About 60 k.m north of luxor, locates one of the most preserved temples in Egypt Dandra temple
It is considered the only one that has an original ceiling and buildings very well preserved even it has stairs and roof, may be because it is not as old as the temples of luxor, it is just.. 2000 years old ….!!!!
It was dedicated to goddess Hathor, the one of love ,happiness and music
She was represented as a cow or a woman with 2 ears of a cow, her huge columns which has her face are massive well known by hathoric columns
The temple was rebuilt by the Greek period between 250 -30 b.c on the remains of an older temple was there related to Ramses the 3rd about 1000 b.c
No better preserved ceiling in Egypt than this one ,so some amazing details for the god ra and his solar boats ,his eye looking at earth from the sky, the other gods around it in so organized scene
Next by that, you see the long stretched body of nut ,goddess of the sky who swallows the sun disc by evening to give birth for it in the morning
The temple is well known by the scenes of the zodiac which decorate his ceiling in lower and upper floors
Osiris, god of death has there 2 rooms showing his tragedy story with his bad brother seth god of evil, after been killed by him twice, while his wife goddess ISIS was trying to get him life back again from God ra, then she together with her sister Nephtes goddess of magic share in his mummification
Queen Cleopatra the 7th the most famous one who was the last one of the Greek rulers for Egypt has a beautiful scene on the back wall of the temple which is very unique
The temple got two stairs in different designs
One has a square shape while the other is designed in straight structure and both in a very good condition and are used till now to get up and down
Some Nile cruises sail in one day tour to dandra to get couple of hours there ,and most of tourists who stay in luxor for few days ,they get a driving tour to this temple in one day of their staying time in luxor
You too my dear still can has this pleasure of seeing this temple when you are in luxor thebes the ancient Egyptians capital
If you look for the nature beauty mixed with the history breathing, so you look for Egypt
If you look for the good services with a friendly feeling ,you look for Egypt
…..Egypt is the mother of civilization its history goes back to more than 5000 years
The first dynasty was established around 3200 b.c and that was just the beginning of a great time called the old kingdom lasts for 6 great royal families ( dynasties)known by the pyramid builders
No one can tell you until now about the secrets of these huge buildings or how the ancient Egyptians achieved it
This great period was followed by a weak time known by the 1 st intermediate period
But by the beginning of the 11th dynasty, Egypt got its powerful time back again ,which just lasted for 2 dynasties known by the middle kingdom period, before the 2nd intermediate period starts with a famous Asian occupation called the Heksos which mean the foreign rulers
Some years after that the glory of Egypt comes back again and this time from thebes (luxor) as a great royal family shines from the south to free Egypt from this occupation which was found in delate north of Egypt for 3 hundred years
These pharaohs had established which is known by the new kingdom period and lasted for 3 dynasties and more than 5 hundreds of years was known by the golden era of the ancient Egyptians history and most of those achievements they erected still existed in different sites are considered a great witness about the advancing of the construction and arts during this period ,they got
Their main capital in thebes or luxor nowadays and that explains why we have all of these archeological sites in one town .
Some of these sightsseens in luxor:
valley of the kings
Across the Nile to the west locates beban el melukor kings valley where the royal tombs were cut out of the mountain in straight long corridors depended on the lifetime of each ruler
Arts of that time were the best and this is very clear in the figures and the paintings on the walls
There are 64 tombs were found but it is not the end
Some egyptologists think that there is more to discover especially around
The most famous well known king Tutankhamun, which was suggested to be a part from queen Nefertiti tomb which is still hidden behind.
