Exclusive footage: Sphinx Avenue ongoing work and issues

The videos below were recorded on the 10th,16th and 21st of September showing the ongoing work on the Sphinx Avenue.

Installing the lighting system on the morning of 23rd of March 2012

This first videos shows two people carrying a water pipe that was broken during the digging work. 
(10th September 2013)

An argument over the broken water pipe as it worth according to the one who didn't get it between 100 to 150 Egyptian Pounds. (10th September 2013)

Children playing and hanging of a cable over the working area of the Sphinx Avenue while other at a further end were dumping rubbish down there.(16th September 2013)

The videos below were recorded on the 21st of September 2013.

How was it like a week before this work start? Check our exclusive footage for a walk down the Sphinx Avenue all the way from Karnak to Luxor temple (Here)

Exclusive footage: A walk down the Avenue of Sphinx, all the way!

First of all, we would like to thank you for all of your past support. You may have noticed that the Luxor Times profile on Facebook has gone through some changes in the last few days and we would like to explain what's going on. Facebook converted our profile into a page, causing every post to be (temporarily!) lost. We are now working to retrieve our old content and once again make it accessible to you, all while keeping everything as chronologically correct as possible. Because of this, you are going to see some old stories pop up in your feed once again.

Once this process is over, we will go right back to keeping you informed about what’s happening through up to date information, as well as exclusive photographs and videos.

So we would like to apologise for not publishing a couple of reports as we got the material and we will start with this exclusive footage of the Sphinx Avenue march from Karnak to Luxor temple

On September 3rd, this series of videos were recorded to cover the whole avenue walking south from Karnak Temple to Luxor temple.

This was all recorded in the same sequence below and the only seconds not shown are the few seconds it took to get to the main road again and to the other section of the Sphinx Avenue.

Five days later, there was ongoing work which we will publish more footage showing it tomorrow.

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New date for opening ceremony of the Sphinx Avenue. Will it happen this time?

For nearly 4 years few dates were set for the opening ceremonies of the Avenue of Sphinx. This time the Minister of Antiquities says the opening will be in the middle of December 2013 and it will be attended by the head of the World Tourism Organisation. Is it really going to be finished and open to public then? Will the Minister himself still be in office by December?
Time will tell and when it happens of course we will be there.

For more details and exclusive footage of the Sphinx Avenue including the only photos during the trials of the lighting system in one section, check the links below.

Sphinx Avenue story Part 1

Sphinx Avenue story Part 2

Sphinx Avenue story Part 3    The Avenue lit up for the first time

Grand Opening for the Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor

A grand opening is due to take place in October 2011 to celebrate the newly restored Avenue of Sphinxes.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Minister of State for Antiquities, made the announcement following a meeting attended by Major General Khalid Fouda, Governor of Luxor, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maksoud, Undersecretary of State for the Minister’s Office, Dr. Mohamed Shikha, Head of Projects, at Luxor and Mansour Boraik, Director of Antiquities in Luxor
The attendees have agreed to organize a festival during the month of October to open the project and attract international tourism to Luxor. The important event will be opened by the Prime Minister of Egypt, Essam Sharaf, and is to bring together various government ministries such as the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture.
Lined with sphinxes, the 2.7km route that connects the grand temples of Luxor and Karnak will be lit by the Sound and Light Company of Egypt. Company president, Essam Abd El Hady, made it clear that the sophisticated lighting design would be appropriate to the archaeological importance and beauty of the site. The company will use a new, advanced type of lighting to focus on the avenue and additional archaeological discoveries, such as workshops and wine factories dating to the Greco-Roman period.

For the last 5 years, the restoration project has focused on excavation, conservation, treatment of the water table, and the establishment of protective walls and entrances for tourist. The 120million LE project also involved relocating houses and removing roads, with full compensation paid to all those affected by the development.
The impressive avenue has long been a place of religious significance. In her red chapel in Karnak, Queen Hatshepsut (1502-1482 BC) recorded that she built six chapels dedicated to the god Amun-Re on the route. Successive construction and restoration work commenced during the reigns of Akhenaten (1353-1336 BC), Tutankhamun (1336-1327 BC) and Horemheb (1323-1295 BC).

(An archived picture of the Sphinx Avenue)

King Nectanebo I (380-362 BC) of the 30th Dynasty constructed the Avenue of Sphinxes on the older path. It was used for religious ceremonies and processions, marking the annual journey of the sacred boat of Amun on the god’s visit to his wife, Mut, at Luxor temple. An inscription from this time reads “I have built a beautiful road for my father Amun-Re surrounded by walls and decorated with flowers for the journey to the temple of Luxor”. Another inscription bears a cartouche for Queen Cleopatra. It is most likely to be from her visit to the avenue during a Nile trip with Mark Anthony.