If you are planning a vacation or holiday to Egypt, then you need to consider visiting many of the monuments in ancient Egypt. There are many places to discover and explore, and we have uncovered the top ten monuments to visit in ancient Egypt.

The Pyramids of Giza
The Pyramids of Giza are the oldest and only remaining monuments of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”. These huge structures were originally created as tombs for the rulers of the Old Kingdom.

The Unfinished Obelisk
The Unfinished Obelisk is located in the Northern Quarry and still lies where a crack was discovered. Possibly a companion to the Lateran Obelisk, the Unfinished Obelisk was originally at Karnak but now is in Rome. The Unfinished Obelisk would have weighed over 2.3 million pounds and would have been the worlds largest piece of stone ever handled. However, the crack in the stone occurred, which caused it to be abandoned. The site has recently been renovated and equipped with tourist facilities. Nearby is the Fatimid Cemetery.

Temple of Isis
The Temple of Isis is a small Ptolemaic Temple and can be found on the east bank of the Nile river, on the southern edge of Aswan town. The Temple of Isis is now beneath the modern ground level and has the appearance of being built in a pit, towered over by local housing and restaurants. The Temple of Isis is being restored by a Swiss-Egyptian Mission after being used as a storage magazine by the SCA for many years. The Temple of Isis is fenced off by tall metal railings.

Philae Temple
Philae Temple is on located on the Island of Philae. For over 50 years, the island’s monuments were partly submerged in water built up by the Aswan Dam. The temples on the island have now been completely dismantled and rebuilt on the nearby island of Agilika. Metal pylons on the old island of Philae can still be seen rising from the water to the south of Agilika.

Kalabsha Temple
Kalabsha Temple is a Nubian temple that was part of the rescue operation for monuments threatened by the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Kalabsha Temple was transported to its current location courtesy of the German Federal Republic in a salvage operation sponsored by UNESCO in the 1960s.

Tombs of the Nobles
The Tombs of the Nobles are located on riverscape of Aswan. The riverscape of Aswan is dominated by the sand-covered hills of the West Bank, and is strewn with rock-cut tombs of high-status officials of the Old and Middle Kingdom. These tombs are the Tombs of the Nobles. At the crest of the hill is the domed tomb of a Muslim prophet which gives the hill its local name, Qubbet el-Hawa or ‘Dome of the Winds’.

Karnak Temple
Thebes used to be the capital of New Kingdom Egypt. It was very important throughout the Middle Kingdom, when Thebes was a sanctuary of the god, Montu. Karnak and Luxor Temples together were known as Waset, and Thebes was the later Greek name for the town. The history of Karnak Temple and its gods is told every night in three separate performances in different languages in an awesome Sound and Light Show.

The Temples of Montu
Montu was a deity with a falcon head whose origins date back to the Old Kingdom. During Dynasty XI, Montu achieved patron status of the Theban kings and was associated with war. Several temples to the north and south of Thebes were dedicated to Montu during the Middle Kingdom and added to by pharaohs of later dynasties.

Tod
The small town of Tod is located on the east bank of the Nile river, about 20km south of Luxor. Tod’s ancient name was Djerty and Tuphium in classical times.

Dendera
The town of Dendera is located about 60km north of Luxor on the west bank of the Nile river, opposite the town of Qena. This is where the Nile Valley road branches off to the town of Hurghada. Dendera’s ancient name was Iunet and Dendera was known as Tentyris during classical times.