Our Egypt tour is amazing: cruising on Nile river, riding camels into Nubian (ancient tribe) town, riding horse carriages, seeing Egyptian temples (more than 3000 years old), riding hot air ballon over Valleys of Kings and Queens, visiting museum, staying in Mena House Hotel where Cairo Conference was held. We flew in from Taipei on Emerates A380 (a lot of free seats) and took a night train from Cairo to Aswan. SF to Taipei round trip only costed us $350 each.我們埃及之旅非常神奇好玩：坐遊輪在尼羅河上巡遊，騎著駱駝進入努比亞（古部落）鎮，乘坐馬車，看埃及的神廟（3000多年），騎著熱氣球飛越帝王和王后谷，參觀博物館, 住的旅館是當年開羅會議場址，從房間可看到金字塔。 我們從台北乘坐Emerates A380（很多免費座位），從開羅搭乘坐臥兩式的火車, 夜行到阿斯旺。 SF到台北往返只需350美元。
旅遊線路:Luxor and Egypt maps
The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta. Egyptians built their paramids during Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC) in Lower Egypt (north of Nile river around Memphis). Because of lootings, they built their tombs in Upper Egypt (around Luxor, Valley of Kings) during New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC). King Tutankhamun's tomb is the only one which is not looted. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and the death of Cleopatra (30 BC) ended the nominal independence of Egypt. 由尼羅河所孕育出的古老文明，四千多年前古王國的輝煌的金字塔時期，三千多年前新王國的鼎盛時期，然後歷經希臘、羅馬、阿拉伯民族的統治，幾經戰亂，幸好古文物並沒有完全毀掉，古埃及文明在一些探險家和考古學家中活了過來。
Because we have many pictures, I am not writing up the details of the trip as in the past. But I want to show you more in videos with added ancient music (below posts). When friends suggested adding background music, I found that modern Egyptian music is basically Arabic and I had to find the matching ancient music. Below I uploaded some hightlighted pictures for you to view. 因為有很多照片，所以沒有像過去那樣寫出這次旅行的細節, 也許以後會寫, 不過我想展示帶有古老音樂的視頻（下面的帖子）。 當朋友建議添加背景音樂時，我發現現代的埃及基本上是阿拉伯音樂，我必須找到匹配的古代音樂。 下面我上傳了一些照片供你欣賞。
Pictures: (1) Mosque of Muhammad Ali - 19th century; (2-5) Cairo museum: King Tutankhamun, he and his wife, Anubis - 3ooo+ years, dwarf Seneb and his family - 4000+ years; (6) Mena House Hotel (Cairo Conference); (7,8) Khufu Khafre, Menkaure pyramids and Sphinx - 4000+ years; (9-12) Cruise ship, Sailing on Felucca (ancient boat), Riding camels,
Nubian girls; (13-24) Temples: Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu:HorseCarriage+Horus+Front, Karnak:Obelisks+Pillars, Luxor:Front+RamesessII+Lights+Pillars, Hatshepsut (female pharaoh); (25) Hot air ballons at Luxor; (26-30) Wall paitings in Ramesess tombs.
In the Valley of Kings most surprising is seeing the 3000+ years old wall paintings in Ramesses tombs. I heard friends said they didn't get to see them or were not allowed to take pictures in the past. Below is the playlist for the trip and also can be played on Youtube by clicking Egypt Trip 2017 (up to 1080p HD resolution). The modern music of Egypt is basically Arabic. So I found some ancient music to match the video. If interested in the details of the ancient music, it is documented below each video page on Youtube. 在帝王谷最令人驚訝的, 是拉美西斯墓葬3000多年的壁畫。 我聽去過的朋友說，他們沒能看到或不允許拍照。 埃及的現代音樂基本上是阿拉伯音樂, 所以我找到一些上古音樂來匹配視頻, 如果對古代音樂的細節感興趣，它記錄在每個Youtube視頻頁面下方。
Ancient Greek Music From Egypt - Fragment 1, Anonymous (2nd C. AD):
Below is the video of wall painting of Ramesses VI tomb, next to Tutankhamun tomb. The gate keeper let me take pictures. 帝王谷是我們的最愛，二個月前才准許買照相票的旅客在墓穴內拍照，四面牆上及天花板全是色彩鮮豔的各式雕刻壁畫，展示幾千年前埃及人的生活，愛好，信仰，服飾，尤以拉姆西斯六世墓穴中最為色彩斑爛，遠超過中國敦煌壁畫。
The oldest music - Hurrian Hymn No.6 (A Zaluzi To The Gods), Anonymous (C. 1225 BC): See next post introduction.
