The Nile's east bank
The ancient city of Thebes
The long story beneath modern Luxor.
Modern Luxor stands across the ancient city of Thebes, once a royal capital and the religious center of the god Amun. The Nile divides a world of monumental temples on the east bank from a vast western necropolis of royal tombs, workers' villages, and desert routes.
Why Luxor matters
Luxor is not one monument. It is an entire ancient landscape.
Luxor is built around the ancient city called Waset by Egyptians and Thebes by Greeks. During the Middle and New Kingdoms it was one of Egypt's most important religious and political centers. Its east bank held the ceremonial city, including Karnak and Luxor Temple. Its west bank faced the setting sun and became the sacred landscape of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut's temple, and the craftsmen's settlement at Deir el Medina.
The Nile's west bank
A sacred landscape of memory
The western desert became the Theban Necropolis, a landscape of mortuary temples, tombs, villages, and ritual routes. It is often called the City of the Dead, but it was also a busy world of artists, priests, and workers.Valley of the Kings
Where pharaohs were buried
From about 1500 to 1000 BCE, many New Kingdom pharaohs were buried in rock cut tombs in this desert valley. Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered in 1922, made the valley famous worldwide, but it is one part of a much larger royal necropolis.Beyond the famous stops
Queens, a queen, and the makers
Nearby are the Valley of the Queens, the terraced mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, and Deir el Medina, the village where many of the craftsmen who built and decorated royal tombs lived with their families.Travel with context
See the places, then understand the story around them.
The historic Thebes landscape is recognized by UNESCO for its temples, tombs, royal palaces, and the communities that built and cared for them.
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