EGYPTHISTORY ALONG THE NILE

WITH

11 Days/ 9 NightsOct 10-20, 2019

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D A Y 1 Leave USAD A Y 2 Cairo Arrival / Cairo

D A Y 3 Cairo full day sightseeing D A Y 4D A Y 5

Giza excursion 

D A Y 6Fly to Luxor - Luxor & Karnak complex / Nile Cruise Boat

D A Y 7 Nile Cruise: Edfu - Kom Ombo / Nile Cruise BoatD A Y 8 Aswan sightseeing / Nile Cruise Boat

D A Y 9 Fly from Aswan to Cairo - fly to Cairo 

D A Y 1 0 Cairo sightseeing / Cairo

D A Y 1 1 Departure

Luxor: Valley of the Kings / Nile Cruise Boat

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H I G H L I G H T S • E a r l y m o r n i n g p r i v a t e e n t r y t o G i z a S p h i n x a r e a f o r p r i v a t e v i e w i n g .

• E g y p t i a n M u s e u m w i t h M u m m y r o o m v i s i t .• I n L u x o r s p e c i a l l e c t u r e b y d i r e c t o r o f a n t i q u i t i e s a n d v i s i t t o a n e x c a v a t i o n s i t e .

• I n L u x o r v i s i t a l o c a l v i l l a g e a n d l u n c h w i t h a l o c a l f a m i l y .• V i s i t o f E g y p t i a n q u e e n N e f e r t a r i ’ s t o m b .

• S a k k a r a w i t h I m h o t e p M u s e u m a n d S e r a p e u m .• G r e a t P y r a m i d s o f G i z a .

• K a r n a k a n d L u x o r T e m p l e s .• V a l l e y o f K i n g s i n c l u d i n g e n t r y t o K i n g T u t ’ s t o m b .

• Q u e e n H a t s h e p s u t ’ s t e m p l e .• P t o l e m a i c t e m p l e s o f N i l e .

• N i l e c r u i s e o n a l u x u r y c r u i s e r f r o m L u x o r t o A s w a n .• N u b i a n M u s e u m .

• A s w a n q u a r r y .• I s l a m i c & C o p t i c C a i r o .

• K h a n e l K h a l i l i B a z a a r i n C a i r o .• D e l i c i o u s f o o d2

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I N C L U D E D S E R V I C E S-9 Nights’ accommodation at stated hotels and cruise ship.-Breakfast, lunch and dinner as indicated in the itinerary.

-Three domestic fl ights: Cairo to Luxor / Aswan to Abu Simbel / Abu Simbelto Cairo.

-Transfers - for travelers on suggested fl ights.-Sightseeing and excursions as indicated in the itinerary; related entry fees.-Professional English speaking Egyptologist tour guide throughout the tour.

-Private entry to Sphinx area & private lecture in Luxor as indicated.-Two small bottles of water per person every day on the bus.

-Porterage at the hotels.

N O T I N C L U D E D S E R V I C E S-International airfare.

-Visa fees.-Drinks with included meals, except drinking water for meals and tea or coffee for breakfast.

-Gratuities for guides, cruise personnel & drivers.-Personal expenditures like phone calls, laundry, medical expenses.

-Travel insurance (can be provided on request.)

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F L I G H T S Suggested f l ights are on Turkish Air l ines:

Oct 10 Houston to Istanbul

TK 34 dep: 8:50 pm / arr : 4 :50 pm on Oct 11Oct 11 Istanbul to Cairo

TK 694 dep: 6:45 pm / arr : 8:05 pm

Oct 20 Cairo to IstanbulTK 691 dep: 8:45 am / arr : 12:00 noon

Oct 20 Istanbul to HoustonTK 33 dep: 2:00 pm / arr : 7 :05 pm

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Fare for these flights are$1042 on economy class,$4049 on business class,

per person as of January 4th 2019, including all taxes, surcharges and fees. These are subject to change based on availability.

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A C C O M O D A T I O N S

Cairo (first stay - 3 nights) Marriott Mena House Hotel - Garden view

rooms

Nile Cruise Ship (4 nights) Sonesta St. George Nile Cruiser

Cairo (second stay - 2 nights) Four Seasons First Residence

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 1 Thursday October 10 Houston - Cairo

We will leave Houston for Cairo, Egypt.

D A Y 2 Friday October 11 Cairo Arrival

Upon arrival, we will meet our guide at the airport and we will be transferred to our hotelin Cairo.

