Luxor (الأقصر) | West bank
- Maximus Nostramabus
- May 25
- 16 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Ancient Egypt royal necropolis and monuments in an ancient capital - Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis 87
What and Why
Luxor (Arabic: الأقصر, Al-Quṣūr) stands as one of the most iconic and culturally rich sites in the world. The modern city morphed from the ruins of Thebes (Greek: Θῆβαι, Thē̂bai) or in Egyptian 'wꜣs.t' and was the capital of ancient Egypt (مصر, Miṣr) during parts of the Middle and New Kingdoms (2055 to 1070 BCE) and held deep cultural, religious and political significance. Its sprawling necropoli and sacred temples make it an unmatched treasure of ancient civilisation. Luxor is hence often called as the 'world's greatest open-air museum', with the Luxor Temple (معبد الأقصر, Maebad Al'Uqsar) and Karnak (الكرنك, Al-Kurnak) well known since the ancient times.
In ancient Egyptian custom, the west is often considered the synonymous with death and afterlife (see blog in Giza (الجيزة)) and hence the West Bank of the Nile became the sacred landscape of tombs, mortuary temples, and spiritual architecture. It was the burial ground for pharaohs (Egyptian: pr ꜥꜣ), queens, nobles, and priests. The monumental scale of construction reflected not only power but a profound desire for eternal life and divine favour. Many of these tombs contain huge amount of treasures and artefacts of the time that bear extreme cultural and archaeological values and thus the West Bank is often referred to as the world's richest archaeological site.
Toponymy
The city name Luxor derives from its Arabic form as 'الأقصر', meaning 'castles', which is named after the Luxor temple, to be blogged in Luxor (الأقصر) | East bank.
The old name of the area Thebes is claimed to be latinised from the city name 'Θῆβαι' in Ancient Greek, which in turn was hellenised form of Demotic Egyptian 'tꜣ jpt' meaning 'temple', referring to the temple of Karnak.
The Egyptian name for the area was 'Wꜣs.t' meaning the 'city of the wꜣs'. Wꜣs is the sceptre of the pharaoh.
There were many other names that were given to Luxor during its long history, as the place had changed hands many times.
See
As the title suggests, we shall focus on the West Bank in this blog. We go from North to South according to our tour route.
Valley of the Kings (وادى الملوك)
The Valley of the Kings (وادى الملوك, Wadi Al-Muluk, KV) was the rock-hewn necropolis of the New Kingdom pharaohs, with each tombs located as in the map above. There are currently 65 tombs and chambers in the areas, ranging from some very simple pit to an elaborate maze of chambers. In spite of its name, the necropolis also housed nobles, viziers and queens of the period.
KV was conceptualised after the Middle Kingdom period when it was realised (finally) that the constructions of pyramids in Giza (الجيزة, Al-Jīzah) were wastage of national resources. Most of the previous pyramids had been looted and the idea was to house future tombs in a remote and secret area to reduce access and robberies. They decided to build elaborate tombs of much smaller construction scale instead of the pyramids at the beginning of the New Kingdom. The first non-pyramid tomb documented was built for Ahmose I (Egyptian: Jˁḥ ms) of the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, with an intention to reflect his newfound power and dynasty, although its location has not been discovered.
The site of KV was chosen because of its remoteness and dry climate. It was anecdoted, that another reason for its selection was because it was dominated by a dramatic pyramid-shaped peak Al-Qurn (القرن), literally meaning 'the horn'. The peak is associated with some kind of divine protection so that their soul (Egyptian: ka) was preserved, ensuring eternal life. Hence it seemed that these kings were still 'buried under a pyramid' and reflected that their respective status was the same as their Old Kingdom predecessors. The official name of the site was called 'The Great and Majestic Necropolis of the Millions of Years of the Pharaoh, Life, Strength, Health in The West of Thebes (Egyptian: Pa-cher-aa-schepes-en-heh-en-renpetju-en-pera'a-anch-wedja-seneb-her-imentet-en-waset)'.
The first royal tomb in KV were attributed to that of Amenhotep I (Egyptian: Jmn ḥtp) located in KV39, although this cannot be confirmed.
Despite this effort, almost alll of the burial chambers were raided and their artefacts stolen. On the other hand the structures themselves remain intact and their stunningly ornate chambers and corridors were well preserved because of the climate, making the site an archaeological treasure.
