NILE CRUISE L E D B Y G R A H A M A N D D A W N M I Z O N
Cruising the River of the Hebrews & Pharaohs The World of Abraham, Joseph, Moses Cruising the Nile Luxor/Aswan
DAY 1 - Saturday 4th May FLIGHT DEPARTURE Flight departure from Heathrow via Cairo to Luxor. Meals and in-flight services rendered en-route. On arrival, travel by private coach from Luxor airport to the cruise ship.
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship (LUXOR)
The Nile River is the longest river in OBELISK, LUXOR TEMPLE
the world.From its major source, Lake
Victoria in east central Africa, the White
Nile flows generally north through
Uganda and into Sudan where it meets
the Blue Nile at Khartoum, which rises
in the Ethiopian highlands. From the
confluence of the White and Blue Nile,
the river continues to flow northwards into
Egypt and on to the Mediterranean Sea.
From Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean
Sea the length of the Nile is 5584 km
(3470 miles).
LUXOR TEMPLE Luxor/The Nile Cruising the Nile
DAY 2 - Sunday 5th May EAST & WEST BANKS Temples on the East Bank where the sun rises; and Tombs on the West where the sun sets; - thus this desert location well reflects the life and resting place of the Pharaohs of old...
WEST BANK Colossi of Memnon Statue remnants of an ancient temple some 60 feet high and named by the Greeks after the legendary hero killed at the Trojan wars. Valley of the Kings The land of Thebes (Egypts ancient capital from the 13th to the 30th Dynasty) with 64 Royal Tombs including the famous Tomb of Tutankhamun. Valley of the Queens The Royal Tombs display well-preserved wall paintings of day to day life in ancient Egypt and includes Queen Hatshepsuts Tomb.
EAST BANK
Temple of Luxor The city of a hundred gates built by two Pharaohs and dedicated to Amun-Ra. Luxor was the seat of power from 2100 to 750 B.C. Temple of Karnak Claimed to be the greatest place of worship in history - entrance is by the avenue of rams. The English word luxury is derived from this great city.
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship
VALLEY OF THE KINGS Cruising the Nile Dendara/Qena
DAY 3 - Monday 6th May MOSES WORLD Cruise to DENDERA The Dendera Temple complex, which contains the Temple of Hathor, is one of the best preserved temples, if not the best, in all Egypt. The whole complex covers some 40,000 square meters and is surrounded by a hefty mud brick wall. The present building dates back to the times of the Ptolemaic dynasty and was completed by the Roman emperor Tiberius, but it rests on the foundations of earlier buildings dating back at least as far as Khufu (known as the pyramid builder Cheops. In it was found the celebrated zodiac now in Paris. Sail on to Qena.
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship (QENA).
TEMPLE OF HATHOR (INCLUDING INSET ABOVE) Abydos/Sohag Cruising the Nile
DAY 4 - Tuesday 7th May MOSES WORLD Visit ABYDOS Considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Ancient Egypt. The sacred city of Abydos was the site of many ancient temples where early pharaohs were entombed. Today, Abydos is notable for the memorial temple of Seti I, which contains an inscription from the nineteenth dynasty known to the modern world as the Abydos King List. It is a chronological list showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from Menes until Ramesses I, Setis father. The adjacent temple of Ramesses II was much smaller and simpler in plan; but it had a fine historical series of scenes around the outside that lauded his achievements, of which the lower parts remain. The outside of the temple was decorated with scenes of the Battle of Kadesh. Sail on to Sohag.
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship
A DETAIL IN THE TEMPLE OF SETI 1, AT ABYDOS Cruising the Nile Sohag/Asuit
DAY 5 - Wednesday 8th May CRUISING THE NILE Sail to ASYUIT (approx 8 hours)
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship (ASYUIT).
Egypt - A Jewish Refuge The Hebrews In the Elephantine papyri, caches of legal documents and letters written in Aramaic, document the lives of a community of Jewish soldiers stationed there as part of a frontier garrison in Egypt. They maintained their own temple. The documents cover the period 495 to 399 BC. The Jews The Bible also records that a large number of Jews took refuge in Egypt after the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 597 BC. The Jews that had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and to other countries, returned to Judah. (Jeremiah 40:11-12) However, the population that was left in the land and those that had returned, fled to Egypt for safety (Jeremiah 43:5-7).
The Holy Family During the reign and brutality of Herod the Great, Joseph took Mary and Jesus into Egypt as instructed by the angel (Mt 2:13). Thus on their return the prophecy was fulfilled Out of Egypt I have called my Son (Mt 2:15)
SAIL BOATS ON THE NILE Asuit/Minya Cruising the Nile
DAY 6 - Thursday 9th May MOSES WORLD Sail to TEL EL AMARNA approx (3 hours)
Tel El Amarna Is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly established and built by the Pharaoh Akhen-aten (1353 BC), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The area is located on the east bank of the Nile River 312 km (194 mi) south Cairo and 402 km (250 mi) north of Luxor. The area was also occupied during later Roman and early Christian times; excavations to the south of the city have found several struc-tures from this period. In 1887 a local woman digging for sebakh (fuel for a fire) uncovered a cache of over 300 cuneiform tablets (now commonly known as the Amarna Letters). These tablets recorded select diplomatic correspond-ence of the Pharaoh and were predominantly written in Akkadian, commonly used in the Ancient Near East for such communication.
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship
AKHENATEM AND NEFERTITI Cruising the Nile Beni Suif/Cairo
DAY 7 - Friday 10th May MOSES WORLD
Visit BENI HASSAN and the ROCK-CUT TOMBS associated with Egypts rulers in the Middle Kingdom - (2055 BC and 1650 BC). On to TUNA EL GEBEL & HERMOPOLIS See the Boundary Stelae of Akhenaten (an upright stone or slab with ancient hieroglyphics); Visit Hermopolis - as a border town it was a place of great resort and opulence, ranking second to Thebes; The city is still a titular diocese in the Roman Catholic and the Coptic Church. Sail on to Beni Suif (approx 7 hours).
Dinner & Overnight Cruise Ship TOMB SCENES
DAY 8 - Saturday 11th May JOSEPHS WORLD Visit The Fayoum Oasis See Josephs Canal and Lake created by Joseph protect against the 7 years of famine; See Josephs Grain stores and visit an old mill farm; See mud brick Pyramids at Hawara. Sail to Wasta then to Cairo (approx 7 hours)
The Nile has always, and will probably always be a travel corridor for Northern Africa. While the River itself flows to the North, into the Mediterranean Sea, the prevailing winds along the Nile are to the South. Therefore, for at least the last 5,000 years, the Nile has been a great route, with boats drifting North, and raising their sails for the return trip up river. So dominant is the river that the two ancient sections of Egypt are, confusingly for most people, called Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is actually Southern Egypt, because it is up river, while Northern Egypt is Lower because it is down river.
The Cruise A NEW ROUTE for cruise boats - styled for a mix of shore site visits, leisure and fellowship with ample time to relax on deck and enjoy the rural scenes while drifting on the Nile and its FULL BOARD with a huge variety of food and ample to eat. A sailing journey of approxi-mately 440 miles. A few evening talks on the Hebrews and the Pharaohs are planned which will give insight to the impact of the Hebrews on Egyptian culture that still can be wit-nessed today in their language and culture. The Nile river is timeless with little unchanged on its shores from ancient days - a leisurely voyage of discovery in a floating hotel through one of the worlds greatest cultures. Cruising the Nile