Sunday, November 21, 2010

KARNAK

EGYPT - FEBRUARY 2010

BACK TO THE OLD SANDS


"FIRST PYLON OF KARNAK - After an early morning flight from Cairo, we arrived to the Karnak Temple Complex before 8:00 a.m., sunrise time... However, some Japanese tourists were already there; no wonder, with the time difference they were seven hours later... ;) The first pylon started to be built in the fourth century BC, but was never finished"


"ENTERING - Located near Luxor, about 500km south of Cairo, Karnak is the largest ancient religious site in the world. Before entering the site, a large scale model depicts the place as it has probably been and a corridor of ram-headed sphinxes directs the visitor to the first pylon entrance... The figure of Pinedjem I, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1070 BC to 1032 BC (seen at the bottom left), is 10.5 metres tall"


"AVENUE OF SPHINXES"


"TAHARQA COLUMN - Taharqa was a Nubian pharaoh of Egypt of the Twenty-fifth dynasty, reigning from 690 BC to 664 BC"


"TEMPLES - The site consists of four main parts (Precinct of Amun-Re, Precinct of Mut, Precinct of Montu, and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV), of which only the largest, the Precinct of Amun-Re, is currently open to the public. Here we may see some of the smaller temples inside the Precinct of Amun-Re"


"GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL - The roof, now fallen, was supported by 134 columns in 16 rows; the 2 middle rows are higher than the others (10m in circumference and 24m high)"



"GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL - The decoration in raised relief and was mainly made during Seti I's reign; the sunken relief decoration of the southern side of the hall was completed by Ramesses II"


"COLUMNS"


PAINTINGS AND INSCRIPTIONS"


"OBELISKS - Of Thutmose I (21.2 m high and nearly 150 tons) and of Hatshepsut (29m high and 328 tons). Later kings, namely Thutmose III and his son Amenhotep II, made an attempt to remove Hatshepsut from certain historical records and blocked out the view of her obelisk, constructing walls around it"


"OBELISKS - Thutmose I and Hatshepsut. The attempt to eliminate Hatshepsut from records was carried out in the most literal way possible: her cartouches and images were chiselled off some stone walls, leaving very obvious Hatshepsut-shaped gaps in the artwork. Furthermore, Amenhotep II is suspected to having usurped many of Hatshepsut's accomplishments during his own reign"


"SCARAB AND SACRED LAKE - Three turns counter clockwise (CCW) and a wish... unless one is «not superstitious, because it brings bad luck...» ;)"


"TEMPLE OF RAMESSES II"


"GODS, PHARAOHS & OTHERS..."

61 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! After Cairo we flew, at those incredible hours people are used to travel in Egypt – 6:00 a.m. –, to Luxor. One hour flight and fifteen minutes drive later, we arrived to one of the most impressive sites in this trip: the Karnak Temple!! It’s magnificent, as you may see from the pictures and has now an added point of interest: this November archaeologists have unearthed twelve ancient sphinx statues found at a newly discovered part of the Avenue of Sphinxes, the ancient road stretching from the temple at Karnak to the temple of the goddess Mut at Luxor. Good reason to get back... ;)
Enjoy and have a great week ahead!!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wow! This is incredible! I'm amazed at how larger than life these structures truly are!

Thanks very much for showcasing them!

Cloudia said...

inscriptions so sharp!




Aloha from Waikiki

Comfort Spiral

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Marja said...

Wow that is fantastic I love the hyroglyphen They are so clear. A fascinating country.

Lakshmi said...

very fascinating country ..would love to go there sometime

SusuPetal said...

Karnak was a magical place. I stayed there for hours when I was in Egypt.

Mandy said...

Wow - it looks incredible!! It is so beautiful. I love that looking up, under some of the arches, you can still see the original colours and dyes. Stunning.

hpy said...

It must be a fascinating place. Even more so for those who know something about the anciens faraons.

joo said...

Impressive and beautiful!
I would love to visit it one day!
Greetings:)

Dina said...

Ahh, the grandeur of it all!
So you and Mrs. Globetrotter are the "others" in Gods, Pharaohs & Others? Especially in the last photos. :D

BLOGitse said...

amazing...
greetings from cold Helsinki... :)

BLOGitse said...

amazing...
greetings from cold Helsinki... :)

Nikon said...

