Cruising the Nile.
A 4 day journey along the mighty Nile river.
The ibis looked at us quizzically as we glided past him while he waded in the shallows. Revered in ancient Egypt as the earthly form of the God Thoth the sacred ibis symbolised wisdom, writing and magic. Ancient Egyptians worshipped up to 2000 Gods and Goddesses, this particular ibis however seemed unmoved by his own divine nature and carried on with his business as we continued to sail.
We were sailing up the Nile from Luxor to Aswan on a Nile cruise, a 4 day journey along a segment of this mighty river whose history is even mightier. A Nile cruise is a great way to visit some of the major ancient sites of one of the greatest ancient civilisations. Not only do you get to visit these monuments to Pharaohs past but doing so in style aboard an elegant Nile cruiser that caters to your every need as you traverse this historic river evokes thoughts of Agatha Christie as she brought life to Hercules Poirot himself!
After a few days in Cairo to visit the Pyramids of Giza and the world famous Egyptian museum where we gazed upon the mask of the boy king Tutankhamun, possibly the most famous of all ancient Egyptian artefacts, we flew to Luxor to board our vessel.
Luxor was once the ancient capital Thebes and is home to a wealth of historical sites in the area so before you start sailing you get to visit some of the most important ones all included as part of your cruise. In truth you could easily spend a week exploring ancient sites around Luxor but we were focused on the most important ones, the magnificent temples of Luxor and Karnak and then on the other side of the river the outstanding mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the famous Valley of the Kings where the Pharaohs of this ancient Kingdom were interred.
There are 63 official tombs in the Valley of the Kings with excavations ongoing to uncover more. The most famous tomb is probably one of the simplest, that of the boy King Tutankhamun. His fame stems mostly from the fact that his was the only tomb that wasn’t looted by ancient grave robbers so when the archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his tomb in 1922 it was still intact and full to the brim with all of his funerary objects that were buried with him which today can be viewed in the Egyptian museum in Cairo.
The first temple that we visited once we started cruising is one of the largest in all of the Nile valley, the magnificent Edfu temple, dedicated to Horus, the falcon God. I had heard about many of the wonders of ancient Egypt but Edfu was unknown to me before embarking on this trip and I was dumbstruck at the sheer scale of it and the magnificent carved reliefs that adorn it’s walls.
Our next stop was at the relatively small temple of Kom Ombo, unique in the fact that it is dedicated to two separate gods, Horus, the falcon God and Sobek, the crocodile God of fertility and famous for the mummified crocodiles that take pride of place inside the temple.
Our final stop on the cruise was Aswan where we paid a visit to Philae temple. Dedicated to the goddess Isis, it was moved to an island in the middle of the Nile near Aswan to save it from flooding during the construction of the Aswan Dam.
Another temple that was moved in this way is located 4 hours south of Aswan, the mighty twin temples of Abu Simbel dedicated to Ramses II and his chief wife Queen Nefartari. We were fortunate enough to visit Abu Simbel on one of the two days of the year when at sunrise the sunlight travels 60 metres and illuminates the inner most temple. This used to take place on October 21st and February 21st in ancient times but now happens exactly one day later due to the temples relocation.
For every ancient site that we visited we were accompanied by the ships resident Egyptologist who was able to explain the significance of each place and recount the ancient myths and stories that were relevant to each one. The insight they provide is invaluable when visiting the relics of ancient Egypt.
As I write this I’m also reading about the total solar eclipse that Luxor will experience in 2027. I wonder what the ancient Egyptians would have made of a total eclipse over their ancient capital? I also wonder if I can justify a third visit to witness it myself?
Would you like to explore the magnificent monuments to this ancient Kingdom? Contact me to make it happen.
