Question 1

Luxor on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Time on your own in Luxor is easiest on the East Bank, where the city, Luxor Temple and the Luxor Museum are. Ask at reception how far your ship's mooring is from Luxor Temple before you set out. Luxor Temple: It stands on the East Bank in the middle of the modern city and was built from around 1400 BC, with later work by Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The Luxor Museum: It sits on the corniche overlooking the Nile and keeps a small, uncluttered display with clear labels in several languages, including grave goods from Tutankhamun's tomb. Karnak: The temple complex is next to the village of El-Karnak, about 2.5 kilometers north of the city. Carry your passport: Police check ID often, so carry your passport and visa or a copy of both. Getting back on time: Your ship posts the time to be back on board and sails on its own schedule, so it will not wait for anyone touring alone. Mind the clock change: Egypt keeps summer time from the last Friday of April to the last Thursday of October. On a cruise that spans either date, go by the time in the ship's daily program.

Question 2

Temples and Tombs

Accepted Answer

Luxor's East Bank holds the modern city, Karnak, Luxor Temple and the Luxor Museum, and the West Bank across the Nile holds the tombs and temples of the Theban Necropolis. On the West Bank are the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Deir el-Bahari, the Ramesseum and the Colossi of Memnon. Rock-cut tombs were dug in the Valley of the Kings for nearly 500 years, and 65 tombs and chambers are now known there. The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak has 134 columns in 16 rows, most of them 10 meters tall. Hot-air balloon flights have been offered in Luxor since 1988. Luxor is about 220 km north of Aswan and about 670 km from Cairo.

Question 3

History

Accepted Answer

Luxor stands on the site of Thebes, the city of the god Amun and the capital of Upper Egypt in the New Kingdom. Its temples were reused by later rulers, and its tombs are still giving up discoveries. A capital rises: The city grew under Montuhotep II, who reunited Egypt after the First Intermediate Period, and Thebes played a major part in driving the Hyksos out of Upper Egypt. Karnak: Building at Karnak began under Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and went on into the Ptolemaic era, though most of what stands today dates from the New Kingdom. Luxor Temple, around 1400 BC: The temple was built in the New Kingdom, with chapels by Amenhotep III and later additions by Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The Valley of the Kings: For nearly 500 years, from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasty, pharaohs and powerful nobles were buried in rock-cut tombs across the river. Roman and later Luxor: In the Roman era the temple and its surroundings became a legionary fortress. After the Muslim conquest, part of Luxor Temple was turned from a church into a mosque, today the Abu Haggag Mosque. World Heritage, 1979: Karnak was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List with the rest of ancient Thebes in 1979. New finds: In 1989 a cache of 26 New Kingdom statues was found buried at Luxor Temple. In February 2025 a joint Egyptian and British team announced the tomb of Thutmose II, the first royal tomb identified since Tutankhamun's in 1922. To learn more ashore: The Luxor Museum on the corniche, opened in 1975, displays the 1989 statue cache and the mummies of two pharaohs, Ahmose I and Ramesses I.

Luxor

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Luxor on Your Own

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