A FULL DAY IN LUXOR ON THE EAST BANK – 5 NOVEMBER 2025

Another packed day in Luxor, this time in the West Bank. It started with the massive sprawling 60 Ha Karnak Temples. Inside, after the security check, I met Mohammed, an experienced guide. He conducted me around for an hour, supplying me with awesome nuggets of information. The temple complex was developed over 2 millennia from around 2000 BC. It was the chief place of worship of Amun, Mut and Khonsu and was considered a center of power.

It is the largest temple complex ever built, covering a vast area with numerous temples, pylons, chapels, sanctuaries, and other buildings. The rich architectural, artistic, and linguistic diversity of the site make Karnak Temple an invaluable resource for understanding the evolution of Ancient Egypt. It is also believed that the Temple of Karnak was the spot where creation began. They also considered that it was a point of interaction between the god Amun-Ra and Egyptians.

Mohammed started the tour by saying that Ramesses II, though not the founder of the temple, had a major role to pay in the development of the complex such as the massive 134 columns. He said that Ramesses was a lucky man who had 35 wives and lived to the then ripe age of 60 years! Many of us who struggle to manage one know what Ramesses was up against. The most well-known of his wives is Nefertari, who was highly educated and able to both read and write hieroglyphs, a very rare skill at the time.

One has to cross a moat like ditch before entering the Temple complex. At some places there were large puddles of water. Mohammed explained that the River Nile used to flow beside the Karnak Temple, using which the granite stones were transported from Aswan. The river has now changed course and one of the main reasons for this was the building of the Aswan Dam, according to Mohammed. He mentioned that many islands, fertile lands and even historic sites were submerged with the construction of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser. It was news to me that Abu Simbel was also relocated 200 meters inwards and raised over 60 meters from its original location to preserve the complex.

At the start of the main temple complex is a sphinx avenue with the Ram’s head and Ramesses interspersed. A unique feature one finds in the sculptures across locations is the disfiguration of the nose. It was Mohammed who solved that mystery for me.

The Ancient Egyptians believed, he said, that the soul was not one entity, but a dynamic combination of distinct parts: Ka, Ba, Akh, Ren, and Sheut. Therefore, all funerary practices, from mummification to tomb architecture, centered on keeping these Ancient Egyptian Soul Elements safe and functional. The soul has to re-enter the body though the nose. Therefore, the belief was that once the nose is removed or disfigured, the soul would not be able to re-enter the body.

Karnak Temple features several prominent obelisks, most notably the obelisks of Thutmose I and Hatshepsut. Thutmose I's is one of the oldest and tallest surviving, standing about 21.7 meters tall, while Hatshepsut's was the tallest in Egypt, at about 29.5 meters tall. Both are made of granite and have inscriptions celebrating the pharaohs who erected them.

However, the obelisk of Hatshepsut collapsed during the ancient times and only a small remnant of it is present, in a relocated place, in the Karnak Temple now. Today, there are more obelisks in Rome than there is in Egypt. Probably the most famous Egyptian obelisk outside Egypt is the one in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, which was one of the two that used to flank the entrance to the Luxor Temple.

The Sacred Lake was built by Pharaoh Thutmose III. The lake is 120 meters long by 77 meters wide and has a depth of 4 meters. A network of underground canals connected the lake to the Nile. This maintained consistent water level in the lake despite seasonal flooding in the river. Priests used the water for ritual washing and purification before performing ceremonies.

The lake represented the primeval waters of "Nun" from which the ancient Egyptians believed the world was created, symbolizing rebirth and renewal. It was used in rituals, such as the Opet Festival, where statues of the gods were transported by boat across the lake. With the Nile changing course and the canals getting blocked, water is now pumped into the lake to maintain it.

The sanctum sanctorum of the Temple of Amun-Ra was only accessible to the priests and the king at all times. For the local people, to pay obeisance, every year during the Opet festival, the golden statue was taken in a boat and returned to the sanctum sanctorum after the festivities.

An in-depth exploration of the vast grounds of the Karnak Temple will require many days. It is possible to walk from one of the exits of the Karnak Temple to the Luxor Temple, buy a ticket for the later on the way and leisurely stroll along the 2.7-kilometer Avenue of Sphinxes to reach the Luxor Temple. The Avenue is studded on both sides by Sphinxes with either a Ram's head or a human head. The Avenue was used for ceremonial occasions like the Opet festival. Built during the 4th century BC, the Avenue, after its discovery in 1940, has been restored substantially for tourists to enjoy a glimpse of what was in the past.

I did not take the long walk to the Luxor Temple through the Avenue of Sphinxes due to the heat and humidity. I jumped back into the car and drove to the East Bank ferry terminal from where the Luxor Museum was just around the corner. The Luxor Museum opened in 1975, primarily with the intention of showcasing the rich history of ancient Thebes, as Luxor was known then.

The Royal Mummies Hall allows visitors to see the mummies of Ahmose I and Ramesses I, two important rulers in Egypt’s history. The Luxor Museum is decidedly smaller than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but is better organised, with each piece telling a story, as it were.

Not far from the Luxor Museum is the small, but interesting Mummification Museum. The museum provides visitors with an understanding of the ancient art of mummification. It was a revelation to know that the Ancient Egyptians applied embalming techniques not only to dead humans but also cats, fish, ram and crocodiles too.

I walked a short distance along the Avenue of Sphinxes from near the entrance of the Luxor Temple, where 1064 sphinxes are placed 4 meters apart on either side of the Avenue.

Considerably smaller than the Karnak Temple, the Luxor Temple played a crucial role in the annual event where statues of the gods Amun, Mut, and Khonsu were moved from Karnak to Luxor to symbolically rejuvenate the pharaoh's divine essence and reaffirm his rule.

By the time I was done with Luxor Temple I was cooked; it had been hot throughout the day. With what I wanted to see in the West Bank over, I got back to the East Bank and visited an Alabaster workshop and retail store. It was indeed informative to know the difference between handmade and machine-made alabaster, with the latter being heavier. Alabaster comes in three colors, white, green and black. Though tempted to buy a keepsake from the visit, I found the items overpriced.

The Colossi Memnon is where two magnificent twin statues image of pharaoh Amenhotep III and two smaller statues carved by his feet (one being his wife and the other his mother), stands graciously in the horizon of the magnificent Luxor horizons.

The day had been enervating. I was glad when I got back to the guesthouse, tipped Ashraf for his companionship and guidance for two days and rested for some time. Later in the evening, I walked along the bank of the Nile enjoying the nice walkway and gazebos. I made a mental note of the passenger ferry between the East and West Banks. While walking through the small, but dusty town, I went into a small shop and bought a chocolate ice cream to cool the innards, that felt like it was boiling over.

Dinner consisted of meat Tagine, this time a smaller portion with lesser accompaniments, as I had not been able to finish last evening's portion and Mohammed had felt bad. However, after a thirst-quenching round of Stella beer, I polished off the deliciously cooked meat Tagine this day.