The West bank : Luxor, Egypt

The river that demarcates life and after life.

Luxor is divided by the Nile into two areas: the East Bank, where the modern city is, and the West Bank, known mainly for its ancient tombs and monuments. And that is where we are headed next but on a corporeal mode of transport. 

Lure of the lore

For me, an English Literature and Geography buff, a visit to Egypt cannot be complete without sailing the Nile. Didn’t Shakespeare's Cleopatra, ‘Serpent of the Nile’, sail with pomp and splendor, down the longest river in the world?

“The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, / Burned on the water”. 

( from Shakespeare's  Antony and Cleopatra)

Hence from the archaeological sites on the East bank we go up to the pier where ferries are waiting to take passengers across the river. There are a couple of Nile cruise ships as well. 

A ride in a felucca, the traditional Egyptian sail boat, would have been ideal but I had to settle for less. Ours is a small motorised ferry with padded seats and colourful cushions. As the boat glides gently along the river, the desert and green fields slide past on either side. We are protected from the sun by a canopy and a cool breeze soothes us.

A perceptive change

It's past midday and the sun is already moving towards the West.  How symbolically appropriate that we follow it! The greenery has faded, the harsh light has softened, the heat has abated somewhat,and the colour of the waters changes.

Entombed History, Resurrection

We alight on the opposite bank and it feels as though we have crossed not just the Nile, but a boundary between worlds. Suddenly everything is different: a vast desert plain, the mountains rising behind it, and scattered across the landscape, the remnants of a  three thousand year old civilization.

The distances are immense. Walking from one site to another is almost unthinkable, so we drive through this extraordinary landscape, passing colossal statues in various stages of restoration. Everywhere there is the sense of something long buried stirring back to life.

The first to greet us are the Colossi of Memnon, each towering 18 metres above us. They stand like ancient sentinels at the entrance to what remains of the enormous mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. Excavation and restoration continue around them. Fragments everywhere—broken limbs, fallen stones, shattered architectural details—waiting to be identified, numbered and fitted back into place. What patience this requires.

And then the Pharaoh, Amenhotep, himself appears.

He has been brought back upon his feet after 30 centuries of collapse. His enormous form has been meticulously reconstructed from fragments and re-erected.There is something deeply moving about it. These are not simply ruins. They are acts of resurrection. Besides him is his wife, the queen.

Further on, mud-brick structures emerge from the slope, cave-like and almost seamlessly blending with the barren landscape. They are the vaulted storerooms of the Ramesseum, and once again we are overwhelmed by the scale and sophistication of ancient Egyptian architecture.

 

The Enormousness of the necropolis

First the pyramids and then the vast tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.

The caves are an introduction to the Valley of the Kings, where the magnificent tombs of ancient pharaohs were carved into the desert rock. The landscape hence looks pockmarked with entrances to tombs.This famous archeological site houses over 60 tombs of royal pharaohs and nobles, including that of  Ramesses V & VI and Tutankhamun.

We tend to associate ancient Egypt with pyramids: vast monuments rising high from the desert, built to entomb the dead and proclaim their power for eternity. But in Luxor,  these monuments descend into the mountain, through long, winding passages and chambers, their walls alive with brilliant paintings and hieroglyphics.

There is also a practical reason:  Kings stopped building pyramids because robbers easily stole from them. 

It feels less like entering a tomb than entering another realm. 

The walls tell stories of gods, death and rebirth, guiding the pharaoh on his journey into the afterlife. The treasures buried within were not simply possessions, but provisions for eternity—a carefully imagined passage from one existence into another. Is it really all silence and stone?

Where workers and nobles are not left out

We continue deeper into the West Bank of Luxor, the road carrying us into a world of rock and dust . The weathered limestone cliffs of Deir el-Bahari rise. This is the Valley of the Artisans. Some of the best workers that helped build the tombs are buried here. Understandably, these tombs are smaller and not as grandiose.

Hats off to Hatshepsut

Around the bend is the Valley of the Queens. The archeological site is where the wives of the royal pharaohs were buried. Most of the tombs here are rather small and not as impressive as those in the Valley of the Kings. However, the tomb of Queen Nefertari is located here and is said to be one of the best.

As we round the approach, the Temple of Hatshepsut suddenly comes into view. Three immense terraces rise one above another, their precise colonnades creating a striking play of light and shadow. Yet the monument fits perfectly into its surroundings, as though it was always meant to stand here.

We follow in the footsteps of countless others who came to honour Hatshepsut and the gods. One of ancient Egypt’s most remarkable rulers and its most famous female pharaoh, she built the temple as both a memorial to her reign and a sacred place connected with her journey into eternity.

Inside, surviving reliefs, with traces of brilliant colour, depict her divine birth and celebrated expedition to the Land of Punt. Ships, animals, plants and foreign traders unfold across the walls, offering a glimpse into a world of commerce, ceremony and belief.

Higher up, the sanctuary brings a sudden stillness. What stays with us is not only the monument’s magnificence, but Hatshepsut’s desire to place her story within a larger order of gods, life, death and renewal—a testament to the enduring human desire to be remembered beyond a single lifetime.

We watch stone masons at work on the restoration projects, and also get to see some traditional pottery.

Back to the Red Sea

Just as the sun disappears between the western hills,  the monuments awash with twilight, we make our way back to the port. This time we cross the Nile on a bridge. And as the road carries us away towards the Red Sea, the last light over the Nile seems to bring the journey full circle.

Reflection

In Hinduism, East represents new beginnings, light, and divine awakening, while West symbolizes culmination, reflection, and the evening closing of a cycle.The afterlife connection: In ancient Khmer and Hindu symbolism, the west—the direction of the setting sun—is also tied to death and the afterlife. Angora wat in Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world faces west. It has been suggested that King Suryavarman II who built the temple intended Angkor Wat to serve as his royal mausoleum or funerary temple in addition to a state temple.