We spent 4 days and 3 nights cruising the Nile river. Very pretty scenery along the shores and beyond is Sahara desert. We visited temples from the ship. 四天三夜的尼羅河遊輪是探訪埃及的最好時刻，好吃好住，欣賞美景，輕鬆的帶你來到幾千年的古蹟面前。
Ancient Music - Excerpts Mentioning Eros And Aphrodite, Anonymous (2nd/3rd C. AD):
We visited Khufu, Khafre(son), Menkaure(grandson) pyramids and Sphinx on Giza area near Cairo. 我們參觀了開羅附近吉薩地區的胡夫，哈夫勒（兒子），門卡爾（孫子）金字塔和獅身人面像。
Ancient Egyptian Music - inspired on the musical traditions of ancient Middle Eastern cultures:
Views of ancient Thebes: Nile river, Valleys of Kings and Queens, temple of female pharaoh Hatshepsut (hot chicken soup). 在Luxor乘坐熱氣球翱翔帝王谷上空，新王國時期各代法老王的陵墓己從金字塔改為深埋帝王谷，乘二十八座的大型氣球，眼野遼闊。 我們朋友曾發表過在世副的（埃及武則天）對哈姬蘇女王及她建築師的故事及她那美麗優雅聖殿盛極衰敗的史蹟。
Ancient Egyptian music - Isis + Anubis(some):
Egyptians trying to sell by throwing merchandises to tourists on board of a moving ship. 在等候通過Esna水閘時，會有埃及人把各種商品拋上郵輪，你若滿意則可將錢放入袋中拋回給他們。
The oldest extant song is “Hurrian Hymn No. 6”(above center), an ode to the goddess Nikkal that was composed in cuneiform by the ancient Hurrians sometime around the 14th century B.C. The clay tablets containing the tune were excavated in the ruins of the city of Ugarit in Syria in 1950s. Along with a near-complete set of musical notations, they also include specific instructions for how to play the song on a type of nine-stringed lyre. There are a few versions played by various artists. So far I could not download the one with lyre playing. May be I have to buy the CD. 現存最古老的歌曲是“Hurrian Hymn No.6”，這是對女神尼克爾的一首頌歌，在14世紀BC由古代胡里安人用楔形文字組成。 含有這種調子的泥版, 在1950年代在敘利亞烏加里特市的廢墟被發現。 除了一套完整的音樂符號外，它們還包括關於如何在一首九弦琴上演奏的具體說明。
Visiting temples Luxor, Abu Simbel, Karnak, Edfu, Kom Ombo:
Luxor (ancient Thebes) has frequently been called "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temples Karnak and Luxor stand within the city. Alexander the Great claimed he was crowned at Luxor but may never have traveled to the south of Memphis. Abu Simbel temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Ramesses II and his queen Nefertari and is a UNESCO world heritage site and was relocated in its entirety in 1968 because the construction of Aswan Dam. The double temple of Kom Ombo is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Horus the Elder. Edfu temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus. 盧克索（古代底比斯）經常被稱為“世界上最偉大的露天博物館”，有卡納克和盧克索神廟遺址位於城市內。阿布辛貝神廟是在拉美西斯二世和他的女王Nefertari統治期間從山腰雕刻出來的，並於1968年因為阿斯旺大壩的建設而全部搬遷, 是聯合國花了二十年拯救下的世界遺產。 康孟波雙神殿供奉鱷魚神和鷹頭神。 艾杜夫神廟供奉鷹頭神。
