CULTURAL EGYPT Private Tour.

Arrival from the country of origin to the Cairo airport. Reception, visa procedures with the assistance of Holiplus staff. Transfer to the Ramsés Hilton hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure to visit the necropolis of Giza, in it are the famous pyramids built by the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure. Since they were created more than 4000 years ago, the pyramids of Egypt have been the most portentous and emblematic monuments of the Egyptian civilization, as well as the oldest and only wonder that is preserved, and in particular it is worth noting, the three great pyramids of Giza, the tombs of the kings Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure, whose construction dates back, for the vast majority of scholars, to the period called the Old Kingdom of Egypt. It is worth mentioning that the Pyramids are not only the most important monuments in Egypt, but also the oldest in the world.

The great Sphinx and the temple in the valley of the pharaoh Khafre, are funerary constructions that were built under the orders of pharaohs of the fourth dynasty. The Sphinx was the first truly colossal piece of sculpture from ancient Egypt. The Egyptians would not carve statues of these proportions again until the reigns of the New Kingdom pharaohs, some some 1,200 years later. It was carved out of the natural bedrock at the very base of the Quefrén causeway in the shape of a real human head on a lion's body, symbolizing the power and strength controlled by the pharaoh's intelligence. The temple of the valley of Quefrén was built with megalithic blocks covered with red granite and the entrances to the temple were closed with enormous doors of a leaf, probably of cedar wood. The close association of the Sphinx with the Quefrén valley makes it more than likely that the Sphinx were carved for Quefrén. The sphinx is one of the great mysteries of all time and throughout several centuries there have been numerous speculations by archaeologists about its origin, its date of creation or its function.

At the end return to the hotel and night in Cairo.

Breakfast at the hotel. At the indicated time, transfer to the airport to take the domestic flight to Luxor. Arrival and direct visit to the Temples of Karnak, Built by multiple pharaohs between 2200 and 360 BC, the Temple of Karnak contains within it the great temple of Amun, other minor temples, chapels and the great sacred lake. The most important pharaohs involved in its construction were Hatshepsut, Seti I, Ramses II and Ramses III. Probably the most spectacular thing about the temple is its hypostyle hall; with more than 5,000 square meters it contains 134 columns, of which the 12 central ones are wider and raised the roof, now destroyed, to 23 meters high. At the entrance of the temple, before crossing the first pylon, 40 ram-headed sphinxes will welcome you. It is the beginning of the Avenue of the Sphinxes that reached the Temple of Luxor and the Nile. The temple of Karnak, in Thebes, dedicated to Amun, was the main place of worship in Egypt since the New Kingdom. The photograph corresponds to the great hypostyle hall. Over more than two millennia, the pharaohs embellished the main cult center of Egypt, dedicated to Amun, the great god of the new kingdom. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Karnak amazed researchers even though it was in ruins. More than four thousand years ago, Intef II, king of the 11th dynasty, began work on the temple of Amun-Re in Thebes, where the modern town of Karnak stands. It was the nucleus from which, during the next two thousand years, dozens of pharaohs were creating and remodeling one of the richest and most spectacular places of worship of antiquity, in which archaeologists have cataloged more than two hundred structures.

Visit the Temple of Luxor, called "the harem of Amun" and linked to the temple of Karnak by an avenue of sphinxes and rams. The Temple of Luxor was built between 1400 and 1000 BC. by the pharaohs Amenhotep III and Ramses II, the first built the inner part and the second the outer enclosure, adding the façade, the colossi and the obelisks. The Temple is 260 meters long and is dedicated to Amun (god of the wind). The temple has undergone many evolutions since, what was originally a temple of worship to the The most important god of the Egyptian pantheon, Amun-Ra, was transformed over the years to house the cult of other deities. During the Ptolemaic era, Serapis was worshiped, a syncretic god who combined Egyptian and Greek tradition. Later, during the time of Roman rule, a chapel was installed in honor of Augustus, the emperor who was deified, and later, when the Roman legion turned the temple into a fort, it housed the worship of other Roman divinities. Centuries later, with the arrival of Christianity and the acceptance of this religion by the Empire, churches were built inside the great enclosure of the temple and today remains of one that was located in the courtyard of Ramses II can still be seen. , on which a mosque was later installed dedicated to Abu El-Hagag, a local saint whose relics are kept inside. In short, between the passage of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Christians and Muslims, this temple has had cult activity for more than 3,500 years and today it maintains its mosque active, so we can hear the call to prayer while we contemplate the ruins of this pharaonic temple In short, between the passage of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Christians and Muslims, this temple has had cult activity for more than 3,500 years and today it maintains its mosque active, so we can hear the call to prayer as we contemplate the ruins of this pharaonic temple.

