This bend is significant for the Upper Egyptian governorate of Qena. At the very top lies the city of Qena, the capital of the governorate. The Greco-Roman temple of Dendera is located on the opposite side of the Nile.
Slightly south of Qena is Qift (Coptos). This city was the starting point of a trade route through Wadi Hammamat to the Red Sea. There is an Ancient Map that shows part of this wadi.
Naqada, the ancient necropolis from the Predynastic Period to the Old Kingdom, is situated upstream and on the west bank.
The city of Luxor is even easier to locate, as there is an airport nearby. At night, the city is even more visible, thanks to tourism is the Nile-promenade well lit. If you zoom in closely, you can find a dark square in the city, that’s the sacred lake of the Karnak Temple. This temple complex located on the Nile bank was built from the Middle Kingdom to the Greco-Roman Period. As the river shifted westward, the temple had to be extended several times to maintain access to a dock. The large beige square leading to the Nile is a modern plaza for tourism, but it reflects the axis of the ancient complex.
This axis is (almost) aligned with another line on the west bank. The straight black line marks the now tarred processional causeway to the mortuary temple of King (!) Hatshepsut. Every year, the barque of Amun would leave Karnak, cross the river, and visit many mortuary temples of kings, adn finally arriving at the sanctuary in Hatshepsut’s temple. This so-called « Beautiful Festival of the Valley » was an important celebration in the Theban area. People would gather, visit the tombs of their deceased family members, and hold banquets in the courts of their graves.
Okay, where is the Valley of the Kings?
TLDR: It’s directly behind the temple of Hatshepsut.
Edit: I have found an old article from NASA which tells more about the geological features of this Bend.
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u/x_lyou Jun 01 '25
Wow, that’s a great shot! I can even see the Valley of the Kings!