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The Ramesseum is located on the West Bank of
the Nile at Luxor, or Thebes as it was called in ancient
times. It sits between the cultivated area and the
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. North of the Ramesseum,
you may visit the remains of the Mortuary Temple of Seti
I and you must pass the Ramesseum and Hatshepsut's temple
to go to the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. You can
combine a visit to the Ramesseum and a selection of the
Tombs of the Nobles in nearby Qurna. Use your Penguin
Guide to determine which tombs prior to crossing the Nile
from Luxor, as you have to buy tickets to the tombs at
the ticket booth at the river side.
If you wish to video, you may have
to have separate permits to use a video camera in the
tombs, ask your guide or taxi driver where the permits
can be purchased. When we were there, the permits were
bought at a place separate from the ticket booth.
Another idea is to arrive
at the ticket booth very early and get in line for to buy
one of the limited tickets to the restored tomb of
Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens. These will be for
a specified time period and you can then visit the
Ramesseum as convenient, based on your tomb visit
schedule. That way, you can visit monuments to the King
and Queen on the same day. Rameses also has a tomb in the
Valley of the Kings, but the Valley should be a full
day's tour.
The Ramesseum
is described, along with the Temple of Seti and the
Colossi of Memnon on pages 338-340 in your Penguin
Guide. The Lonely Planet guide covers the
Ramesseum on pages 294-295 (to order).
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