Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple 

is a large Ancient Egyptian Temple  complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes ) and was founded in 1400 BCE.

During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area. 

The Luxor temple was built with sandstone from the Gebel el-Silsila area, which is located in south-western Egypt. This sandstone was used for the construction for monuments in Upper Egypt as well as in the course of past and current restoration works. Like other Egyptian structures a common technique used was symbolism, or illusionism. 

At the Luxor temple, the two obelisks (the smaller one closer to the west is now in the Place de la Concorde in Paris) flanking the entrance were not the same height, but they created the illusion that they were.

With the layout of the temple they appear to be of equal height, but using illusionism, it enhances the relative distances hence making them look the same size to the wall behind it .

Folk song from Luxor in Arabic

Luxor City

Luxor City

the nickname of luxor is the city of 100 gate , Also it is The City of the Sun. Previously known as Thebes.
It Is the capital of Egypt in the Pharaonic era & Located on the banks of the River Nile , Which is divided into two parts :
 the eastern mainland and the west . Luxor is the capital of the province of Luxor in southern Egypt, and away from the Egyptian capital Cairo, about 670 km, And the northern city of Aswan, about 220 km, and the southern city of Qena, about 56 k,And on the south-west of the city of Hurghada at about 280 km.
The area of ​​Luxor, about 416 km ², and the populated area is 208 km .
Luxor Includes many of the ancient pharaonic monuments , divided into east and west of the city:

The East Side Includes land east of Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, and Kabash through the link between the two temples, and the Luxor Museum  .

The West Side includes the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Deir el-Bahri, Valley of the Queens, Deir el-Medina,  the Temple of the Ramesseum, and the statue of Memnon.

History

Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the great capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom, and the glorious city of the god Amon Ra.

The importance of the city started as early as the 11 th Dynasty,  when the town grew into a thriving city, renowned for its high social status and luxury, but also as a center for wisdom, art, religious and political supremacy. Montuhotep II who united Egypt after the troubles of the first intermediate period brought stability to the lands as the city grew in stature. 
The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom in their expeditions to Kush, in today's northern Sudan,  and to the lands of Canaan , Phoenicia and Syria saw the city accumulate great wealth and rose to prominence, even on a world scale. Thebes played a major role in expelling the invading forces of the Hyksos from Upper Egypt, and from the time of the 18th Dynasty through to the 20th Dynasty, the city had risen as the major political, religious and military capital of Ancient Egypt. 

The city attracted peoples such as the Babylonians , the Mitanni , the Hittites of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), the Canaanites  of Ugarit, the Phoenicians of Byblos and Tyre, the Minoans from the island of Crete.
A Hittite prince from Anatolia even came to marry with the widow of Tutankhamun , Ankhesenamun.  The political and military importance of the city, however, faded during the Late Period, with Thebes being replaced as political capital by several cities in Northern Egypt, such as Bubastis, Sais and finally Alexandria.

However, as the city of the god Amon-Ra, Thebes remained the religious capital of Egypt until the Greek period. The main god of the city was Amon, who was worshipped together with his wife, the Goddess Mut, and their son Khonsu, the God of the moon. With the rise of Thebes as the foremost city of Egypt, the local god Amon rose in importance as well and became linked to the sun god Ra, thus creating the new 'king of gods' Amon-Ra. His great temple, at Karnak  just north of Thebes, was the most important temple of Egypt right until the end of antiquity.
Later, the city was attacked by Assyrian emperor Assurbanipal who installed the Libyan prince on the throne, Psammetichus.
The city of Thebes was in ruins and fell in significance. 

However, Alexander the Great did arrive at the temple of Amun, where the statue of the god was transferred from Karnak during the Opet Festival, the great religious feast 

The grandeur of Thebes would still remain a site of spirituality, and attracted numerous Christian monks in the Roman Empire  who established monasteries amidst several ancient monuments including the temple of Hatshipsut, now called Deir el-Bahri (the northern monastery). 

Suez

Suez

 is a seaport city in north-eastern Eypt. located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal , having the same boundaries as suez governorate.

It has three harbors Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfik  and extensive port facilities.

Railway lines and highways connect the city with Cairo, Port Said and Ismailia.

Suez has a petrochemical plant, and its oil refineries have pipelines carrying the finished product to Cairo.

The city was virtually destroyed during battles in the late 1960s and early 1970s between Egyptian and Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula. The town was deserted following the Six Day War in 1967. Reconstruction of Suez began soon after Egypt reopened the Suez Canal, following the October War with Israel.

Suez was the first city to hold major protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and was the scene of the first fatality of that uprising

Ismaïlia

Ismailia 

is a city in north-east Egypt. Known in Egypt as "The City of Beauty and Enchantment".

 Ismaïlia is situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate

The city has a population (including surrounding rural areas) of approximately 750,000 inhabitants

It is located approximately half way between Port Said to the north and Suez to the south

The Canal widens at that point to include Lake Timsah, one of the Bitter Lakes linked by the Canal.

Ismaïlia was founded in 1863, during the construction of the Suez Canal, by Khedive Ismail the Magnificent, after whom the city is named. 

The head office of the Suez Canal Authority is located in Ismaïlia at the shore of Lake Timsah. It still has a large number of buildings dating from British and French involvement with the Canal. Most of these buildings are still used by Canal employees and officials.

Port Said

Port Said 
is a city that lies in north east of Egypt, extending about 30 kilometres (19 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea , north of the Suez Canal.

The city was established in 1859 during the building of the suez canal. The economic base of the city is Fishing and some industrie ssuch as chemicals and processed food . Port Said is also an important harbour for exports of Egyptian products like Cotton and Rice, also a fueling station for ships that pass through the Suez Canal. It is a Duty-Free port as well as a tourist resort especially during summer.

Port Said's twin city is Port Fouad , which lies on the eastern bank of the canal.

The cities are connected by free ferries running all through the day , and together they form a metropolitan area with over a million residents that extends both on the African and the Asian sides of the Suez Canal.

The name of Port Said first appeared in 1855, It was chosen by an International committee composed of England, France, Russia, Austria, Spain and Piedmont.

It is a compound name which composed of two parts: Port (marine harbour) and Said (the name of the ruler of Egypt at that time), who granted Ferdinand de Lesseps the concession to dig the Suez Canal.

Library of Alexandria

The Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt  was the largest and most significant great library of the Ancient World. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the 3rd century BC until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC.

The library was conceived and opened either during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter (323–283 BC) or during the reign of his son Ptolemy II (283–246 BC)

Plutarch (AD 46–120) wrote that during his visit to Alexandria in 48 BC Julius Caesar accidentally burned the library down when he set fire to his own ships to frustrate Achillas' attempt to limit his ability to communicate by sea. After its destruction, scholars used a "daughter library" in a temple known as the Serapeum, located in another part of the city. Intended both as a commemoration and an emulation of the original, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in 2002 near the site of the old library

In 2004, a Polish-Egyptian excavation team announced that they had discovered the remains of the Library of Alexandria