Transfer to the MERCURE Luxor Karnak hotel to stay on a bed and breakfast basis and in the afternoon departure to visit the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor. There we will visit the Valley of the Nobles and the Temple of Madinat Habu, where the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III is located; It represents one of the most important religious buildings in Thebes. The temple was built in an intentional imitation of the Ramesseum and consists of 2 pylons, 2 courtyards and 3 hypostyle halls, as well as a jetty and a canal that connected it to the Nile, destined to carry out the religious processions by boat of the god , then to the Valley of the Artisans, which is the necropolis of Deir el-Medina, where the builders of the tombs of the Valley of the Kings are buried, who lived in a town built especially for them, Deir el-Medina (Set maat, place of Maat or Truth), to keep them apart from the rest of the population and thus preserve the secrets of the royal tombs.

Return to the hotel and night in Luxor.

Breakfast and departure to visit The wonderful Dendera Temple, which is considered one of the best preserved in Egypt, is located southeast of the city of Dendera, on the west bank of the Nile River, 60 km north of Luxor. The entire complex covers an area of ​​40,000 square meters and is bounded by an adobe brick wall. The cult temple, dedicated in 380 BC. Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and beauty, was formerly known as the castle of sistrum or the house of Hathor. This impressive temple is considered the largest and most impressive building in this religious complex. However, the complex also includes the temple of the birth of Isis, the sacred lake, the sanatorium, the mammisi of Nectanebo II, a Christian basilica, a Roman mammisi, the monumental gates of Domitian and Trajan, the sanctuary of the boat and a Roman kiosk. There are indications that the complex was originally erected at the hands of Pharaoh Pepi I (around 2250 BC) in the 18th dynasty (around 1500 BC), but the oldest building it houses is the Mammisi of Nectanebo II, the last indigenous pharaoh of Egypt (360-343 BC). The Temple of Hathor, known in past times as the Temple of Tentyra, has undergone various renovations beginning in the Middle Kingdom, although the current structure was built during the reign of Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra VII in the extinct Ptolemaic Empire. In fact, carved on the external face of one of the walls of the temple we find a colossal relief of Cleopatra VII and hers, her son, Caesarion, heir to Julius Caesar. Later some additions were made until the time of the Roman Empire, such as the Roman mammisi or "the house of the birth", attributed to the Roman emperor Trajan but built by Nero. On the other hand, the Christian basilica was erected during the 5th century AD. C. and represents an excellent architectural example of the first Coptic churches. Likewise, since Hathor was also the goddess of healing, the city of Dendera has always been associated with the healing of travelers and pilgrims, who sought a remedy for their illnesses and the blessing of the gods.

Then transfer to the M / S Princess Sarah Ship, to stay on a full board basis. Night in Luxor.

Breakfast on the boat. Departure to visit the Valley of the Kings (including 3 royal tombs). This is the place where most of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried, that is, from that time when ancient Egypt was an empire that stretched along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean (the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties). It was there that they were buried, for example Thutmose III, Tutankhamun or Ramses II. In the beginning, during the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian kings were buried in pyramids built in the northern part of the country, near Memphis, which was the capital. After the last pyramids were built, Egypt went into crisis and the pharaohs lost their power. From Asia came a group of people who dominated the Delta area, they were the Hyksos. Meanwhile, the southern part of the country was left in the hands of a ruling family based in Thebes. All the Valley tombs are different, but according to their structure they can be divided into two main groups. The oldest ones are steep and start with a straight corridor. After several corridors and stairs, the corridor turns to the left and it is there that the burial chamber is located. This type of tomb was built during the 18th Dynasty. The second type of tomb is completely straight and has little slope, they are like a long corridor, with stairs, corridors and rooms one behind the other. This type of tomb was the one that was built during the XIX and XX Dynasties buried in the Valley of the Kings was King Tuthmosis I, pharaoh of the XVIII dynasty. It is worth mentioning that the workers who built the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings lived concentrated in the town of Deir el-Medina, to ensure that the location of the graves was kept secret.