Not all tombs are open everyday. Each day only a selected number of tombs are open and with a ticket one can visit any three tombs. Since the tombs KV9 Ramesses VI (Egyptian: Rˁ msj sw, né Ramesses Nebmaatre-Meryamun (Egyptian: Rˁ msj sw Jmn ḥr ḫpš=f nṯr ḥq3 Jwnw)) and KV62 Tutankhamun (Egyptian: Twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn, né Tutankhaten (Egyptian: Twt ˁnḫ Jtn)) are ever so popular, they are always open, but with a separate ticket. The guards punch the ticket manually to mark your three tombs, and many a times they miss the punch on your ticket. As a result in both visits I had visited more than the number of tombs I was allowed to. For most of the tombs, at least those I have visited, the structure of each tomb, especially the gallery and corridor, symbolically represent the soul’s journey into the underworld and rebirth. The gallery or corridor has mystical, colourful and vivid decorations, with hieroglyphic scriptures designed to aid the deceased in navigating the underworld.
The tombs are numbered at first based on their location and subsequently chronologically according to the time of discovery and excavation. An extremely detailed description of all the tombs is available at the Theban Mapping Project.
Here are those which I have visited:
Internet hoax regarding the resemblance of KV2 and back view of Nefertiti (from internet)
KV2 belongs to Ramesses IV (né Usermaatre Heqamaatre Setepenamun Ramesses (Egyptian: Rˁ msj sw ḥq3 m3ˁt mrj Jmn)) and to me there is nothing irregular about this fairly basic tomb, other than that the pink granite sarcophagus is present and covered with magical texts. Since this tomb was discovered since antiquity, there are also lots of graffiti around. I did explore this tomb on purpose based on an expectation: I read from the internet that the corridor resembles that of the back of Nefertiti (Egyptian: Nfr.t jy.tj, né Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti (Egyptian: Nfr nfrw itn Nfr.t jy.tj)), as picture above. I do want to debunk this nonsense and this is just another internet hoax. Nefertiti preceded Ramesses IV by almost 200 years and they were hardly related, nor did Ramesses IV show any documented admiration to Nefertiti. The corridor shows absolutely no resemblance to anything like the picture and was simply doctored for hit rates.
Technically I did not visit KV5 as it is not open for public, but this is definitely one of the most famous. Hence I walked under the scorching sun just to take a photograph of its entrance. KV5 was discovered since antiquity and was considered uninteresting. As a matter of fact, the famed archaeologist Howard Carter, who discovered KV62, used this area as his dumping ground for his excavation. In 1994 to 1995 CE of the Theban Mapping Project, the lead archaeologist Kent Weeks was examining KV5 and began clearing the tomb with the intention to map it and see if it would be damaged by proposed building works nearby, he made the explosive discovery that this was a burial site with more than 130 networked chambers connected centrally by a huge pillared hall, housing Ramesses II (né Ramesses Meri Amun (Egyptian: Rˁ msj sw mrj Jmn)) children, more than 150 of them. This tomb is the largest of all in KV and the discovery made Weeks an almost overnight sensation.
No treasures were found but thousands of important artefacts like statuettes and potteries were recovered, including a large statue of Osiris (Egyptian: Wsjr), god of the afterlife.
This typical tomb, built for Ramesses IX (né Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses (Egyptian: Rˁ msj sw ḫˁj m W3s.t mrr Jmn)), begins with a steep slope decorated with colourful scripts about Ra (Egyptian: Rꜥ), the sun deity. Then it leads to a pillared room before the main burial chamber. The room has an impressive astronomical ceiling featuring the sky goddess Nut (Egyptian: Nwt), surrounded by sacred stars. The far wall depicts Ramesses IX on his barque, surrounded by a host of gods. The sarcophagus was removed and the chamber only sees a pit However Ramesses IX's mummy was one of those found in nearby Deir Al-Bahari (الدير البحري, Al-Dayr Al-Baḥrī).
One of the most impressive and beautiful tombs of KV is definitely KV11, built for Ramesses III (né Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses (Egyptian: Rˁ msj sw ḥq3 Jwnw)), and it is also one of the longest, more than 180 m deep.
Along the corridors are full funerary texts of Ra describing the full journey to afterlife and underworld.
