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Luxor
Luxor Full Day: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon, Karnak and Luxor Temples
Both banks of the Nile in one day: the tombs of the pharaohs in the morning, the great temples in the afternoon.
8 hPrivate
€75
Luxor and the Nile
Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon
The terraced temple of the woman who ruled as king, under the cliff at Deir el-Bahari.
- Built
- c. 1479–1458 BC, architect Senenmut
- Form
- Three terraces, 97 m wide, against the cliff
- Reliefs
- Expedition to Punt; divine birth; Hathor chapel
- Colossi of Memnon
- Amenhotep III, 18 m, c. 1350 BC; the "singing" statue
The Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari (c. 1479 to 1458 BC, architect Senenmut) rises in three colonnaded terraces against the cliff of the Theban mountain, with the reliefs of the expedition to Punt and the Hathor chapel. The Colossi of Memnon, the two 18 m statues of Amenhotep III, stand on the road to it. Both are on every West Bank tour; the balloon flies over them at sunrise.
Visiting
Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for twenty years as pharaoh in her own right, and her mortuary temple is unlike any other: three terraces of columns climbing the cliff at Deir el-Bahari next to the Middle Kingdom temple of Mentuhotep II, aligned on Karnak across the river. The upper terrace was restored by a Polish mission over fifty years.
The reliefs on the middle terrace tell the expedition she sent to the land of Punt (probably Eritrea or Somalia) for incense trees, with the fat queen of Punt and the fish of the Red Sea, and the story of her divine birth by Amun. The chapels of Hathor and Anubis keep their colour. Her successor Thutmose III chiselled out her name; the archaeologists put it back.
The Colossi of Memnon on the road are all that stands of the largest temple in Thebes, that of Amenhotep III. After an earthquake in 27 BC the northern statue "sang" at dawn and the Greeks and Romans came to hear it; Septimius Severus repaired it and the singing stopped.
Tips from our guides
- No shade on the ramp; go before 10:00
- The little train from the car park to the temple is included
- Deir el-Medina, the artisans' village, is 2 km away and worth an hour if you have it
Best time: Early morning; the balloons fly over between 06:00 and 07:00.
Questions
About an hour: the ramp, the middle terrace reliefs and the upper courtyard. It is exposed; morning is best.
The daughter of Thutmose I, who ruled as regent for her stepson Thutmose III and then as pharaoh herself for about twenty years, c. 1479 to 1458 BC, one of the most successful reigns of the New Kingdom.
25.7380 N, 32.6065 EOpen in Google Maps
