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Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

Karnak

Valley of the Kings, Egypt

August 15, 2026 by Michael Huntley

Valley of the Kings in Egypt is a desert valley on the west bank of the Nile, opposite modern Luxor, where pharaohs of the New Kingdom chose to be buried in hidden rock‑cut tombs instead of towering pyramids. From the 18th to the 20th dynasties, roughly 1539–1075 BC, it served as the principal royal cemetery for most of the great kings of this era, along with some queens and high officials. The valley lies beneath a natural pyramid‑shaped peak called al‑Qurn, which likely reinforced its symbolic connection to rebirth and eternal life. After Dendera Temple we traveled to the Valley of the Kings.

Valley of the Kings arid desert landscape beneath the pyramid-shaped peak of al-Qurn, west bank Luxor, Egypt
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Karnak Temple, Egypt: Amun-Ra, the Great Hypostyle Hall & the Avenue of Sphinxes

August 3, 2026 by Michael Huntley

Flying from Cairo to Luxor takes just under an hour, but the journey feels like crossing millennia. Luxor was ancient Thebes — the capital of Egypt’s New Kingdom pharaohs for nearly five centuries — and from the air you can begin to see why they chose it: the Nile cutting a narrow band of green through absolute desert, the cliffs on the west bank where they carved their tombs into the rock, the temples rising on both sides of the river below. Karnak was the first thing on the agenda, and nothing quite prepares you for the scale of it.

Karnak Temple, Egypt
[Read more…] about Karnak Temple, Egypt: Amun-Ra, the Great Hypostyle Hall & the Avenue of Sphinxes

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