Cairo, Egypt’s sprawling capital, is set on the Nile River. At its heart is Tahrir Square andthe vast Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities including royal mummies and gilded KingTutankhamun artifacts. Nearby, Giza is the site of the iconic pyramids and Great Sphinx,

dating to the 26th century BC.As the capital city of Egypt, with eighteen million inhabitants, Cairo is not only vibrant,

exhilarating, exotic and fascinating, but warm and welcoming, as well. Egyptians call theircity “umm ad-dunya”- the mother of the world.

Overnight in Cairo

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 3 Saturday October 12 Cairo

Since it was founded on the banks of the Nile River in 10th century AD by Jawhar al-Siqillifrom the Fatimid dynasty, Cairo has been a center of the region's political and cultural life.

Cairo is also associated with the ancient Egypt because of its proximity to the ancientcities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat.

Today we will start our full-day tour with a visit to the incredible Egyptian Museum. Our

guide will take us through a time tunnel back to the beginnings and development of theancient Egypt. We will not, of course, leave the museum without seeing the renowned

Mummy Room.

After lunch, we will stroll through the winding streets of the Islamic Cairo and the Citadelstopping by important historic monuments, buildings and places. Among them, the Al-

Azhar Mosque and Madrasa, founded by the Fatimid dynasty in 10th century, isconsidered the third oldest university in the world, serving as a center for Arabic literature

and Sunni Islamic learning.

We will continue to the Saladin Citadel, a medieval Islamic fortification with mosques andmuseums. Perched on the summit of the citadel, the 19th century Ottoman Mosque of

Muhammad Ali represents his efforts to erase the thraces of the Mamluk dynasty that hereplaced.

We will explore the winding streets further to reach the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, arguably the

oldest mosque in the city, surviving in its original form, and the largest in Cairo in termsof area. Ironcially, El-Arafa necropolis is going to be our last stop today. Known in Englishas the “City of the Dead”, the cemetery has been around for more than 700 years in a city

so crowded that today tens of thousands live here among the tombs.

Overnight in Cairo. Meals: B-L-D7

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 4 Sunday October 13 Cairo - Giza

In the morn ing , we wi l l dr ive to Sakkara , the vast , anc ient bur ia l ground surv iv ing as thenecropo l i s o f the anc ient Egyptian capital , Memphis.

We wi l l v i s i t the o ldest s tone bu i ld ing complex known in h is tory , D joser ' s Step Pyramid ,

as wel l as the mastabas of Mer i ruka and T i . We wi l l a lso see a very spec ia l p lace inSakkara , the Serapeum, the bur ia l p lace of the Apis bu l l s , l i v ing mani festat ions of the god ,Ptah . Before we leave , we wi l l admire the masterp ieces of Sakkara at the museum, named

for Imhoteb , the famous arch i tect o f D joser ' s Step Pyramid .

We wi l l dr ive to G iza Plateau to explore the great pyramids, the last remaining of theSeven Wonders of the ancient world.

The largest o f the three pyramids , which be longs to Khufu , i s a marve l o f eng ineer ing f rom

the 3rd mi l lenn ium BC, the Old K ingdom per iod . H is son , Khafre ' s pyramid , on a nearbys i te , appears ta l ler than h is father ' s , but th is i s an i l lus ion , because i t was bu i l t on a h igher

ground . Khafre ' s son , Menkaura ' s pyramid i s less than ha l f the he ight o f h is grandfather ,Khufu ' s pyramid .

Visit to Apache off ices and vis it to a Springboard school .

The miss ion of Spr ingboard i s educat ing the Future i s to encourage innovat ive partnersh ips toincrease educat ion opportun i t ies for d isadvantaged ch i ldren .

A long wi th h is pyramid , Khafre bu i l t the Great Sphinx as a part of his complex, thatrepresents Ra-Harakhte , the sun god , as he r i ses in the east . The face of the Sphinx i s a

portra i t o f Khafre .

Af ter exp lor ing the three pyramids , we wi l l see Khufu 's solar ship, the most famous of a l lso lar sh ips , a t the Giza So lar Boat Museum. The sh ip was d issembled in the 3rd

mi l lenn ium BC into 1224 smal l p ieces before be ing bur ied near the Great Pyramid in theboat p i t , on ly to be fu l ly re-assembled in 1968 to be exh ib i ted in the museum.

Overnight in Cairo Meals: B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 5 Monday October 14 Cairo – Luxor – Nile Cruise Boat

W e w i l l b e t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e a i r p o r t t h i s m o r n i n g a n d t a k e a f l i g h t t o L u x o r . U p o n a r r i v a l ,o u r g u i d e w i l l m e e t u s a t t h e a i r p o r t a n d t a k e u s t o o u r b e a u t i f u l N i l e c r u i s e r t o c h e c k i n ,

b e f o r e h e a d i n g f o r a m a z i n g h e r i t a g e s i t e s b e q u e a t h e d t o h u m a n i t y b y t h e a n c i e n tE g y p t i a n s .

O f t e n a c k n o w l e d g e d a s t h e “ w o r l d ' s g r e a t e s t o p e n a i r m u s e u m ” , L u x o r i s t h e s i t e o f t h ec i t y o f T h e b e s , t h e g r e a t c a p i t a l o f E g y p t d u r i n g t h e N e w K i n g d o m e r a t h a t w a s d e d i c a t e d

t o t h e g o d A m o n - R a .W e w i l l e x p l o r e t h e L u x o r T e m p l e c o m p l e x b u i l t w i t h s a n d s t o n e o n t h e e a s t b a n k o f t h e

N i l e R i v e r i n t h e 2 n d c e n t u r y m i l l e n n i u m . W e w i l l c o n t i n u e o u r e x p e d i t i o n w i t h t h en e a r b y K a r n a k T e m p l e c o m p l e x , w h o s e c o n s t r u c t i o n s t a r t e d d u r i n g t h e M i d d l e K i n g d o m

a n d c o n t i n u e d i n t o t h e P t o l e m a i c p e r i o d .T h e c o m p l e x i s c o n s i d e r e d t h e s e c o n d l a r g e s t a n c i e n t r e l i g i o u s s i t e i n t h e w o r l d , a f t e r t h eA n g k o r W a t i n C a m b o d i a , a n d s e c o n d m o s t v i s i t e d p l a c e i n E g y p t a f t e r t h e G i z a P y r a m i d s .A f t e r l u n c h , w e w i l l d r i v e t o D e i r - A l M e d i n a o n t h e W e s t b a n k o f t h e N i l e R i v e r t o v i s i t a

u n i q u e p l a c e , w h i c h h o u s e d a s p e c i a l i z e d c o m m u n i t y , a r t i s a n s a n d w o r k m e n , w h o b u i l ta n d d e c o r a t e d t h e r o y a l t o m b s d u r i n g t h e N e w K i n g d o m . T h e w o r k e r s a l s o b u i l t t h e i r o w nt o m b s , o f c o u r s e , o n a m u c h s m a l l e r s c a l e t h a n t h e o n e s t h e y b u i l t f o r t h e p h a r a o h s a n d

t h e n o b l e m e n a t t h e V a l l e y o f t h e K i n g s .A w a y f r o m t h e c r o w d s o f t h e m o s t f a m o u s a t t r a c t i o n s , t h i s o f f t h e b e a t e n t r a c k t o u r w i l l

p r o v i d e u s w i t h a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o e n j o y t h e a r t w o r k o f t h e s a m e c r a f t s m e n , w h i c h a r ea c t u a l l y o f s a m e a r t i s t i c q u a l i t y .

W h i l e w e a r e o n t h e W e s t b a n k , w e w i l l g o t o T o m b s o f t h e N o b l e s , l o c a t e d i n t h e T h e b a nn e c r o p o l i s , a n d a d m i r e t h e T o m b o f R a m o s e , a g o v e r n o r a n d a v i z i e r d u r i n g t h e r e i g n s o fA m e n h o t e p I I I a n d A k h e n a t o n . T h i s f a i r l y l a r g e p r i v a t e t o m b i s u n f i n i s h e d , b u t t h e w a l l sw e r e d e c o r a t e d w i t h l o w r e l i e f s o f e x q u i s i t e q u a l i t y . M o s t o f t h e d e c o r a t i o n s d e p i c t t h ef u n e r a l p r o c e s s . W e w i l l e s p e c i a l l y p a y a t t e n t i o n t o a n u n p a i n t e d p o r t r a i t o f a g u e s t a t

R a m o s e ' s f u n e r a l b a n q u e t , e x c e p t t h e e y e s . M a n y s c h o l a r s f e e l t h i s p a r t i c u l a r s c e n er e p r e s e n t s o n e o f t h e b e s t p i e c e s o f a n c i e n t a r t t o b e f o u n d i n t h e w o r l d . E v e r y c u r l o f a

w i g , b e a d o f a n e c k l a c e a n d s o f t f o l d o f a g a r m e n t i s r e n d e r e d i n p r e c i s e d e t a i l .

Overn ight on board Mea ls : B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSIn the morning, we will drive to the Valley of the Kings, nestled in the cliffs on the west

bank of the Nile.

