Luxor: Ancient Egyptian Capital

by Owen Jarus, LiveScience ContributorDate: 25 June 2013

Luxor is a modern-day Egyptian city that lies atop an ancient city that the Greeks named “Thebes” and the ancient Egyptians called “Waset.”

Located in the Nile River about 312 miles (500 kilometers) south of Cairo the World Gazetteer website reports that, as of the 2006 census, Luxor and its environs had a population of more than 450,000 people. The name Luxor “derives from the Arabic al-uksur, ‘the fortifications,’ which in turn was adapted from the Latin castrum,” which refers to a Roman fort built in the area, writes William Murnane in the "Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt" (Oxford University Press, 2001).

The ancient city of Luxor served at times as Egypt’s capital and became one of its largest urban centers. “On the East Bank, beneath the modern city of Luxor, lie the remains of an ancient town that from about 1500 to 1000 B.C. was one of the most spectacular in Egypt, with a population of perhaps 50,000,” write archaeologists Kent Weeks and Nigel Hetherington in their book "The Valley of the Kings Site Management Masterplan" (Theban Mapping Project, 2006).

In ancient times, the city was known as home to the god Amun, a deity who became associated with Egyptian royalty. In turn, during Egypt’s “New Kingdom” period between roughly 1550-1050 B.C., most of Egypt’s rulers chose to be buried close to the city in the nearby Valley of the Kings. Other famous sites near the city, which were built or greatly expanded during the New Kingdom period, include Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Queens and Queen Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir al-Bahari.

“Of all the ancient cities, no other city reached the glory of Thebes in supremacy,” writes Egyptologist Rasha Soliman in her book "Old and Middle Kingdom Theban Tombs" (Golden House Publications, 2009). “Thebes is the largest and wealthiest heritage site in the world.”

Luxor: Rediscover Egypt’s jewel of the Nile

A closer look at one of the most attractive tourist destinations

By Sarah Loat

As the searing heat of the Egyptian sun releases its grip on Luxor a little, now is the perfect season to venture back to the beginning of time.

Post-revolutionary Luxor has been hit hard. This ancient capital of Egypt has been left bereft of tourists and the economy is struggling. Little else has changed; the temples still stand as they have for millennia and the Nile still enchants.

All the reasons why Luxor has attracted tourists for centuries and why it should definitely be on your bucket list – never has there been a better time to get a reduced-rate hotel room, from back packer’s lodges up to 5 star luxury. And Luxor needs you now!

The city is a treasure trove of ancient Egyptian wonder and has some of the world’s most awe-inspiring sights. Luxor has, somewhat unfairly, built a reputation for being the hassle capital of Egypt. It is true, it can be intimidating to have feluccas and caleche rides and West Bank tours thrust at you, seemingly by every person you pass in the street. But greet them with humour and politeness and remember, they are only trying to make a living.

Culture: The sands of time

By Idris Tawfiq - The Egyptian Gazette
Monday, January 9, 2012 09:08:48 PM

Luxor is one of the most splendid and treasure-filled places on earth. Its temples and tombs are renowned the world over for the civilisation that produced them. Luxor and Ancient Egypt are two halves of the same sentence and visitors flock there throughout the year in search of its mysteries.

Luxor is also a magical place. Travelling there from abroad or arriving from the hustle and bustle of Cairo’s teeming millions, it has the air of a place set apart. On one side of the mighty Nile is the town itself, with its hotels, shops and beautiful Corniche.

On the other side, you leave towns and shops behind and are greeted by camels, sand and the lure of Ancient Egypt. For it is on the West Bank of the Nile that the Valley of the Kings is to be found, the magnificent temple of Hatshepsut, the Colossi of Memnon or the temple of Ramses II.

The view of this side of the Nile as you approach in a ferry boat is so exciting that it takes your breath away.
Thebes, as Luxor was once known, was the capital of Ancient Egypt for centuries. Hardly surprising, then, that it should be packed full of history and be the final resting place of so many Pharaohs, once invincible and all-powerful.

The coach loads of tourists here become so frequent in high season that the only way to visit the tombs and the monuments in any peaceful way is to set off at the crack of dawn and head exactly for the ticket office of where you want to be, well before anyone else has the chance to get there.