Amazing Images of Historic Egypt

Egypt is an incredibly striking place: A country where the modern jostles alongside the impossibly old. Ancient Egyptian myths and stories continue to fascinate people all over the world, and the exciting thing is that you can still visit many different parts of Egypt and see evidence of these ancient myths right before your eyes.

The Valley of the Kings is a good place to start if you’re planning an Egyptian holiday. This is the famous archaeological site, explored by many—including Howard Carter, who found the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. The valley contains 63 tombs that are known of, 26 of which were made for kings and the others for royal family members or other elite states people. You can visit fifteen of them.

The Temple of Wadi el-Sebua. Lake Nasser:

Statue of Rameses II and his chief wife Nefertari , Abu Simbel:

A striking avenue of ram headed sphinxes. Karnak Temple, Luxor.

The huge statue of Horus as a falcon, Temple of Horus, Edfu.

Ray of light piercing the Temple of Horsu, Edfu:

Kalabasha temple, Aswan:

Grif Husayn (Temple of Rameses II), Aswan

The next place on your Egyptian tour should be Cairo. In Cairo, the colour of the stone changes from a rich red to a pale sand, but the sun is still hot and the sky is very blue. Cairo is a bustling modern city but has still retained some of its monuments. The most visited of these has to be the pyramids and the Sphinx which is very close by.

Pyramids:

Part of the Memphis pyramid:

There is a regular light and sound show held at the Pyramids. Various light effects are aimed at the monuments, along with music and explanation. It’s educational, telling something of the history of the site, and very striking.

Many of the buildings in Cairo are so well preserved, that despite the fact that they are ancient you would think that they’d been put up only yesterday. Here is the Mohammed Ali Mosque, built between 1824-1857:

This is how it looks inside:

Another view of the Mohammed Ali Mosque’s interior:

Two different, equally magnificent mosques, the Sultan Hassan and Al Rifa’I Mosques, Cairo

Finally, when visiting Egypt, take the time to visit the city of Alexandria, on the coast. It has a great sense of history, being such a major point since its founding in 331BC that many cultures have seized control of it. From the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Andalusians, French and British, almost all have left their mark.

Visit the library in Alexandria while you are there. The outside of the building shows alphabetic letters from every language in the world, carved in granite.

Inside it is gracious and calm:

Alexandria beach, showing the 15^th Century Fort Qaitbey citadel:

Ruins of the Roman amphitheatre in Alexandria:

As you can see, Egypt is striking, charming, and picturesque, all at once. There are so many photo opportunities it’s hard to know where to stop, once you start, and the feeling of being steeped in history won’t leave you, even when you return home.

Images via Creative Commons: dorena-wm, Dennis Jarvis, llee_wu