The Temple of Queen Hatchepsut, - is located in the Deir el Bahari complex, on the western fringe of the River Nile, near the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. This funerary temple was built in honor of Amon-Ra, the god of the Sun, and is located next to the funerary temple of Mentuhotep II. It is considered "one of the incomparable monuments of Ancient Egypt". The Temple of Hatshepsut OR THE Temple of Deir el-Bahari, was designed by the architect Sennenmut. It is dedicated to Hatshepsut, the only woman who reigned in Egypt for a long period. It was built between the seventh and twenty-first years of her reign, and has a part excavated in the rock and another area in the exterior formed by three terraces. In the temple there are hardly any remains of Hatshepsut since everything related to her was destroyed after her death by hers, her brother Tutmosis III, from whom he took the throne 20 years ago. In the temple it is possible to find statues of Tuthmosis III. The early Christians converted the temple into a monastery, which It caused significant damage to the facilities but, despite this, the temple has managed to maintain its splendor to this day.

Also visit the temple of the Ramesseum, it is the funerary and commemorative temple of Ramses II, who began the construction of it shortly after the beginning of his reign. It was ready in the year 22 and featured some architectural innovations. For example, for the first pylon sandstone was used instead of adobe. However, limestone for a large part of the temple, which largely prevented its conservation due to the humidity of the region in which it is located, on the banks of the river. The first pylon records the conquest that in the eighth year of his reign took place over a city named Shalem, which many consider to be what we know today as Jerusalem. Although not as well preserved as nearby Medinet Habu, this funerary temple dedicated to Ramses II, dating from 1258 BC, still has more than enough to interest the visitor. In the inner sanctuary, for example, most of the columns in the hypostyle hall are still standing, as are a number of statues of the sentinel Osiris standing at the entrance, although the vast majority are headless. As is typical in this type of structure, the reliefs of the giant murals are the military achievements of the pharaoh and that proclaim his immortality. But you'll also see part of Ramses' fallen Colossus, which in Shelley's poem Ozymandias ("Look at my works, the mighty, and despair!") Became a powerful warning against arrogance.

We will finish our tour with a visit to the two colossi of Memnon. They are two gigantic stone statues that represent Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who ruled during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. They are located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the Egyptian city of Luxor, near Medinet Habu and south of the great Theban necropolis. The two twin statues show Amenhotep III in a seated position; his hands rest on his knees and his gaze is directed east, towards the river Nile and the rising sun. Two smaller figures, located next to the throne, represent his wife Tiy and her mother Mutemuia; the side panels show a bas-relief allegory of the god of the annual flood, Hapy. The statues are carved from large blocks of quartzite, brought especially from Giza and from the quarry of el-Gabal el-Ahmar, near present-day Cairo. The stones are believed to be too heavy to have been transported across the Nile River. The blocks that were later used by Roman engineers to rebuild the northern colossi may have come from Edfu, north of Aswan. Including the stone bases on which they stand, the statues have a total height of eighteen meters and an estimated weight of 720 tons each.1 2 The two figures are separated by about fifteen meters. Both statues are badly damaged, the cracks of which have rendered them unrecognizable from the waist. The southern statue is made of a single stone block, while the northern one is especially damaged in its lower half and five stone blocks are differentiated above the waist. These upper levels are composed of various types of sandstone and are the result of an attempt at reconstruction, according to William de Wiveleslie Abney attributed to the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus.3 Both statues are believed to be identical, although the inscriptions may have been different. The original function of the colossi was to preside over the first entrance of the three existing pylons in the funerary complex of Amenhotep III: an immense construction made during the life of the pharaoh, where he was worshiped as a god on Earth. In its time, it was the largest and most opulent temple in Ancient Egypt. Occupying a total of 35 hectares, even the Karnak temple was smaller in size than other later temples such as the Ramesseum or Medinet Habu. However, with the exception of the Colossi, there are hardly any visible remains of the temple of Amenhotep. It was located on the bank of the floodplain of the Nile, and these annual floods destroyed its foundations (a famous 1840 lithograph by David Roberts shows the Colossi surrounded by water), and even some rulers dismantled, stole and reused the ashlars. There are four other fallen colossi flanking two other missing pylons that an international mission is trying to recover. The Spanish archaeologist Miguel Ángel López Marcos has managed to direct the restoration and reconstruction of the third colossus of Memnón, weighing some three hundred tons.

