Sunday, October 21, 2012

Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple – December 2010



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.

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.  

Holy Cow Hator

2 comments:

  1. was there a plaque or monument to commemorate those that died?

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    1. Thanks for reading my blog post. I didn’t see a monument when I was there and our tour guide didn’t share the recent history with our group. There may be a monument to those that were killed and I missed it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was no memorial because it might affect tourism or draw attention to terrorism.

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