Luxor Pyramid and Sphinx

Las Vegas, Nevada

The ominous black pyramid of the Luxor Casino-Hotel is the largest in America: 36 stories tall. The only reason it wasn't built taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza is that it stands opposite the Las Vegas International Airport. At night, a Xenon light shines straight into space from the pyramid's apex. When the Luxor opened on October 15, 1993, the beam was visible from airplanes circling Los Angeles 275 miles away -- but authorities have since lowered the wattage to be less distracting.

Luxor IMAX Theatre, 2006.

The Sphinx is 110 feet tall, a full two stories taller than the original. At one time, supposedly, it projected the word "Luxor" onto the obelisk in front of it from light beams in its eyes -- although we've never actually seen that. The Strip monorail cuts in front of it, so the view is more obstructed, but probably fun for monorail riders.

Indoors, the motif continued, at least until a massive overhaul gutted most of the Egyptian elements. A museum in the basement contained a simulated King Tut's Tomb and treasure until 2008, when it was donated to a museum. There were multimedia motion rides and other entertainments; but it's hard to keep up with changes as the Luxor shapeshifts to keep pace with visitor interests and gambler preferences. We liked the talking camels and River Nile that cut through the casino in the 1990s, but those are long gone.

For years the only thing that Luxor bragged about was its claim to be the World's Largest Atrium: 29 million cubic feet. Then in September 2022 the casino did a 180 and brought King Tut's Tomb back, with the fake artifacts (more than 300 this time) enhanced with "immersive experiences" and "pods of virtual reality chairs" and "a fully three-dimensional, astonishingly accurate recreation of the excavation site."