Ancient World Tours

27/09/2023

The 'Flame Tree'.

The Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia) is found all over Egypt and blooms profusely from April to the end of summer.

This particularly fine specimen is in the paved open area between Karnak's first pylon and the river.

Sadly, it doesn't grow in England!

12/09/2023

Reading a statue.

At first site, this looks like a statue of the god Horus protecting the child Ramesses II, whose name appears on the base. A closer look reveals that this falcon is actually the god Hauron who seems to originate from the syro-palestine region.

He stands behind a child with a sun disk on his head and a sedge in his right hand. The statue is cryptographic - a representation of a name. The sun disk is the god 'Ra', the ancient Egyptian for child is 'mes' and the sedge is the hieroglyph 'su'. The statue spells out the name of its owner 'Ramessu'.

Cairo Museum - 19th Dynasty - 1290-1223 BC - from Tanis.

08/09/2023

'Damnatio memoriae'

Meaning 'Condemnation of memory'. Used by rulers from Thutmoses III to Stalin and in cultures from Sumeria to Rome, it's the process of erasing the memory of an unpopular, or inconvenient, predecessor.

Here, Hatshepsut has been carefully erased from the record in this chapel at Karnak. Note the careful excision of her image and, perhaps more importantly, her name.

In the right of the two cartouches above her head, all traces of her Throne Name (Ma'at Ka Re) is removed. On the right, her birth name "Khnemet Amun Hat Shepsut" has been partly excised leaving only the name 'Amun'. After all, offending a dead usurper was an act of piety; offending a God was quite another matter.


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05/09/2023

Undisclosed Location. Western Desert.

Travelling in the Western Desert in winter 2011 was very different. With tumultuous events in Cairo, there were no western travellers to be seen.

We explored for two weeks visiting desert castles, remote oases and talking with Egyptians. Since then, travel to the Western Desert has been very limited with the UK Foreign Office allowing only essential travel. However, there are signs that perhaps not before too much longer, we may be back!

The Western Desert and her people are close to our hearts. It's stunningly beautiful with a timeless quality that could be from any age. We can't wait to be back!


-egypt

31/08/2023

Anubis - God of Cemeteries and Embalming.

Typically represented as a jackal and omnipresent in the various iterations of the Book(s) of the Dead, Anubis is usually present at the Weighing of the Heart and the Opening of the Mouth ceremonies – among many others.

However, here he is represented in human form. As far as we know, this is the only time this is shown, here, in a chapel at the temple of Ramesses II at Abydos. You can see his name clearly written in the register at the front of his head. If anyone knows of any other similar depictions then let us know – we’ll pay it a visit and photograph it for the record.


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25/08/2023

Things are not always as they seem.

The tomb of is that of Nakhtamon (TT 335) at Deir el Medina and is one of the most famous of the workmen's tombs. Constructed during the reign of Ramesses II, (1279-1213 BC), the tomb uses several unusual ways to represent deities.

In this instance, we see Nakhtamon's father, Piay, with the god Anubis in the form of Khnum. Anubis is leading him by the hand at the start of his journey into the underworld. Quite why this representation of Anubis was chosen is unknown, but it certainly wasn't a mistake.


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21/08/2023

The tomb of Sety I (KV17). This is the longest and deepest tombs in the Valley of the Kings with some fascinating inscriptions from the Book(s) of the Dead, including, I believe, the only example of walls depicting the Book of the Heavenly Cow (Side Chamber Jb).

The quality of the raised relief work is perhaps only second to the (quite heavily restored) tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens.

Entry to the Tomb is restricted by the purchase of a special ticket (Apx GBP 45) and, although expensive, this pretty much guarantees access with almost no other visitors which, to be honest, is well worth it. The ticket is included on many AWT tours.


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16/08/2023

Following on from yesterday's Instagram post of the tombs at Meir, this is a detail from the tomb of Pepiankh (A2).

He held many titles, including Superintendent of the Treasury, but some of our favourites are Superintendent of the Two Swamps, Controller of Every Vestment, Inspector of Prophets and King's Gentleman.

This detail is from room F and is part of the procession to the Tent of Purification. You can see the grid squares in the background, there to aid the draftsmen and ensure that the figures were correctly proportioned.


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19/04/2023

Our next tour to Egypt. "Amenhotep & Akhenaten" - 11 days with Dr Chris Naunton - 29th Sep to 9th Oct. The tour features visits in Luxor, Abydos and Amarna with three special permits to closed sites - Kom el Hitan, Malkata and the Tomb of Amenhotep III in the Western Valley. Full details available here; https://www.ancient.co.uk/holiday/amenhotep-and-akhenaten/

11/07/2022

AWT July Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/ancient/awt-july-newsletter-07pgemhnyi

22/06/2022

We often say that there is literally nowhere in Egypt we haven't been! We realize that this is true for a great many of our customers too. This is a photo taken back in 2009 by Willeke Wendrich and we're travelling to this destination in 2022. Where is this?

19/02/2022

05/02/2022

04/02/2022

A splendid visit to Karnak yesterday including the newly cleaned central columns of the hypostyle hall (congratulations to the amazing team of conservators!); the carefully erased images of Hatshepsut and the beautiful 'White Chapel' of Senusret I. Too many highlights to mention! Looking forward hugely to returning in just over a month with Dr Kent Weeks. #αρχαιολογία

30/01/2022

The Tomb of Ramose. A wonderful finish to the 'Theban Tombs & The Afterlife' Tour.

27/01/2022

It's wonderful to be back in Luxor after so long! Our 'Theban Tombs & The Afterlife' tour is off to a great start!

31/08/2021

Ancient World Tours September Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/ancient/ancient-world-tours-september-newsletter

We're announcing two exciting new tours for Spring 2022. Please see our newsletter for further details.

01/03/2021

Here is the new AWT Spring Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/ancient/awt-spring-newsletter announcing exciting tours to Egypt in 2021 and 2021. We're looking forward to having you travel with us!