Saturday 2 July 2011

Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor

Luxor Times has this article about the Grand Re-opening of the Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor, due to take place some time in October 2011.

The Avenue, when re-opened may help in some way to attract much needed tourism back to Upper Egypt. Walking in the footsteps of the Pharaohs will prove difficult to resist.

The Avenue itself was originally constructed by Hatshepsut to connect the temples of Luxor and Karnak on the East Bank (a 2.7 km route) . There were further developments by later pharaohs but until recently a large section lay under more modern constructions, which have now been removed to reveal the route which be walked by millions of tourists in the coming years.

The article states that Hatshepsut built 6 chapels to Amun- Re along the route and this is mentioned in inscriptions of the Red Chapel. None of these can be seen in their original form today, although traces of Hatshepsuts work has been docomented.


"Remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s chapels, which were reused by king
Nectanebo I in the construction of sphinxes, have been found along with remains of Roman wine factories and a huge cistern for water"


(quote from DrHawass.com)

Regards,
Stuart

No comments: