Egypt is the top-most travel destination in Africa, thanks mostly to the many historical sites from the ancient days of the pharaohs. In today’s post, I highlight five of the most visited sites of ancient Egypt, including their photos. Unless I specify otherwise, all the pictures I have used in this post were licensed under a creative commons license by their creators/owners by the time I was using them in this post.
1. The Pyramids at Giza
The Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, Egypt. Photo by: Girolame at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/girolame/
The Egyptian pyramids are probably what everyone thinks of when planning to travel in Egypt. While there are several pyramid sites all across Egypt, none is as popular as Giza. Among the three pyramids at the Giza necropolis, the great pyramid of Khufu (pictured) is the most magnificent. It is the only one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world that is still intact.
Scientists believe that this great pyramid took about 20 years to build during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, with its construction being finished in the year 2551BC. Like most other Egyptian pyramids, the great pyramid was built to serve as a tomb for the then royal family.
If you are lucky, you may get a chance to go into the pyramid when you travel to Giza. But that means you have to wake up early since the authorities only allow 300 people in at any one time.
2. The Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons
The sphinx is huge statue of a lion with a human head, situated near the Giza pyramids. To this day, scientists and Egyptologists are not entirely certain about who built the sphinx, when it was built, and for what reasons.
One thing is certain though: the sphinx is one of the oldest and largest statues in the world, measuring about 45 meters long. Despite how well I write to describe the magnificence of the sphinx, and no matter how many photos I include for you to see, you will for sure be pleasantly shocked when you see sphinx for the first time.
You may see more details about the sphinx at this website.
3. The Valley of the Kings
Entrance to the valley of the Kings: Photo by S J Pinkney at flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/spinkney/
Some historians divide the era of the ancient Egypt civilization into three periods: the old kingdom, the middle kingdom, and the new kingdom, with some intermediate periods in between. During the “old kingdom”, the kings and other royalty were buried in pyramid style tombs, like the great pyramid of Giza.
In the new kingdom however, the nobles were buried in special underground tombs cut out from limestone in the Thebes region. One of the reason for this was that these tombs were easier to conceal, thus less prone to attacks by tomb raiders, unlike the pyramids. This tomb region in Thebes (modern day Luxor) is what is now called the valley of the Kings.
Today, the Valley of the Kings is one of Egypt’s most important archaeological site and tourist attraction. The tombs contain lots of treasures and artistic decorations from the books of the under world. The most exciting discovery in the valley of the Kings was probably that of the tomb of King Tut, one of the youngest pharaohs to ever have ruled Egypt.
4. The Abu Simbel Temples
The two temples at Abu Simbel
The two temples at Abu Simbel are perhaps just as magnificent as the Sphinx and the great pyramid of Khufu and Giza. You may be surprised to learn that these temples were built just to satisfy the ego of one King, the great Ramesses II, and probably to impress his favorite wife, queen Nefertari .
In the 1960s, when the Egyptian government was constructing the Aswan High dam on river Nile, the two temples were faced with the danger of being submerged in the resulting lake. The dismantling, relocation, and reassembly of the temples in a higher and safer ground is considered one of the great engineering feats of modern history.
You can read more about the Temples at the bible places website here.
5. The Karnak Temple Complex
Sphinx statues at Karnak: Photo by Walwyn at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/overton_cat/
There are several temple sites in Egypt, but very few of them are as impressive as Karnak. This temple complex is located near Luxor, and consists of three main temples and several smaller ones all enclosed in the same site, plus a number of “outer” temples.
Probably the most outstanding fact about the Karnak temple complex is that it was built by several successive generations of ancient Egyptians, over a long period of time. In fact, archaeologists think that more than 10 different pharaohs contributed to its building. The level of diversity and complexity found in Karnak therefore cannot be found in any other ancient temples site.
You can find more information about Karnak at the Egyptology Online website
Egypt Holiday Packages
I have highlighted what I consider the greatest tourist attractions in Egypt. There a lots of other places you can visit for a holiday in Egypt. I’d recommend you take a look at some of the Egypt holiday packages available at the Africa guide website, and you may just find a great package for your Egypt vacation.
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