Winter Solstice, 2017

The solstice this year is on Thursday 21st December.

On this, the shortest day, the sun rises along the main axis at Karnak temple. There may be special entertainment provided and free admission before 9:00 but no news on this yet.

​With the Amun chapel having been recently opened to the public at the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri I will be there to try to get better pictures than this one, taken in 2014. On that occasion it was not possible to enter this chapel on the upper terrace, which is again aligned to the solstice. Sunrise will be at about 6:40, and the alignment will be equally good on the following morning, Friday 22nd December. This picture was taken looking into the top terrace in 2014, with the chapel of Amun at the rear. It was a few minutes after sunrise so the alignment is no longer perfect.

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