Egypt

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Entry posted by korver · September 22, 2020

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Egypt, a country dating to the time of the pharaohs. Millennia-old monuments sit along the fertile Nile River Valley, including Giza's colossal Pyramids and Great Sphinx as well as countless temples, tombs, and obelisks. The capital, Cairo, is home to many historic museums, mosques, and landmarks along the shores of the Nile. Egypt is a country steeped in history and is home to some of the world's most impressive landmarks - let's take an in depth tour of this iconic country in today's update.

Our tour of Egypt begins in the country's largest city and capital - Cairo. This bustling metropolis is located on the banks of the mighty Nile River, and many hotels, apartments, museums, and mosques line its waterfront. Here we see a scene from the city's bustling center on the shores of the Nile.

Egypt is home to some of the world's most famous archeological sites and landmarks - and few are as famous as the ones you'll find in Giza. The iconic Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred to as the Sphinx of Giza or just the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. Facing directly from West to East, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.

Close by is another one of the world's most iconic landmarks, the legendary Pyramids of Giza. Built over a span of three generations by the rulers Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure as part of a royal mortuary complex, they are among the largest structures ever built on Earth. The largest of the Pyramids - the Great Pyramid of Giza - is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

A nighttime aerial of the impressive Giza Pyramid complex from above.

North of Cairo and Giza is the mouth of the mighty Nile River. The Nile Delta is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers 240 km of coastline and is a rich agricultural region.

Another aerial view of the Nile River, Sinai Peninsula, and northern Egypt from above - strong subtropical jet streams often rise above this area of Egypt and can produce large scale sandstorms across the country.

Our tour of Egypt now takes us back down to ground level and onto the Sinai Peninsula - a sparsely populated region on the Red Sea. On its southern tip, Sharm el-Sheikh resort is a base for diving and snorkeling around the reefs of Ras Mohammed National Park. Here we see a scene overlooking some of the park's most well-preserved coral reefs - and the crystal clear water allows for some spectacular views.

The western Sinai Peninsula is also home to to one of the world's most important man-made natural wonders - the Suez Canal. This artificial sea-level waterway connects Europe and Asia to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez - constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it officially opened on 17 November 1869 and has been a vital transportation link ever since. The Suez Canal is considered to be the shortest link between the East and the West, and the unique geographical position of the canal makes it of special importance not just to Egypt but the entire world.

Another one of Egypt's most impressive man-made marvels can be found on the Nile River - the Aswan High Dam. It is the world's largest embankment dam - built between 1960 and 1970, it largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream and provides about half of the country's power supply. Despite the positives of controlling the Nile's constant flooding and providing the country a vital power source, the dam was also met with criticism when it was built that continues to this day. Many one of a kind archeological sites had to be relocated or were lost all together, and dam caused a huge decrease in silt in the Nile River that greatly decreased the fertility of agricultural lands in the Nile Delta.

The Nile River stretches for 4,132 miles and is considered to be the longest river on Earth - and runs right through the heart of the country. Here we see a typical farmland scene from the heart of central Egypt.

For the next couple of scenes, we'll be taking a look a few more of Egypt's most iconic landmarks and archeological sites. The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel, a village in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. They are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments", which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Rameses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari, and commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic. The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile.

Another one of Egypt's most iconic historical sites is the famed Valley of the Kings. For a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, rock cut tombs were excavated in this valley for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom. It was part of the city of Thebes and was the burial site of almost all the kings (pharaohs) of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties (1539–1075 BCE), from Thutmose I to Ramses X. Located in the hills behind Dayr al-Bari, the 62 known tombs exhibit variety both in plan and in decoration. In 1979 UNESCO designated the valley part of the World Heritage site of Thebes, which also includes Luxor, the Valley of the Queens, and Karnak.

Here we see an iconic example of one of the many elaborate tombs located in the Valley of the Kings - King Tutankhamun's Tomb. The tomb would have looked like the scene below shortly after it's completion in 1324 BCE - but after the fall of the empire, it would lie abandoned and in disrepair until 1922 when it was finally discovered by Howard Carter, which received worldwide press coverage. Eventually over 5,000 artifacts were recovered and restored, many of which made their way to museums across the globe.

The last archaeological site we'll be taking a look at is Philae, an island in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser. Philae was originally located near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt and was the site of an Egyptian temple complex, until the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970 almost completely submerged the temple. The entire complex had to be moved brick by brick - but the time-intensive effort paid off and it remains one of Egypt's most historic and popular tourist destinations on the Nile River.

The tour concludes with a look at Philae in its original state in 280 BCE - dedicated to the goddess Isis, the site's beautiful setting in the middle of the Nile and it's sophisticated layout would have made it one of the most impressive temples in all of Egypt.