Luxor

The ancient Egyptians called it simply "Niout" the city. Homer gave the name "City of a hundred gates." Vivant Denon, who accompanied the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, wrote: "The city was a ghost as unfathomable to our imagination that Napoleon's army, the sight of scattered ruins, stopped short. In a spontaneous act, we got everyone to clap. "

Luxor, the Living City :

In the boom times of Memphis, Thebes was nothing. Nothing but a small village. Was Mentuhotep (Middle Kingdom, 2061-2010 BC), Theban king and architect of the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt, who made Thebes the capital of the Empire. Thebes dethroned and the South Memphis, eaten away by internal strife. The new capital had its heyday during the New Kingdom, adopting grandiose monuments. From the reign of Tutmés III (1484-1450 BC), who ruled Thebes extended its authority to the banks of the Euphrates to the north-east, east to the borders of Libya, west and south to Sudán.La right bank where modern day Luxor, was the city of the living, entirely dedicated to Amun, obscure local deity promoted to the rank of chief god rather than Ra. The priests of Amun accumulated such omnipotence is not nothing that had eluded them about power. Amenhotep IV (1372-1354 BC) found in the flesh, when he decided to leave Amon and the pantheon of gods for the monotheistic worship of Aten. After the death of Pharaoh, and once destroyed the city of Tell el-Amarna dedicated to the new cult of Amon servers were commissioned to restore the power of God ... and therefore the suyo.Más beyond their conquests and wars enemy towns-Hittites and Libyans, among others, successive pharaohs, regarded as divine incarnations and revered as such, trying to ensure his greatness and posterity. To do so, undertook to expand and beautify the two temples erected to the glory of Amun: The complex of Karnak and Luxor Temple modest ... but always looking, sometimes with excessive zeal, to forget the prestige of its predecessors.


Luxor, Egypt's tourism capital :

The decline of the civilization of the pharaohs and their subsequent disappearance seriously impacted on Luxor. The monuments, previously reserved for high officials and priests who served the Almighty God, loved and feared, now sheltering small brick houses, ordinary. Because only the high and thick walls of temples offering effective protection against bandits época.En the first centuries of the Christian era, followers of the new faith built their churches in the shrines of the Egyptians of the Pharaonic era , as the temples of Luxor and Karnak, where the crosses are still visible engraved on the stone. Luxor did not represent any interest to the Arab armies came to spread Islam. Muslim leaders founded in Cairo, and the magnificence of Islamic civilization develops hundreds of miles north of the old capital.


When Europeans rediscovered the Pharaonic civilization, whose first trophy came in the bags from the expeditions of Napoleon in the late eighteenth century, Luxor sleep yet. The drawings and watercolors from the time show it. The temples are covered with sand, herds of domestic animals walk among the columns of which only the capitals above-ground. But the Egyptian fashion and Orientalism take over Europe. The Description of Egypt, written by scholars who accompanied Napoleon's army is a clear example of this. Exhibitions of old books, jewelry, mummies, are common. And from mid-nineteenth century, Luxor is stated as a tourist destination, although at that time, of course, restricted to a handful of wealthy visitors.

Luxor possesses undeniable charm. Everywhere, whether in the halls and gardens of the palaces, or on the facade of a nineteenth century building with cantilevered balconies, a perfume obsolete fleet, the era of the English settlers and the Egyptian monarchs, the rich English ladies, the beys and pashas. At sunset, the Temple of Luxor, very close to the biggest and tourism in the souks, it seems isolated from the world of the living. Its columns, colossal statues, its arches, regain their calm, indifferent to the carts that pass by. Meanwhile, across the Nile, the town of Gurna, on the slope, was sweetly asleep under a star brighter than ever.

Mutation Town :

For almost half a century, the Egyptian authorities try to reserve the western bank of Luxor, and in particular the mountain of Gurna, exclusively for tourists. It is, say, to protect ancient sites, especially the tombs of the Valley of the Nobles, and providing decent living conditions for its inhabitants. Those in the flank of the mountain does not have access to drinking water because the pipes could ruin the tombs. That is why you'll notice the incessant comings and goings of donkeys laden with tanks of considerable size, down the mountain and climbing with difficulty the steep roads. There have already been several attempts at restructuring the site, one of which gave rise to the "New Gurna ', located between the Nile and the old Gurna and designed by Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. Another new village located north of the Theban acropolis, on the edge of the desert. Each time you repeat the same scenario: the traditional houses are surveyed and studied, as well as living conditions, needs and demands of families. Establishing plans for a new village at some distance from the old Gurna ... and a number of families refused to move. Because the houses are too small. Or because they believe that the compensation offered by the loss of its privileged location is inadequate. A new project of this type has been set up in 2006. Try to evacuate the inhabitants of the flank of the mountain (Valley of the Nobles and near the Temple of Hatshepsut), but also to those living in the agricultural part of the Theban necropolis, for example in the villages surrounding the temple of Medinet Habu .
Luxor is always surprising, given the recent evidence of this dramatic discovery, where the colossi of Memnon, statues of a fortnight, especially a giant statue (3.62 m) of the wife of Amenhotep III, Queen Tiya . Not forgetting the mummy of Tutankhamun Valley of the Kings, the only Egyptian mummy preserved in situ, which has been exposed in a Plexiglas display case, thereby providing the public eye for the first time the face of the boy Pharaoh.
Egyptian Tourist Authority