One interest feature of this tomb is that it turns somewhere in the middle and follows another axis. It turns out that this tomb was originally dug for Setnakhte (Egyptian: Sth nḫt, né Userkhaure-setepenre Setnakhte (Egyptian: Sth nḫt mrr Jmn Rˁ)), but the construction was abandoned when it unintentionally broke into the KV10, tomb of Amenmesse (Egyptian: Jmn msj, né Amenmesse Heqa-Waset (Egyptian: Jmn msj swḥq3 W3st)). Setnakhte was later buried in KV14. KV11 was later restarted and extended much deeper along a different axis for Ramesses III.
The tomb is extremely well and beautifully preserved and there are multiple side chambers with graphics about the afterlife journey plus everyday ancient Egyptian life, as below. It is noted that it is unusual for a royal tomb to include scenes about regular Egyptian life.
The mummy of Ramesses III is on display in the burial chamber during our visit. The video shows our descent into the burial chamber to view the mummy.
The tomb of Seti I (Egyptian: Stẖj, né Seti Merenptah (Egyptian: Stẖj mr.j n Ptḥ)), father of the great Ramesses II, is one of the longest and most elaborately decorated tombs. The tomb length itself is 137 m with another 174 m cul-de-sac tunnel at the end of the tomb. This end-tunnel leads to nothing.
Perhaps due to its earlier construction period, the tomb is not properly straightly-aligned but wiggles at an angle. The murals and reliefs show full funerary texts, illustrations of Seti before Ra and astronomical scenes, with gold stars on a deep blue sky.
The most famous of all tombs in KV is definitely KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun. The tomb, though looted a few times were largely intact and almost sealed until it was rediscovered in 1922 CE by Carter. This remains the last discovered tomb until today.
The tomb is actually one of the smallest in KV and is suggested that it was actually planned for his trusted vizier Ay (né Itnetjerai (Egyptian: Jt nṯr Jy)), as it resembles other noble tombs. The tomb is also peculiar in the sense it is cut into the limestone bedrock in the valley floor, and runs beneath a nearby low foothill. It has been suggested that Tutankhamun commissioned his own royal tomb commissioned a full-size royal tomb in the KV, probably KV54 or KV58, where some artefacts bearing Tutankhamun's name was later found. However since Tutankhamun died prematurely at the age of 19 so his funeral was probably conducted in a haste with an existing tomb.
Tutankhamun was not particularly revered as a great pharaoh as his reign was very short and he was very young. His main contribution was to restore the traditional polytheistic Egyptian religion, especially Amun-Re (Egyptian: Jmn Rꜥ), undoing a previous shift to the religion known as Atenism, which his father Akhenaten (Egyptian: ꜣḫ-n-jtn, né Amenhotep-Netscher-heqa-Waset (Egyptian: Jmn ḥtp nṯr hq3 W3st)) initiated. However he was eternally revered due to the discovery of his tomb.
One of the most important murals in the tomb is the so-called 'Opening of the Mouth (Egyptian: Wpt-rʒ)' which is an actual funerary ritual performed on the corpse. The concept was akin to opening the dead body's senses so that the deceased can navigate in the underworld. The opening of the mouth ceremony was believed to grant their spirits access to these senses after death. In this important mural, Tutankhamun's vizier Ay was portrayed performing the ritual on Tutankhamun's corpse.
Though it had evidences that the tomb had been broken into before, the tomb when discovered was largely intact and the amount of artefacts and treasures exceeded all expectation. Though some of the artefacts were damaged by the high moisture of this tomb, some of the other artefacts, especially Tutankhamun's sarcophagus, coffin, mummy and famous face-mask, which are all now kept in the new Grand Egyptian Museum (المتحف المصرى الكبير, Al-Matḥaf Al-Maṣriyy Al-Kabīr), were so well preserved that they provide unprecedented insights into the burial and royal life during the New Kingdom. Most importantly the main seal of the tomb was still unbroken, as shown below. Most importantly the main seal of the tomb was still unbroken for more than 3,000 years, as shown below.
This discovery immediately became an international media sensation and made Tutankhamun the famous pharaoh, probably the most recognisable in modern times, in spite of his meagre achievement. This tomb had literally brought him eternity. The frenzy and mystery increased when one of the patrons of the dig, George Herbert died a year after involving in the excavation, inspiring rumours that he fell foul of the tomb's pharaoh curse.
