Before the 19th century, travel from Europe to Thebes (and indeed anywhere in Egypt) was difficult, time-consuming and expensive, only the hardiest of European travelers visited—before the travels of Father Claude Sicard in 1726, it was unclear just where Thebes really was.
在19世紀之前，由埃及前往底比斯（又或者在埃及本地往來）的交通是困難、費時及昂貴的，只有最刻苦耐勞的歐洲旅行家才會到來——在法國神父克勞德·西卡爾於1726年來到之前，沒有人知道底比斯的所在。