Tuesday's Dream Place to Visit

Recently, Egypt has become one of the top destinations to visit during summer vacations, here in Serbia. Unfortunately, we haven't had  the chance yet. Marron's been reading a book about Nefertiti (hey, here's material for future post), and that's what inspired us to take you to Egypt this time.


- Nile

photo by Ian Sewell

  The longest river in the world and  life source for one of the ancient civilizations, Nile is definitely a sight to explore. Cruising it will help you see far more than you would by foot or car, and the boats stop at many famous sights.

- The Valley of the Kings

photo by Nikater

The Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is a valley where tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, for nearly 500 years (from 16th to 11th century BC). It's located opposite Thebes (modern Luxor), and in 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis. 

- Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine's Monastery

photo by  Tamerlan

picture by Berthold Werner

  Mount Sinai is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and it's a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments.  At the foot of the mountain is the Saint Catherine's Monastery, commonly known as Santa Katarina, Greek Orthodox monastery, which houses irreplaceable works of art: mosaics, some of the best collection of early icons, as well as liturgical objects. It's one of the oldestworking Christian monasteries in the world, and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

- The Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza, the largest monolith statue in the world (73,5 m long, 19,3 m wide, and 20.22 m high) is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and it's commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, during the reign of Pharaoh Khafra. The Sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head (generally believed it represents the face of Pharaoh Khafra) and it stands on the Giza Platou on the west bank of the Nile in Giza. The nose is missing, and there's the story that the nose was broken off by a cannonball fired by Napoleon's soldiers. Some sketches from 1738, show the Sphinx missing its nose. In addition to the lost nose, it's thought that the sphinx also had a ceremonial pharaonic beard,  although it may have been added in the later periods. 

 - The Egyptian Museum

 

photo by bjornfree 

 The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities, with around 120 000 items. It has many treasures of King Tutankhamun, including the shown Gold Mask, composed of 11 kg of solid gold. It rested over the bandages wrapped around his face, and it's believed it represents what he truly looked like. Unlike many others, his tomb was found mostly intact, but even though it held over 3500 artifacts, there had been at least two robberies of the tomb, perhaps soon after Tutankhamun's burial.