Egypt: A trip back in time
Posted by Laurentiu - Filled under Egypt, Northern Africa
Egypt is perhaps best known as the home of the ancient Egyptian civilization, with its temples, hieroglyphs, mummies, and pyramids.
Some of the most popular tourist destinations in Egypt are:
- Cairo. The capital of Egypt is home to one of the premier attractions of Egypt, the Pyramids of Giza which represent the archetypal pyramid structures of ancient Egyptian civilisation and - together with the Sphinx at the base of the Giza plateau - the iconic image of Egypt Gizeh in the minds of people worldwide
- Alexandria. Egypt’s second largest city and the country’s window on the Mediterranean Sea, is a faded shade of its former glorious cosmopolitan self, but still worth a visit for its many cultural attractions and memories of a glorious past. Here was located the former Lighthouse (Pharos in Greek), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
- Luxor is the premier travel destination in Upper Egypt and the Nile Valley. The dynastic and religious capital of Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom Egypt, Luxor has much to offer the traveller, from vast temples, to ancient royal tombs, via spectacular desert and river scenery and a bustling modern life
Definite highlights, not-to-be-missed, include: the Valley of the Kings, the temple complexes of Luxor and Karnak, Medinet Habu, and the Tombs of the Nobles. The Valley of the Kings is one of the most remarkable archaeological destinations in the world - the burial place of most of the pharaohs of Egypt of the New Kingdom period Luxor is a good base for day trips to Dendera, the site of a fantastically well-preserved Ptolemaic temple of Hathor, amongst other destinations For those with more time on their hands you can add a visit to the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, featuring some of the best relief work in Egypt - Upper Egypt is a region of the Nile Valley in Egypt, between Luxor and Aswan, characterised by a number of ancient settlements and temple towns that draw thousands of travellers every year
- Located in the south of Egypt, some 680 km (425 miles) south of Cairo, just below the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Aswan is the smallest of the three major tourist cities based on the Nile. Being the closest of the three to Africa, it has a large population of Nubian people, mostly resettled from their homeland in the area flooded by Lake Nasser. Aswan is the home of many Granite Quarries from which most of the Obelisks seen in Luxor were sourced from. Aswan was the gateway to Africa, and many raiding parties began their travel south from Aswan
- Abu Simbel was saved from the rising waters of Lake Nasser growing behind the Aswan Dam in a massive archaeological rescue plan sponsored by UNESCO in the 1960s. The complex of temples dedicated to the Pharaoh Ramesses II “the Great” remain an evocative and unforgettable destination
Egypt stimulates the imagination of western tourists like few other countries and is probably one of the most popular destinations world-wide.
[Photo: The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid (Pyramid of Khufu) in Giza outside Cairo. By Ian Sewell. CC Some rights reserved. Text partly derived from Wikitravel. This post is released under the CC license]
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