Dahshur Pyramids | Ankh | The pyramid field of Dahshur lies about 10 km south of Saqqara. The Pyramids here include the famed Bent and Red Pyramids built by the 4th Dynasty king Senefru (father of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid), As well as the “White Pyramid” of Amenemhat II, the pyramid of Senwosret II, and the “Black Pyramid,” built...
Valley of the Kings | Ankh | Nestled in the cliffs on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, the isolated Valley of the Kings is home to the tombs of the great pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1550 – 1070 BC). They are hidden within a wadi (or valley) formed over millennia by rainfall and water runoff. The first known pharaoh known for certin to have built a tomb within the...
Karnak Temple , located on the East Bank at Thebes Luxor, is one of Egypt’s largest surviving temple precincts. Founded in the Middle Kingdom, it had become Egypt’s principal religious center by the New Kingdom. Karnak was devoted primarily to the god Amun, a local Theban god joined with the sun god Re to become king of the Egyptian pantheon. Kings from the Middle...
Hatshepsut Temple | Deir El Bahari | Ankh | The site of Deir El Bahari is located on the western bank of the Nile almost directly opposite Karnak Temple in Luxor. Sacred to the goddess Hathor, this bay of cliffs was chosen by Mentuhotep II, the king who reunited Egypt after the chaos of the Second Intermediate Period, as the site of his mortuary temple and tomb. At...
The site of Edfu contains the most complete and best-preserved temple in Egypt, the Ptolemaic Temple of Horus, or Edfu Temple This was constructed between 237 BC and 57 BC on top of the remains of earlier temples. The reliefs that cover the walls, columns, and doorways of the temple constitute an extremely important source of information about ancient Egyptian...
Black Pyramid | Ankh | Though stripped of its limestone casing and somewhat eroded, The Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara or the Black Pyramid remains remarkable for its complex system of secret passages. Amenemhat III (1855-1808 BC) built both this pyramid and the Black Pyramid at Dahshur, and it is thought that he abandoned this one because of the rising water...