Medinat Habu, Egypt
Tuesday 3rd January 2006
Day 381
A Hectic day today... Up really early for a spectacular hot air balloon flight, followed by various vists to temples and the like on the West Bank of the Nile, near Luxor. Egypt is a country so full of history, that the Ancient Egyptian world tends to overlap everything.... Greek, Roman, Coptic Christian, Muslim, Turk, French, English, and modern Egyptian periods (and I suspect that I have missed a few here) just tend to get overwhelmed. The Luxor temple, for example, contains Roman ruins that would be spectacular in many other places, as well as an early Muslim Mosque still in use today. This isn't defacing historical sites but is the sign of a constantly evolving civilisastion.
Modern Luxor (Ancient Thebes) is an example of the quandary of modern Egypt. Since ancient times Luxor has served the tourist industry, therefore has an extremely robust tourist infrastructure – some would say able to fleece anyone for anything! Three years ago,when I last visited, which was just before the Iraq invasion, the place was almost dead on its feet. Today, it is thriving as a tourist base on again. I do wonder what imkpace this has on the ordinary Egyptian. One cannot feel something exceptt sympathy for someone whose hometown is clogged up with tourist coaches and caleshes – horsedrawn carriages – in a complex jumble of traffic.
It has to be remembered that the temples and other sites have always been under construction, renovation or improvement. So, strange though it is, it is not unusual for a craftsman to be found workingamongst the ruins like this. I do wonder whether the trades have been handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. Medinat Habu is a huge temple on the West bank of the Nile, built by – or rather on the orders of – Ramses III. Yet in Luxor itself, there is also the Luxor temple, and Karnak temples. The site of Karnak is bigger than any other temple site in the world other than Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Touristy bit over for today
