LUXOR, more properly El-Aksur, “The Castles” (plur. pane, of kasr), a village on the Nile, 450 miles above Cairo, occupies part of the site of the ancient Thebes, and has its name from the ruins described in vol. vii. p. 777. The village is also called Abu’l Hajjâj from the patron saint whose tomb is mentioned by Ibn Batuta, i. 107, ii. 253. See also Yâkùt, i. 338. Luxor is the centre for visitors to the ruins of and about Thebes, and is increasingly frequented by travellers and invalids in the winter season, being the only place above Osyût (Sayût) provided with hotel accommodation suitable for Europeans. The district is the seat of an extensive manufacture of forged antiques, often very skilfully made.