Must-see attractions in Luxor

Amun-Ra was the local god of Karnak (Luxor) and during the New Kingdom, when the princes of Thebes ruled Egypt, he became the preeminent state god, with a…

The west bank of Luxor had been the site of royal burials since around 2100 BC, but it was the pharaohs of the New Kingdom period (1550–1069 BC) who chose…

Karnak is an extraordinary complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks dedicated to the Theban triad but also to the greater glory of pharaohs…

One of the great achievements of Egyptian art, this cathedral-like tomb is the finest in the Valley of the Kings. Long closed to visitors, it is now…

Ramses III’s magnificent memorial temple of Medinat Habu, fronted by sleepy Kom Lolah village and backed by the Theban mountains, is one of the west bank…

This wonderful museum has a well-chosen and brilliantly displayed and explained collection of antiquities dating from the end of the Old Kingdom right…

With some of the broadest corridors, longest shafts (117m) and greatest variety of decoration, KV 9 is one of the most spectacular tombs in the valley…

These tombs are some of the best least-visited attractions on the west bank. Nestled in the foothills opposite the Ramesseum are more than 400 tombs…

The most interesting parts of the tomb of Sennofer, overseer of the Garden of Amun under Amenhotep II, are to be found deep underground, in the main…

Largely built by the New Kingdom pharaohs Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BC) and Ramses II (1279–1213 BC), this temple is a strikingly graceful monument in the…

At Deir Al Bahri, the eyes first focus on the dramatic rugged limestone cliffs that rise nearly 300m above the desert plain, only to realise that at the…

The story of the celebrated discovery of the famous tomb and all the fabulous treasures it contained far outshines the reality of the small tomb of a…

The two faceless Colossi of Memnon, originally representing Pharaoh Amenhotep III, rising majestically about 18m from the plain, are the first monuments…

Ramses II called his massive memorial ‘the Temple of Millions of Years of User-Maat-Ra’; classical visitors called it the tomb of Ozymandias; and Jean…

One of the most popular tombs in the valley, KV 11 is also one of the most interesting and best preserved. Originally started by Sethnakht (1186–1184 BC),…

This site takes its name from a Ptolemaic temple, later converted to a Coptic monastery – the Monastery of the Town – but the real attraction is the…

Nefertari's tomb is hailed as one of the finest in the Theban necropolis – and all of Egypt for that matter. Nefertari was one of five wives of Ramses II,…

At the southern end of the Theban hillside, the Valley of the Queens contains at least 75 tombs that belonged to queens of the 19th and 20th dynasties as…

Hidden in the hills between high limestone cliffs, and reached only via a steep staircase that crosses an even steeper ravine, this tomb demonstrates the…

The domed mud-brick house where Howard Carter lived during his search for Tutankhamun’s tomb is surrounded by a garden on what is otherwise a barren slope…