A Photo a Day

Pictures from a trip to Egypt in December 2004

January 25, 2008

Egyptian God Bes at Dendera

Filed under: — www.travelphoto.net @ 10:32 am

God Bes, Dendera
Ugly and never shown in profile this dwarf-like god looks very un-Egyptian, and indeed it is suspected that he was imported from somewhere else, maybe other parts of Africa.
Still, as a protector of homes and childbirth, Bes was quite popular although no temples were dedicated to him.
He also acted as god of war and music.
This high relief of Bes (also spelt: Bisu or Bez) is at the entrance to the Dendera temple of Hathor (near Luxor)

January 16, 2008

Near the temple, Dendera

Filed under: — site admin @ 7:15 pm

egypt-photos-0029a500.jpg
Everyday life goes on beside the ruins.

March 23, 2007

Nubian Museum at Night

Filed under: — site admin @ 9:23 am

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The Nubian museum in Aswan is one of the most interesting museums I have visited -much more inspiring than the famous, crammed Egyptian museum in Cairo.
Here, all items are shown in the best light - very similar to the equally beautiful Luxor museum.
Outside the museum itself, there are some traditional buildings to be seen, like the small mosque on the picture.
Wandering around the compounds at night is an almost magical experience.

January 15, 2007

Pharaoh

Filed under: — site admin @ 7:28 am

statue in the Egyptian museum, Luxor
seen in the beautiful Luxor museum.

April 10, 2006

Kiosk of Kertassi

Filed under: — site admin @ 10:25 am

Kalabsha: Kiosk of Kertassi

This is a Greco-Roman building near the Kalabsha temple.
Actually, the kiosk now stands about 20-30 km from its original site - like many other archaeologic treasures it was moved before the Aswan dam was opened.

September 3, 2005

Luxor Sunset

Filed under: — site admin @ 9:23 pm

The sun sets behind a palm tree in Luxor
Yet another sunset over the Nile.
taken from the east bank of the river.

July 26, 2005

Medinet Habu

Filed under: — lbobke @ 9:08 pm

colourful paintings in Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu is the mortuary temple of pharaoh Ramesses III.
It is located on the west bank of the Nile, not too far away from the Colossi of Memnon.
For some reason, this fabulous temple is not on the agenda of most tourists who prefer to spend the time in Karnak, Luxor temple and the valley of the kings.
However, missing out on the vivid colours of this temple really would be a pity!

Medinet Habu
The pharaoh and some baboons worshipping the god of the sun.

Medinet Habu
In a great temple such as this, there always are some restoration works going on.
All photos taken with a Minolta Dynax 9 on Fujichrome Velvia.

May 18, 2005

High Dam memorial

Filed under: — lbobke @ 6:12 am

Nasser memorial
Not exactly beautiful: the high dam memorial was meant to celebrate Soviet-Egyptian collaboration on the dam project.

May 9, 2005

Small grave

Filed under: — lbobke @ 6:01 am

small grave
A small grave on the Fatimide Cemetery (Aswan, Upper Egypt).

May 8, 2005

Fatimide Cemetery.

Filed under: — lbobke @ 5:59 am

Fatimide Cemetery
Another photo from the Fatimide Cemetery.

May 5, 2005

Feluccas on the Nile

Filed under: — lbobke @ 6:20 pm

Feluccas on the Nile, Luxor
Just about every evening you can see this sort of sunset over the Nile in Luxor and Aswan.
Similar shots on this site:
Aswan Sunset, Luxor Sunrise, Egypt: an evening in Aswan.

April 25, 2005

Statue in the Egyptian museum

Filed under: — lbobke @ 8:42 pm

Statue in the Luxor museum

Museum reflections

How to take pictures when you are in a fascinating museum where only the bare minimum of light falls on the archaeological treasures, - achieving a truly mystical atmosphere?
Normally, I’d just use my tripod, - but this was forbidden as was the flash.
My only “high-speed” film was a 100 ASA Fuji Provia (I usually use 50 ASA Velvia).
So I was a bit apprehensive when I unfolded the small reflector I bought for portraits - sure enough, the wardens looked uneasy, but this was not expressly forbidden, - so I could shine at least a little bit more golden (or silvery, depending on the side of the reflector used) light on the pieces I found most interesting.
It sure seems to have worked!

April 16, 2005

Luxor Temple: avenue of sphinxes

Filed under: — lbobke @ 6:35 am

Pharaoh's Head, Luxor
12 years after my last visit, I was fortunate to see the temple under a full moon - again!
This is one of the sphinxes that belonged to the avenue of sphinxes that once connected Luxor temple and Karnak.
Today, only small parts of this avenue are visible, - it must have been wonderful when it was still 3 km long!
The head looks very much like the head of Ramesses II at the front Pylon, that I photographed twelve years ago.
click to see a larger version of the photo.

