To me the beauty of the temple is the manner in which it emerges out of the surrounding cliffs. Originally it was surrounded by plants and fountains and a causeway of sphinxes leading up to the terraced structure. Not much remains today of the surroundings but each of the terraces has been beautifully restored. The chapels of Hathor and Anubis on the left and right, followed by the temple dedicated to Amun, the sun god on the third terrace. The second terrace has the colossal statues of the queen herself in all the pharonic paraphernalia. 
Another beautiful element is the paintings representing the trade expedition undertaken during her reign to Punt (Somalia). It clearly shows the difference in vegetation, the items traded as well as a couple of jokes at the expense of the over-weight Punt chief’s wife. Much of what Hatshepsut created was defaced by her successor Tuthmosis III – kahani ghar ghar ki – you’d think she was his mother-in-law!Skipped the Ramasseum, didn’t skip a work-shop where I slipped and bought a Nefertiti and then on to the Colossi of Memnon. The Colossi had stood guard over the funerary temple of Amenhotep II but a fatal design error led to the temple being placed in the Nile flood plains. Inundations and subsequent erosion has ensured that nothing remains. We only have mind-boggling descriptions of it from historians like Herodutus.
The Colossi however have an interesting story to tell. It seems during the time of the Greeks, due to structural damage caused by the notorious earthquake, one of the Colossi used to emit a ‘haunting, musical sound’ every dawn. The Greeks believed that the statues represented Memnon, some Ethopian king who was the son of Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, and this was his way of greeting his mum every morning. In return Eos, grieving for the untimely death of her son at the hands of Achilles during the Trojan War, wept tears of dew. Unfortunately, the statue was repaired by a later Greek king, Septimus Severus (nothing to do with our very own Harry Potter and Snape) and Memnon was never heard again.By this time we were all in need of non-historical respite.
Lunch and a short break and on we proceeded to the Karnak Temple or more rightly, the Karnak temple complex. Yes, it is dedicated to the Sun God and yes, the name has originated from Konark, the Temple of the Sun in India, transported to Egypt by the marauding Arabs. What can I say about Karnak. It’s like an exploration site. Every turn you take gets you to a new wonder. The temple was built over multiple dynasties and rulers, each making his addition. The central pillar complex is humongous, 124 gigantic pillars, leading on to the twin Obelix. The significance of the Obelix – not only did they serve as an enormous slate to advertise the achievements of the kings ‘and queens’ but also a time keeper and finally the pyramid at the top, representative of Ra. 
I suppose if one were to dedicate a day to the temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor there would be many more stories to tell. An interesting fact – proof of the earliest copyrights! There are a number of carvings on all the walls and pillars. One king would construct the temple and the carvings and then subsequent rulers would ‘retype’ over the carvings and claim ownership. The solution – the stories were chiselled as shallow carvings in the stone and the name of the king, in the cartouche, was dug in deep so that it could not be changed. Also interesting was Tweedledum’s question on the numeration of the kings. How does one differentiate a Ramses II from a Ramses IV? Well, it seems, that each king had his own Egyptian name – something like – Meryamun ‘Beloved of Amun’ for Ramses II and Heqaamtre 'Ruler of Justice like Ra' for Ramses IV – which helps Egyptologists to give the right king his due. The story goes that Champollion gets a large part of the credit for deciphering the Egyptian script as well as the fact that the names of the kings were the letters in the cartouches. After struggling for years, one day, while working on a script he suddenly found himself able to read all the names of the Pharoahs. In his excitement, he ran all the way to his brothers house, burst in shouting ‘By Jove, I think I’ve got it’ (well the equivalent in French, of course) and fainted. Et merci de lui, maintenant, nous avons le capabilite de lire toutes les inscriptions sur les anciens murs egyptiennes….and the ancient knowledge and culture of the Ancient Egyptians lives on.
Luxor temple, another huge complex. A causeway of sphinxes, which used to lead up all the way to Karnak, bring you to Ramses II standing tall, granting you entry inside. Interesting facts – a statue of Tutankhamen with wife led to the question – he was married? Well, it seems, not only was he married but after his death, the political blunders of his wife led to the rule of Ay and the subsequent end of the Amarna dynasty, leading on to the 19th dynasty of multiple Setis and Ramseses. 
The central temple, which was dark and a little too crowded by the time we got there, has depictions of Alexander! With the Egyptian Gods! I love this picture by Thomson - Ramses looks so alive as if he just about to charge all the disrespectful tourists around.Well..this is where our Ancient Egypt holiday came to an end. A beautiful drive through the Eastern desert the next day, as part of a convoy of course, got us to the beach resort of Hurgada. Time to pay homage to ourselves……
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