Now they let me download "Hurrian Hymn No. 6” with lyre playing under the condition that they can show their advertisements on Youtube. It is fine and I used this music for a few videos. 現在他們讓我下載用豎琴演奏的“Hurrian Hymn No. 6”，條件是他們可以在Youtube放他們的廣告。
抵達後隨即前往古城堡區Citadel，安排參觀◎穆罕默德清真寺Mohamed Ali Mosque：由薩拉丁將軍在1176年對抗十字軍東征所建造，為一軍事要塞。其中鄂圖曼建築的穆罕默得阿里清真寺，外部是雪花石建材，內部華麗的祈禱室、遼闊的庭院，乃埃及現代化的最佳表徵，可媲美伊斯坦堡的藍色清真寺，為現代開羅的一大標誌。
隨後返回亞斯文遊輪。接著遊輪航往康孟波，抵達後參觀◎康孟波雙神殿Temple of Kom Ombo，分別敬奉二位主神，北邊祭鷹神霍魯斯Horus，南邊則是鱷魚神索貝克Sobek，一殿敬奉雙神信仰與兩兩相對的建築結構之神殿，在埃及是絕無僅有的，也是全埃及保存最完整的建築，至今幾乎還維持當年的原貌，細密的浮雕，充滿著原始藝術之美。接著遊輪續前往艾得夫，夜宿遊輪。
遊輪抵達艾得夫之後，安排★搭乘馬車前往◎艾得夫神殿Temple of Edfu參觀，又名霍魯斯神殿，花300多年時間建，目的是獻給正義化身－鷹神霍魯斯。是目前全埃及保存最完整的神殿建築，至今仍維持當年的原貌，其內牆上刻有老鷹神霍魯斯與邪惡河馬神賽特戰鬥的經過。隨後遊輪繼續航行，行經伊斯納水匣門，續往埃及中部昔日王國及帝國時代的首都，昔稱底比斯的－路克索Luxor。
今日展開西河谷之旅，首先前往◎帝王谷The Valley of the Kings，參觀新王國時期各代法老的陵墓，安排進入拉美西斯一世陵寢，拉美西斯九世陵寢以及圖特摩斯三世陵墓...或其他陵墓，(帝王谷門票包含參觀3個陵墓)，霎那間恍若穿過時光隧道，從現代到三千年前，頗有今世為何世之感。
爾後續參觀由古埃及權清一時的女法老所建的◎哈姬蘇女王神殿Temple of Hatshepsut，三層巨大的露台、秀麗的造型，其獨特建築的風格氣宇非凡，巧妙的將神殿與大自然山壁結合為一體，充份的展現了古埃及人對法老王的崇拜與法老王權力的象徵，博得神聖中最為神聖的建築。
接著參觀●曼儂巨像Clossi of Memnon，原本應為古埃及的祭殿，因遭到徹底的破壞，只留下單單佇立著的兩尊巨像。
午後安排前往路克索東岸，太陽東昇之處；前往參觀◎路克索神殿Temple of Luxor：同樣是供奉底比斯三神，阿蒙神與阿蒙神的妻子戰爭女神穆特和他們兩個的小孩月神洪斯神，相傳每年尼羅河漲潮的時期，卡納克神殿的三個神明會乘船到這裡接受眾人的朝拜與供奉。此神殿呈南北走向，較為細長，但規模不似卡納克神殿。神殿主要部份為阿曼侯提普三世所建，一直到希臘時代亞歷山大大帝都曾來造訪。
接著前往參觀◎卡納克神殿Temple of Karnak，世界上最大之一的露天史前古蹟，神殿規模之大無所可及，神殿門前列著一排獅身羊面像，入門後還有一排，緊接著的則是十根高約二十一公尺的石柱，現僅存一根完整的石柱，但其氣勢仍可感受得到。於此還可見到的二座方尖碑，高約二十九米，是埃及現今最高的方尖碑。巨大的雕像，崩圮的神殿，緬懷埃及古帝國榮耀，令人不勝低迴。
早餐後展開古埃及金字塔之旅。安排參觀世界七大奇景之一的◎吉薩金字塔Pyramids of Giza：金字塔為法老王的陵寢，從法老一登基就開始建造自己的墳墓，此區共發現八十多個金字塔，經過時間的流逝，許多都已坍塌。而最著名的三大金字塔是由古夫、卡夫拉、曼卡拉三位法老王所建造的。我們將安排★入內參觀其中一座金字塔，金字塔的不可思議，相信不需我們在此多做補充，它矗立在那四千多年，只為等候您的見證。還有守護在金字塔前的●人面獅身像Sphinx：位於次高的卡夫拉金字塔前面的這座人面獅身像，完全是由一整塊的岩石雕刻出來的，矗立在卡夫拉金字塔前，就像一個守衛金字塔的老者。
之後前往世界第一高樓，斥資15億美金打造的★哈里發塔Burj Khalifa，您可以登上位於第 124層樓高的景觀台At the Top(如遇特別原因關閉則無法安排)，搭乘世界最快的電梯，能在1分鐘內快速到達「登峰造極」的觀景台，舉目所見盡是超現代化的摩天大樓，讓您親身體驗這座立地而起、與天爭高的沙漠奇蹟，在天氣好的時候，更可以遠眺80公里遠的美景。