Return to the ship. Lunch and start of the navigation to Esna. Afternoon to enjoy the scenery of the Nile and watch the ship pass through the Esna lock. Dinner on the boat. Navigation to Edfu.

In the morning, visit by buggy to the Edfu temple dedicated to the god Horus and the best preserved in Egypt. The Edfu Temple is one of the largest in Egypt (the largest after the Karnak Temple. The temple was built on much older ruins dating back to Ramses III, and was erected over one hundred and eighty years under a variety of rulers during the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt. This period represented a time of Greek rule; all pharaohs were descendants of Ptolemy, a general in Alexander the Great's army who took control of the region a few centuries before the temple was built However, the temple embodies the traditional architecture of ancient Egypt and is largely free of Hellenistic influence. The temple itself is dedicated to the cult of the Egyptian god Horus, who was frequently fused with the Greek god Apollo. In fact , the city of Edfu was renamed Apollonópolis Magna during the Greco-Roman rule in Egypt. Several of the inscriptions found in the Edfu temple describe what is known as e l "Sacred Drama". The story describes the conflict between Horus, the deity of the fertile Egyptian lands near the Nile, and Seth, the deity of the surrounding Egyptian desert, as Horus seeks revenge for the murder of his father, Osiris. This story was recreated every year through ceremonies by the ancient Egyptians in the temple complex.

Return to the ship and continue sailing to Kom Ombo. In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, which is an unusual double temple built during the reign of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, in the Egyptian city of Kom Ombo. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world, who appears alongside Hathor and Jonsu. In addition, the northern half of the temple was dedicated to Haroeris "Horus the Elder", who is listed alongside Tasenetnofret, the "Good Sister" (a special form of Hathor) and Panebtauy "Lord of the Two Lands." The temple is atypical for being double and symmetrical with respect to the main axis. Construction of the temple was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145 BC) early in his reign. It was expanded by other Ptolemies, such as Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy XII, who are represented in the inner and outer hypostyle halls. The decoration of the inner face of the back wall of the temple is of particular interest, since it represents a collection of surgical instruments. Many parts of the temple have been destroyed by the action of the Nile, earthquakes, and its stones were even used for other later constructions. Some of the reliefs inside were disfigured by the Copts, who used the temple as a church.

Then visit the museum of mummified crocodiles. The museum displays 22 mummified crocodiles of various sizes, of which forty have been unearthed in the area. The crocodiles are arranged on a sandy hill inside a large glass showcase, allowing visitors to see how crocodiles spent their days in ancient Egypt.

Navigation to Aswan, dinner and night to enjoy the costume party. (Galabya ​​Party)

