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We got to the Cairo airport early, but there were already lines out the door. Part of the reason for this is that they X-ray all luggage and send everyone through a very sensitive metal detector immediately when they enter the airport. They do it all a second time before you can get to your gate. Luckily, we had a private flight and our guides "arranged" for us to skip the lines. We flew to Luxor, the religious capital of ancient Egypt.
Our
first stop was Karnak
Temple, remarkable for its sheer grandeur. No site in Egypt is more
impressive than Karnak. It is the largest temple complex ever built by
man, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of
ancient builders.
The Avenue of the Sphinxes once connected the Temple of Karnak with the Temple of Luxor. The entire avenue was more than 3 km long, and must have had more than 2000 sphinxes all together. But the sphinxes do not belong to the original cult structure of Luxor. It was built under King Nectanebo 1 in the 4th century, about 1,000 years after the temples it connects.
