The Nile Valley Egypt, and much of Africa, would not be the same without the source of life, the Nile, a river that makes the most arduous territories on earth fertile. In the middle of the desert, the great river that is born in the great African lakes, makes its long journey of more than 6,671 kilometers until it flows into the Mediterranean.
The Nile not only saw the birth of great cultures such as the Egyptian or the Nubian, but also allowed them to exist and grow throughout the centuries. From the heart of Africa to the rich Delta where the Mediterranean begins, the Nile holds temples, tombs, pyramids, shrines, picturesque villages, old and new. A cruise on the Nile is the ideal way - and sometimes the only way - to explore the history, culture and art of Ancient Egypt. The trip can begin in Luxor or in Aswan, just where Lake Nasser ends. The ancient Egyptians had strong beliefs regarding life and death.
They believed in the afterlife, hence the gigantic tombs they built, but they knew they shouldn't mix it with the new one. That is why the eastern and western banks are different, they are separated by water and by something much stronger: in the first, the great cities, temples and life that flows and are increasingly intense are settled. The western shore is the "city of the dead", a gigantic necropolis several kilometers long. Here are the tombs, the tunnels of death and the funeral temples. It is the Nile Valley, a myth, a legend and a reality.
The order in which the trip is made is of little importance, the great sanctuaries, the largest archaeological sites on earth are distributed to one side and the other, between Upper and Lower Egypt. Thousands of years of history to go, without leaving behind even one of its little mysteries. The first stop, the great Temple of Abu Simbel which is accessed by plane from Aswan. The great Nasser dam, built in the sixties, forced the transfer of this temple stone by stone. Then, Aswan, where the first Nile waterfall, a beautiful natural spectacle especially during the evening, accompanies the great temple of the Island of Filé, dedicated to Isis.
Afterwards, Kom Ombo and Edfu with the temple dedicated to the Horus Falcon, Ra's edeán. One of the most anticipated stops is, without a doubt, Thebes, the current Luxor. Few are those who do not feel a strange sensation, it is the call of history, the moment to take a deep breath and leave the world of the 21st century, behind. There is much to see but among all the great Temple of Karnak, the divine city, along with the city of Corniche. On the western shore, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the two necropolis, await. Among them is the funeral temple of Queen Hachepsut and the tomb of Nefertari. The trip continues to the Mediterranean, the next stop, the Temple of Hator located in Dendera.
But the Nile still has a lot to offer. First, one of the largest cities in Africa, Cairo. From there, Mefins and its necropolis, Saqqara and Gizeh with the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mikerinos. And then, the Delta, with the mythical Alexandria, the great Roman culture of Egypt.