Valley of the Kings
The king's formal names and titles are inscribed in his tomb along with his images and statues. Beginning with the 18th Dynasty and ending with the 20th, the kings abandoned the Memphis area and built their tombs in Thebes. Most of the tombs were cut into the limestone with three corridors, an antechamber and a sunken sarcophagus chamber. These catacombs were hard to rob and easily concealed.

Hatshepsut Temple
A tree lined avenue of sphinxes led up to the temple, and ramps led from terrace to terrace. The porticoes on the lowest terrace are out of proportion and coloring with the rest of the building. They were restored in 1906 to protect the celebrated reliefs depicting the transport of obelisks to Karnak and the birth of Queen Hatshepsut.

The Sound and Light Show at Karnak
The show starts with a historical introduction covering the birth of the great city of Thebes and erection of the Karnak Temple. The show narrates the glorious achievements of some great Pharaohs as spectators listen to a magnificent and poetic description of the artistic treasures and great legacy which the Karnak temple encloses.

Karnak Temple
Although badly ruined, no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest temple complex ever built by man, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about 3 kilometers north of Luxor, Egypt situated on 247 acres of land.

Luxor Temple
The Temple of Luxor was the center of the most important festival, the festival of Opet. Built largely by Amenhotep III and Rameses II, the temple's purpose was as a setting for the rituals of the festival. The festival was to reconcile the human aspect of the ruler with the divine office.

Karnak Temple
In ancient Egypt, the power of the god Amun of Thebes gradually increased during the early New Kingdom, and after the short persecution led by Akhenaten, it rose to its apex. In the reign of Rameses III, more than two thirds of the property owned by the temples belonged to Amun, evidenced by the buildings at Karnak.

Although badly ruined, no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest temple complex ever built by man, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about 3 kilometers north of Luxor, Egypt situated on 100 ha (247 acres) of land.

Luxor Temple
The Temple of Luxor was the center of the most important festival, the festival of Opet. Built largely by Amenhotep III and Rameses II, the temple's purpose was as a setting for the rituals of the festival. The festival was to reconcile the human aspect of the ruler with the divine office.

During the 18th Dynasty the festival lasted 11 days, but had grown to 27 days by the reign of Rameses III in the 20th Dynasty. At that time the festival included the distribution of over 11,000 loaves of bread, 85 cakes and 385 jars of beer. The procession of images of the royal family began at Karnak and ended at the temple of Luxor. By the late 18th Dynasty the journey was being made by barge, on the Nile River.

During the festival people were allowed to ask favors of the statues of the kings or to the images of the gods that were on the barges. Once at the temple, the king and his priests entered the back chambers. There, the king and his ka (the divine essence of each king, created at his birth) were merged, the king being transformed into a divine being. The crowd outside would cheer at his re-emergence. This solidified the ritual and made the king a god.

The main entrance to Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo) is through perhaps one of the two oldest structures in Cairo, the rounded towers of the western gate of the Roman fortress of Babylon built in 98 AD by Emperor Trajan. The Southern gate is the other oldest structure.

The Hanging Church (The Church of the Virgin Mary) is built into the walls of the Water Gate of the Roman fortress. It is possibly the oldest Christian church in Egypt, dating to around the 4th Century. From here, exit the first entrance due to construction work in the area and head up Mar Girgis north a few steps to a second entrance.

This entrance leads into the Monastery and Church of St George This is not an old church, dating only from 1909, but there has been a church in Coptic Cairo dedicated to the Martyr since the 10th century.

Turn left outside the door to St George and the path leads to the Church of St Sergius (Abu Serga), which legend has it is built atop one of the sites where the Holy Family rested on their flight from Herod.

Continuing on this path brings one first to the Ben Ezra Synagogue which is Egypt's oldest and dates to the 9th Century.