Amazing place, Gil!
The Hipostyle Hall with all of those columns is very impressive...as are the inscriptions.

Bhushavali said...

Beautiful!!! Reminded of my art history classes!!! Lucky of you to have been there!!!!!
Office Outfit - 20
Trichy Temple Tour - Part 2

Urmi said...

Very beautiful and fascinating country is Egypt. You must have enjoyed very much seeing the marvellous pyramids

alicesg said...

Wow everything in here looked so huge and impressive.

J_on_tour said...

Such grand ancient buildings that you do justice to with the format and style of your photographs.

april said...

A phantastic place.
Greetings, April

lyliane six said...

c'est un merveilleux voyage que j'avais fait en 1992 avec ma petite maman.Malgré le temps qui passe j'ai beaucoup de mal à rester seule à la maison, aussi je suis toujours partie et ne fait plus le blog. Le 17 décembre nous partons en Inde, sans malheur.
bises à vous deux.

P.N. Subramanian said...

Your earlier post did not amuse me as this one. Really amazing. Thanks.

Dsole said...

Gil THE FIRST PHOTO IS AMAZING!!
i do love that early light, nice report amigo!

(I will not talk about the last spain-portugal football match...not today ;) )

Ron said...

Interesting post!

L. Neusiedler said...

amazing place! all that history could make one feel so small...

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

This can be of some interest to you :

The 2nd part of "The Great Journey" is now finished - Christian Leblanc dixit...
http://www.lesfilmsduscribe.com/RamsesII-TheGreatJourney/

A Lady's Life said...

Such a mystic place.
Such places always give me the willies.
I don't think I would have liked living in those times, especially not out there.It feels totally foreign. lol
Truly, much to see.:)

eye in the sky said...

What a magnificent place. This is a great set, trotter. My eyes are popping out from these images.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

It is so interesting to see hiow well preserved these structures are, even though so many htousands of years have passed! The raised relief on the walls and columns are so clear. I guess the arrid climate has much to do with that/ What a wonderful adventure this must have been!

Anonymous said...

This just boggles the mind Gil! I know it sounds so juvenile but the only thing I can think of to say is "WOW". :)

Rajesh said...

Wonderful architectural master pieces. Hard to imagine such huge structures how grand, did they look in those days when everything was in its place.

yyam said...

Just awesome pictures! Love those majestic structures! Thanks for sharing! :)

magiceye said...

awe inspiring!

Pietro Brosio said...

Hello Gil! Another fabulous virtual trip thanks to Blogtrotter! Enchanting views and collages, very nice the Avenue of Sphinxes, I find the light is so fascinating there! Great architecture and details!
Have a pleasant weekend :-)

Rune Eide said...

Almost "Where it all started" :-)

indicaspecies said...

Magnificent indeed! I love the shadow effect on your lovely lovely photographs.

Olivier said...

waouhh c'est majestueux et grandiose. Cela donne envie...

Gattina said...

We can compare our pictures I have more or less the same on my travel blog. But yours are better !

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello,

Lovely photos,amazing structures and excellent history lessons.

I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful post.

Best wishes,
Joseph

The Nomadic Pinoy said...

Oh, you did have a very early start! I took the train to Luxor though.

Those incredibly huge columns in Karnak are unforgettable.

Cergie said...

Hi Gil !
Tu sais que la France a ses alignements de pierre aussi. En Bretagne, à Carnac. Là aussi, j'ai vu qu'on protège pour que les visiteurs ne puissent marcher partout.
J'aime beaucoup surtout la grande photo qui dévoile un groupe de palmiers : la pierre et le végétal, superbe !

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Vraiment grandiose !

Paz said...

I love that these structures are still standing.

Indrani said...

Excellent collages, I love seeing the details you showed.

My Unfinished Life said...

truely amazing site!!!!

diane b said...

"The Others" show how big these statues are. It is a mighty temple and amazing how well preserved the drawings are considering how old this place is.

Trotter said...

