June 3, 2003

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June 3, 2003: More than three thousand years ago, in ancient Egypt, the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (now Luxor) was dotted with mortuary temples. Their purpose: to remind common folk that departed pharaohs were connected to the gods.

The temples were carefully placed between the Nile (to the east) and the Valley of the Kings (to the west). During the day the sun would pass first over a pharaoh's temple, and then later over that pharaoh's tomb in the Valley--a symbolically important connection.

Sunset was indeed a special time. Viewed from Thebes the sun sank westward behind the Valley of the Kings and, many believed, into the netherworld. Death, the afterlife, the tombs of kings: these things naturally came to mind as the Nile valley grew dark.

Not anymore.

The sun still sets over the Nile, but the nights aren't as dark as they used to be. On April 11, 2003, ISS science officer Don Pettit used his "barn door tracker" to capture this nighttime photo of the river's Great Bend region, where the Valley of the Kings is located. The Nile is aglow with modern lights: cities such as Luxor and Qena, for example, are bright and striking. Well-lit roads, like the one from Luxor to its airport (which appears as a bright dot) criss-cross the image. The sites of old mortuary temples are more likely to make you squint than to contemplate.

Fortunately, the Valley of the Kings itself remains dark. It's sheltered from ambient light pollution by distance and steep hillsides. In that spot, invisible to astronauts at night, the ancient dark remains.

Today's picture, ISS006-E-44645, was captured using a digital camera and an 85 mm lens. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts may be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.