Luxor is a small city in upper Egypt ,the ancient Egyptian name for Luxor was waset ,the Greeks called it Thebes ,while the Arab called it Luxor, luxor is Arabic word means palaces, may be because when the Arabs come to luxor they found many palaces and ancient temples ,so they called it the place of many palaces in Arabic is luxor.
In 1500 BC ,Luxor was chosen to be the Capital for Egypt ,the kings who chose Luxor to be the capital of Egypt ,they have chosen the west bank of the City to have their tombs, maybe because the west bank is the place of sunset, the place where the sun dies and disappeared every evening ,so the place of death ,the kings dug their tombs in place we called it now Valley of the kings, the queens dug their tombs in the Valley of the queens’, the middle class people dog their tombs in the valley of the Nobles, while the workers and artisans dug there tombs in the workmen village at Deir El medina, there are more than 700 tombs in the west bank of luxor in 4 different necropolises, besides the tombs in the west bank of Luxor ,there are many temples for many kings which used for making mummification ,so every king had a tomb and a mortuary temple in the west bank of Luxor,
while the east bank is the place where the sun born and shine every morning, so it is the place of living, so palaces of the kings and houses of the gods (cult temples)we built in the east bank of luxor ,there are many cult temples in the east bank of Luxor including Karnak ,Luxor and Mut temples, those 3 temples were connected together by a sphinx avenue that goes for about 3 km, which makes Luxor an open air museum.
Nothing I imagined prepared me for my visit to Luxor. Yes, this area of Egypt is filled with glorious palaces and elaborate monumental tombs. But Hassan’s extensive knowledge brought these to life. And his extraordinary care made me feel beyond comfortable. I will cherish these memories which made my visit the journey of a lifetime. I highly recommend you experience Egypt with Hassan.
Hassaan, your personal connection to the city of Luxor from having grown up there really made me fall in love with everything Luxor had to offer! Your knowledge of not only Luxor, but the entire region including Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and Hatshepsut’s Temple, was extensive and truly fascinating. As a fairly knowledgeable ancient history teacher, I was blown away by how much more I learned from interacting with you. I also really appreciated that you introduced us to local artisans and restaurants and always gave us excellent advice about how much to pay in all of the markets. Since I was only able to spend two days in Luxor, I hope to return there for further exploration some day, but only if you can be my guide!