YOUR GUIDE TO THE 10 BEST OF EVERYTHING EYEWITNESS TRAVEL TOP 10 CAIRO & THE NILE q Downtown Mohamme d Naguib ABDEL MONEIM RIAD SQUARE MIDAN TAL AAT HARB MIDAN TAHRIR MIDAN MUSTA F KAMEL SHARIA AB D AL- KHAL IQ SA R S HA RI A SABRY A BU AL AM S HA RI A RUSH D S HA R IA AL -B USTAN I A AL -FALAKI U R SHARIA HUSEIN BA SH S H ARIA M O H AMM ED F SHARIA CHAM P O S H ARI A SHARIF A RID SHA R S HA RIA QA S R A L-NI L SHARIA TALAAT S A A T -TA H R IR Egyptian Museum Townhouse Gallery Mashrabiya Gallery Café Riche M ugamma Cosmopolitan Hotel 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 Spectacular tombs & pyramids Incredible Nile cruises Unmissable museums Milestones in Egyptology Thrilling outdoor activities Most fun places for children Films set in Egypt Best hotels for every budget Restaurants, cafés & coffee shops Insider tips for every visitor CAIRO & THE NILE ANDREW HUMPHREYS EYEWITNESS TRAVEL 10 TO P Contents Contents Cairo & the Nile’s Top 10 Cairo & the Nile’s Highlights 6 The Egyptian Museum 8 The Pyramids of Giza 12 Mosque of Al-Azhar 14 Karnak 16 Luxor Temple 20 Temple of Hatshepsut 22 Valley of the Kings 24 Cruising the Nile 26 Temple of Philae 28 Abu Simbel 30 Periods of Ancient Egyptian History 34 Ancient Egyptian Culture and Myths 36 Temples 38 Milestones in Egyptology 40 Cover: Front – Photolibrary: age fotostock/Sylvain Grandadam main; DK Images: Rough Guides/Eddie Gerald bl. Spine – DK Images: Eddie Gerald b. Back – DK Images: Eddie Gerald tc, tr; Jon Spaull tl. The information in this DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide is checked regularly. At the time of going to press there was major political upheaval in Cairo. Every effort has been made to ensure that this book is as up-to-date as possible, but due to the rapidly changing situation, some political information may have since altered. In addition, details such as telephone numbers, opening hours, prices, gallery hanging arrangements and travel information are liable to change. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this book, nor for any material on third party websites, and cannot guarantee that any website address in this book will be a suitable source of travel information. We value the views and suggestions of our readers very highly. Please write to: Publisher, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, Dorling Kindersley, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, Great Britain, or email: travelguides@dk.com. Reproduced by Colourscan, Singapore Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd. First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Dorling Kindersley Limited 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL A Penguin Company 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Reprinted with revisions 2011 Copyright 2009, 2011 © Dorling Kindersley Limited, London All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. A CIP catalogue record is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 1 40536 100 2 Within each Top 10 list in this book, no hierarchy of quality or popularity is implied. All 10 are, in the editor’s opinion, of roughly equal merit. Left Smoking sheesha Centre Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo Right Tomb of Nakht, Tombs of the Nobles 2 Contents Left The Sphinx, Giza Right Felucca sailing on the Nile Moments in Post- Pharaonic History 42 Islamic Architecture 44 Museums 46 Films Set in Egypt 48 Historic Hotels 52 Souvenirs 54 Children’s Attractions 56 Egyptian Dishes 58 Restaurants 60 Festivals and Events 62 Icons of Popular Culture 64 Entertainment 66 Around Cairo & the Nile Central Cairo 70 The Old City 82 Beyond Cairo 90 Luxor 98 Aswan and Lake Nasser 108 Streetsmart Planning Your Trip 116 Getting There and Around 117 Practical Information 118 Etiquette 119 Things to Avoid 120 Security and Health 121 Shopping and Eating Tips 122 Cruise Tips 123 Places to Stay 124 Cruise Ships 133 General Index 134 Phrase Book 142 Left Temple of Philae Centre View of Islamic Cairo Right Luxor Temple 3 Key to abbreviations Adm admission charge [...]