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Yesterday we were taken by horse and carriage to The Temple of Horus at Edfu. This form of transport is a great way to travel as long as your driver doesn’t think he’s employed by the Pony Express to deliver the US mail in record time.

Our driver seemed to feel that he would please us more by taking the journey at a gallop whenever the traffic would allow. But we reached the temple in one piece and on our return journey he gave us the sedate carriage ride we really wanted.

Our Egyptologist explained the history of seemingly the best preserved temple in Egypt and explained the reason was because for hundreds and hundreds of years it was covered in sand which helped preserve the exterior and interior as perfectly as it is.

He also hit the spot with me when he explained that this was the temple that celebrated the 21 day “Festival of Drunkeness” ( and I would suggest “silly dancing”). Sounds just the place for me!

A nice part of the Nile cruises that Barbara and I have enjoyed previously have been our table companions. This cruise has been no different and we have shared our 8 person table with 3 other interesting and lovely couples. From Helensborough in Scotland there is Patti and Roy who are enjoying their honeymoon on board ship. From Bath there is Linda and John and from Harrogate there is Melissa and Chris. All of them have travelled extensively throughout the world but all of them always harboured a desire to visit Egypt and cruise the Nile. They have all said that both the Royal Viking and the excursions have more than lived up to their expectations. Chris and Melissa are off to Cairo tomorrow for 3 nights and then travel on to El Gouna on the Red Sea for a further 4 nights. The rest of us fly home tomorrow.

We have had some really fun evenings together sitting out on the sundeck under the stars in the warm night air just talking, laughing and swapping stories about our travels and the mishaps that life throws at you.

I’m writing this on Sunday, again up on the sundeck, enjoying a cappuccino in the warm air of Luxor. Later we are going to visit some of the hotels in Luxor that we sell in order to get a better knowledge and feel for each property.

Tomorrow we sadly have to leave Egypt and fly home and on Tuesday re-open the Nile-Cruises-4u offices and get back to normal. In the meantime it’s another coffee for me and a last few hours of relaxation aboard the excellent Royal Viking.

I’m writing thus as I’m driving back from Abu Simbel across the desert. Each time we have cruised the Nile we put off visiting Abu Simbel for a variety of reasons. On this visit we were determined to go there and we were not disappointed.

Although it was an early start (4am!!) it didn’t seem so bad when the journey was underway. The drive is about 3 hours by air-conditioned coach across the desert from Aswan to Abu Simbel, about 160 miles. We could have flown but we quite fancied driving across the desert. We took our pillows from the hotel and a breakfast box that they provided and we were off. The cost by coach by the way was £85 each. I know it sounds a lot of money but it is in fact very good value and well worth it.

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Barbara and Colin at Tutankhamun's Tomb, the Valley Of The KingsChannel Five are repeating the excellent 4 part series, “Tutankhamun: The Mystery Revealed” tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd March.  If you havent’ already seen it I can certainly recommend it.  Especially if you are thinking of taking a Nile cruise in the near future.

Here’s more about the series itself as described by Jonathan Yeomans on the excellent www.heritage-key.com website:

“Fronted by Dr Zahi Hawass, the series sees a team of researchers apply new forensic techniques to the study of Tutankhamun’s remains. For the first time ever, archaeologists employed DNA testing on the pharaoh’s mummy and on his family.

Tutankhamun: The Mystery Revealed

Originally shown on the Discovery Channel under the title King Tut Unwrapped, the series capitalises on a whole string of unanswered questions that continue to cloud our understanding of this most famous of pharaohs.

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Just in case you havent’ spotted this:
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Tonight BBC4 are broadcasting what looks like a fascinating programme for anyone who’s interested in Ancient Egypt.Â
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Entitled “The Pharaoh Who Conquered The Sea“, here is the programme’s description:
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Hatshepsut
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“Hatshepsut was the first female pharaoh. During her reign 3500 years ago, she supposedly dispatched five huge ships across the Red Sea to other countries, as depicted in a vast relief at Luxor.  Some, however, believe this is a mere myth.
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To test whether it would have been feasible, a team of archaeologists attempts to reconstruct the voyage, building replica vessels using only period technology.  It’s part insight into the enigma of a very early feminist icon, part watching people build a giant model kit”.
 
Feb 21 2011

The Pharaoh’s…

Posted by admin in Ancient Egypt Tags:

Ramesses III was reading a fascinating article in the Guardian on Saturday about The Pharaohs which explained that the word “pharaoh” is derived from the Greek word for “great house”.  The word originally described the royal court or state but it is now used to describe the ancient Egyptian kings.

It also went on to explain that the pharaohs were not all one continuous family any more than British kings and queens are all one continuous family.

The most famous Egyptian dynasty was the 19th which was established by Paramessu, who ruled as Ramesses I.  But Paramessu was not of royal blood – he was a high priest and a soldier appointed pharaoh by his predecessor, Horemheb, who was also a soldier and had no heir.  His reign lasted for barely a year before he died and was succeeded by his son, Sety I, in turn succeeded by Ramesses II, known also as “Ramesses the Great“, the so-called “Greatest Pharaoh of All“.

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