Hatshepsut, the Female Pharaoh

Hatshepsut lived from 1508-1458 BC. Egypt prospered during her peaceful twenty-two year reign. She was a prolific builder; many of her projects, including additions to Karnak temple and an abundance of statuary, future rulers claimed to be their own - hmmph, just like man. Although there were other female pharaohs, she was certainly the most successful. Her temple is a magnificent piece of architecture.

Hatshepsut's Striking Mortuary Temple surrounded by a spectacular ridge.

The goddess Nekhbet, guardian of Upper Egypt, in form of a vulture carrying a protective amulet.

Still beautiful reliefs.

The female ruler depicted as Osiris with a pharaonic beard.

A typical tourist.

View from the top of the temple. The Valley of the Kings lies on the other side of this ridge.

Hatshepsut built many obelisks. Unfortunately this one cracked during construction and has sat unfinished in this Aswan granite quarry for three and half thousand years.

Ships of the Desert

About eight of us from the tour group woke up early one morning for a desert camel ride. We journeyed for about 40 minutes to the remnants of a monastery.

Camels for the most part are rather docile animals, and, contrary to popular opinion, do not spit at people. I quite liked Omar the camel and his handler Saleem.

Once we arrived at our destination we were greeted by our guide who I swear could open in Vegas. Hilarious! Yala, yala habibi.

Into the desert we go.

Our charming host.

Framing the subject.

On my camel Omar. That's the monastery in the background.

Omar and his handler

The monastery

Up, up and Away...

When I booked this tour, one of the options was hot air ballooning. I have a fear of heights and assumed getting into an oversized wicker basket hanging from a balloon 1500 feet in the air would be terrifying. Not so - it's very gentle. The scenery over Luxor was breathtaking.

Just before we took off. I may look relaxed but I'm real nervous. We just completed the "bend your knees" drill. Essentially if we have a hard landing this exercise will save us from knee damage. Lucky us we had a smooth landing.

Hatshepsut's Temple - very impressive

Sugarcane - it looks like a carpet from up here.

Our balloon

Assorted tombs

The Ramesseum, dedicated to Ramses II, from the balloon. Maybe it's just me, but it seems RII insisted on littering the countryside with temples and statues dedicated to himself.

Abydos & Dendera Temples

Abydos was the equivalent of Mecca to the ancient Egyptians. Every citizen wanted to visit this sacred city; if that wasn't possible during their lifetime at least be buried in it's proximity. This was the first intact temple we toured and I was truly impressed. It was built in 1300BC by Seti 1 and his son Ramses II.






Hathor temple was one of my favorite temples. Hathor is the goddess of love, motherhood and joy. Many of the temples were turned into churches and because of this the faces of the Egyptian deities were chipped away. Half of the temple has been restored, which revealed the beautiful colors. The temple must have been a vision in its day.

Unfortunately Hather's face has been chipped away but you can see her cow ears and her headdress. I like to call these the CowGirl Capitols.

This photograph is somewhat out of focus, but I'm sure you can make out the "Bird People". The ancient Egyptians believed the individual's personality turned into this creature after death, which was referred to as the Ba. The Ba was unique to every person.

On the flipside, the Ka was the life force and was the same for everyone. Once the Ba and Ka united, it became the Akh. The Akh is the form the deceased took in the afterlife. Having said that, and with no disrespect meant to the Ancient Egyptians, I think the Ba is kind of goofy looking but rather endearing at the same time.

Parts of the temple were poorly lit so I pointed my flashlight at the wall and this is the result.

Here is a good example of what the temple looked like before cleaning. People lived and of course cooked in the temples which left soot-stained interiors. No doubt cleaning the temples is a long, painstaking and expensive job.