Hi Folks! It’s getting so hard to have a comment here - even from some of the usual readers of this blog - that I must thank you deeply for your kindness to make your presence known at Blogtrotter Two! Much appreciated!!
Karnak Temple is absolutely magnificent: the columns are huge, the space is immense, the statues are colossal, the reliefs are awesome and the obelisks are gigantic!! Finally, to further enhance the massiveness of the site, the three kilometres avenue that led people from Karnak to Luxor – The Avenue of the Sphinxes – is being unearth and shows an outstanding and majestic demonstration of beauty! Absolutely stunning, as I sometimes use to say...
Thanks again, and enjoy your weekend!

Rakesh,
Larger than life is a perfectly adequate sentence to describe the immensity and the splendour of the site!!

Cloudia,
Aloha! The reliefs are truly amazing: how is it possible that they lasted for so long and in such a fabulous shape...

Marja,
I share that feeling of yours towards the hieroglyphs: always loved them since the chairs in primary school... ;)
I’m truly sorry for what happened at Greymouth!

Lakshmi,
With your frequency of travelling, I’m sure you’ll be getting to Egypt one of these days; rather sooner than later... ;)

Susu,
I can imagine you enjoying the marvels of Karnak: perfectly appropriate for a distinguished sensitive personality...

Emm,
It’s truly amazing to see those reliefs and paintings; it provides you with a pale idea of how fabulous the original building would have been...

Hélène,
Truly stunning! And you are right: the amount of History behind the scene is enormous... and rather complicated... ;)

Joo,
My dear, like most Poles, I’m sure you will be there one day... ;) But I’m afraid that most of your fellow citizens don’t go so often to the sands and temples, but rather to the sun and beaches... ;)). You’ll be the smart exception!!

Dina,
Indeed, «La grandeur de Karnak», as some well-known Frenchmen would say...
Don’t you think «others» is perfectly suitable for the circumstances? ;))

Blogitse,
It seems it’s getting quite cold in Helsinki these days! Are you still there or back to Casa? Did you manage to go south when you were in Cairo? Karnak and Luxor are outstanding...

Paul,
I tell you: it’s very hard to figure the hugeness of the columns from the photos; amazing feeling when you get there...

Trotter said...

Part Two:

Friend,
Welcome to this blog and thanks for your first comment here!! It had been a long time since you left us at the former Blogtrotter (One)...
I think that everybody who gets to go to Egypt has that weird and wonderful feeling of getting back to school...

Babli,
Thinking it retrospectively, I feel that this was one of the most extraordinary trips we have ever made... The pyramids are an incredible experience, but what we saw in Karnak, Luxor and the rest of the South was absolutely fabulous...

Alice,
It looks and it surely is huge and impressive!! In particular the columns of the Hypostyle Hall...

J on tour,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment at Blogtrotter Two!! It’s majestic, and that is all one can say of this fabulous temple!!

Ingrid,
No doubt, it is!!

Lyliane,
J’espère que ça ira mieux... Si tu viens un peu dans la blogosphère, peut-être ça aidera aussi un peu à passer le temps sans sentir la grande absence… Mais je suis sûr qu’après L’Inde tu auras la volonté de nous montrer les merveilles que tu iras voir là-bas… C’est incroyable!!

P.N.Subramanian,
If you are not amused with the pyramids and the Sphinx, it must be very hard to make you happy... ;) I’m glad that this post met your better standards...

Magdalena,
Great to have you here amiga!! The arrival to the site, early morning and still with a fairly empty place was an unforgettable experience!!
OK, forget that one and let’s hope that Mourinho, Cristiano and the rest will give lots of satisfaction in the future, in particular in the near future: Monday!!

Ron,
Thanks for your continuous support!!

Lara,
All that history weights as much as the stones you may see there... It’s an incredible feeling you experience...

G@tto,
No permission to see the video, but the trailer makes it interesting... I’ll try to find out more about it! Thanks!!

Trotter said...

Part Three:

Lady,
Well, if you happened to be Nefertari or Nefertiti (two different queens, don’t forget...), life in those times wouldn’t have been that bad, I think... ;)
The present day trip is an absolutely awesome journey, believe me...

Eye
For a traveller like you, Egypt will look like Heaven on Earth: there are so many magnificent sites...

Pat,
There was a great contribution to the maintenance of the sites: the fact that most of them were covered with sand for many centuries... advantages of being close to the desert... ;)). The reliefs are overwhelming and the hieroglyphs are truly remarkable...

Lynn,
Wow is perfect to describe the experience you have when you land in such a place: rather thrilling!!

