One of the ancient sites in the city of Athens in Greece is the Roman Agora. An agora is simply a public space for people to gather, but they also often contained monuments to the gods and other important features. The main feature at the Roman Agora is the Tower of the Winds, which is considered by some people to be an early version of a weather station. There was a weather vane on the top of the tower that indicated the wind direction that would have been visible from throughout the city. What we found most interesting about the Tower of the Winds was the water clock that was housed within the tower. In a way, it is an ancient version of the clock towers that have become common throughout the world.
The Floor of the Tower with the Hole in the CenterThe Large Well-Like Hole on the Side of the TowerLooking Up at the Tower
The water clock works very much in the same way that a sand timer works in that the flow of water is controlled and as a vessel is filled at a specific time measurement. Today, in the center of the tower floor is a hole with channels coming from what looks similar to a well on the side of the tower. We aren’t sure what the inside of the tower would have looked like when it was in use, but we certainly enjoyed seeing it in its current form. The ingenuity of the ancient Greeks is certainly something fascinating to see in these modern days. All around the top of the tower are carvings of the eight wind deities that were worshiped in ancient times.
Hole in the Side of the Tower Wall to Allow Water to Enter the TowerView of the Tower of the Winds and the Roman Agora
Luxor is certainly the highlight of any trip to Egypt and there are many wonderful ancient sites to visit. Luxor takes at least a couple of days to truly see and you should divide your time between the west and east banks of the Nile. It is a short flight from Cairo, although it can certainly be reached by bus or car if you prefer. There are plenty of hotel choices in Luxor, but because we were there to start our Nile River cruise, we stayed on board our ship. Out of our entire time in Egypt, many of our favorite memories came from our time in Luxor.
Entering the Karnak Temple Complex
Karnak Temple – After the Great Pyramids in Cairo, this is probably one of the most visited and photographed places in Egypt. We visited both during the day and then again at night for one of the light and sound shows. Regardless of the time of day, it is an amazing location with so many sights to see. From statues, columns, obelisks, to the hieroglyphs and temple walls, it is a labyrinth of fascinating art and architecture.
Empty Tomb in the Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings – If you have watched any mummy movie or ever imagined yourself as an archeologist discovering an ancient site, walking through one of these ancient tombs is a memory that you will never forget. Even though all of the treasures have been removed and can be found in museums throughout the world, seeing where the pharaohs were buried centuries ago is worth the time.
Both of the Colossi of Memnon Statues
Hatshepsut Temple and the Colossi of Memnon – Although these are two separate sights, they are close enough to each other that we are combining them as one attraction. The sheer size of the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut is amazing to see and it is definitely different than most of the other temples that we visited in Egypt. As for the Colossi of Memnon, it will only take about a half an hour to visit, but seeing these enormous statues that face the Nile River is quite impressive.
King and Queen Together in the Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple – Although not as large as the Karnak Temple Complex, it should definitely be on your list of places to see while in Luxor. There is a road between the two temple complexes that is being reconstructed that will be absolutely amazing when complete. By the time you have visited a couple of the temple complexes, your head will be spinning with all of the historical, mythological, and cultural information that you will be told if you use an Egyptologist guide as we did.
Valley of the Kings from the River
Nile River Cruise – Taking a cruise from Luxor down to Aswan is an incredible experience that you will treasure forever. As you leave Luxor and start to head south, you will see the mountains that house the Valley of the Kings off of the banks of the Nile. It is also a great way to get out of the heat of the desert and travel in relaxing style.
Chiseling the Soft Stone
Alabaster Factories – Going to one of the many alabaster factories is certainly worthwhile, even if you don’t purchase anything. Just seeing the artisans who create unique works of art from the translucent stone makes it something that you should do while in Luxor.
There are many other sites to visit while in Luxor, such as the Valley of the Queens or the Luxor Museum, if you have the time. If you only have two days as we did, we would certainly recommend that you at least visit these particular places.
We visited the city of Aswan on the final day of our trip down the Nile River, which started in Luxor. For the majority of cruises, you can either start or end in Aswan. You can continue going south after visiting Aswan, but we didn’t have the opportunity to do that during our trip to Egypt. It was extremely hot during our time in Aswan, so we took it nice and slow and spent as much time in the shade as we could. These were the highlights of the places and things that we visited before heading to the airport to catch a flight back to Cairo.
People in the Background Provide Scale to the Obelisk in the Quarry
The Ancient Granite Quarry – One of the first things we visited when we arrived in Aswan was the northern quarry, which contains an unfinished obelisk. Most of the granite that was used in ancient Egypt was mined from the quarries of Aswan and carried up the Nile on boats. It must have been extremely hard work to mine granite by chipping away at it with other stones. The day that we arrived in Aswan it was 114 degrees Fahrenheit (about 44.5 degrees Celsius), so we can only imagine how difficult it was for the workers in ancient time to carve out the large rocks in order to create the obelisks and other temple pieces.
Temple Entrance
Philae and the Temple of Isis – We took a boat out to Philae, which is an island with a variety of temples including the Temple of Isis. It was a very interesting site with plenty of things to see and definitely worth a half day to visit. The temples were moved to higher ground after the High Dam was built in order to save them and it was well worth the effort. Clearly the Temple of Isis is the highlight of visiting the island, but there is also the Temple of Hathor and the Kiosk of Trajan. The columns, hieroglyphs, and entrance were extremely impressive.
Looking Out From the Dam
The Aswan High Dam – We grew up hearing about the construction of the Aswan dam, but there are really two dams, an older dam and the newer one, which is referred to as the High Dam. It was built to end the flooding that used to occur on a regular basis along the Nile River and has truly helped the agriculture business in Egypt. In addition to controlling the water, it is also a source of a lot of the power needed in the regions, so power lines are abundant across the surrounding desert landscape. One interesting side effect of the dam was that it has trapped all of the crocodiles for which the Nile is famous south of the dam, so you won’t see any crocodiles between Luxor and Aswan.
Lotus Columns in the Temple of Kom Ombo
The Temple of Kom Ombo – On the evening of our last full day of our cruise down the Nile River, we visited the Temple of Kom Ombo. Although it was not the largest of temple complexes that we saw during our time in Egypt, it was still fascinating. The southern part of the temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. Although crocodiles are not often found north of the new Aswan dam anymore, they used to prevalent in the area. There is even a Crocodile Museum at the site with crocodile mummies that are quite unique. The northern part of the temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus and his image can be found on many of the hieroglyphs within the temple.