Being home to 63 known tombs, carved for the great pharaohs and royal family membersof the New Kingdom, the valley is divided into more famous East Valley and the West

Valley. The tombs were carved out of the cliffs in long shafts, heading deep undergroundand terminating in elaborate burial chambers. The tombs are decorated from top to

bottomwith religious images and texts from the Book of the Dead, designed to aid the journey of

the king to the afterlife.

Our journey will include a visit to the exciting Tutankhamun's tomb, which wasdiscovered nearly intact by Howard Carter and George Herbert in 1922.

Our expedition will continue with the great mortuary temple of the female pharaoh,Hatshepsut at Deir El-Bahari. This elegant terraced structure, one of the most beautiful

temples in Egypt, is decorated with carved reliefs illustrating some of the great events ofHatshepsut’s reign. Our ship will sail to Edfu this afternoon.

Overnight on board Meals: B-L-D

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D A Y 6D A Y 6 Tuesday October 15 Luxor

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PROGRAM DETAILS

The site of Edfu contains the most complete and best-preserved temple in Egypt, the

Ptolemaic Temple of Hours, which was constructed during the 1st century BC. Among thereliefs that cover the walls, columns, and doorways of the temple, we will especially pay

attention to the ones which tell the story of Horus taking his revenge on Seth for themurder of his father, Osiris, an event that was re-enacted annually in the temple. Objectsof note in the temple include a colossal statue of Horus as a falcon, which stands at the

entrance to the main temple building.

After we return to our ship, we will sail to Kom Ombo to visit another Ptolemaic templededicated to Haroeris and Sobek. The temple is noted for its symmetrical construction; two

entrances, two sanctuaries, and a line of symmetry that divided the temple into thedomains of Haroeris and Sobek. The worship of Sobek, the crocodile god, is an example of

the manner in which the Egyptians turned dangerous creatures into protectors. Sacredcrocodiles were kept at the temple here, mummified and buried after death. Haroeris orHorus the Elder, on the other hand, is the sky god whose eyes are the sun and the moon.In various myths, however, he is also identified with the sun god, or functions as his son.Along the inside of the outer wall are images thought to be connected with the Egyptian

medicine, including what appear to be birthing chairs and a series of surgical instruments.

After we return to our ship, we will sail to Aswan.

Overnight on board Meals: B-L-D

D A Y 7 Wednesday October 16 Nile Cruise: Edfu – Kom Ombo

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PROGRAM DETAILS

After we disembark our ship, we will visit the High Dam whose construction wasconsidered pivotal to Egypt's industrializaton by the Egyptian Government following the

Egyptian Revolution of 1952, by controlling flood, providing water for irrigation, andgenerating hydroelectricity.

We will continue our tour with a very interesting place, the Aswan quarry, that providedthe Great Pyramids of Giza with red, grey and black granite. There's even an unfinished

obelisk in the quarry that will make us very curious about the reason why it wasabandoned.

We will , then, take a boat to the Philae Temple. Even though the original island of Philae

lies underneath the waters of the Lake Nasser, with the help of UNESCO, the entire templecomplex was relocated to a new island, Agilkia, just to the south of Aswan. It was the

center of the cult of the goddess Isis during the Ptolemaic period.Then, we will explore the tombs of nobles at Qubbet el-Hawa, a necropolis of a group ofrock-cut tombs of various noblemen from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period, on the

west bank of the Nile, opposite of Aswan.

Today our tour will be complete with a visit to the Nubian Museum, which is dedicated tothe history of Nubia, the area that stretches from Aswan in the north to Sudan in the south.

Designed as an innovative interpretation of the traditional Nubian architecture, themuseum won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2001.

Overnight on board

Meals: B-L-D

D A Y 8 Thursday October 17 Nile Cruise: Aswan

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PROGRAM DETAILS

In the morning, we will fly from Aswan to Cairo.Upon arrival, we will continue with sightseeing in Cairo, covering the Coptic Christian sites in old part of

the city.Then we will be transferred to our hotel in Cairo.

Overnight in Cairo

Meals: B-L-D

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D A Y 9 Friday, October 18 Abu Simbel - Cairo

D A Y 1 0 Saturday October 19 CairoNo visit to Egypt and Cairo is complete without a stop at the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar.

We will enjoy the lively atmosphere of the Khan El Khalili Bazaar, which was built

in the 14th century and was named after a Mamluk Prince Jaharkas Al-Khalili . It 's famous

for its unusual, oriental souvenirs, and crafts. The medieval atmosphere of this traditional

market, together with its labyrinth of the narrow streets will charm us.

Rest of the day is ours to explore on our own.

Overnight in Cairo Meals: B-L-D

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D A Y 1 1 Sunday October 20 DepartureNToday we will be transferred to the airport to take a flight back to the U.S.A.

Meals: B

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