spices of egypt

luxor is a great place to buy innumerable things. In addition to the exquisite range of jewelry that is quite liked by the tourists who visit this part of Egypt, you can buy the cotton clothes and the shoes.

But what draws the tourists mostly are the aromatic and the colorful spices that are mostly in demand. In fact tourists from the nearby areas flock in to purchase the excellent quality of the spices. Quiet interestingly if you ask all those who had been to luxor as to what did they buy, the most obvious answer that you are bound to receive is the species.



The place which is renowned for its spices is the luxor Spice Market of Egypt. See the innumerable shops of various sizes houses the colorful and the fragrant spices. The shopkeepers selling them pile huge amount of the spices in large containers. No sooner you enter the luxor Spice Market you can sense a strong aroma of the different spices. All of the, are of excellent quality and of international standards and are very pure. As you make your way through the luxor Spice Market a bright blue rather a indigo colored would surely distract you. it is nothing but the indigo dye that is sure to distract you because of its lovely color.



No matter if you are an Indian or in American, the aromatic spices of luxor is sure to lure you. If you are having a plate of Chinese cuisine sitting in part of Europe, then the aroma of the lemon grass used is sure to drive you crazy. If you ask anyone of the secret then surely the you would find a reference to the small town of  luxor .The spice has to belong to this luxor Spice Market of Egypt.



Some of the best spices of the luxor Spice Market



Most of the spices that you can buy from here are the following:



Chamomile

Caraway

Cumin

Fennel

Fenugreek

Coriander

Nigellasativa

Peppermint

Spearmint

Basilicum

Lemongrass

Licorice

Licorice

Hibiscus

Hay

 Safflower -Saffron - Crocus sativusSafflower -Saffron - Crocus sativus CardamomGingerVanille Vanilla planifolia Zimt - Cinnamon -  Cinnamomum Black pepper - Latin Piper nigrumLorbeer  -  Bay laurel - Latin Laurus nobilisKoriander -  Coriand -  Coriandrum sativumBockshornklee  - Fenugreek  - Trigonella foenum graecumSchwarzkümmel - Black cumin -Nigella sativaNelken - Dianthus-DianthusMuskatnuss - Nutmeg-Myristica fragranAnis -Anis- Pimpinella anisumKurkuma; Gelbwurz - Turmeric -Curcuma longa
Kreuzkümmel - Cumin-Cuminum cyminumPiment; Nelkenpfeffer-Pimenta; Allspice

Pimenta dioicaWacholder - Juniper-Juniperus communis

Zitronengras -Lemon grass-Cymbopogon citratus

Salbei - Sage-Salvia officinalisChili, Peperoni - Chili pepper; Cone Pepper-Capsicum frutescensBasilikum- Basil- Ocimum basilicum Beifuß -Mugwort-Artemisia absinthiumWermut - Wormwood-Artemisia absinthiumThymian-Thyme -Thymus vulgarisL'origan -Origanum_majorana

he female mummy of Hatshepsut, Egypt's greatest woman ruler

Archaeologists today used a missing tooth to positively identify the mummy of Hatshepsut, Egypt's greatest woman pharaoh who reigned more than 3,000 years ago.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's foremost archaeologist who led the research, said: "This is the most important discovery in the Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun, and one of the greatest adventures of my life."

Hatshepsut ruled over Egypt, the most advanced civilisation in the world, for about 15 years (1473-58BC) and was only the second woman known to have assumed the throne.

She was the daughter of Tuthmosis I and married her half-brother Tuthmosis II. When her husband/brother died, she ruled as regent on behalf of his infant son Tuthmosis III, but effectively took over the throne.

Depictions of her illustrate the change of status, showing her in the traditional regalia, the royal head-covering known as the nemes headdress and false beard.

After her death Tuthmosis III took steps to erase all traces of her, archaeologists now believe in order to remove the female interruption in the male Tuthmosis lineage.

Statues of her were torn down, monuments defaced and her name scratched from the records.

In particular, her mummy went missing, a puzzle that has troubled Egyptologists for more than a century.

The British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Hatshepsut's tomb while excavating at the Valley of the Kings in 1902. When he properly explored the tomb in 1920, two years before his famous discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb, Mr Carter found two sarcophagi, one for Hatshepsut and the second for her father, but both were empty.

Speculation about the riddle has, for years, focused on a separate tomb now known as KV60, which Mr Carter found and opened in the spring of 1903.

Inside he found coffins of mummified geese, which he removed, and the partially disturbed and decaying coffins of two women lying side by side. One bore the inscription of Sitre-In, Hatshepsut's wet nurse, the other was anonymous.

As the tomb was not royal it received little attention until the Egyptologist Donald Ryan reopened it in 1989. The sarcophagus marked with the name of the wet nurse was taken to Cairo museum, and the second unnamed sarcophagus remained behind.

Mr Hawass decided to re-investigate the mystery surrounding Hatshepsut for a television special to be aired by the Discovery network and his team removed the second sarcophagus to Cairo for a CT scan.

"That is the only mummy I have removed from the Valley of the Kings," he said.

The scan revealed that this mummy was an obese woman between the ages of 45 and 60 who had bad teeth. She also suffered from cancer, evidence of which can be seen in the pelvic region and the spine.

In search of more clues, Mr Hawass suggested a CT scanner be used to examine artefacts associated with the queen. One of those was a small wooden box that bore the cartouche, or royal seal, of Hatshepsut and contained a liver.

Embalmers typically eviscerated the dead before embalming them but preserved the organs in jars and boxes.

The CT scan also revealed a tooth in the box. Mr Hawass called in a dentist, Galal El-Beheri from Cairo University, who studied the scans of the tooth and of several female mummies.

"Not only was the fat lady from KV-60 missing a tooth but the hole left behind and the type of tooth that was missing were an exact match for the loose one in the box," Mr Hawass said.

The exact dimensions of teeth are unique to each mouth. The molar tooth in the box fits within a fraction of a millimetre with the space of the missing molar in the mouth of the mummy. The minuscule difference could be due to erosion of the gums after the tooth was extracted.

"The discovery of the Hatshepsut mummy is one of the most important finds in the history of Egypt," Mr Hawass said. "Her reign during the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt was a prosperous one, yet mysteriously she was erased from Egyptian history. Our hope is that this mummy will help shed light on this mystery and on the mysterious nature of her death.

The Eye Of Horus correspond to the six senses

The EYE OF HORUS has a very specific meaning. The eye is represented as a figure with 6 parts. These 6 parts correspond to the six senses - Touch, Taste, Hearing, Thought, Sight, Smell. These are the 6 parts of the *eye*. The eye is the receptor of *input*. It has these six doors, to receive data.


The construction of the eye follows very precise laws. The senses are ordered according to their importance. And according to how much energy must be *eaten* by the *eye* for an individual to receive a particular sensation. All of the sensory data input is *food*.

In the Ancient Egyptian measurement system, the EYE OF HORUS represented a fractional quantification system to measure parts of a whole. [ Get a book on Egyptian stuff or scan the internet for Egyptian Math see for e.g. "Understanding Hieroglyphs" by H. Wilson, ISBN 0-8442-4604-2 ]

The entire eye measured 1 heqat. And each of the parts of the eye measured fractions of the heqat.

[ THE EYE OF HORUS ]

These are the parts of the EYE and their corresponding associated fraction values :-

The corresponding sense data are :-

1/64 heqat Touch

1/32 heqat Taste

1/16 heqat Hearing

1/8 heqat Thought

1/4 heqat Sight

1/2 heqat Smell


Also, in the Egyptian system there is the unit of the ro. And by definition 320 ro = 1 heqat. The symbol for the ro is the mouth, it represented one mouthful. Again associating these measures with food, or input data.

Now if we consider the ro as the smallest unit of input energy needed for the input to *register* as sense data. We note,320 = 5 x 64 and so in terms of ro we have 5 ro to register a Touch 10 ro to register a Taste 20 ro to register a Sound 40 ro to register a Thought 80 ro to register a Light 160 ro to register a Smell

To see how the drawings of the eye correspond to the various senses note:-

1. Touch 1/64 heqat or 5 ro

This part of the EYE represents planting a stick into the ground. Like planting a stalk that will take root. The Earth represents touch. Planting itself represents physical contact and touching.

2. Taste 1/32 heqat or 10 ro

This part of the EYE represents the sprouting of the wheat or grain from the planted stalk. It is the food we put into our mouth. And so represents taste. Taste is also = Touch + Shape. That is to say, the different tastes we experience come from touching different shapes. So, touch is more a fundamental sense that taste.

