chamber of the South Tomb is very small, 1.6 x 1.6 and 1.3 metres high—probably too small for an adult woman and her coffin. Various theories have been proposed for its function—to house the royal placenta that had been preserved since the pharaoh’s birth; to contain his internal organs (lungs, stomach, intestines and liver) removed during the mummification process; or to serve as a repository for the two crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. Lauer believed that it was a cenotaph, meant to replace the royal tomb at Abydos. The most popular theory is that they were the tombs of the pharaoh’s ka, represented in the form of a statue. Shown (left) is a wooden shrine containing the ka-statue of the Dynasty XIII pharaoh Hor’ in his shrine. The arms reaching upwards on top of his head is the hieroglyph for ka.

Luxor temple is one of the most beautiful remained monuments on the east bank of the Nile River in Thebes, or Luxor city now.

The history of construction of Luxor temple King Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty started to build this temple, but the main building of the temple was completed by King Tutankhamun and King Horemheb. Then King Ramses II added some elements to the temple.

During Amenhotep III’s reign, the main entrance of the temple was on the northern side. After that, you will see the great colonnade consisting of seven pairs. It takes the shape of high open-flower papyrus columns. Then you will move to the courtyard of King Amenhotep III. Then the hypostyle hall, containing thirty-two columns.

The cache of Luxor temple was discovered by the archaeologist Muhammad al-Saghir on the morning of January 22, 1989.  While he was cleaning the courtyard of King Amenhotep III, he found a wonderful collection of statues for gods and kings of the New kingdom. Most of these collections are moved to be displayed at Luxor Museum.

Behind the hypostyle hall, there are four secondary rooms, the room of the Divine birth of King Amenhotep III, Alexander the Great’s shrine, and the Holy of Holies of the triad of Thebes (Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu).

The divine birth room houses depictions tell an amazing story of how the king’s true father was none other than the god Amun himself.

The King Ramses II adds:
• He added a massive pylon decorated with inscriptions of the Kadesh Battle against the Hittites. This pylon was preceded by six colossal statues for King Ramses II himself and two obelisks made of granite. Now, one of these two obelisks is transferred to the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

In front of this pylon, there is the avenue of sphinxes linking between Luxor Temple and Karnak Complex. This avenue was used during the Opet Festival, as Amun used it to move from Karnak Complex to Luxor Temple.

• Also, King Ramses II built another courtyard in front of the great colonnade of King Amenhotep III. In this courtyard, on the right side, you will see the shrine of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose III.

  

The temple was remained used in the Greco-Roman period. In the Christian period, the hypostyle hall of the temple was changed to be a Christian church.

After many years, the temple was covered and hidden by sand and streets, resulting in the construction of the Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj mosque over the Northeast side of the temple in the courtyard of King Ramses II in 640.

Colossi of Memnon are two massive statues on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor city. They stood at the entrance of the mortuary temple of king Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty, New kingdom. These statues are the only residual part of this temple.

These two twin statues depict King Amenhotep III, seating on the throne chair and wearing the Nemes, the royal headdress. The statues measure 20 meters tall. They are made of quartzite sandstone. The northern statue presents the king with a small statue for his mother (Mutemwiya), while the southern one presents him with his beloved wife (Tiye). Amenhotep, son of Hapu supervised the construction of these statues.

After an earthquake had occurred in 27 BC, the northern statue was deeply affected, as cracks appearing on it. These cracks resulted to when the winds were passing through the northern statue at dawn, making mysterious sounds and forming dew drops on the statue’s body.

The Greeks linked between these sounds and dewdrops and the crying of Memnon’s mother on her killing son (Memnon). Memnon was the king of Ethiopia, traveled to Asia to help in defending Trojan city, the beleaguered city under attack. But he was killed by Achilles. So they are famous for the Colossi of Memnon.

Later the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus restored the northern statue that led these sounds to stop.

Read more about sightseeing of Egypt with Egypt Vacation Tours articles.

Karnak temple is located on the east bank of the Nile River in Thebes, or Luxor city now. It is considered as a complex, not just a temple, because its walls include several temples as the Khonsu temple, the Opet temple, and the great temple of Amun Ra.

This complex is considered one of the most important ancient Egyptian temples in Thebes, as it was the center for worshipping the god Amun. So this temple was extremely wealthy, and its priesthood held great political power during ancient Egyptian history.

As most ancient Egyptian temples, Karnak temple was constructed on an east-west axis. As in ancient Egyptian mythology, they thought that this design looking like the sun god’s trajectory through the sky. Also, Karnak temple distinguishes with another north-south axis to link between Karnak complex and Luxor temple through the avenue of rams.

Karnak Complex Elements The design of Karnak Complex is very complicated, as due to its religious importance, many kings from the middle kingdom to the Ptolemaic period added buildings to this complex, making it reach a size, complexity, and diversity.

