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HISTORY OF BIG SUR COAST

  A new dawn:              Locals had long called for a road along the coast to aid shipwreck victims and improve access to isolated communities.  Construction started in 1919, and 18 years, 32 tonnes of dynamite and 33 bridges later, the Big Sur stretch of California Highway One was complete.               The implausible route, with its myriad twists and turns and dramatic drop-offs, became an instant classic.  The author and painter Henry Miller fled to Big Sur in 1944 and stayed for nearly two decades.  Photographer Edward Weston and Beat Generation bard Jack Kerouac fell under its spell.  By the late 1960’s San Francisco’s counterculture revolution had swept down to Big Sur, and the likes of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell performed on the cliff tops.              ...
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Ancient Egypt

 Ancient Egypt:

Ancient Egypt

          *   Made of all the more impressive by its desert location, the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara consists of six superimposed tiers rising to 62m (203 ft).  Built in 2667-2648 BC, it was a prototype of the Pyramids of Giza, which followed only a century later.

          *    The three Pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo are the classic pyramid group.  Despite the encroaching suburbs, their stupendous scale still inspires awe today, as they have done for 4,500 years.  The mysterious Great Sphinx forms part of this complex.

Ancient Egypt

          *    The greatest temple complexes of ancient Egypt are those of Karnak and Luxor, with forests of huge, hieroglyph-covered columns and bold connecting avenues lined with sphinxes.  They were part of the ancient city of Thebes (on the site of the modern town of Luxor), capital of ancient Egypt in 1550-1290.

          *     The magnificent temple complex at Dendera, 40 miles (65km) north of Luxor, is one of the best-preserved of ancient Egypt.  Started by the Ptolemies in the 1st century BC, it was dedicated primarily to the goddess Hathor.

          *      The Temple of Horus of Edfu is one of the most intact ancient temples in Egypt.  It was constructed by the Ptolemies, starting in about 237 BC and completed by Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, father of Cleopatra.

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Location: Egypt

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