Luxor hot air balloon rides

After early morning pickup from your central Luxor hotel or cruise ship, travel by air-conditioned vehicle to the launch site on the west bank of the Nile River.

On arrival, enjoy a light pre-flight snack and refreshments, and meet your expert pilot and ground crew. Next, listen to a comprehensive safety briefing and step inside the balloon’s sturdy basket with your pilot and several other passengers.

Then, feel your adrenaline surge as the brightly colored balloon rises into the still-dark sky for your approximate 45 to 60-minute flight.

Valley of the Kings

The rulers of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt’s prosperous New Kingdom (c.1550–1069 BC) were buried in a desolate dry river valley across the river from the ancient city of Thebes (modern Luxor), hence its modern name of the Valley of the Kings. This moniker is not entirely accurate, however, since some members of the royal family aside from the king were buried here as well, as were a few non-royal, albeit very high-ranking, individuals. The Valley of the Kings is divided into the East and West Valleys. The eastern is by far the more iconic of the two, as the western valley contains only a handful of tombs. In all, the Valley of the Kings includes over sixty tombs and an additional twenty unfinished ones that are little more than pits.

The site for this royal burial ground was selected carefully. Its location on specifically the west side of the Nile is significant as well. Because the sun god set (died) in the western horizon in order to be reborn, rejuvenated, in the eastern horizon, the west thus came to have funerary associations. Ancient Egyptian cemeteries were generally situated on the west bank of the Nile for this reason.

The powerful kings of the New Kingdom were laid to rest under the shadow of a pyramid-shaped peak rising out of the cliffs surrounding the valley. The selection of even the specific valley in which the royal tombs were excavated was not left to chance. The pyramid was a symbol of rebirth and thus eternal life, and the presence of a natural pyramid was seen as a sign of the divine. This entire area, and the peak itself, was sacred to a funerary aspect of the goddess Hathor: the “Mistress of the West”.

The isolated nature of this valley was yet another reason for its selection as the final resting place of the pharaoh. Tomb robberies occurred even in ancient times. The Egyptians were aware of this, having seen the a fate of the Old and Middle Kingdom pyramids, so they opted for hidden, underground tombs in a secluded desert valley. The first New Kingdom ruler that is confirmed to have been buried in the Valley of the Kings was Thutmose I (c.1504–1492 BC), the third king of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to Ineni, the high official who was in charge of the digging of his tomb: “I oversaw the excavation of the cliff-tomb of his Person [the king] in privacy; none seeing, none hearing.”

Temple of Hatshepsut

The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (c.1478/72-1458 B.C.E.) dates from the New Kingdom. It nestles at the foot of the cliffs in a natural “bay” on the West Bank of Luxor. This area had long been sacred to the goddess Hathor and was the site of the earlier mortuary temple and tomb of King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep (c.2008-1957 B.C.E.) of the Middle Kingdom (ramp visible on the far left). After the introduction of Christianity, Hatshepsut’s temple was used as a monastery, hence its modern name, Deir el-Bahri, Arabic for “Northern Monastery.”

Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh who had herself represented pictorially as a male. She served as co-regent with her nephew Thutmose III (c.1479-1425 B.C.E.).

The Polish National Academy of Sciences is responsible for the study and restoration of the three levels of the temple. As of spring 1995, the first two levels were almost complete, and the top level was still under reconstruction.

Hatshepsut’s temple was well situated to escape rock slides, unlike the temples of Nebhepetre-Mentuhotep and Thutmose III (to the left and behind Hatshepsut’s Temple).

The history of Luxor shows us that the city had a deeply religious nature as it was known to be Thebes which means the city of Hundred doors and the city of Amun as it was the worship center for the Theban triad which consisted of the creator sun God Amun-Ra, His wife the goddess of truth & justice Mut and her son Khnosu the moon god. The city was known in ancient times to be the home of the god Amun and a physical embodiment of the relationship between Amun the God of gods and Egyptian royalty which Egyptian queens actually credited with fathering their own children. Luxor was very important during the 11th dynasty, the early middle kingdom (2050-1652 BC), the 12th dynasty (1938-1756 BC), and later in Egypt new kingdom as the city of the gods where the Karnak temple is the official place for worship as each god had a shrine-like Amun-Re, Mut and many more. Luxor was a provincial administration center during the Old Kingdom collapsed, but with the rise of the middle kingdom in a time called the “first intermediate period.” the ancient city at Luxor became the capital of the new kingdom of Egypt. The importance of the city grows at the beginning of the 11th dynasty during the early middle kingdom leading to the new kingdom where the city became the capital and a universal hub for all the political, religious, and military aspects in Ancient Egypt. From the 18th to the 20th Dynasty, many kings and Queens established many temples to honor the gods as king Amenhotep III constructed the temple of the deity Amon, his consort the goddess Mut and their son Khonsu the moon good A.K.A Luxor temple in the late 18th dynasty, soon the power of Amon grow stronger as he was merged with the sun God Ra to Form Amun-RA who was worshipped in his temple in the Karnak Temples Complex. King Akhenaton (1353-1336 BC) tried to enforce Monotheism as the way of the land when he moved the capital to the city of Amarna and force Atonism (the worship of the only god Aton) on the nation but he failed to do so after a period of civil war and unrest. During the new kingdom, a new set of constructions took place as many kings and Queens like Ramsess II (1279-1213 BC) and Hatshepsut (1507- 1458 BC) desired to immortalize their legacy plus it became a custom for any king or queen during the new kingdom to be buried in the valley of the kings as it holds 63 royal tombs such as the tomb of Ramses the great, Tutankhamen, Thutmose III, Nefertari and many more. Luxor is quite famous for the glorious temple of Hatshepsut that reflects the true artistic design and classical architecture of that era. One of the last characters to add something new to the city was Alexander the Great as a granite shrine of him was added to the Luxor temple. The ancient Egyptian nature of Luxor hasn’t changed or decreased even when the Greek, Roman, Coptic, and Islamic Era came to Luxor and many churches and mosques were built near or even on some of the temples, Luxor still remained a window to the Ancient Egyptian History. The city of Luxor keeps surprising us with new discoveries every single day. Luxor along with the Karnak temples complex, the Valley of the Queens, and the Valley of the Kings, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Many excavations, restorations, and preservation efforts are still operating to this current day. In 1988 the Egyptian Antiquities Organization uncovered many 18th-dynasty statues.  Modern Luxor is a market town that serves all the surrounding agricultural districts, plus the majority of the population is Christian. The town also has a railway station, an airport, and a ferry service to the western bank, plus The marvelous Luxor Museum was opened here in 1975 to offer travelers from all over the world a glimpse into the remarkable history and culture of ancient Thebes.