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On a recent trip to Luxor, Egypt, I was in the backseat of a van on the way to Medinet Habu. I looked out the window and noticed two giant statues sitting in an open field by the road. Our guide turned the car around so we could get a closer look. This was the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III.   The two 60 foot statues of Amenhotep III stand at the gates of the pharaoh's funerary temple. Behind the large statues, you can see that archeologists are working to excavate and reconstruct the rest of the temple. The...

When we went to Egypt, we noticed on the walls of temples and tombs that there were many images of birds. It is clear that the swallow played an important role in the afterlife of ancient Egyptians. In ancient Egypt, birds served many purposes. In the Book of the Dead, there are instructions for the deceased on how to transform into a swallow. Swallows were associated with stars and the souls of the dead. Our ceramic bird statues were handmade by skilled Egyptian artisans. They have a traditional arabesque design. We offer these charming statues in four colors: blue, green,...

Ancient Egypt was cat country. The fertile Nile Valley and the arid surrounding desert were home to no less than seven species of cat, ranging from big cats like the great lion to the small desert cat that came to live with humans thousands of years ago. Cats, big and small, became an important part of daily life and religion in ancient Egypt.  Ancient Egyptians loved animals and kept many different species of cats. Lions were the companions of kings; nobles hunted with servals, caracals and cheetahs, while leopard skins clothed lector priests. Families viewed their cats as an essential...

The Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir El-Bahri, near Luxor, is one of the most extraordinary temples in all of Egypt. The entire structure was designed to blend in with the surrounding mountainous landscape. Hatshepsut was the female king of Egypt who adopted the full titles and regalia of a pharaoh.   But scenes on the walls of the Deir El-Bahri temple had deep red details. We were surprised to see the tree of life and palm trees because they were not common in the other temples we visited.  Hatshepsut's temple consists of three levels with steep stairs between the levels.  There are many...

On a recent visit to Egypt, we visited the Hathor Temple in Dendera. On the roof of the temple, there is a small open-air room. The small room was a chapel dedicated to Osiris. When you walk inside it is noticeable that the walls do not have the same highly detailed hieroglyphs as the rest of the temple. However, when you look up you notice something amazing.  On the right side of the ceiling is a large arching Nut drawing. Nut is the goddess of the sky and heavens. On the left side is a relief that is unique to...