Free morning with the possibility to visit optionally, they are called the eighth wonder of the World - one of the most spectacular constructions in Egypt. The Abu Simbel Temple is a huge rock-cut temple complex located near Egypt's border with Sudan. The two temples in this complex were built in the 13th century BC. C., during the reign of the great and powerful Ramses II. Although the group of temples is known today as the Abu Simbel temple, in the past it was called “Temple of Ramses, loved by Amun”. During the 1960s the Aswan High Dam was built, resulting in the creation of Lake Nasser. This fact threatened the existence of the Abu Simbel temple, whose transfer was completed in 1968. The construction of the temples took about 20 years to be completed and was carried out during the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC). Competing in beauty and spectacularity with the Pyramids of Giza themselves, the temple of Abu Simbel is one of the most spectacular constructions in Egypt. The complex is made up of several buildings, among which the Temple of Ramses II stands out, a true symbol of Egypt thanks to its impressive façade composed of four 20-meter-high statues that were carved directly on the rock. If the facade is imposing and impressive, the interior has nothing to envy. Huge rooms decorated with perfectly preserved frescoes surrounded by colossal statues that give way to different smaller rooms in a journey that is as artistic as it is mystical. Twice a year, on February 21 and October, in an act of astronomical perfection, magic is performed and the sun crosses the temple at dawn to illuminate the statues of the gods. Right next door is the Temple of Nefertari, the pharaoh's favorite wife. Smaller in size but similar in beauty, the facade of this temple has six figures carved into the rock and its interior has nothing to envy that of the main temple.

Then visit the High Dam of Aswan known in Arabic as "Saad El Aali". The Aswan Dam or Aswan Dam is a mega-construction, designed in 1956 and built between 1959 and 1970 by the Egyptian and Soviet governments, in order to end the floods that occurred in the territory of the lower Nile as a result of the sudden increase in the flow of the Nile. President Gamal Abdel Nasser was responsible for promoting its construction and bringing the project to fruition. To do this, he showed great capacity for political maneuvering during the cold war, thus, when the Americans withdrew their initial support for the dam project, he knew how to reconcile interests with the Soviet Union, which sponsored a third of the total cost of the project, in addition to provide technical and constructive advice to finish the dam. The city of Aswan, which gives its name to the reservoir, is located on the right bank of the Nile, next to the first waterfall. Two dams have been built in this area: the new Aswan High Dam and the smaller and older Aswan High Dam or Aswan Low Dam The Aswan Low Dam was built by the British. It ended in 1902, stood 30 meters tall and could only store water for a year, and was routinely overwhelmed by the rising Nile. As Egypt's population grew and technology increased, both desire and capacity developed. to fully control floods and thereby protect and support agricultural land and its economically important cotton cultivation. With the large increase in storage in the reservoir provided by the Aswan High Dam, flooding could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release for several years.

Then we will visit the unfinished obelisk of Queen Hatchepsut. That it is an object that she was working on and that it was possibly going to be the pair of the Lateran Obelisk of Karnak (today in Rome), which cracked and had to be left unfinished. Had it not been, it would have been the largest piece of worked stone in the world.

Return to the boat, dinner and night in Aswan.

Breakfast At the indicated time transfer to Aswan airport to fly to Cairo. Cairo, arrival and direct visit to the Egyptian Museum of Pharaonic art passing through all the masterpieces of the same Museum. he Egyptian Museum in Cairo houses the largest collection of objects from the Ancient Egyptian period; It possesses more than 136,000 classified objects from different periods of Egyptian history: Tinite, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period, Late, Hellenistic and Roman, surpassing other museums not only for the quantity, but also for the importance of many of them. It is located in the center of Cairo, on Tahrir Square. The ground floor, entirely dedicated to sculpture, painted reliefs and sarcophagi, is dominated by the colossal statues of Amonhotep III and Queen Tie, located at the back of the great atrium. Tutankhamun's funeral trousseau is exhibited on the first floor: the mask and gold sarcophagi, the jewels, the golden throne, the alabaster crockery and the furniture. The collections on display are so rich that they cannot be visited in a single day. Since Napoleon's military campaign in Egypt, European interest in Egypt has been arousing into a veritable mania for the pharaonic and the ancient. During the early years of the 19th century, European consuls and treasure hunters explored the country, some in search of relics and monuments and others in search of gold and precious treasures. In 1835, the Service des Antiquités de I'Egypte was founded to protect the country's monuments and treasures from local and foreign greed. At first, the found pieces were kept in a small building near the area of ​​present-day Azbakia, in the center of Cairo and later in the Saladin citadel. However and during the visit of the Austrian emperor, Maximilian, the governor of, Egypt Abbas Pasha gave him the entire collection! In 1858, Auguste Mariette prepared another museum, in the Boulaq neighborhood, which was later lost by a flood from the Nile. In 1878, the contents of the Boulaq museum were moved to the Giza palace of Governor Ismael Pasha, the governor of the Country. The collection remained there until the current museum was inaugurated in 1902. The current building was designed by the French architect, Marcel Dourgrion, in a neoclassical style, thinking that it would be the most suitable for its content. Two of the museum's floors are dedicated to public exposition and classrooms, in which more than 120,000 pieces from the different eras of Ancient Egypt are exhibited, arranged chronologically according to the clockwise direction. Objects from all periods of ancient Egypt are exhibited in the museum: - Predynastic period: such as stone vessels and funeral objects. - Old Kingdom: such as statues, paintings, reliefs and movable objects. - New Kingdom: The great treasure of Tutankhamun as well as statues, reliefs and objects from the Tal el-Amarna period and Akhenaten's sarcophagus, funerary equipment, jewelery, models and other objects. - Late Period: Statues, reliefs and funerary objects. Greco-Roman Period: Statues and funerary objects. Sculptures from various eras are exhibited in the museum gardens.

