Master of All The Lands

Journal: Tuesday 3 October 2000
Since the first time I visited Luxor I have had a special affinity with the Temple of Rameses III at Medinet Habu. Usually one of my first ports of call when I’m here, it is my favourite temple in the whole of Egypt and I’ve seen quite a few. Yesterday I [...]

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A Day at the Monuments

Journal: Monday 2 October 2000
Feeling well-rested (after another night with my nice new soft pillow) I woke early this morning and looked out of my bedroom window over the green cultivated fields of the West Bank, towards the river. It was a beautiful morning, still cool and with clear skies of the sort of palest [...]

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Morning in the King’s Valley

Journal: Sunday 1 October 2000
Luck was with us this morning when we left our apartment and immediately an empty service taxi stopped to ask if we wanted to go somewhere. We had planned to visit the Valley of the Kings, but hadn’t decided how to get there as ordinary arabeyas don’t travel that route, so [...]

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Saqqara…. Eventually

Journal: Tuesday 26 September 2000
Early this morning Jenny and I were waiting outside the hotel for the taxi that we had arranged for a trip to Saqqara. We had asked the driver if he could take us first to Abbassiya so that I could get my antiquities pass and then on to Saqqara afterwards. Yesterday [...]

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Chapels of the God’s Wives

Journal: Sunday 19 March 2000
This is our last day in Luxor and at breakfast this morning we couldn’t decide how to spend the day. We’ve had quite a busy couple of weeks, but the last few days with both of us having colds, have been tiring. Eventually we opted to take a felucca trip this [...]

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Excavations in the King’s Valley

Journal: Saturday 18 March 2000
Yesterday on the West Bank I saw my friend Nubi, who has been working in Giza for Dr Mark Lehner. He has returned home, like many other Luxor-born people, to celebrate the feast of Eid el-Adha with his family at Kom Lolla. Nubi, who often works in the Valley of the [...]

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Peshedu in the Workmen’s Village

Journal: Friday 17 March 2000
It is the second day of the feast and seems to be just as busy in Luxor today as it was yesterday, so to escape the crowds, Jenny and I went over to the West Bank. Near the ticket office, as we were trying to make our minds up about where [...]

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The Battles of Rameses III

Journal: Wednesday 15 March 2000
Jenny and I both woke up this morning feeling wretched. Jenny has had a sore throat for a few days which has developed into tonsillitis and I seem to be in sympathy with her and have a streaming cold as well as a sore throat. Not wanting to waste the [...]

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The Road to Thoth Hill

Journal: Sunday 12 March 2000
I swore I’d never ride a donkey again! But somehow today I found myself once more astride one of these overstuffed sofas bouncing through the fields of the West Bank on the way to the King’s Valley road. It was no fault of the poor donkey - Jenny had arranged the [...]

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The Hill of the Emblem

Journal: Saturday 11 March 2000
The road to Dendera from Luxor follows the East Bank of the Nile northwards towards Qena. There are several small villages along the route, but as we were travelling today with the police convoy there was little time to admire the scenery. We left Luxor at 8.00am sharp with several other [...]

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The Hand of God

Journal: Wednesday 8 March 2000
Today Jenny and I were up early because we wanted to get to Karnak before the crowds, but by 8.00am the temple was already busy when we arrived. I had recently become very interested in the religious role of ‘God’s Wife of Amun’ so I set off for the northern part [...]

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Divine Birth

Journal: Tuesday 7 March 2000
This morning dawned clear and warm, like a glorious summer’s day in England. Perfect! I was woken early by the call of the muezzin ’s prayer to discover that a mosque is right next door with a loudspeaker on the minaret pointing straight at our window. While some might find this [...]

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Festivals of Min and Sokar

Journal: Tuesday 26 October 1999
On our last full day in Egypt, we again returned to my favourite temple, the mortuary temple of Rameses III at Medinet Habu on the West Bank. We made the familiar journey over the river on the tireless workhorse that is the passenger ferry, with its battered decks strewn with any [...]

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Opet at Luxor Temple

Journal: Sunday 24 October 1999
Yesterday Jenny and I spent the day with friends. We took a bus to el-Arabet and visited my friend David in his house there, spending a lovely morning with him drinking his coffee while he read us some of his fabulous short stories about life in an Egyptian village. Later back [...]

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Aswan by Bus

Journal: Friday 22 October 1999
The 7.00am bus to Aswan was a big mistake. Jenny and I had shunned the air-conditioned ‘Superjet’ as being too touristy and instead, bought tickets on the less expensive but slower ‘Kul‘, or local bus. The tickets cost us LE6 (60p) return for a journey lasting about three hours. Taking our [...]

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