Cairo. the capital of Egypt – a city with an estimated population of over 15 million people, at least so I was told in Egypt, other sources speak of even larger numbers. In any case Cairo is the largest city in Africa and one cannot explore it in a couple of days, not even in weeks or months. So you have to make choices what to visit and what not to visit.

Geographically Cairo can be found in northern Egypt, built at the banks of the river Nile, just before it splits into two branches which then expand into the Nile Delta.
Cairo was not always the capital city. In ancient times it was preceded by Memphis and the necropolis of Saqqara. Both sites can be found about 20km south of Cairo. To the west you will find the Giza plateau, famous for its three great pyramids and the Sphinx.

My time of course was limited, and hence this collection of images mainly features the Al-Azhar mosque and streets and markets nearby, but there is of much more to see in the city. The Citadel, and places close to Cairo such as Memphis and Saqqara and the Giza plateau are presented in separate articles.

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

The Saladin Citadel of Cairo – sometimes referred to as Mohamed Ali Citadel – is located on a part of the Mokattam (Muqattam) hill close to the center of Cairo. The first fortifications were erected under Salah al-Din, also known as Saladin, between 1176 and 1183 AD as a fortress against the Crusaders.
Since then the citadel has changed a lot and many rulers of Egypt left their mark. Prominent structures include the mosque of Muhammad Ali (Ottoman Sultan in the early 19th century) and the An-Nasir Mohammed mosque, built between 1318 and 1355.
Beneath the citadel walls lies another prominent sight, the massive mosque of Sultan Hassan, built in the 14th century.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

To the west of Cairo – about 20 km from the center – you will find the Giza plateau, famous for its three great pyramids and the Sphinx. Giza (also Gizeh or Ghizeh in English) is a town on the west bank of the Nile river and nowadays incorporated into the greater Cairo metropolitan area. When I drove from Cairo to Giza I found it difficult to differentiate between the two as they have grown together.
As mentioned above, the Giza plateau is the site of some of the most famous ancient monuments in the world: the Gread Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, and numerous smaller pyramids and temples. For most people these are the monuments which represent ancient Egypt. The three largest pyramids are the pyramid of Cheops / Khufu, 2580 BC, the pyramid of Chephren (Khafre) and the smaller pyramid of Mykerinos (Menkaure). As for the Great Sphinx, it measures 57 by 6 by 20 metres (260 by 20 by 65 ft), and about its age there still is a lot of speculation.

Besides what can be seen on the surface, there is also an archaeologically rich underground to be explored, with passages, tombs and deep shafts. Visiting these can be difficult though, and be careful whom you trust and follow. Descending into one of the pyramids is also highly recommended. I tried the pyramid of Chephren and stayed in his undecorated burial chamber for quite a long time – to soak up some of the mood of the place. This also gave me the chance to chat with one of the wardens, who must be sitting in the chamber for hours and hours, he apparently (and understandably) despised those tourists who rushed through, chatting and laughing.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

Memphis was the first capital of ancient Egypt and its remains lie about 20 km south of Cairo. It was founded aound 3100 BC by Menes, who unified the two separate Kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Today, the main attraction of Memphis is its necropolis at Saqqara with several pyramids of the early times, today mostly ruined very badly. An exeption is the great step pyramid of King Netjerikhet Djoser (2667-2648 BC), built by the famous priest and architect Imhotep for his Pharaoh.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

Thebes, Niut or Niwt-imn (The City of Amun) were all names of the ancient city at the site of today’s Egyptian city of Luxor. At the time of the 11th dynasty, around 2100 BC, the city at the Nile river became the capital of ancient Egypt, resulting in great places of worship, tombs and mortuary temples being constructed. Although in later dynasties the capital was moved northwards, Thebes always remained an important seat of power and place of worship.
While the city of Luxor today is located at the eastern bank of the Nile river, the ruins, tombs and mortuary temples on the west bank are often referred to as part of ancient Thebes.

