4 Nights Nile River Cruise from Luxor Include Abu Simbel

Enjoy a new day on board your vehicle. After breakfast, we'll begin your visit to the Valley of the Kings, which contains three tombs for visitors. If you'd like to visit another or additional tomb, please let us know to reserve this ticket for an additional fee. Enjoy a visit. The tomb of Seti I is the longest, deepest, and most beautiful of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Seti I (c. 1294-1279 BC) was the second king of the Nineteenth Dynasty and the father of the great king Ramesses II. His tomb was situated at number 17 in the Valley of the Kings and was dubbed the "Belzoni Tomb" after its discoverer.

The tomb has a number of novel and distinctive characteristics.  An entrance to one of the rooms is visible along the same axis as the first set of tunnels; this may have been done to trick trespassers into thinking it was the king's burial chamber.  The burial room of Seti I's mausoleum also has the first domed ceiling.  The section that starts at the burial chamber's floor and goes further into the earth is arguably the most fascinating feature.  It is said that this enigmatic text links the ceremonies of Seti I with the underworld's primal energies. (Optional)

Enjoy a visit to Deir el-Bahari, where Hatshepsut was inspired to build it from her father's temple. Learn more about her relationship with Thutmose III and experience the atmosphere and events they experienced.

Before the end of the day, explore the two statues of Memnon and learn why they were named so. Go to your cruise and relax to begin the tour of the third day.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We start our fascinating travels after breakfast and stop by the ancient Temple of Edfu, one of Egypt's most notable archeological sites.  Constructed in the Aswan Governorate's Edfu city on the banks of the Nile during the Ptolemaic era, it still keeps many mysteries behind its imposing walls.

The Egyptian-German mission, concerned with the restoration of the Edfu Temple in Aswan (southern Egypt), dedicated to the worship of the god Horus, has revealed the original colors that adorn the temple's wall paintings, in addition to a number of inscriptions that are appearing for the first time. Part of the walls and ceilings of this temple were covered with soot, a fine carbon (sob), resulting from the use of wood for cooking and lighting, during the period of the emergence of the Christian religion in Egypt, and during the era of Christian persecution by the Romans, when the Copts took refuge there.

We'll go to Kom Ombo after your delectable supper in Aswan.  The Pharaonic term "Kom Ombo" means "hill of gold."  Numerous inscriptions throughout the temple recount the tale of Maat, the ancient Egyptian deity of justice, truth, and order.

Enjoy a trip to the Abu Simbel Temple of King Ramses II and learn about his biography and political thought. He came to power at the age of 25 and reigned for 67 years, and well deserves the nickname Ramses the Great. During his sixty-seven-year reign, all his undertakings were carried out on a grand scale. No other king had erected so many temples, colossi, and obelisks, and none had fathered so many children. He won a victory over the Hittites at Kadesh, celebrated by a much-repeated Egyptian text

The young prince Ramses II, named the king's eldest son, was depicted behind his father Seti I at a smaller height. He witnessed his father fight the Hittites in Syria and, like his grandfather, received a military education.   He participated in Seti I's construction projects at Abydos and established his own temple to Osiris, but it was smaller than his father's.

The king's greatest achievements are the two rock temples carved into two rocky escarpments, Mount Meha and Mount Ibshek (Hathor). The great temple, which is preceded by four colossi depicting the seated king and measuring 18 meters in height, was built. The rising sun illuminated the back of the sanctuary of the great temple twice a year. Thanks to their astronomical knowledge, the Egyptians oriented the temple so that during the equinoxes of February 22 and October 22, the sanctuary in the rear of the temple, which is 60 meters deep, and its four sacred sculptures were lighted by the rising sun.

Many of the temple's inscriptions were purposefully erased, and the temple was transformed into a church following the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's edict to close all pagan temples (527–565).  Next was the final dated hieroglyphic inscription, dated to the late fourth century AD (394 AD) and carved by Ismet-Akhom, the priest of Isis.

When the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s, 22 historic sites, including Philae Island and its temples, were in risk of flooding.   Even though Philae was completely inundated, UNESCO and the Egyptian government at the time worked diligently to destroy the Temple of Isis and rebuild it on higher ground some 550 meters northeast of its original location on Agilkia Island.   Today, we'll take you to see the Philae Temple and the High Dam up close.

The idea began with the July Revolution of 1952, as the Egyptian state moved toward development following its liberation from British colonialism.

Adrian Daninos, an Egyptian engineer of Greek descent, proposed to the Revolutionary Command Council the construction of a huge dam close to Aswan in order to collect the flood of the Nile, store its water, and produce energy.

Studies began that same year by the Egyptian Ministry of Public Works (now the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources), and the final design, specifications, and terms of construction were approved in 1954.

A fourth of the dam's cost was covered by World Bank assistance in 1955, but the offer was rescinded the following year because of "colonial pressure."

Egypt and Russia (previously the Soviet Union) inked a deal in 1958 that gave Egypt a 400 million ruble loan to build the dam's initial phase.  The next year, 1959, Egypt and Sudan signed a deal to share the dam's reservoir water.