luxkt008

Then we stepped out to examine the work in progress on the Avenue of Sphinxes just in the back of the library. It was dusty and dry there. Only one pedestal had kept its sphinx in the immediate vicinity.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt010

One of Attaya Gaddis “specialties,” I was told, was photographing British soldiers as they arrived in Egypt during World War Two. His family has maintained their special relationship with the British. The British Consulate in Luxor is the family’s tenant.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt007

The former press attaché invited me to see “the first library of Egyptology” that had been recently opened in Luxor.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt009

But there were more on pedestals in the distance as the Avenue cut through the town.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt005

... from the Aswan area.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt004

The venue was a garden restaurant which, coincidentally for us, featured a Nubian house...

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt006

I was attracted to a green soup on the menu.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt003

I tagged along for some parts. The next evening we met the local notables at a dinner given on behalf of the governor. One was a woman physician who was running for the national legislature. This was the election season and I had noticed her face among the posters around town.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt002

At dawn I was awakened by azan, the call to prayer, broadcast on loud speakers in the neighborhood mosques. I walked on the balconies that rounded the floor where my room was located to see who else was up. There were no lights on in any of the nearby buildings.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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luxkt001

The bigger hotel on the other side of the street seemed empty. The quiet of the street was broken by the click clacks of caleche, horse driven carriages, more often than the occasional passing cars.

Photo essay: The Museum that is Luxor

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