This article shows images from the famous Valley of the Kings, the Colossi of Memnon (mortuary temple of Amenhotep III) and the ancient village of Deir el Medina.
The archaeological sites of Deir el-Bahri, Medinet Habu, Luxor and Karnak – the latter two on the east bank of the river – are featured in separate articles.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

Opposite the city of Luxor, on the western bank of the river Nile lies the site of Deir el-Bahri, which translates as “Northern Monastery”. Separated from the tombs in the Valley of the Kings only by the mountain ridge stretching to the east from Al-Qurn, Deir el-Bahri is another famous complex of mortuary temples and tombs. An early structure at the site was the temple of Mentuhotep II of the 11th dynasty, when Thebes for the first time was the capital of Egypt. The largest and most impressive mortuary temple today, however, is the temple of Hatshepsut (1490-1468 BC), a female Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. The temple, also known as Djeser-Djeseru, was built right into a large cliff of the mountain ridge.

On November 17, 1997 the site became the stage of a tragedy, when 62 people were massacred by Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

The mortuary temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, built in New Kingdom times on the western bank of the Nile close to Luxor, is a well preserved temple, set within an almost rectangular mudbrick enclosure with a pylon from Ptolemaic times.
The temple features – in order starting at the great entrance – a first courtyard, a second courtyard with a peristyle hall, and a large hypostyle hall at the rear end. Each of the courtyards is guarded by a massive pylon. The whole structure reaches a length of about 150 metres.
Within the enclosure smaller temples of Amenirdis I, Shepenupet II and Nitiqret can be found, as well as a small sacred lake.

I personally was most impressed by the peristyle hall and its detailed reliefs and inscriptions with surviving original colour.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

The main archeological attraction of Luxor is the temple of Amun, Mut, and Chons. This temple from the 14th century BC went through major expansions under Ramses II and a restoration by Alexander the Great. Later it fell into disrepair and still in the 19th century AD it was vastly covered under sand and sediments from the river. Parts of the temple sticking out were integrated into the mosque of Abu el-Haggag.
Today, with all the sand removed, you can still find the mosque entrance high in the air, on top of parts of the ancient temple.

I also recommend to visit the museum in Luxor: it might not have as much to show as the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but what it has is on display is presented in a very atmospheric play with light and shadow.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

The temple complex of Karnak near Luxor is certainly the largest and one of the most impressive in all of Egypt. After construction began in the 16th century BC, around 30 different pharaos expanded the site and left their marks in later centuries.
The central and largest temple is known as the precinct of Amon-Re and is connected with the nearby temple of Luxor by an avenue of sphinxes. The most prominent feature of the precinct of Amon-Re is its famous great hypostyle hall, with its colossal central pillars reaching 20 meters in height. The precinct houses ten large pylons. Further well-known features are the temple of Ramses III, the temple of Khonsu, the obelisks of Thutmose III and Hatshepsut, and the sacred lake.

Visiting Karnak you should plan to spend a considerable amount of time, as the layout of large site might appear a bit confusing at the beginning, and navigating through all the temples, sanctuaries, reliefs and statues will take its time.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau

Without the Nile river there would be no Egypt. At least not the Egypt we know today, with its rich history and magnificent monuments of the ancient past. With its yearly summer floods as a source of water and fertile soil, the river gave life to the desert and made agriculture possible, which could feed many and allow for large cities to emerge already many thousand years ago.
Furthermore, the Nile river was the most important route for transport and fast travel, vital for a complex state such as ancient Egypt.
Even today one can still see the traditional wooden sailing boat, the felucca.
However, the river’s role in Egypt’s agriculture is diminishing today. Since the construction of the Aswan High Dam the yearly floods have ceased to provide new fertile soil to the fields, resulting in many problems I will not discuss here.

Of course I travelled the river not on it’s full length (6,695 km or 4,160 miles, the longest River on this planet), but only the stretch from Luxor to Aswan. Also, unfortunately I did not travel on a felucca, but on a modern cruise ship.

 

PhotoScapes - A Photographic Travel Blog by Alexander Thorsten Blumenau