The Archaeology of Upper Egypt

Arrive into Luxor and meet your expert Guide Lecturer and fellow travellers at your hotel.

Meals: Dinner

Accommodation: Pavillon Winter Luxor

This morning, we start by exploring the largest temple complex in Egypt, and some have argued, the largest religious complex in the world – the fabulous site of Karnak. In addition to its religious significance, it also served as a treasury, administrative centre, and palace for the New Kingdom pharaohs. Added to by generation after generation of pharaohs over a period of 1,500 years, it’s a dazzling maze of monumental gateways, obelisks, pillared halls and subsidiary shrines. From Hatshepsut, Seti I and Rameses II to the Ptolemies, Romans and early Christians, all have left their mark here. After lunch, we visit Luxor Museum and discover its fabulous collection of Egyptian artefacts.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Pavillon Winter Luxor

Our focus today is on the Valley of the Kings. Here on the west bank is the necropolis area reserved for royal burials from around 2100 BCE, but it was the Pharaohs of the later New Kingdom period, who chose these once-remote desert valley sites for their grand rock-cut tombs. Of over 60 tombs discovered in the Valley of the Kings, only a small number are open to the public and we visit a selection – the famous Tomb of Tutankhamun, the elaborately decorated Tomb of Seti I, which details the opening of the mouth ceremony and the rarely visited Tomb of Ay, tucked away in the West branch known as the Valley of the Monkeys. The tomb is decorated with scenes of the Pharaoh hunting for a birds and hippopotamus in the marshes, a highly unusual depiction for a royal tomb. We have also obtained a special permit to enter the Tomb of Amenhotep III, which has recently been undergoing restoration.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Pavillon Winter Luxor

The Temple of Esna (also known as the Temple of Khnum) is dedicated to the ram-headed god Khnum, along with other deities including Neith and Heka. One of the few major surviving temples of the Graeco-Roman Period, the temple rests in a remarkable 9-metre deep depression, the result of 1,500 years of accumulated desert sand. Whilst the visible structure is impressive, it represents only a fraction of the original temple, which rivalled the grand temples of Edfu and Dendarah in scale. After our site visit, we embark on our Dahabiya private charter.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Taking advantage of our small, flat-bottomed Dahabiya, we moor at El Kab and make our way up to the row of tombs which line the ridge above the village. The tombs here are carved with important texts referring to the naval battles on the Nile between Egyptian forces from the city of Thebes and the invading Hyksos armies from the Near East. We continue to Edfu, a beautiful Ptolemaic temple dedicated to Horus, the avenging falcon god. This is one of Egypt’s best-preserved ancient monuments built on top of much older ruins dating back to Ramses III. The temple embodies the traditional architecture of ancient Egypt and is largely free of Hellenistic influence and several of the inscriptions found describe what is known as the 'Sacred Drama.' The story describes the conflict between Horus and Seth, as Horus seeks revenge for the murder of his father, Osiris.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We sail to Aswan, stopping at two key sites along the river. The first is Gebel el-Silsila, a site rich in tombs and shrines, where we find evidence for ancient quarrying. The highlight here is a rock-cut temple known as the ‘Speos of Horemheb’. Next, we explore the partially restored remains of Kom Ombo’s Ptolemaic temple, standing dramatically above the Nile. The situation of this temple, overlooking the river, is particularly picturesque and peculiar in its double dedication, reflected in its perfectly symmetrical layout. The eastern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, his wife Hathor, and their son Khonsu. The western half of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Horus, his wife Tasenetnofret, and their son Panebtawy.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

An early start this morning as we fly to the world-renowned Nubian site at Abu Simbel, 140 miles south-west of Aswan. Miraculously rescued from Lake Nasser’s rising waters after the creation of the High Dam and rebuilt on the western bank, the two massive rock temples of Ramesses II and his favourite queen, Nefertari, were originally carved into the mountainside in 1244 BCE to honour the deified royal pair and to awe the Nubians. In an effort to prevent the temples’ destruction, UNESCO embarked on its first-ever collaborative international rescue effort. This later became the catalyst for a World Heritage list that would help protect and promote over a thousand significant cultural and natural sites around the globe.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today starts with a visit to the Quarries at Aswan, famous as the source of pink granite which was widely used in many pharaonic monuments. We see the spectacular Unfinished Obelisk; had it been successfully removed from its site it would have been the largest such obelisk ever quarried. From here, we continue to the atmospheric ruins of Philae, the Ptolemaic Island temple, a labyrinthine complex of chapels and shrines, which were originally dedicated to the goddess Isis – this was the Byzantine Empire’s last bastion of paganism. To 19th-century travellers, Philae was ‘the pearl of the Nile’ set on its own island, with just enough vegetation to make this the archetypal romantic ruin. Our last site visit of the day is to the High Dam.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We climb the steep stairway to the Necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa (‘Dome of the Winds’) this morning, where we are rewarded by the Old and Middle Kingdom tombs of some of the prominent governors, household staff and officials of the southernmost region of Egypt. Later we discover Sehel Island, where there are thousands of inscriptions left by ancient travellers, and in the afternoon we explore Elephantine Island, the location of the ancient town and temple in Aswan. This was the cult place of the ram-headed god Khnum, a creator god associated with the Nile and the first cataract and potters. We explore the remains of the temples of Khnum and Satet and their associated Nileometers (for measuring the Nile flood levels). At the end of the day, we take an evening flight to Cairo.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We spend our morning at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which sits on the edge of the Giza plateau with the pyramids within view. A huge undertaking which started over 20 years ago, the museum boasts over 750,000 sqm in floor size, 12 exhibition halls and thousands upon thousands of artefacts. Costing nearly a billion dollars in its creation, this is the biggest museum in the world. After lunch, we enjoy a visit to the Egyptian Museum in Tharir Square, the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East which still houses the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world, displaying extensive collections spanning from the Predynastic Period to the Greco-Roman Era. Whilst antiquities are slowly being moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, there is still much to discover here, including the gold mask of Tutankhamun and displays.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Depart for the airport or continue your trip at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast