– How would you say that in ancient Egyptian?
Sam and Max: Season 3: The Tomb of Sammun-mak
– “Foot, snake, squiggle, squiggle, bird.”
– Works for me.
– Gee, hieroglyphics are easy!
After driving for a few hours down the Nile, making our way back north and stopping at the Greek temples at Kom Ombo and Edfu, we came to the modern city of Luxor, ancient Thebes – the southern capital of ancient Egypt. Modern Cairo is near the ancient northern capital of Memphis. The area around Luxor has more to see of ancient Egypt than Cairo, in my opinion. While Cairo has the pyramids nearby, Luxor has the Valley of the Kings and many other temples. This afternoon we would spend our time on the east side of the Nile. The west side had the whole next day reserved for it.
Our first stop after lunch was the famous Temple of Karnak, which is a massive temple complex added onto by several Pharaohs, sprawling across an area a couple times the size of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. While in class we had talked about different events that are depicted on the walls of this temple. That afternoon we got to see them firsthand. A “primary source” is an original source, coming from the original writers of an event. Usually, however, when we speak of primary sources, they are copies and translations of the true primary sources. Looking at the hieroglyphics and images on the walls of this temple is looking at true primary sources. We stared into the faces of the past.
On his left is the list of the cities he conquered. On his right are his captives begging for mercy.
A list of cities Thutmose III conquered. Gezer is front of me immediately to the left of the crack.
After checking into our hotel and having supper, we had one more site to visit that day. Just down the street from our hotel was the temple of Luxor. With lights shining brightly on it in the evening, we explored this other temple, which was also built by multiple Pharaohs over multiple generations.
The Egyptians immortalized in stone what they wanted remembered. The Bible tells similar stories, like how God wrote on the two tablets the words of the Ten Commandments. While the parts of the Egyptians’ writing has faded or been lost, “the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). Additionally, at Christmas we can remember when “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14) when Jesus the Messiah was born in Bethlehem – God in human form. He is not a lifeless mark cut in a wall – he is the Living Word. The gods of Egypt can’t stand up to him.