• This complex starts with an avenue of rams. In front of the 1^st pylon, there are 20 rams on each side, dating back to King Nectanebo I of the 30th dynasty.

• Then, the first open court, containing several elements. The column or kiosk of King Taharqa of the 25th dynasty. This is the only remained column from a colonnade that once had 10 columns. On the left, there are 3 shrines built by king Seti II for the triad of Thebes (Amun, Mut, and Khonsu). On the right, there is the Temple of King Ramses III. As well, there is the open museum court containing the white shrine of king Senusret I, the alabaster shrine of king Amenhotep I, and the red shrine of Queen Hatshepsut. These shrines were discovered into the 3rd pylon and rebuilt again.
• The second pylon of king Horemheb of the 18^th
• The Great Hypostyle Hall containing 134 columns from the sandstone. This hall was built by King Amenhotep III and completed by kings Seti I and his son Ramses II.
• Then the 3^rd pylon of king Amenhotep III, where the 3 shrines in the open museum court had found.
• The Court of Thutmose I, where was existing 2 obelisks standing in front of the 4th pylon. It is thought that this pylon was the main entrance for Karnak temple during king Thutmose I’s period. Unfortunately, one of these two obelisks is lost.
• Another court of King Thutmose I. This court housed 2 obelisks for Queen Hatshepsut. They were made of red granite. Unfortunately, the right obelisk is lost. After the death of Queen Hatshepsut, so King Thutmose III did a mysterious thing. He founded a high wall around those two obelisks. This sparked a lot of arguments among scholars, as they are wondering what the purpose of this wall is.
• The 5th pylon, which also was built by king Thutmose I, but was damaged.
• The 6^th pylon was built by king Thutmose III. It is the smallest pylon in this complex. This pylon leads to the Ancestral Room founded by King Thutmose III.
• Then the Holy of Holies of temple.
• Behind it, there is a courtyard housing remains dating back to the middle kingdom. This courtyard contains a hall called (Akh-Mnw), meaning the Feasts Hall. This hall was built by King Thutmose III. As well, there is another room called The Botanical Room, decorated with depictions of plants, animals, and birds, which King Thutmose III brought from Syria to ancient Egypt.
• Now, we will go through the north-south axis that can be accessed between the 3rd and the 4th pylons to reach the 7th pylon of king Thutmose III. In this place in 1902, the French Egyptologist Georges Legrain discovered a cache. This cache contained several bronze statues. In front of the 7th pylon, there were 2 obelisks of king Thutmose III. One of them is transferred to İstanbul, as Muhammad Ali Pasha gave it to King Louis.
• Karnak Complex distinguishes with its sacred lake, where priests purified themselves before performing temple rituals for the god Amun. Besides this lake, you will be able to notice the scarab is considered the biggest scarab in ancient Egypt. This is the scarab of the marriage of King Amenhotep III and his beloved wife Tiye.

• The 8th pylon was built by Queen Hatshepsut, completed by Thutmose III, and restored by Seti I. Then there is a court.
• The 9th and 10th pylons. They date back to king Horemheb of the 18th dynasty. Inside these pylons, it is found the rocks of the temple of the god Aton, as king Horemheb used them for filling his pylons.
• Finally, the temple finished with the avenue of rams leading to Mut temple.

The Valley of the Kings is the cemetery of the most famous kings in ancient Egyptian history of the new kingdom. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River in Thebes, or Luxor city now.

It is considered as one of the most important archaeological sites and historical destinations in the world, which motivated the archaeologists to do excavations there.

This valley is divided into two valleys, the east and the west. The east valley is more famous than the west one, as the west valley houses few tombs.

The valley contains 62 tombs and almost twenty unfinished tombs. King Thutmose I was the first King was buried in this valley, while King Ramses VVI was the last one. Then Kings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties also buried here. The most famous royal tomb in this valley is the tomb of King Tutankhamun that was discovered nearly intact.

The name of Valley of the Kings is not entirely accurate, as there are members of the royal family and a few non-royal who very high-ranking as the tomb of Yuya and Tuya were buried here.

Most of these tombs have a simple plan and are decorated with religious inscriptions as:
• The Amduat depicting the journey of the sun god during the 12 hours of the night.
• The Book of Caves showing the underworld divided into caves where the gods and the dead waiting for the sun god to bring them back to life.

Why did the ancient Egyptian choose this place to be the Valley of the Kings?
• This site was chosen according to the ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife, as they thought that the sun god (Ra) set (died) in the western horizon to be reborn and rejuvenated in the eastern one. So the ancient Egyptians considered the west as funerary associations.
• This mountain takes the shape of the pyramid, the symbol of rebirth and eternal life in ancient Egyptian beliefs.
• This valley is isolated what provides more Anti-theft protection for the corpses of kings buried in it.

There are a huge number of workers who were working in the construction of this great valley. So these workers needed a near home to live, so they built Deir El-Medina or the Village of Workers.