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DAY 1 NORTH AMERICA /
EUROPE. Tour members will gather at the
ticket counter at the airport two hours prior to their departure to
Europe. Dinner and breakfast will be served in-flight.
DAY 2 CAIRO.
Upon your arrival in Cairo, you will be met and transferred to your
hotel.
DAY 3 MEMPHIS / SAKKARA / GIZA.
Morning tour to Hi Ku Ptah
(Memphis) and Sakkara. Located twenty miles southwest of Cairo, Memphis
was one of the most important cities through the history of ancient KMT
and was once the ancient capital of KMT. Sakkara’s step pyramids are the
oldest in existence and are the world’s first stone tombs. Visit the
Tomb of Ptahotep, author of the oldest surviving book in the world,
circa 2350 BC. Proceed to Giza. Visit one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World, the Kufu, Kafre, and Men-ka-ra Pyramids, and Hor-em-Aket
(commonly called the Sphinx). See the 140 foot long ship of Pharoah Kufu,
the oldest surviving ship in the world. Return to your hotel.
DAY 4 THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM / OLD
CAIRO. Morning visit to the Egyptian
Museum with its renewed collection of well-preserved Pharaonic
antiquities. The museum contains the world’s important collection of
Egyptian antiquities, dating from the earliest times to about 6th
century AD. The collection also includes some of the artistic
masterpieces of the world, including the treasures of Tut-Ankh-Amon.
This afternoon tour Old Cairo; Coptic Museums, churches, and Synagogues.
Continue to the Mosques of Sultan Hassan built in the 14th century, the
Citadel of Salah El-Din, and the Alabaster Mosque. Return to your hotel
and overnight.
DAY 5 WASET / IPET ISUT (Karnak) &
SOUTHERN IPET (Luxor) TEMPLES. Transfer
to Cairo Domestic Airport and fly to Luxor. Upon your arrival you will
be met and transferred to your hotel for a brief rest stop. This morning
visit the Avenue of the Sphinxes at Ipet Isut (Karnak). View the
gorgeous Hypostyle Hall, the Tekenu (obelisks) of Queen Hatshepsut, and
the Sacred Lake. Continue to the Southern Ipet (Temple of Luxor). Visit
the White Chapel, Temple of Khonsu and Mout and the temple of Amon.
Proceed to your hotel.
 DAY
6 THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS /HATSHEPSUT TEMPLE/COLOSSI OF MEMNON.
Transfer to the West Bank of the Nile to visit
the Necropolis of Waset (Thebes); drive to the Valley of the Kings;
visit the tombs of Seti, and Ramses II. Continue to the Valley of the
Queens to visit the tomb of Thutmosis III, and proceed to visit the
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the “Colossi of Memnon”. Return to your
hotel.
DAY 7 WASET / EDFU (TEMPLE OF THE
HERU) / KOM OMBO (TEMPLE OF SOBEK).
Leave Waset and journey to Edfu, on the Left Bank. Visit the temple of
Heru (Horus) which was excavated by Mariette and is one of the best
preserved in KMT. Resume your journey towards Kom Ombo. One the hill,
which you see long before you arrive in Kom Ombo, is the temple, with a
double dedication to the Crocodile-headed Sobek and the Sparrow-headed
haroeris. In the middle of the temple area, a sanctuary was built for
each of these divinities. Double entrances lead through the pylons to
the court vestibule, pillared hall and the three antechambers to the
Sanctuaries of the Gods. Continue your journey towards Aswan arriving
to your hotel and overnight in Aswan.
DAY 8 ASWAN / THE HIGH DAM / PILAK
(Philae) TEMPLE / UNFINISHED TEKENU OF HATSHEPS.
In the early morning drive to visit the High Dam. Some 4 ½ miles south
of the earlier Dam, the High Dam rises up on a colossal scale. The
Pyramid of Kufu could be lost 17 times over in the modern marvel. The
inland lake created by the Dam is more than 375 miles long, penetrating
some 155 miles, into the Sudan. Proceed to Pilar (Philae). When the
Aswan Dam was opened from July to November, the resulting drop in water
level was such that the Temple of Isis on the Island of Philae rose up
out of the waters. During the remaining months of the year, only pylons
and the upper sections of the building could be seen. In the recent
past, all monuments on the Island of Philae were transferred to the
small island of Agilkia nearby and rebuilt there. Visit the Temple, the
oldest part of which date from the 4th century BD. Ptolemies and Romans
added to the Temple over the years until the 2nd century AD. Other
buildings are het Heru (Hathor Temple), Hadrian’s Pylon, Horendotes
Temple, the remains of the temple of Augustus, and the lovely and famous
Kiosk of trajan. Return to the hotel via the Red granite. Quarries are
where the ancients obtained their fine reddish granite. See the
unfinished tekenu (obelisk) of Queen Hatshepsut, had it been completed,
it would have been the largest ever hewn. It was abandoned when a flaw
was discovered in the stone. Proceed to your hotel for overnight.
DAY 9 NUBIAN VILLAGE / ABU SIMBEL
(The temple of
Ramses II) / CAIRO. Morning visit to a
Nubian Village and school. Afternoon flight from Aswan to the Abu Simbel
which is situated on the West Bank of the Hapi, 180 miles south of Aswan
and some 27 miles north of Wadi Halfa. There lies the Great Temple, hewn
in the rock, with the four colossal seated statues of the King in front
of the entrance. It was dedicated to Amun-Ra, the Horkhti, and Ramses
II. The figures are 65 ½ feet high and wear the double crown. Nearby, to
the north, is a second temple, also built by Ramses II and dedicated to
Nefertari, the King’s wife. The temples, which were threatened by the
waters on the completion of the Aswan High Dam have been preserved by
international action organized by Unesco. The most important parts of
the temples (statues, inscribed slabs, etc.) have been rebuilt on a
plateau above the former site. Fly back from Abu Simbel to Cairo,
transfer to hotel near airport for farewell dinner.
DAY 10 CAIRO / NORTH AMERICA.
Morning departure from Cairo to North America. The close of our
unforgettable tour of the Bible Lands. |
