Karnak at sunrise

Up by 5:00 AM and out the door by 6:00 for a sunrise visit to the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak. Fellow tour traveler Sonia, who's seen me react to the previous sites, asks me if I have been to Karnak before. When I answer to the negative, she says "Oh, you are going to go crazy!"

That was the understatement of the Millennium.

This no simple visit to the temple. Ancient World Tours and our guide Medhat have cooked up some incredible treats and surprises for us.

First is Salah ElMasekh Ahmed, an Egyptian archaeologist who has been making fantastic discoveries at the front of the first great pylon, including the original harbor and boat docks right in front of the temple, where Pharaoh would come in his great golden barque, and Greek and Roman era settlements, including a vast bathhouse, complete with boiler rooms and shower stalls, where pilgrims would wash and purify themselves before entering the great shrine. Salah shows us around in the early morning light, pointing to this and that discovery, work in progress, complete intact urns still upright in the solidified dirt, explaining the plumbing and waterworks that sustained the bathhouse.

Then the Temple of Khonshu - falcon-headed lunar deity - where one of the once soot-covered rooms has recently been cleaned to reveal the vibrant original colors of the painted reliefs. Amazing. This is not open to the public, but we have been granted special permission to enter the holy of holies of this smaller temple in the compound of Amun...

We don't enter the main Karnak sanctuary yet, but skirt the north side of the external wall to view the great conquests of Seti I. Medhat and Dr. Barry explain the reliefs, revealing the existence of a lost branch of the Nile going way to the east and into the Sinai. There's even crocodiles depicted in the water...

Under the guidance of Dr. Barry Kemp, we look for surviving signs of the Amarna/Aten era amongst later 19th dynasty constructions. Surprisingly there are quite a few, considering the ferocity with which Akhenaten's reforms were obliterated by his successors. Just fascinating. What appears to be a partial column drum made of alabaster is engraved with the cartouches of the Aten. Barry greets him with fondness, like one would a dear old friend.

Denny is taking pictures, lots of pictures. A true shutter bug. Which is great because I am totally useless. I know I will be back here in the coming weeks, so I am not in a frenzy to take photographs, yet. One of the several I manage to take with my blurred vision is that of the restored standing statue of Amun with the features of TutAnkhAmun. Deeply moving.

The great hypostyle hall is a veritable forest in stone. I am reminded of the words of Robert Schwaller de Lubiz who commented that Egyptian Temples were symphonies in stone. I agree, I totally agree. This immense hall sings in polyphonic harmonies.

Oh and to bloody hell with my disbelief in reincarnation, I have been here before!