Hatshepsut Temple (معبد حتشبسوت)
Before I detail the Hatshepsut Temple (معبد حتشبسوت, Maebad Hatshepsut), it would be useful to share her history before understanding why such a majestic building was constructed for her, especially for a female. Hatshespsut (Egyptian: Ḥ3.t-šps.wt) was the daughter of King Thutmose I (Egyptian: Ḏḥwtj msj(w)) and wife of Thutmose II, her half-brother. who succeeded Thutmose I to the throne. However Thutmose II died prematurely at the age of 23 and her step-son-cum-nephew Thutmose III inherited the pharaohship at the age of two. Hatshepsut assumed co-regency at first to assist Thutmose III, but later scholars agreed that she launched a coup and assumed sole full power, and became de facto pharoah, literally banished Thutmose III. She even backdated her pharaohship regnal count and retrospectively recorded herself as direct succession to Thutmose II. In order to establish herself in the patriarchal Egyptian royalty, she took on a physically masculine appearance and wore traditionally male garb and referred herself as a female king, rather than a queen. While she took power via a coup, her reign did coincide with great prosperity and peace for Egypt. She ruled for 22 years until her death and Thutmose III re-assumed his full pharaohship, and in return erase her from official Egyptian records out of resentment. Her statues were destroyed and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs on record.
A person of such ego and ambition would definitely adorn herself with an extraordinary monuments. The Hatshepsut Temple was literally constructed as a series of imposing and majestic terraces and ramps, against the Al-Qurn massif. The temple, while badly damaged by Ramesses II was turned into a monastery and hence the location Deir Al-Bahari literally means 'Northern monastery' in Arabic.
As above the temple is to hyperbole Hatshepsut herself, even more so than other pharaohs. Her statues were constructed all over the place, albeit most of them destroyed later, in the form Osiris. Her statues characterisitically show a masculine form with a beard. In one of the murals, she was portrayed as having borne under divinity, all these were way to legitimise her claim as pharaoh.
The Hatshepsut Temple and the Temple of Karnak are constructed to align to each other, specifically with the temple's axis positioned to align with the eighth pylon at Karnak, which was added by Hatshepsut. The alignment occurred on 9th December every year, which is the day to receive the barque of Amun-Re at the climax of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley (Egyptian: Hb Nfr n Jnt). The north-south axis represented the life cycle of the pharaoh from coronation to rebirth.
There are two shrines within the complex dedicated to the deities Hathor (Egyptian: Ḥwt-ḥr), symbolising motherhood and Anubis (Egyptian: Jnpw), representing afterlife.
Tombs of the Nobles (قبر النبلاء)
Extending over a large area near KV stands the Tombs of the Nobles (قبر النبلاء), which is another necropolis of 415 tombs for nobles and high non-royal officials. The tombs here are painted and have much fewer reliefs, apparently because the stones in the area are of lower quality.
Ramesseum (معبد الرامسيوم)
Ever the signature of unlimited ego, Ramesseum (معبد الرامسيوم, Maebad Al-Ramesseum) was of course another massive temple built by Ramesses II to self-glorify and establish a statement of his eternal greatness. Although now partially in ruins, the Ramesseum, built during the 13th century BCE, remains a symbol of Ramesses II’s grandeur, divine kingship, and lasting legacy. As such, similar to Hatshepsut a lot of his statues were in the form of Osiris.
The huge complex is now largely in ruins. One popular site within the omplex is the shattered head of a sitting Ramesses II statue. The name 'Ramesseum' was actually coined by Jean-François Champollion, the famous French philologist who deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Valley of the Queens (وادى الملكات)
The Valley of the Queens (وادى الملكات, Wādī al-Malekāt, QV) lies of the southwest of the KV and holds the tombs of the queens, their children and sometimes senior officials, starting from the mid-18th century BCE. Altogether 98 tombs were discovered in QV. Amongst them the most famous is definitely the QV66 tomb of Nefertari (Nfrt jrj, née Nefertari Meritenmut (Egyptian: Nfrt jrj mrjt n Mwt)), wife of Ramesses II. The tomb is often regarded as one of the most beautiful tombs in ancient Egypt due to its extensive amount of murals. Nefertari was deeply involved in religious ceremonies, especially those related to the goddess Hathor and Isis (Egyptian: Ꜣūsat), and often depicted in temple reliefs; while Nefetari was presented in very gracious appearance. The murals of the QV66 are celebrated for its vivid colours and detailed religious symbolism and are widely considered a masterpiece in tomb art.
