Located on the west bank of the Nile, across from Luxor we
discovered Deir El Bahari mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The temple is partly built out of the rock wall
and partly free standing. It is built
into a Limestone cliff which adds to the dramatic look of the landscape.
The temple was cut into the cliff so it is very
impressive. The main focal point is the Deir
El Bahari mortuary temple of Hatshepsut.
As you walk up the ramp towards the pillars of the temple you feel smaller
and smaller and realize what an architectural masterpiece you’ve discovered. I
can’t imagine how impressive it was in 2050 B.C. when it had gardens and lived
in all its glory. These days the rebuilt
statues are there but most of the originals have gone missing. After the pharaoh died several parts of the monument
were destroyed including a statue of Osiris, the sphinx avenue that was in
front of the monument, and figures of Hatshepsut were all destroyed.
As I walked around exploring the mortuary temple I felt a
little spooked like something bad had happened there. It was the weirdest thing
because I don’t usually get spooked like that. I just had a weird feeling and
an uneasiness about the place.
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| Osiris statues of Hatshepsut show her posing as a man wearing a beard |
After our tour we sat in the café at the base of the temple
and had ice cream and drinks. One of the other guys in our group asked me if I
was familiar with the Luxor Massacre. I
had no idea what he was talking about.
He said that there was a terrorist attack at the site in the 90s. It
tripped me out a bit because I could imagine what that was like and it gave me visions
in my mind and goose bumps on my arms. My curiosity got hold of me so when we
returned to the boat I had some time to myself so I Googled Luxor Massacre on
my iPhone.
I learned that back in 1997 on November 17th there
was a terrorist attack at the site we visited.
63 people were killed by Islamist terrorists. Four Egyptians were killed (3 police officers
and a tour guide), 36 Swiss nationals, 10 Japanese, 6 from Britain, 4 from
Germany, 1 French, and 2 people from Colombia were also murdered.
There were six assailants armed
with automatic weapons and knives. They
were dressed as members of the security forces and were in disguise. According to witnesses the tourists were trapped
inside the temple and the terrorists attacked for 45 minutes killing as many
people as possible. The attack was gruesome
and included the assailants using machetes to mutilate the victims, especially
women. It was so gruesome they found a
note praising Islam inside one of the butchered bodies. After the attack the assailants hijacked a
bus and then crashed into a checkpoint during a shootout with police. One terrorist was killed at the checkpoint while
the others fled into the mountainside.
Their bodies were found later in a cave after they all committed suicide
together.
The terrorist attack hurt Egyptian tourism for years and was
still felt in 2010 when I visited because other tourists were discussing the
attack and aware of the danger when we were chatting in the cafe. The
terrorists were anti-government and wanted the attack to devastate the economy
and provoke the government. The attack
did the opposite and caused an internal rift among the militants and resulted
in a ceasefire. It also turned the
Egyptian public opinion against the terrorists.
The local people protested against the group. The leader of Islamic Group claimed they only
meant to take the tourists hostage not murder them. Others denied Islamists had anything to do
with the attack and some people even blamed Israelis and Egyptian Police for
the attack.
It was interesting visiting a place with so much history and not realizing that some of the notorious events were so recent. Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple was a beautiful sight but it had a creepy feeling to me when I visited. I think it is worth knowing the ancient and modern history because it helped me explain the uneasiness I felt when visiting.
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| Holy Cow Hator |