April 4, 2005

Fatimide Cemetary

Filed under: — lbobke @ 9:15 pm

Fatimide Cemetary
Right in the centre of Aswan, between the Nubian museum and the unfinished Obelisque, there is the Fatimide Cemetary with hundreds of graves, some of which date back to the 9th century (others are quite recent).
There are small children’s graves and big tombs for holy men. Hiring one of the “guides” at the entrance is well worth a small Baksheesh.

February 15, 2005

Aswan Sunset

Filed under: — Laurenz @ 9:43 pm

Sunset in aswan
Seen from the park beside the Old Cataract Hotel, Aswan.

February 13, 2005

Whirling Dervish

Filed under: — Laurenz @ 6:49 pm

Whirling Dervish performs at a Christmas Dinner in Aswan
This whirling dervish was truly amazing - spinning forever his clothes being coloured wheels.
Here, I stopped his movement combining a fill flash with a relatively long exposure.
As to dervishes: this originated as a sort of Sufi-prayer in Turkey - but I guess such tourist performances do not really have a religious significance.
Still, a remarkable experience!
more Egypt pictures.

February 4, 2005

The Key to Abu Simbel

Filed under: — Laurenz @ 9:18 pm

The temple warden holds a key in the form of an anch
It is a good idea to be at the site even before the temples open. This gives you time to enjoy the atmosphere and take some shots of the temple walls in the red morning son.
Eventually, the temple warden (here seen wielding a huge key in the form of an “anch” will unlock the door to the temple.
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside…

January 28, 2005

Luxor Dawn

Filed under: — lbobke @ 9:40 pm


and another shot of dawn at Luxor.

January 27, 2005

Balloon over Luxor

Filed under: — lbobke @ 9:39 pm

balloon over Luxor
A balloon rises from the west bank of the Nile, a few minutes before daybreak.
This photo was taken from the same position as the previous one (Tokina zoom at 400 mm + 1,7 tele extender).

January 25, 2005

Luxor Sunrise

Filed under: — lbobke @ 11:38 pm


I had to get up pretty early to get this shot.

January 23, 2005

Aswan Moon

Filed under: — lbobke @ 10:33 pm

The moon seen from Aswan
The moon seen from our hotel room in Aswan.
For the technicall inclined: Minolat Dynax 9, Fujichrome Velvia, Tripod, Tokina 80-400 mm lens + 1.7* Tele extender (=680 mm focal length).

January 21, 2005

Inside a Nubian House

Filed under: — lbobke @ 9:02 pm

Nubian House
Nubian House at the first cataract, near Aswan.

January 18, 2005

Sound and light at Abu Simbel

Filed under: — lbobke @ 6:08 am

Abu Simbel Light Show

There are several ways to see Abu Simbel:
you can take the convoy. This is the cheapest and most popular option, giving you, however, little more than an hour at the site!
The luxury way is to take one of the ships cruising lake Nasser.
We opted for the plane instead: this gave us time to visit the site at daybreak, before the big crowds.
A side-effect of this approach was that we also saw the sound and light show at night.
While we enjoyed the illuminated temple, the laser projections simply were too much!
The picture above shows the Ramses temple with laser beams behind it.
If the statues look a bit blurry: this is due to the fact that during the long exposure time several images were projected on them…

Even worse: The temples were (ab)used as an projection screen! Here you can barely discern the Nefertari temple under the projected image:
Sound and light show, Abu Simbel, Egypt
more photos of Egypt

January 16, 2005

Isis temple, Philae

Filed under: — lbobke @ 8:45 pm

Philae Temple

Now, as always, one can only approach this temple by boat.
Looking at it, it is very difficult to believe that the whole complex was moved from one island to another one when the new Aswan dam was constructed. Even the shape of the new location, Agilika island, was changed to make it as similar to the original Philae island as humanly possible.

January 15, 2005

View from Elephantine Island

Filed under: — lbobke @ 10:20 pm

the Nile at Aswan

View from Elephantine island at Aswan.

January 11, 2005

Egypt Pictures

Filed under: — lbobke @ 10:15 pm

This is the second gallery of pictures from Egypt in this weblog.
There also is another one with Egypt photos taken in 1992.
Also, there’s the Egypt section of Travel Photo Net.

Egypt photos



    

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All photos on Travelphoto NET: Copyright Laurenz Bobke. Copyright for the photos on the Outstanding Travel Photos blog: the individual photographer
Republication only with my written permission, and only with proper credit (including a link back to this site if shown on the web).

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