R. Doug Wicker's Blog

Luxor Temple

Today I’m going to present only three Luxor Temple image favorites because I’m also sharing a video from our transit through the Esna Lock. So, here are today’s additional Luxor Temple photographs:

Luxor Obelisk Window to a Luxor Temple Column

And here’s today’s Fun Photo Friday video:

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Ramses II is looking at you

The end of Egypt’s Ptolemaic (Greek) Kingdon came in 30 BC with conquest of Egypt by the Roman Empire and the death of Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra’s death brought an end not only the final Ancient Egypt Dynasty, it was the close of the longest dynasty as well, lasting 275 years. If you’re wondering why I’m bringing that up in an article on a temple dating back to just before 1400 BC, it’s because of something I saw there that piqued my interest. Ancient Egyptian templ...

Luxor Temple entrance pylot; Luxor, Egypt

Behold the Luxor Temple. It was Friday, 2 February 2025, and we’re one day from the beginning of Ramadan. As much as we were immensely enjoying the company of our wonderful, ever-present guide throughout this trip, we were feeling a bit sorry that Mohamad Salah would not be spending the start of this holiday with his wife and young son.

Luxor plaque

As you may recall, it’s already been a very busy day for us. We began with an early morning jaunt ...

Selling Carpets at Esna Lock

Today’s Fun Photo Friday features River Nile favorites taken at and near Esna Lock. Next week I shall show you Luxor. Until then:

River Nile Vendors Hitching a Rid The Riverboat Wait at Esna Esna Vendor Fleet Flying the Flag Headed Toward Esna Dam Felucca on the Nile Cruisers Inspecting the Wares Before Negotiating a Price

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Egyptian city of Esna (1:37 p.m)

As you can see from the time above, we’ve been waiting a few hours. Time to get under way again. As I said Monday, before we reached the Esna Lock, we would first pass through a narrow channel on the west side of the Esna Lock Dam. And if don’t know otherwise, you might think this channel is a lock. I know I cetainly did.

Esna Lock Dam (channel on the left)

But as you approach this channel you’ll notice that there are no gates here. It’s just a straigh pa...

River vendors

Friday, 28 February, and we’re heading north on the River Nile aboard Jaz Cruise‘s Jaz Celebrity. We would soon be approaching the city of Esna and awaiting our turn to pass through the Esna Lock, about 100 miles/162km from where we embarked on this cruise in Aswan. As our riverboat approached Esna, we passed some impressive palms and sand-covered hills on the starboard side:

Approaching Esnu

Oddly enough, even though we were almost a hundred miles downstream from Aswan, we...

Egyptian columns — far different from Greco-Roman columns

Today’s Fun Photo Friday features Edfu Temple favorites:

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Defaced Edfu hieroglyphics of Ancient Egyptian gods

Today I present to you the Temple of Edfu, concentrating most of today’s images on the sanctuary, with a few of the courtyard between the sanctuary and the pylon. One exception to that is the photograph below of the nearly ubiquitous souvenir vendor stalls that seem to proliferate outside most entrances/exits to Egypt’s antiquity sites:

The ever-present Egyptian souvenir vendor

Below is a diagram of the Temple of Edfu. In the middle of ...

The pylon and entrance to the Temple of Edfu

The pylon edifice as you approach the Temple of Edfu from the south is stunning in both scale and detail. This enormous structure stands 118 feet/36 meters tall and measures nearly 250 feet/76 meters in width. This temple took a phenomenal 180 years to complete, having begun in 237 BC and only finished in 57 BC. Even the Great Pyramid only took about 26 years to build! And that was started 2,300 years earlier! Step inside the pylon on your way to t...

Selling Rugs to Riverboat Guests

Rather than just post the usual Fun Photo Friday photo gallery/slide show, today I’ll post each photograph individually with a brief caption. I believe that’ll give you more enjoyment since there’s a lot here along the River Nile to take in. In today’s offerings I’ll be concentrating on the Temple of Kom Ombo and images taken as we cruised the River Nile aboard the Jaz Celebrity with our guide Mohamad Salah. I’ll begin with:

Great Hypostyle Hall — Temple of...