A restored road connecting two ancient Egyptian temple complexes in Karnak and Luxor has been unveiled in a lavish ceremony aimed at raising the profile of one of Egypt’s top tourist spots.
The procession on Thursday to reopen the 1.7-mile (2.7km) road included a reenactment of the ancient Opet festival, in which statues of Theban deities were paraded annually during the New Kingdom era in celebration of fertility and the flooding of the Nile.
The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, marched along the road at the start of the ceremony. Pharaonic chariots and more than 400 young performers dressed in pharaonic costumes paraded along the avenue.
The 3,400-year-old road linking the ancient centres of Karnak and Luxor, also known as Road of the Rams or Avenue of the Sphinxes, is lined with hundreds of ram- and human-headed sphinxes, though over the years many have been eroded or destroyed.
The road has undergone several restoration efforts since being discovered in 1949, and the latest began in 2017.
Source: Egypt restores ancient road linking temples of Luxor and Karnak | Egypt | The Guardian
and so it begins….
Indeed it does, @William Thirteen – and the end of the beginning will be the official opening of the Precinct of Montu…
Dwtw
Note at the head of the procession is the cult image of Amun.
Yet another sign of the arrival of the MA(I)ON.
Litlluw
RLG
Having had the immense pleasure of touring Egypt on a cruise up the Nile back in 1992 I was excited to hear about the New Grand Egyptian Museum. However, having walked the same halls of the Cairo Museum of Antiquities that Aleister Crowley walked, was the highlight of my visit. I hope to return to Egypt one day.