3. Hearing 1/16 heqat or 20 ro

This part of the EYE represents the EAR. The figure points towards the ear on the face. Also, it has the shape of a horn or musical instrument. When we Hear a sound or combination of sounds we find this to be pleasing or unplesant. The sound has a taste for us, causing a preference. Sound requires Touch + Taste and so is a combination of the lower senses.

4. Thought 1/8 heqat or 40 ro

This part of the EYE represents thought. We often use our eyebrows to express our thoughts. And this facial feature is closest to that part of the forehead we associate with thinking. We raise our eyebrows to express surprise, for example. Thought = Touch + Taste + Hearing. If you think :) about it. Thinking is a kind of surpressed sound. The language we think in is like the *touch* of muscle prior to giving voice. And of course, we have a *taste* for different types of thoughts.

5. Sight 1/4 heqat or 80 ro

This is the pupil of the EYE. And so no more needs to be said. It represents seeing, or the sensation of light.

6. Smell 1/2 heqat or 160 ro

This part of the EYE points to the nose. It even looks like a nose. It represents the sensation of smell.

There is a lot more to this analysis, but that's the basics.

Egyptian Museum day tour 50 $

Abu Simbel
		Temple of Ramses II Abu Simbel is the location of the most famous temple of Ramses II. The most spectacular aspect of this temple is its setting in the solid rock above the banks of the Nile River between the First and Second Cataracts. As impressive as Abu Simbel is, it probably would not be quite as famous were it not for its relocation because of the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

Relocation Between January 1966 and September 1968, the restoration work crews carved the temples into over a thousand pieces. Some of the blocks weighed as much as 30 tons a piece.  They were removed and raised over 200 feet. The pieces were then reassembled on an artificial hill above the reach of Lake Nasser.

Statues Ramses II built the Great Temple to honor himself and the gods of the state. The four seated statues of Ramses are about 20 meters in height. At the feet of Ramses stand the statues of his favorite children. Many stelae were found at the southern end of the temple, including the famous Marriage Stela. This stela describes the arrival of the Hittite princess to Egypt to marry Ramses following the treaty with the Hittites.

Interior Inside the temple, eight Osiride statues of Rameses II are attached to pillars and support the roof. The sun shines on Ramses II’s statues only two days out of each year: Oct 22 and Feb 22. These two days were his birthday and his coronation day. Today there are big celebrations at the temple on these two days.

Battle of Kadesh The walls depict scenes which show Ramses’ greatness in battle. Ramses was particularly proud of his victory at the battle of Kadesh and depicted this on numerous monuments including this temple.  Scholars today believe this battle with the Hittites was a stalemate.

Temple of Hathor The Temple of Hathor is to the north of the Great Temple. It depicts Ramses II’s first queen Nefertari on the facade between statues of her husband.  The inside of this temple shows Nefertari participating in the divine ritual in the same capacity as her husband. The holy of holies features a statue of the goddess Hathor represented as a cow.

Egypt Top 10 Tours

full day tour in the pyramids and the National museum Many tourists do not have much time to spend In Cairo so Here is a one-day tour to enjoy the highlights of Cairo which are the pyramids of Giza and the national museum.

In the evening you can have a unique experience which is the dinner cruise in a 5* boat with an interesting program including oriental Egyptian dancing , folkloric show named as Tanora show , and the dinner in a open buffet with a delicious Egyptian and international food (optional)
If you want to spend a cultural evening instead of the dinner cruise so don't miss the sound and light show to see the pyramids at night time it's really fascinating specially when you listen to the sphinx while telling you the story of ancient Egypt.(optional)
it is a summary to all of Cairo , so if you want a quick tour that is exactly what you need ...
The Itinerary
Our first stop will be the national museum , i will show you the master pieces and give you free time to have your own tour and visit the mummy room if you are interested.
after that if you felt hungry you can have lunch in a restaurant either with a wonderful Nile view or a gorgeous pyramids view.
after lunch we will visit the pyramids there you see the great pyramid of Cheops which one of the world wonders , the pyramid of Chephren (you have the chance to visit it from inside), and the smallest one of Mecarinus, the valley temple of Chephren , as ill as , the great sphinx and a panoramic view to see the three pyramids together.
if you are interested to have a camel ride it is a pleasure to arrange this for you.
then back to your hotel.

