Egypt Attractions

Venue: Egypt    When: Daily

The river Nile snakes its way through some of the most precious archaeological territory on earth and with Whatsonwhen's guide to Egypt's ancient wonders, you won't miss a single sight along its banks.

As you drift down the Nile into Egypt from neighbouring Sudan, the first sight you'll set your eyes upon is the amazing temple of Abu Simbel, built by Ramses II as a monument to his divinely elevated self. Twice a year, during the annual Abu Simbel Festival, the rays of the sun shine down the entire length of the temple, illuminating three of the four statues at the back. Truly an incredible sight (and no doubt the inspiration for countless Hollywood films: remember Raiders of the Lost Ark?).

Leaving Abu Simbel behind, 280 kilometres further north you'll eventually reach the shores of the Aswan dam, and the beautiful city of Aswan, or ancient Syene. Take some time out here to browse at your own pace and admire the many beautiful ruins and sites, including an enormous 137 foot unfinished obelisk in the local quarry, and the magnificent Temple of Isis, located on an island in the lake.

Continue about 50 kilometres north of Aswan and you'll find the temple complex of Kom Ombo on your right-hand side, lying on the east bank of the river. This beautiful ancient structure, dedicated to the gods Sebek and Horus, used to be the haunt of crocodiles who sunned themselves on an island mid-river. The only crocodiles you'll find now are the mummified ones on display in the temple.

Before you get to Luxor, you'll have another amazingly well-preserved temple of Horus on the west bank, the Ptolemaic Temple of Horus at Edfu. If you feel like it, stop over here and browse the market outside the temple for souvenirs, or wander around inside the temple admiring the extensive hieroglyphics that cover the walls, inside and out.

Leaving Edfu behind, you'll soon come to stunning Luxor, with the temple complex of Karnak and the vast and incredibly ancient Valley of the Kings, the crypt city of the pharaohs where Lord Carnarvon uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamon. It is difficult to do justice to the sheer scope, magnificence and antiquity of these ruins, and the sense of awe that strikes you as you wander around them. Suffice to say that if (for some reason) you're only going to see one archaelogical site in Egypt, you can't go wrong with this one.

Following the Nile downriver towards the Mediterranean, you'll pass the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, where thousands of birds nest in the cracks in the wall and the walls are decorated with hieroglyphics and art dedicated to the Egyptian goddess of love (sadly, moralising Victorian explorers destroyed most of the decorations, as they were found to be pagan and obscene).

Further downriver, you reach a port where you can disembark and travel overland to the ancient and spectacular temple of Abydos. In ancient times, this was the main site of the cult of Osiris, god of the dead and a probable precursor of Jesus. The festival of Osiris, the 'Justified One', resurrected from the dead after his murder at the hands of his brother, was a passion play to rival the most spectacular Easter week celebrations we have today.

For sheer architectural scope and impressiveness, it is difficult to match our next choice, the Step Pyramid which was the mortuary complex of King Zozer, or Djoser, at Saqqara (Zaqqara), built during the third dynasty (2780-2680 BC) by the royal advisor Imhotep. It stretches the imagination to imagine such vast, towering structures constructed almost 3,000 years before the birth of Christ but here they are!

The final trek of the journey takes us to mysterious, teeming Cairo and the amazing pyramids at the Giza site, where we end our brief sojourn, under the watchful eyes of the Sphinx.