Our last stop of the day was at Hatshepsut's expansive temple. The ramps and stairs leading up the the temple are very long 1 km and 127 feet wide. The building is almost 1000 feet wide. There were three levels with double rows of columns facing each level. Behind the columns were richly decorated walls showing all manner of everyday life in Egypt. Yet another fantastic site that is above and beyond what we expected to experience.
Some temples on the way are in bad shape
We drove by these two and wondered why we came here to visit
But then we saw this
Sphinxes
Towering statues
It fits into the landscape perfectly
From far away it seems to be reasonable sized but it is 900 feet across the front
Here are the two rows of columns
Hey, ho I see a Pharaoh
Walk like an Egyptian
Measuring out the frankincense
A type of a skate or a ray
Angle fish
The details of this date palm harvest are amazing
A sunbird
Woof!
Nice purse
Some sort of large building project
Hathor, is cow form, getting an offering from Queen Hatshepsut as a god
Hathor with just the ears of a cow
My what beautiful eyes you have!
Time for stabbing and then more stabbing
Just a feel for how tall the columns
The dark parts are the reconstructed bits.
A big row of Pharaohs
!5 foot tall gateway
Welcome to Hatshepsut's temple, please leave your offerings on the left
A huge arched inner sanctum
At first I thought it was a waterpipe but it is the ceremonial joining of the lotus and the papyrus
What a thing of beauty, all original
Bees!
The blocks are attached
The long walk back
Stoned
Soaking up the sun
What a beauty!
Royal and regal
There is the ceremonial pyramid mountain with the valley of the kings on the other side
A couple of colossuses
A bit worse for wear
Reconstructed by the Romans
The are mighty big, the Colossuses of Memnon
From the back
As we walk the valley of the vendors they have been calling me ali Baba. Now I know why
