5.0 on Tripadvisor Licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesMinistry licensed guides On the river since 2011 Luxor and Aswan, every week
The temple of Hatshepsut rises in three terraces against the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari, on Luxor’s west bank. It was built for one of the few women to rule Egypt as pharaoh, and nothing else from the ancient world looks quite like it.
From the air to the upper terrace.
Seen from the optional sunrise balloon flight, the temple rises in three terraces in a bay of the cliffs, with the Valley of the Kings on the other side of the mountain. The design is credited to Senenmut, Hatshepsut’s chief steward.
The expedition to Punt, a land somewhere on the Red Sea coast of Africa: ships, houses on stilts, incense trees carried back to Egypt, and the soldiers who marched with it.
Anubis on his throne before a table piled with offerings, in some of the best-kept colour in the temple.
Hathor, the goddess of this valley, looks out from the tops of the columns with her cow ears and heavy wig.
Tall statues of the queen as Osiris, arms crossed, wearing the crown and false beard of a king.
Look closely: on some of the faces the original red and blue paint survives, about 3,500 years later.
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To the right of the ramp, the story of Hatshepsut’s birth, with the god Amun as her father, her answer to anyone who questioned a woman on the throne.
Hatshepsut, daughter of Thutmose I, ruled first as regent for the young Thutmose III and then as pharaoh herself, for around twenty years in the fifteenth century BC. The temple’s ancient name was Djeser-Djeseru, the holiest of holy places, and it served her cult and the god Amun.
After her death many of her statues were broken and her name was cut from the walls, most likely under Thutmose III. A Polish-Egyptian mission has worked on the temple since the 1960s, and much of what you see was pieced back together by them.
Every cruise we sell visits the temple with a licensed Egyptologist.
Yes. Entrance to the temple is part of the price on every cruise we sell, together with the other sites on the programme between Luxor and Aswan.
It can be. The temple faces east into the morning sun and there is almost no shade, which is why we go early. Bring a hat, sunglasses and water.
Some. The temple is reached across open ground, and the terraces are joined by long ramps rather than stairs.
Yes. The same morning we visit the Valley of the Kings, with three tombs, and stop at the Colossi of Memnon.
Tell us your dates and we will send back two or three ships that fit, with real prices.
