Restoration – Fiona Deal

Through sheer good luck and great timing, I was fortunate enough to be in Luxor for the spectacular opening of the Avenue of Sphinxes. Like many others, I watched the ceremony and celebrations on television, in my case at the Luxor apartment of Egyptian friends Waleed and Amira, enjoying the fabulous fish feast they prepared. We could hear the fireworks exploding overhead at the end of the lavish and magical event.

Determined to make the most of actually being in Luxor for such a momentous occasion, I was among the first foreign visitors to walk along the Avenue of Sphinxes within 48 hours of its opening (teams of people were there dismantling the stage and lighting systems that hosted the president and various dignitaries and beamed the event around the world).

The short video clip below shows me talking about this remarkable place and how it felt to be among the first to visit. Excavations of the Sphinx Avenue (also known as the ‘Ram’s Road’) started seriously in 1949. There are black & white photographs displayed on huge poster boards along the processional route showing various stages of excavation work through recent decades.

Poster Board if excavation at Avenue of Sphinxes

Poster board from Avenue of Sphinxes

In the years since I first visited Luxor in 1984, it has changed out of all recognition. The decision to clear the entire 2.7km processional route between Karnak and Luxor temples was taken in 2002. Since then, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has funded an enormous project to remove significant parts of the city to excavate out the original Sphinx Avenue. This has included re-housing large numbers of people as their homes were demolished and also moving shops, mosques and even a police station.

The Avenue runs between the two temples, approximately 2-3 meters below ground level. It is possible to walk the entire processional route with tickets to visit both Karnak and Luxor Temples. The Avenue of Sphinxes was originally conceived and building started under Amenhotep III (the Magnificent) in the middle of the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, circa 1375 BCE and completed under Nactanebo II of the 30th Dynasty, around 375 BCE. The ram-headed sphinxes at the Karnak end depict the Theban God Amun-Ra, while the human-headed sphinxes depict Nactanebo, the last indigenous pharaoh of Egypt. The lion body of the sphinx is a symbol of power and protection.

In ancient times, the Sphinx Avenue was used for the annual Open Festival. This was a major religious festival in the Theban calendar when the barque shrines (a kind of boat carried on the shoulders of priests) of the Theban Triad of Gods, Amun, Mut and Khonsu were carried between the two East Bank Temples amid scenes of rejoicing and revelry.

Excavations have revealed a number of wineries along the route, where wine was pressed and filtered. I imagine there was much singing, dancing and possible debauchery ! The wineries date from the Roman era so it seems the processional way was still in use for festivals and rejoicing.

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While many of the actual sphinxes are missing having been lost or destroyed over the millennia, it is still possible to look along the length of the route and imagine what it must have been like in ancient times. It is wonderful to be able to stand midway along the route and see the entrance pylon of Luxor Temple in one direction and a partially reconstructed pylon and one of the obelisks of Karnak in the other.

Newly opened Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

View along Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Shattered Sphinx – Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Walking the Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Close-up of sphinx, Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Amun Barque, Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Opening Banner Avenue of Sphinxes

I feel incredibly lucky to have walked along the Avenue of Sphinxes. Now home again as Omicron, the new Covid variant rages across the world, I feel even more so. Definitely inspiration for more books as excavation and restoration work continues…

Fiona Deal, Author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt, fiction books all available on Amazon. To join Merry on her adventures please click on each picture for the link.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Carter's Conundrums

Cover of Carter’s Conundrums. Book 1 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Tutankhamun’s Triumph.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Tutankhamun’s Triumph. Book 2 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Hatshepsut’s Hideaway.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Hatshepsut’s Hideaway. Book 3 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Farouk’s Fancies.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Farouk’s Fancies. Book 4 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Akhenaten’s Alibi.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Akhenaten’s Alibi. Book 5 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Seti’s Secret.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Seti’s Secret. Book 6 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Belzoni’s Bequest.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Belzoni’s Bequest. Book 7 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Nefertari’s Narrative.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Nefertari’s Narrative. Book 8 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Ramses’ Riches.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Ramses’ Riches. Book 9 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

Pylon of Luxor Temple Photo taken in 2004

I’ve been travelling to Egypt since I was sixteen. I’ve witnessed it change through the years. It’s wonderful to see the conservation, preservation and, in some cases, restoration of Egypt’s ancient monuments.

An example is Luxor Temple, set right in the heart of modern-day Luxor on the Corniche, the boulevard that borders the east bank of the Nile, with hotels strewn along its length.

Luxor Temple dates from circa 1400BC, a New Kingdom temple built under pharaohs such as Amenhotep III and Tutankhamun of the 18th Dynasty, and Ramses II of the 19th Dynasty. Unlike the other temples in Thebes, Luxor temple is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the pharaoh in death. Instead, Luxor temple is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship. It may have been where many of the pharaohs of Egypt were crowned.

On my first few trips to Egypt the immense pylon (gateway / entranceway) to the massive temple boasted two enormous seated colossi of Ramses II and a single obelisk. This was originally one of a pair. Its twin stands in Paris at Le Place de la Concorde.

There used to be a shattered colossus of a once-standing Ramses II lying on the western side of the temple. And also a famous head-and-shoulders bust of this same king, set on a plinth on the eastern side of the entrance.

Head of Ramses II

I imagine tourists the world over who’ve visited the temple must have their own version of this photograph taken of me back in 2004.

So it was rather wonderful to visit in late 2018 (after a gap of almost 5 years) and see the incredible changes that had taken place.

Here is the pylon of Luxor Temple as it looks now.

Two standing statues have been reconstructed, one on either side of the seated colossus.

A fabulous feat of modern engineering to bring this fallen giant back from ruin.

And imagine my surprise when I switched on the TV one Sunday evening a couple of weeks ago and saw a Channel 4 documentary which featured the restoration work to raise the fallen statue. Here is Mahmoud Farouk, who leads the restoration team based in Luxor on photos I took of the television while the documentary was playing. I even managed a tiny bit of video!

Now, I’m lucky enough to have met Mahmoud. When I was last in Egypt over Christmas and New Year 2019-20, my guide introduced me to him, and I was very privileged to have him show me around a part of Karnak Temple usually closed to the public. That’s one of the privileges of being able to tell people I write books set in Egypt ! Here we are together at Karnak.

It really is wonderful to see the work that he and his team are doing to clean and preserve the ancient monuments.

Fiona Deal, Author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt, all available on Amazon. To join Merry on her adventures please click on each picture for the link.