... on the pharaohs of ancient Egypt see pp34–5 25 Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Cruising the Nile After disembarking their ocean liner at Alexandria, the 19th-century tourist would board a train for Cairo where they would hire a boat at the port of Bulaq They would then make their way in a leisurely fashion down the Nile stopping off at each archaeological site along the way The journey would take about 10. .. to open in late 2012 11 Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 The Pyramids of Giza Despite centuries of study, the Pyramids remain a mystery There’s their age: we are closer in time to the era of Jesus Christ than he was to the Pyramids There’s their size: for 4,000 years the Great Pyramid remained the tallest manmade structure ever built There’s the how: the Pyramids are precisely placed, their sides aligning to... others attended to the economic organization of the temple Although the Temple of Amun was the residence of the god, it also included workshops, libraries and administrative areas Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 The Temple Priests Statue of Amun The god Amun became the most powerful of gods during the New Kingdom era when he was depicted as a human Relief depicting the god Thoth in the. .. avenue of 14 columns (below) The walls here depict the annual Opet Festival Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Perched on top of the colonnade of the Court of Ramses is this much rebuilt 13th-century mosque (left) dedicated to Luxor’s patron saint It is all that is left of the village that was cleared to reveal the temple in the 1880s * Hypostyle Hall of & Court of III Amenhotep The southern side Amenhotep’s fine... stone statues here, the finest of which are now in the Luxor and Cairo museums The Theban Triad The three dominant Egyptian gods in the area of Thebes (modernday Luxor) were Amun, the all-powerful god to whom Karnak is dedicated, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu Together they form the Theban triad Mut was said to swallow the sun in the evening (sunset) and to give birth to it again in the morning (sunrise)... restored, they provide a more characterful, though still affordable, option than the standard Nile cruiser ^ Dahabiyyas The most exclusive option is a berth on a dahabiyya (below), a newly-built replica of the twin-sail boat that used to cruise the Nile in the 19th century Each carries between 5 and 20 people in five-star comfort Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 of sailing the Nile is to charter one of the small... reliefs, including oarsmen rowing the royal barque At the rear is the Sanctuary of Amun, dug into the cliff behind the temple ) Temple of Montuhotep temple is the The prototype for Hatshepsut’s earlier Temple of Montuhotep II, which lies in ruins immediately adjacent to the north Montuhotep was the first pharaoh to choose to be buried at Thebes Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Splendid reliefs (right) depict... celebrated the pharaoh’s rebirth as the son of Amun Images of the Theban Triad (see p17) were carried from Karnak on boats (barques) to Luxor Temple Luxor stages a recreation of the festival in November each year (check dates with the tourist office on 095 2373 294) Sign up for DK’s email newsletter on traveldk.com 21 Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Temple of Hatshepsut This is the most intriguing of the temples... generally the same and the differences between cruisers lie in the quality of service and facilities on board All meals are usually included in the cost of the package but alcoholic drinks are put on a tab that has to be settled at the end of the cruise 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 The Route The Itinerary The Boats Feluccas Steamers Dahabiyyas Life On Board Life on the Nile Death on the Nile Cruising Lake Nasser ! The. .. Egypt’s tallest obelisk (31 m /102 ft) It was completed in the reign of Tuthmosis IV Some 1,700 years later the Byzantine Emperor Constantius II (r AD 337– 361) had the obelisk moved to Rome, where it still stands in the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano 19 Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Luxor Temple Set close to the bank of the Nile and in the centre of the modern town, Luxor Temple is quite literally unmissable . 30–31 Top 10 of Everything 34–67 CAIRO & THE NILE S TOP 10 Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Cairo & the Nile s Highlights The Nile is synonymous with Egypt. Almost the entire population of the. cafés & coffee shops Insider tips for every visitor CAIRO & THE NILE ANDREW HUMPHREYS EYEWITNESS TRAVEL 10 TO P Contents Contents Cairo & the Nile s Top 10 Cairo & the Nile s. Mashrabiya Gallery Café Riche M ugamma Cosmopolitan Hotel 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 Spectacular tombs & pyramids Incredible Nile cruises Unmissable museums Milestones in Egyptology Thrilling