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Luxor is a city in Upper (southern)
Egypt and the capital of
Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 (
2010 estimate), with an area of approximately 416 square kilometres (161 sq mi). As the site of the
Ancient Egyptian city of
Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at
Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Immediately opposite, across the
River Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs on the
West Bank Necropolis, which include the
Valley of the Kings and
Valley of the Queens. Thousands of tourists from all around the world arrive annually to visit these monuments, contributing a large part towards the economy for the modern city.
History Luxor, Egypt
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Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the great capital of Egypt during the
New Kingdom, and the glorious city of the god Amon-Ra. The city was regarded in the Ancient Egyptian texts as w3s.t (approximate pronunciation: "Waset"), which meant "city of the sceptre" and also as t3 ip3t (conventionally pronounced
as "ta ipet" and meaning "the shrine") and then, in a later period, the
Greeks called it
Thebai and the
Romans after them Thebae. Thebes was also known as "the city of the
100 gates", sometimes being called "southern
Heliopolis" ('Iunu-shemaa' in Ancient Egyptian), to distinguish it from the city of
Iunu or Heliopolis, the main place of worship for the god Re in the north. It was also often referred to as niw.t, which simply means "city", and was one of only three cities in Egypt for which this noun was used (the other two were
Memphis and Heliopolis); it was also called niw.t rst, "southern city", as the southernmost of them.
The importance of the city started as early as the
11th Dynasty, when the town grew into a thriving city, renowned for its high social status and luxury, but also as a center for wisdom, art, religious and political supremacy.
Montuhotep II who united Egypt after the troubles of the first intermediate period brought stability to the lands as the city grew in stature.
The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom in their expeditions to
Kush, in today's northern
Sudan, and to the lands of
Canaan,
Phoenicia and
Syria saw the city accumulate great wealth and rose to prominence, even on a world scale. Thebes played a major role in expelling the invading forces of the
Hyksos from
Upper Egypt, and from the time of the
18th Dynasty through to the
20th Dynasty, the city had risen as the major political, religious and military capital of
Ancient Egypt.
The city attracted peoples such as the Babylonians, the Mitanni, the
Hittites of Anatolia (modern-day
Turkey), the Canaanites of
Ugarit, the
Phoenicians of
Byblos and
Tyre, the
Minoans from the island of
Crete. A Hittite prince from
Anatolia even came to marry with the widow of
Tutankhamun,
Ankhesenamun. The political and military importance of the city, however, faded during the
Late Period, with Thebes being replaced as political capital by several cities in
Northern Egypt, such as
Bubastis,
Sais and finally
Alexandria.
However, as the city of the god Amon-Ra, Thebes remained the religious capital of Egypt until the
Greek period. The main god of the city was
Amon, who was worshipped together with his wife, the
Goddess Mut, and their son Khonsu, the
God of the moon. With the rise of Thebes as the foremost city of Egypt, the local god Amon rose in importance as well and became linked to the sun god Ra, thus creating the new 'king of gods' Amon-Ra. His great temple, at Karnak just north of Thebes, was the most important temple of Egypt right until the end of antiquity.
Later, the city was attacked by
Assyrian emperor
Assurbanipal who installed the
Libyan prince on the throne, Psammetichus. The city of Thebes was in ruins and fell in significance. However,
Alexander the Great did arrive at the temple of Amun, where the statue of the god was transferred from Karnak during the
Opet Festival, the great religious feast. The grandeur of Thebes would still remain a site of spirituality, and attracted numerous
Christian monks in the
Roman Empire who established monasteries amidst several ancient monuments including the temple of
Hatshepsut, now called
Deir el-Bahri ("the northern monastery").
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- published: 31 Mar 2014
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