Sun to Illuminate Inner Sanctuary of Pharaoh's Temple

http://www.egyptraveluxe.com/the_sun_ceremony.php
Sun to Illuminate Inner Sanctuary of Pharaoh's Temple
(October 22, 2011)
For most of the year, the inner sanctum of the main temple at Abu Simbel is shrouded in darkness.
On two days, traditionally the anniversary of the birthday and coronation of pharaoh Ramses II, a shaft of sunlight pierces the gloom, illuminating statues of gods and the king in the temple's inner

sanctum.
On February 22, a day celebrating the king's birthday and again on October 22, a day celebrating his coronation, sunlight illuminates seated statues of the sun gods Re-Horakhte and Amon-Re, as well as a statue of king Ramses II. The statues sit in the company of the Theban god of darkness, Ptah (who remains in the shadows all year).
Seated between Amen-Re to his left and Re-Harkhti to his right, the statue of Ramses II has greeted the rising sun twice a year for the past 3,200 years at Abu Simbel.
Oceans
Pulse of the Planet
The spectacle—which has endured more than 3,200 years of Egyptian history—draws thousands of tourists to Abu Simbel to watch this ancient tribute to a pharaoh whose name is still known up and down the Nile Valley for his military exploits and monumental building projects.
Temple of a God-King
Ramses, who ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1270 to 1213 BC (about 50 years after the death of Tutankhamen, better known as King Tut) made a name for himself by battling the Hittites and the Syrians, Egypt's enemies to the north.
To celebrate his victories, Ramses erected monuments up and down the Nile with records of his achievements. He completed the hypostyle hall at Karnak (Thebes), and completed the funerary temple of his father, Seti I, at Luxor on the West Bank of the Nile.
The main temple at Abu Simbel, which Ramses ordered built near the border of Nubia and Upper Egypt, was dedicated to two sun gods, Amen-Re and Re-Horakhte. Standing 100 feet (33 meters) tall, the temple was carved into an already-standing sandstone mountain on the banks of the Nile.
Four colossal statues of Ramses, each 66 feet (22 meters) high, guard the entrance to the temple. Rising to the pharaoh's knees are smaller statues of family members: his mother; favorite wife, Nefertari; and son, Prince Amonherkhepshef.
Inside the temple, three connected halls extend 185 feet (56 meters) into the mountain. Images of the king's life and many achievements adorn the walls. A second temple at Abu Simbel is dedicated to Nefartari, who appears to have been Ramses' favorite wife.
"Abu Simbel was one of, if not the largest, rock-cut temples in Egypt," says Bruce Williams of the Oriental Institute of Chicago, "The rock was sacred because the Egyptians believed the deity was living inside the mountain."
Rock-cut temples may have been especially significant in ancient Egypt because the bulge in the otherwise flat land may have signified the location where the gods emerged from the Earth, says Williams.
Monumental Move
The Abu Simbel temples do not sit in their original location. Egypt's growing need for electricity prompted the controversial construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s.The dam created Lake Nasser, and rising waters flooded a number of important archaeological sites along the banks of the Nile and displaced thousands of people who lived in the area.
The rising waters threatened the temples at Abu Simbel. Members of the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) orchestrated a massive construction project that moved the temple back 690 feet to its present site.
Piece by piece, craftsmen cut the temple, and the nearby temple of Nefertari into massive blocks of sandstone up to thirty tons. Both temples were carefully reassembled on a new steel and cement "mountain," safe from the water's edge.
The only result of the move is that the days of illumination have shifted by one—the illumination used to occur on February and October 21.
Festival of the Sun
That the days of illumination correspond to actual days in the life of Ramses is highly unlikely, says Leo Depuydt, an egyptologist at Brown University.
"The Egyptian calendar was based on 365 days and while it was precise, the solar calendar is minutely different from year to year," says Depuydt, who adds that it is also difficult to know the precise date of the birth or coronation of Ramses II.
"Regardless of the alignment, if the temple faces East, the sun is going to shine in it twice a year," says Depuydt, who adds that "excitement is the key here—people are going to come to see the sun in the temple. But science is a different matter."

 
 
 
 
 
 
http://www.egyptraveluxe.com/the_sun_ceremony.php