The problem about this tomb is that it is extremely pricey to enter. The extra entrance fee alone is EGP E£3500, and you can only visit for 15 minutes, citing preservation as a reason! No photographs or videos of any kind allowed inside the tomb. As a result, the entrance photograph is the only thing we decided to do. After all I had visited her temple in Abu Simbel (أبو سمبل) anyway.
Medinat Habu (مدينة هابو)
Medinat Habu (مدينة هابو) houses the massive and beautiful mortuary temple of Ramesses III, which is second only to Karnak in size and details. However the temple is one of the less-visited sites in Luxor as there are simply too many to visit. The temple is modelled after the Ramesseum, and for the usual pharaoh-ego reason, it had to be larger than his father's temple.
Built during the 12th century BCE, the temple functioned as a ceremonial centre for the worship of the deified king and as a physical symbol of his power.
The outer walls and gates are uniquely fortified, giving the temple a fortress-like appearance, possibly due to large number of political or military campaigns.
In fact, Ramesses III's many military campaigns are recorded in details on the temple walls. One of the most famous of these campaigns is the war with the sea peoples (Egyptian: n3 ḫ3s.wt n<.t> p3 ym). Historians cannot ascertain who were these people or where exactly were they from. We did not spend too much time there.
Colossi of Memnon (تمثالا ممنون)
The Colossi of Memnon (تمثالا ممنون, timthalan Memnon) are really a case of mistaken identity. The two isolated statues are Amenhotep III (Egyptian: Jmn-ḥtp(.w), né Amenhotep heqa Waset, (Egyptian: Jmn ḥtp ḥq3 W3st) who are supposed to sit in front of the presently his own ruined temple. In fact this temple was the largest in Luxor but was totally destroyed by an earthquake during the 12th century BCE. The two statues had attracted visitors since antiquity and around the two colossi there were large number of Greek and Latin inscriptions (or grafffiti?), many of which inferring the statue as the mythological king Memnon (Greek: Μέμνων), literally meaning 'resolute'. There are historical records that the two colossi, especially the northern ones, made various tunes in history, during specific seasons. As a result this had attracted many visitors including Roman emperors to listen to these tunes. However there had been no modern records of such sounds.
Buy and Do
Alabaster (مرمر)
The souvenirs to buy in the region are definitely alabaster (مرمر, murmur) products. Alabaster is a general term to describe soft rocks of calcite. There are generally two types of alabaster: gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O), which is white chalky in nature; and calcite (CaCO3), which is more crystalline and translucent. The word alabaster derives from its Greek word 'ἀλάβαστρος (alábastros)', which arrives from the fact that the Greek found that Egyptians produced a lot of vessels or sculptures for the goddess Bastet (Egyptian: Bꜣstt).
You cannot run away from alabaster shops or workshops in Luxor, as most guides will take you there to earn a commission. Artisans in Luxor still use very primitive methods: hand-chiselling, sandstone-polishing and hollowing vessels using palm drills.
We bought a replica of the Rosetta Stone (حجر رشيد, Ḥaǧar Rašīd). As usual start hagging from at least 50% of the originally quoted price.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
Due to large number of sites and the distances involved, it is high recommended to get a proper guide to assist with the itinerary planning. Moreover it is highly unlikely that one can visit everything in one day even cursorily, especially between the two banks. Hence an itinerary of at least two to three days is suggested in Luxor, especially the place is very hot. Bring plenty of water.
The ticket to KV is E£770 but Tutankhamun's tomb extra ticket is E£700. The rest of the sites are all included in an inclusive ticket of E£70. Having said it is best to get an official guide to take care of the chores of hagging and transportation.
It is highly likely one arrives at Luxor from a Nile cruise, as described in Aswan (أسوان), either leaving or arriving at Luxor, and that was how we came. Luxor is well served by an international airport at the East bank which is very close to the city centre.
UNESCO Inscriptions
Thebes, the city of the god Amon, was the capital of Egypt during the period of the Middle and New Kingdoms. With the temples and palaces at Karnak and Luxor, and the necropolises of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, Thebes is a striking testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height.
References
Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-in-depth travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
Comments