Tourist Attractions & Monuments Egypt

Nefertari, the most famous of Ramses II's wives, is buried in this magnificent tomb, rediscovered in 1904. Access is via a staircase leading to the antechamber, where the queen is depicted on the left wall playing senet, a kind of chess game. On the right is the vestibule, of rare beauty, featuring the sovereign before Osiris and Amun, Thoth and Anubis. A staircase leads to 2 annexes where Nefertari is depicted before 3 genies. Lastly, access is gained to the burial chamber, supported by 4 massive pillars, which surround the tomb more in place.

One of the great achievements undertaken by UNESCO to safeguard the Nubian heritage, this museum opened its doors at the end of 1997. Entirely built in pink granite, it houses splendid pieces from Nagada 1 and 2 to Islamic and Christian Nubia. The name Nubia currently applies to the region stretching from the city of Aswan in the north to Debba.

It possessed important riches: gold, copper, semi-precious stones and amethyst. It was also the passage point for products from Equatorial Africa such as ivory, incense, eggs and ostrich feathers

Nubia has never been geographically isolated from Egypt, but it was not until 1899 that Lower Nubia was attached to Egypt, a British treaty ending the disputes caused by Mohammed Ali.

In 1907, the first Aswan Dam was built. On 8 March 1960, Unesco launched an appeal for an international expedition to save the Nubian monuments. Philae, Abu Simbel and the others will be moved, and Ancient Nubia will be flooded, forcing its inhabitants to emigrate to the north.

Such a civilization, charged with such an ancient history, had of course a priceless heritage characterized by the architecture of its habitat, its craftsmanship and its artistic expression.

The Nubia Museum traces the existence of this people step by step. The exhibition portrays the rich history of this region, which during the Hellenic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic periods retained its full identity.

The museum is located next to the Commonwealth Cemetery. It displays collections of weapons, uniforms of both armies, as well as guns and documents relating to the battle. Models reconstruct the evolution of the fighting from 23 October to 4 November 1942. It's all very moving.

The museum consists of five rooms. The first, called the "common room", contains glass boxes containing items from all the countries that took part in the Battle of El-Alamein. Life-size statues of the main players in this battle are on display. In the middle of the room there is a huge wooden table on which a map of the battlefield is drawn up, with the positions of the armies.

The 4 others are each dedicated to one of the countries involved in these battles, Egypt, England, Germany and Italy.

Outside the building is exposed the large military equipment: tanks, heavy artillery, vehicles ...

The park stretches along the Nile, on Roda island, behind the palace. Romantic garden, far from the streets.

A pleasant hour walk awaits you unless you prefer the bus. To see: the irrigation Museum.

It's a small grave, 49 meters long, very deep. It received the body of Ramses I, founder of the 20th dynasty, and grandfather of Ramses II. It is thought that this tomb must have been larger, but the death of the king forced the architects to make do with what they had had time to dig; the present burial chamber was to be a first vestibule according to their original plan. The colours of this tomb are particularly well preserved. The reign of Ramses I was very short, less than two years.

It is one of the few places where you will find vast beaches free of charge in Egypt! You can also choose to pay for Mercury Beach or the beaches of the beaches, if you want more privacy.

The grave is 116 m long. It was begun by the brother of Ramses VI, Ramses V, who died early, and who preceded his brother by six years in this mausoleum. It recalls the walls of the tomb of Ramses III. The ceiling of the burial chamber, by its complexity inspired by the Book of the Earth, earned it the name "tomb of metempsychosis" by the scholars of Bonaparte. This book specific to the Ramses dynasty tells the story of the solar god's journey into the afterlife and the complexity of his hidden world. The two sarcophagi exist only in pieces.

The tomb of the second king of the ^20th dynasty, Seti ^I, to whom we owe some of the finest high-reliefs in Egyptian art, is a respectable size: 137 m deep. His tomb mirrors the other monuments erected during his reign. After a succession of three corridors, a 6-pillared hall adorns a tomb whose walls are richly decorated. The burial chamber boasts a sumptuous astrological ceiling inspired by the book of the afterlife, the Amdouat. The alabaster sarcophagus is now in the Sir John Soane Museum in London.

Sennefer was prince and administrator of the temple gardens of Amun during the reign of Amenophis III. A narrow staircase leads to the deep vault of his beautiful tomb. This tomb is also known as the Tomb of the Vines, as many of the ceilings are decorated with vines. Although the work lacks finesse, this tomb will seduce you with its irregular ceiling, with bunches of grapes hugging the hollows and bumps. The walls and pillars depict the prince and one of his wives, Senetnay.

The very fine tomb of the Vizier under Thoutmes III expresses, through its decorative motifs, the power and might of the official promoted to a high distinction. On the front wall, as you enter from the left, are depictions of various tribes (Syrians, Sudanese, Ethiopians, etc.), charged with tribute as a sign of submission, including exotic animals such as panthers, giraffes and monkeys. On the walls of the narrow chapel, remarkably precise scenes show Rekhmiré supervising his workers, as well as a funeral banquet featuring some very pretty guests!

Usirhat was a royal scribe under Amenophis II, and his tomb features the usual scenes. His tomb is located at the bottom of the Gournah hill, a position that reflected his social status. This monument represents one of the pinnacles of funerary art of the period, with its two famous scenes, that of the barbers and the chariot race. Both have been featured in numerous works on ancient Egypt. The tomb was open to the public for many years, and remains so today, albeit intermittently.

One of the finest tombs on the site. A high-ranking civil servant, Menna was scribe to the Lord of the Two Lands under Thutmose IV. His tomb is decorated with touchingly realistic rural scenes. Some scenes have been reproduced in art books. For example, a bad debtor is beaten by the scribe's men, and a young child carrying an antelope on his shoulders is touchingly lifelike, as is the cat snatching eggs from a nest. The statues of Menna and his wife Henouttaouy can still be seen at the back of this one.