At the end we will go to the Saladino Citadel where the Alabaster Mosque is and we will give a detailed conference on everything that is related to the Mosques. The Mehmet Ali Pasha Mosque, also known as the Alabaster Mosque, is a mosque located in the highest part of the Citadel of Cairo, in the capital of Egypt. It was built at the behest of the Ottoman governor Mehmet Ali between the years 1830 and 1848. It was the largest mosque built in the first half of the 19th century and is also the most visible in the Egyptian capital due to its elevated location and the height of its minarets. It was erected in memory of Tusun Pasha, the eldest son of Mehmet Ali who died in 1816. Today the mosque is an unavoidable visit for tourists, who can contemplate a privileged view of the city from it. The mosque was built between 1830 and 1845 on the site of the old Mamluk citadel of Cairo, although it was not fully completed until 1857, during the rule of Mehmet Said. The Istanbul architect Yusuf Bushnak was inspired for the design at the New Mosque in his hometown, the existing buildings on the site were demolished and their materials incorporated into the foundations of the new temple. Before the completion of the mosque, the alabaster plates that embellished the upper part of the façade were removed to be used in the palace of Abbas I. To hide the missing pieces, the walls were covered with wooden panels that were painted to simulate marble. In 1899 some cracks appeared in the building that were improperly repaired. The worsening of the stateThe mosque required a full restoration which was ordered by King Fuad I in 1931 and completed during Faruq's reign in 1939. The building's founder, Mehmet Ali, was originally buried in the mosque's courtyard in a sculpted sarcophagus in Carrara marble, although the tomb with its remains was moved inside the temple in 1857.

Lunch at a local restaurant, then visit the Khan El Khalili Market, which is considered the most famous market in Egypt and the entire Middle East. No visit to Cairo is complete without a stop at Khan el Jalili Bazaar, where you will be transported back in time to an ancient Arab souk. The market is located in the heart of Islamic Cairo, in a walled area with a medieval air that breathes the magnificence of Mamluk architecture. colored bells, fabrics, handicrafts, jewelery, spices, perfumes, musical instruments and, of course, Egyptian souvenirs and gifts… in the narrow streets that form the Jan El Jalili market it is possible to find literally all kinds of shops. It is said that there are more than 900 positions. In most of the stalls they speak Spanish, at least as much as necessary to attract the attention of the visitor and haggle the price. The copper works are especially famous, in fact, "El Najaseen" is an area of ​​the market where artisans from this metal. The merchants calling him to come closer to their stalls, the aroma of spices, the hubbub of commercial exchange and the amount of beautiful objects that you can buy will make you lose yourself in the alleys for hours.

Then transfer to the Ramsés Hilton hotel. Accommodation and night in Cairo.

Breakfast and transfer to Cairo international airport to fly to your country of origin.

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