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One
of the grand constructions of ancient Egypt, this
temple stands today as a reminder of the lavish civilization
that once thrived on the banks of the Nile River.
Unlike in the north where the Nile Delta provided
for the people, It was the river alone that gave this
region life, and all life existed close to its banks.
It is for that reason that this temple is oriented
on a north-south axis, rather than facing the sun
like the temples in the comparatively bountiful north.
But what the river gives, it also takes away. When
archaeologists began excavating this site it lay almost
completely buried under centuries of silt brought
by the annual Nile floods. You can see how deep the
temple was buried because crystallized salt still
clings to the uppermost reaches where the water deposited
its last load of nutrient-rich loam. It wasn't just
the Egyptians who appreciated this place. Both the
Greeks and the Romans were drawn here, and the ruins
of a once-thriving Roman town still surround the area.
The temple is fashioned out of several distinct types
of structures -- colonnades, open courts, covered
formal entryways, halls, shrines, corridors, and storage
areas. The most famous view of the temple is from
the outside where the Avenue of Sphinxes once greeted
royalty. They stand across from a granite obelisk.
This is one half of a set of twins. The other is now
in Paris, given to the French in exchange for a clock
(See the Cairo page for more details on this). The
Sphinxes were built for Nectanebo the First, but he
wasn't the first or the last emperor to put his special
stamp on this holy place. In fact, some of the later
rulers actually carved their own messages, boasts,
and tales of triumph over the war legends of those
who preceded them. We know what the temple must have
looked like in its heyday because there is a relief
showing the building with its flags fluttering in
the breeze. We can also tell from this picture what's
was old and what was added by subsequent kings. Over
time they added on to the temple, increasing its size
and majesty. However, like any institution built over
the span of generations, the intentions of one king
were often disregarded by the next. Imagine any large
university campus you've visited. Parts and sections
seem planned out well enough, but the whole never
works as well as it should, and instead of staying
on the cobbled or cement walkways the students soon
beat their own, more efficient, goat paths through
the grass ruining the landscaping and illustrating
the way the campus should have been laid out in the
first place. It's the same principle here and the
result is a jumble of corridors and holy halls in
redundant clusters. Those corridors and colonnades
are often flanked by great columns carved in the shape
of papyrus buds. Follow them enough and you will eventually
run into one gallery that has never been excavated.
Its silt is still in place because a mosque was built
on the site. It was one of a series of mosques built
by Badr al-Gamali to celebrate his victory over the
Nubians in 1077. The government antiquities board
has built a new mosque, but sentiment dies hard and
the worshipers refuse to give up their history.
- July,
2001 - After 2,500 years standing in the Egyptian
desert, mother nature may finally be ready to reclaim
the famed pyramids and other runes of Luxor. Groundwater
is seeping upward and has come dangerously close
to the ancient structures. In some places it us
just six feet below their foundations. Irrigation
and leaking sewage are believed to be responsible
for the rising water problem. Luxor's director of
antiquities is discounting Egyptian media reports
that indicate the monuments are in immediate peril.
Still, the Egyptian parliament is concerned, the
United States government is spending US$40,000,000.00
to build a sewage treatment plant that will help
reduce the threat.
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