The Temple of Hatshepsut.

Today I went to see the Temple of Hatsheput. A grand site; a completely different style of design comparded to many of the temples I have viewed. Three shines, two on each side with the main shrine in the middle. Of course the main shine was for Amun. On the sides, one shrine to Hathor and the other is to Anubis. A large causeway with open courts; the temple built into the cliff – one of the fnest mounuments of ancient Egypt. There are two other temples in the area which are in ruins, The temple of Montuhotep and a temple of Tuthmosis III.

So far I have toured everything except for the Valley of the Kings which will began tomorrow. I have been taking covered trucks (micro bus) and walking everywhere which has provided nice hot weathered exercise. The sun has been hot but not resentless. During the summer everyone stays inside during the day because it’s just to hot to do anything after ten in the morning. Sunscreen, a sun hat, and water are most important, even in the winter here on the west bank.

At this time of year they are harvesting the suger cane. It’s wonderful. Getting a nice long stick of suger cane to suck on is a sure pleasure. The way to eat it – tear the skin off with your teeth, then tear the inside and chew and suck the juice until there is just the plup in your mouth. Spit the pulp out. Once your into the core, enjoy the wonderful, energtic juice – sweet – a delight. Spit the pulp out as you suck the juice. You accomplish eating suger cane with your teeth – no knife needed.

This morning the brother and I talked about heading down to Aswan from Edfu on Saturday. This could work out well. I will have accomplished the sites in Luxor throughly, which was my plan from the start. There really won’t be much to do here next week, plus I am ready to head out of Luxor, one week with the family will be plenty, which has given me the chance to observe traditional Egyptian life.

The family can have some strange emotion, not really a place to hang out during the day. I should also be able to tour the Temple of Hathor by Saturday, which is in Qena, this will be a day trip from Luxor. The only site which would be left is the Temple of Seti I of Abydos. I can catch that on my way back traveling north.

The inner want of humans is clearly manifested and a trap. An afflection. A disease. A catch 22. Inner want provides a never-ending lack of satisfaction of the inner heart. Give the person of want something, and they just want more. Never finding satisfaction and contentment. Spirituality with the Divine is distant with the person of Want.