European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Luxor s Monument stand As a tribute to Egypt s grand pastry j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau when compared with Luxor s awesome antiquities other travel experiences Pale to near insignificance. Luxor with its 50 centuries of history mystery and Art is the very heart of upper Egypt. It is the fabled Thebes the capital that linked upper and lower Egypt in one kingdom at the Zenith of pharaonic Power about 2000 . Massive temples and lavish tombs were built during a millennium when Hundred gated Thebes seemingly ruled the world and its citizens worshipped Amon re the great Sun god. In time the temples were desecrated the City destroyed. A Mantle of Sand raised by the dry desert winds entombed the fallen City. The wonders of Thebes Lay buried for centuries. It was t until nearly the 19th Century that modern archaeologists started to excavate and interpret the Golden Era of Egypt s history. The Nile still dominates egyptian life As it dominates travel brochures. The River stretches South through the 562 Miles of upper Egypt from Cairo to the town of Aswan. Today More than 99 percent of the country s More than 50 million people live in Only 4 percent of the total area of Egypt living off the Fertility of the great River. With the exception of the pharaonic wonders at Abu Simbell and Aswan most of the great sights of upper Egypt Are in and around Nile Side Luxor. There is so much to see and do in and around Luxor a the valleys of the Kings Queens and Nobles the temples of Luxor and Karnak a that it is vital to plan your visit with the precision of a pharaoh planning his funeral. A few hours with a Good Guidebook will More than repay the Effort. The Luxor and Karnak temples Are for Many people the most memorable experience in Egypt. Both Are located on the East Bank of the Nile the land of the living. The West Bank was the land of the dead. The Temple of Luxor is the smaller of the two. Because it is perched on the River Bank and is in the Center of town it is the first great sight of Luxor that most people see. It was less than a Century ago that the Temple of Luxor was acc Dently discovered beneath the mud huts and rubble of the present town. The 1,000-foot-Long Temple bears the distinctive stamp of the most celebrated of egyptian Kings Ramses ii who replaced inscriptions on the Temple s images of earlier pharaohs with his own name and erected six colossal statues of himself and two great obelisks. One of the obelisks is no longer there. It was Given to France in 1936 and now stands in the Center of the place de la concorde in Paris. The temples of Luxor and Karnak once were linked by a Sphinx lined Avenue More than a mile Long. Although some of these statues have been unearthed the majority remains buried under dwellings built later. Magnificent processions once made their Way along this Avenue to the splendid and unimaginably huge Karnak the world s biggest Complex dedicated to worship. Amon a depicted As a ram headed Man was revered there. The size of the Temple boggles the mind. Karnak could easily Swallow Rome s st. Peters London s st. Paul s and quite Likely the Cathedral of Seville Spain too. Fortress like Karnak with its 50-foot-thick Walls took 1,300 years to build and at one time was serviced by 81,000 slaves. The Temple grew constantly a shrine after shrine obelisk after obelisk colonnade after colonnade a until it covered an astounding 200,000 Square Yards. Its Hyp style Hall the largest of any Temple Ever built covers an area of 50,000 Square feet. The 1 34 columns that once held the massive Stone roof in place were covered with Rich paintings and Relief work and then inlaid with sheets of Gold and strips of Alabaster and Marble. Karnak has a reputation for putting on one of the Best sound and Light shows in the world. Unlike other such spectacles where spectators simply sit the twice continued on Page to a giant obelisk and a huge statue of Ramses ii guard the Entrance to the Temple of Luxor. At left a Man along the Highway to Luxor Sells baskets made from Reeds grown along the Nile River. A amps photos by Jim Derheim Marih 5, /9v2 strips  3