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Day 1 – London/Cairo
Fly London to Cairo with EgyptAir and on arrival check-in to the Sofitel Sphinx Hotel Giza for four nights on room and breakfast basis. This fi rst-class resort hotel is in an excellent location close to the Pyramids with all the usual amenities.
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Day 2 – Memphis
We begin with a visit to ancient Memphis to see the gigantic limestone statue of Ramesses II then on to Sakkara where we will explore the great funerary necropolis including the Step Pyramid and related tombs. We will have special access to the mysterious and legendary Serapeum that has been closed to visitors for many years, the place of the sacred bull burials. (B)
An exciting new tour tracing the life of Ramesses the Great with an AWT special - a private opening of the Serapeum at Sakkara and a special opening of the Tomb of Seti I in the Valley of Kings.
Day 3 – Mariette’s Museum
Today we will have a guided tour of the wonderful Cairo Museum paying special attention to the Ramesside period. There will also be plenty of free time to explore on your own. (B)
Day 4 – Pi-Ramesses
Today will be a fascinating exploration of the Nile Delta area. We will visit Avaris, ancient Pi-Ramesses and the extraordinary site of Tell ed-Daba, where Dr. Manfred Bietak has been excavating for many years. This site has occupation levels dating from the Hyksos period and there have been many surprising fi nds here including some intriguing ‘Asiatic’ settlements about which there has been much debate and what appear to be plaster friezes from Minoan civilization. (B)
Day 5 – Ancient Thebes
We take our morning fl ight to Luxor and settle ourselves in the excellent four-star Sheraton Hotel for four nights on a bed and breakfast basis. Later, we will explore the magnifi cent Karnak temple where evidence of Ramesses is hard to miss! There will be free time to wander and take your own pictures in this, the world’s largest temple complex. (B)
Day 6 – West Bank
Our first full day on the West Bank takes us to the superb Ramesseum, Medinet Habu and the Temple of Seti I – huge dynastic monuments to Ramesses and his family. We also explore the excellent Nobles Tombs of Userhat, Khonsu, Nefersekheru and Neferenpet. (B)
Day 7 – Abydos
Today we head north to Abydos, often seen as the spiritual fount of the Egyptian religious system and one of the possible ‘birth places of the world’. Here, on the edge of the desert, there are two temples – that of Seti I which has been extensively restored and which contains arguably the fi nest raised relief inscriptions and religious scenes anywhere in Egypt. This temple is also signifi cant for its ancient ‘King List’, once assumed to be defi nitive, but which has carefully excised those pharaohs viewed as suspect or heretical by Seti I. A short walk takes us to the second temple we visit – that of Ramesses II . Only the walls now remain but there are vibrant colours and excellent reliefs which are well worth seeing. (B)
Day 8 – The West Bank II
On our second full day on the West Bank we visit The Valley of the Queens and the tombs of Royal Princes. On to the new Merneptah Open Air Museum then The Valley of the Kings where we have a special private opening of the stunning tomb of Seti I.
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After a rest, we have another high point, the walk over the mountain of Meretsegar, ‘She who loves silence’ to the workmen’s village at Deir el Medina and the tombs of Sennedjem and Pashedu. This walk affords unbelievable views of the whole west bank and is not to be missed! (B)
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DEPARTURE DATE 9th November 2008
TOUR CODE Z8132
Basic Holiday Price: £1,799
Single Supplement: £288
Nile View room from £80 per person
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Day 9 – Aswan
We start our day with a leisurely visit to Luxor Temple and more evidence of Ramesses II ’s passion for building. Then we drive by coach to Aswan, where we board our first-class cruiser, the M/S Nubian Sea for four nights on full board. (BD)
Day 10 – Lake Nasser
We begin at Kalabsha, sited in splendid isolation near the small Ramesses temple of Beit el Wali. Both of these temples were moved in the 1960’s to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser and today, are rarely visited. We cruise peacefully to Wadi el Seboua, the Wadi of the Lions, and the great temple of Nubian Horus, Amun and, naturally, Ramesses the Great where we disembark and explore these romantic ruins. (BLD)
Day 11 – Island Temples
Our cruise today takes us to sites of three different periods – each accessible only from Lake Nasser. We start with the late period temple of Dakka, founded during the reign of Ptolemy II and which was extended by the Emperor Augustus. Our second stop is at the New Kingdom Temple of Amada, with contributions from Thutmoses III & IV, Amenhotep II and Seti I. Our final stop for the day is at Derr, a rock-cut temple constructed by Ramesses II himself. (BLD)
Day 12 – Abu Simbel
We will view the important site of Qasr Ibrim from the cruiser then have a lecture before we reach the climax of our trip with the long leisurely sail to Abu Simbel, the greatest of all the abiding monuments of Ramesses the Great. We arrive in the late afternoon to enjoy a full visit to the site before seeing the sunset at this most romantic location. This evening, there is a Sound and Light show – and a more spectacular setting is hard to imagine. (BLD)
Day 13 – Abu Simbel/London
This morning we board our EgyptAir flight to London via Cairo arriving in the early afternoon. (B)
Expert: Jocelyn Gohary is an Egyptologist and
archaeologist living in Cairo. She has lectured and
published widely on various aspects of Egyptology. |