Most of our great kings got their house of the afterlife here
Ramsis 2nd, next to his son king Merenptah
Sity 1st beside Ramses 1st
Hormoheb and king Tutmosis 3rd
Hatshepsut and Ramses 3rd and 4th
And many others
Hatshepsut temple
One of the most important and famous funeral temples by the west bank of luxor
Was built about 1500 b.c by the famous queen Hatshepsut who got the throne of Egypt after her father king Tutmosis 1 st
It had been used for the mummification
During the history it was damaged for different reasons, but the Egyptians worked hard with different missions to rebuild what was destroyed again
Three levels of buildings are considered unique for a temple design it was dedicated for Amon by his beloved queen
While her famous expedition to Somalia is still found by the 2nd floor
Karnak temple
To the north of the ancient thebes , luxor nowadays locates this great huge building which was dedicated to god Amon ra ,the god of creation ,it was built on 65 acres of the lands through the long history of the pharaos,
In the 11 th and 12 th dynasties about 2000 b.c kings of upper Egypt started building its old remains ,but the those great pharaoha ,like Mentohoteb 1st ,Amenmhat 1st ,2nd and 3rd ,senosert 1st,2nd and 3rd
Were just the beginners of establishing a great temple after that knowing by ‘bramon ‘ which means the house of amon and was known also by ‘ibt swt ‘ which means the chosen place
Later by the new kingdom when thebes became the main capital for all of Egypt, the kings gave a big interest to this temple and considered it the capital’s temple
Even god amon became a master god in all of the area together with his wife goddes Mut and his son Khonso god of the moon they got the majority of the statues and buildings dedicated for them
New kingdom kings have built some amazing staff there ,Tutmosis 1st and 2nd
Queen Hatshepsut, Tutmosis lll and king Tutankhamun and many others in different periods add their names in the capital’s temple
Luxor temple
One of those very interesting temples in luxor ,was built by two great pharaohs Amonhoteb 3rd and Ramses 2nd
Locates direct on the nile to the east bank of luxor city
It has 14 huge papyrus shaped columns from the 18 th dynasty
His fsmous church remains in the middle still has figures for the early Christians people
One of the rare scenes thete is the one of the 4 writers of the new testament st.Mathew,Mark ,Luke and John
Abu el hagag mosque a famous building in the temple
Was built by the temple eastern side on its remains about 1000 years ago during the Fatimid family still has its annual celebration as thousands of people from different cities around luxor come to join the annual event
Alexander the great got his chapel there which comes back from 332 b.c
Collossi of Memmnon
Two massive statues were built by Amonhoteb 3rd about 1500 b.c
Were representing the entrance to a huge temple but the temple it self was suffered from natural and human reasons of destruction
The Greek called them Memmnon
After their hero Aga Memnon
Luxor museum
One of those amazing museums in Egypt, it has a great amount of pieces been found in all over egypt especially in karnak area and west bank of luxor
Was opened in December of 1975 by president Anwar el sadat
Then was renewd and enlarged by the time of president Mubarak twice later
Locates on the nile side by the city center not so far from luxor temple
Some of its contents go back to the middle kingdom for kings got names like Amenemhat and Snosert
But majority comes from the new kingdom period the 18th , 19th and 20th dynasty
Some of its remarkable things are the 2 royal mummies in 1st floor for king Ahmose the founder of 18th dynasty and the other one most suggested to be for king Ramses 1 ,after coming back from the Kandian museum as it was sold to someone who took him to Kanada ,and some years later he gave it to the Kanadian museum, after some talk with Egypt it came back home again
Valley of the nobels
In the middle of the thebean necropolis, by the west bank of luxor, the noble men dug thier tombs in deep caves by the mountain side
They were interested to get very unique design styles for their tombs which represented more daily live scenes than afterlife stories
Some of them still have amazing paintings and colors for what they used to do as jobs and hobbies
So,we find the great jobs for example the city rulers, royal scribers ,the high priests and viziers all are nicely represented in very beautiful scenes
Ra moza one of those well preserved tombs for this important thebes ruler ,who was in a high position to manage the city in the life of two pharaohs one of them was king Akhenaten, that is why we can find the figure of god aton shining on the king ,in his tomb ,plus the figure of his father king Amonhoteb 3rd
His well coloured funeral scene is very remarkable in this tomb
Rakhmera’s tomb is a very special one with a lot of lovely scenes for the workers such as carpenters, jewellery men,woodworking, mining work ,and sculptures
Plus his dancers of girls with his family offered him gifts
Sennefer’s tomb is one of the tombs which is known by vineyard tombs for what it has of grapes decorated on walls and ceilings
Userhat one of those small well preserved tombs for this scriber by the time of king Amonhoteb 2nd by the 15 th century b.c and this nice scene for the workers day off when they get their hair cut
Many other important and interesting sightsseens are very well preserved and available to be seen in luxor
At Gama Luxor Tours, we’re passionate about showcasing the timeless beauty of Luxor—Egypt’s ancient capital of wonders. With deep local roots and years of guiding experience, we craft unforgettable journeys that blend rich history, vibrant culture, and immersive adventure.
