Last Day in Egypt- Karnak, Luxor Museum and Luxor Temple in Daylight

Karnak is at least 3-4 times the size of Luxor Temple. Its most famous features, and deservedly so, are the gigantic columns in the Hypostyle Hall. The colors are mostly faded except for the top parts where you can see the vivid blues and reds. Standing among the 150 or so columns, like all other visitors, I felt myself to be in a stone forest. The largest columns ( need I say it again, almost 3,500 years old) are more than 80 feet tall and the tops are in the form of lotus flowers. The guide book says that there is room for 50 people to  stand on each column; ok so maybe only 40. I have never seen anything like these before. As in so many other temples, structures vary in age from about 2000 BCE to 100 AD. There are two remaining standing obelisks in Luxor. One previously here is now in St Peter’s Square in Rome and one is in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Hatshepsut’s Obelisk (still here) is 90 feet high.

The Luxor Museum, as advertised, has a concentrated collection of masterpieces. Very few visitors.

After Karnak, I wanted to se Luxor Temple in daylight. It appeared much smaller, having just been at Karnak but I stand by my estimate that it is about the size of the Roman Forum. I would say that Karnak is about the size of Central Park (at least 59-96^th Streets, maybe the whole park).

I missed a few important sites, particularly the Valley of the Queens. I understand that Museum Tours runs a tour for ten days with the object of teaching hieroglyphic fluency. Hmmm….

I promise at least  one more interesting posting.