Rajesh,
It must have been an incredible show, the display of the buildings when everything was on its place, as you say! In particular the colours one may still see in some of the remaining columns and in parts of the roof must have been gorgeous!!

Yvonne,
My pleasure to share it with you!! Nothing special compared with the creativity you share everyday with us... ;)

Magic,
Indeed!

Pietro,
Great to have you enjoying the virtual trips!! This one was special, though: the Avenue of the sphinxes is amazing... Now, imagine a large avenue, three kilometres long, decorated with sphinxes on each side, every twenty or twenty five metres, maybe less... That is fabulous, and they are recreating that in Luxor... Tremendous!

Rune,
Well, at least for us in the Mediterranean area and in the rest of Europe... if you forget what was happening at that time in China and India... ;)

Celine,
Have you been to this one when in Egypt? The shadow effect came out unnoticed... ;). Did you notice that some of the stones still have the mark of the floods of the Nile? Incredible how they resisted everything...

Olivier,
Tu as raison, comme toujours... sauf en ce qui concerne le «foot américain»… ;)) Beaucoup mieux la «nuit américaine»… ;)

Trotter said...

Part Four and final, for the time being:

Gattina,
So, you were there in 2007… It’s amazing to see the convoy from Hurghada... I realized that when leaving the site: as we arrived early morning, the parking lot was literally empty; when we left by noon, the parking was with plenty of busses... they came with the beach people... ;))

Joseph,
Thanks! To call it a history lesson is probably too much for the small hints that are given on the post... ;))

Nomadic Pinoy,
We didn’t have time to take the trip by train... So, the early start was guaranteed and the result was gorgeous!! We had the temple almost only for ourselves in the early morning, as we avoided going the same way the Japanese tourists were doing and reversed the circuit... ;)
It’s an awesome place, from any and every point of view...

Lucie,
Je suis passé par la Bretagne, mais pas comme il faudrait... un jour je dois y aller paisiblement... À Karnak, peut-être différemment de Carnac, il y a des gardes qui sont là théoriquement pour empêcher les touristes d’entrer dans certains coins, il semble… Le fait est que, comme tu peux remarquer dans la photo prise derrière les sphinges, ils t’invitent à visiter les zones «interdites» ou «artificiellement interdites» pour t’extorquer un pourboire après la photo… ;))

Daniel,
C’est ce que tu trouves là-bas: de la grandeur partout…

Paz,
All those buildings were flooded and/or covered with sand many times and for many years, so that is probably the reason why they managed to survive in such a good shape... ;))

Indrani,
Great to read you here after that Italian tour of yours!!
The details of the reliefs are absolutely stunning; at least I was most impressed!!

Star,
Fabulous! Comparable with some of the best I saw in India...

Diane,
It’s great to see that you’re back from another of your trips... The «others» are just a point in the pictures to show the proportion... ;))

elvira pajarola said...

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTATION and SUBLIME PHOTOS, Trotter.....!

I've been there too, but it's more than 15 years ago; i remember these places so well, certainly, your fabulous pic-combinatios and explanations are perfect!!!

So charming to see you and your lovely wife with you!!!

Have a great week!
ciao ciao elvira

Trotter said...

Elvira,
Fifteen years ago it's a long time, but the difference may lie only in the fact that some more «stones» have been unearthed... ;)

seema gupta said...

just wowww, magnificiant view of ancient history.

regards

trotter said...

Seema,
It's a fabulous site indeed...

Siddhartha Joshi said...

i can only feel so jealous...u r one lucky guy to have traveled so much!

Trotter said...

Siddhartha,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here!
Don't be jealous; it's such a nasty feeling... ;)

Siddhartha Joshi said...

i meant it in the most positive sense, wish i too could live a life traveling around the world. you are a lucky man...

Trotter said...

Siddhartha,
Come on, I was kidding... For some reason I added the ;)!
Thanks for the comment!

Gattina said...

Looks still the same like when I was there two years ago. Impressive !

Trotter said...

Gattina,
So you got back to the same post two weeks later... ;)

Joy said...

Those images left on the walls and columns are just brilliant! I wonder if Egypt today bear any resemblance to the grandeur of yester years.

Trotter said...

Joy,
It has nothing to do the old with the new... ;)

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