Aswan

Aswan is a city in the south of Egypt.  Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dams on the east bank of the Nile at the first Cataract . The modern city has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island of Elephantine.

History

Aswan is the ancient city of Swenet , which in antiquity was the frontier town of  Ancient Egypt facing the south. 
Swenet is supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with the same name.

The city is mentioned by numerous ancient writers, including Herodotus,,Strabo,Stephanus of Byzantium,

Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder,De architectura, and it appears on the Antonine Itinerary.It also is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Isaiah .

The Nile is nearly 3,000 yards wide above Aswan.From this frontier town to the northern extremity of Egypt, the river flows for more than 750 miles (1,210 km)

Valley of the Kings - Luxor

less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings  is a Valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom  (the 18th to the 20th Dynasties of Ancient Egypt)

The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The wadi consists of two valleys, East Valley (where the majority of the royal tombs are situated) and West Valley. With the 2006 discovery of a new chamber (Kv63), and the 2008 discovery of 2 further tomb entrances ^, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers.

It was the principal burial place of the major royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom  , together with those of a number of privileged nobles. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues to the beliefs and funerary rituals of the period. Almost all of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of the opulence and power of the rulers of this time.

Karnak Temple

comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings. Building at the complex began in the reign of Sesostris I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom. The area around Karnak was  the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head . It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. 

The Karnak complex takes its name from the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of el-Karnak, some 2.5 km north of Luxor. The complex is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. It is believed to be the second most visited historical site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo.It consists of four main parts of which only the largest is currently open to the general public. The term Karnak often is understood as being the Precinct of Amun-Re only, because this is the only part most visitors normally see. The three other parts, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu ,  and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV , are closed to the public. There also are a few smaller temples and sanctuaries located outside the enclosing walls of the four main parts, as well as several avenues of goddesses and ram-headed Sphinxes connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re, and the Luxor Temple.

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