Egypt Explorers: Navigating the Nile 2

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At 5:30am this morning the alarm clock went off and it seemed as if my head just hit the pillow. We left for the Valley of the Kings at 6:30am to arrive before all of the crowds. The mountain at the top of the valley has a pyramid shape and the ancient egyptians believed that it was a sign identifying sacred ground and that they should be secretly entombed there. We were told that eventually they will close all the tombs and take people through a “recreated” exhibition, since the breaths of the tourists, subterranean water damage, and
the climate are damaging the paintings on the walls at an alarming rate. Not all the tombs were open to the public. They routinley rotate them to aid in the preservation efforts.

The kings of the 18th through the 20th Dynasties of Ancient Egypt chose to be buried in rock-cut tombs, instead of the traditional building of pyramids as burial chambers. From the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom. The valley stands on the West Bank of the Nile, across from Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. 63 tombs and chambers have been discovered here. The most famous one is King Tut's tomb.


First, we went to Ramses VI tomb and it was amazing to see how much paint remains on the tomb walls that have helped unlock the secrets of the past. Each of these tombs were incredibly well preserved and wonderfully designed by people who were architecturally gifted. Then, we toured the other tombs which are currently open to the public for viewing. We learned that the King's were very serious about keeping their tomb's location a secret they went to the extreme of killing all the workers once the tomb was finished. However, the workers made maps and kept these in their homes. The woker's ancestors eventually found them and robbed the tombs. King Tut's tomb was one that was untouched. The discovery was by accident

Into The Tomb

Breaking through the sealed door, Carter found a passageway filled with stone and rubble. Clearing this passageway revealed another sealed door marked with the royal impressions of Tutankhamun. Carter was sure he had found the king's tomb, but he was afraid it may have been pillaged - its contents removed. On November 26th Carter, with Lord Carnarvon at his side, started to break through this second sealed door. It was, as Carter described, "the day of days, the most wonderful that I have ever lived through":


"Slowly, desperately slowly it seemed to us as we watched, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway were removed, until at last we had the whole door clear before us. The decisive moment had arrived. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left hand corner. Darkness and blank space, as far as an iron testing-rod could reach, showed that whatever lay beyond was empty, and not filled like the passage we had just cleared. Candle tests were applied as a precaution against possible foul gases, and then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in, Lord Carnarvon, Lady Evelyn and Callender standing anxiously beside me to hear the verdict. At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by - I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, 'Yes, wonderful things.' Then widening the hole a little further, so that we both could see, we inserted an electric torch."

Entry into the burial chamber

The "wonderful things" that Carter saw encompassed the greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities ever discovered. But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Beyond this antechamber lay another, smaller, room filled with equally magnificent treasures. It took the archeological team 2 1/2 months to carefully clear and catalog the items in these two rooms. Finally, Carter was ready to break through a fourth sealed door into what he believed would be King Tut's tomb - the holy of holies where the pharaoh would be found in his golden casket. On February 16, 1923 Carter began to pick away at the sealed door:

"My first care was to locate the wooden lintel above the door: then very carefully I chipped away the plaster and picked out the small stones which formed the uppermost layer of the filling. The temptation to stop and peer inside at every moment was irresistible, and when, after about ten minutes' work, I had made a hole large enough to enable me to do so, I inserted an electric torch. An astonishing sight its light revealed, for there, within a yard of the doorway, stretching as far as one could see and blocking the entrance to the chamber, stood what to all appearances was a solid wall of gold. For the moment there was no clue as to its meaning, so as quickly as I dared I set to work to widen the hole...

With the removal of a very few stones the mystery of the golden wall was solved. We were at the entrance of the actual burial-chamber of the king, and that which barred our way was the side of an immense gilt shrine built to cover
Lord Carnarvon (left) and
Howard Carter break through
to the burial chamber
and protect the sarcophagus. It was visible now from the Antechamber by the light of the standard lamps, and as stone after stone was removed, and its gilded surface came gradually into view, we could, as though by electric current, feel the tingle of excitement which thrilled the spectators behind the barrier...

It was, beyond any question, the sepulchral chamber in which we stood, for there, towering above us, was one of the great gilt shrines beneath which kings were laid. So enormous was this structure (17 feet by 11 feet, and 9 feet high, we found afterwards) that it filled within a little the entire area of the chamber, a space of some two feet only separating it from the walls on all four sides, while its roof, with cornice top and torus moulding, reached almost to the ceiling. From top to bottom it was overlaid with gold, and upon its sides there were inlaid panels of brilliant blue faience, in which were represented, repeated over and over, the magic symbols which would ensure its strength and safety. Around the shrine, resting upon the ground, there were a number of funerary emblems, and, at the north end, the seven magic oars the king would need to ferry himself across the waters of the underworld. The walls of the chamber, unlike those of the Antechamber, were decorated with brightly painted scenes and inscriptions, brilliant in their colours, but evidently somewhat hastily executed. "

References:
Carter, Howard, The Tomb of Tutankhamen (1923); Hoving, Thomas, Tutankhamun - The Untold Story (1978).


The tomb of Tuthmosis III, was the second tomb we visited. Mayer warned our group that if they had problems with heights or tight places not to go to this tomb. Several of our members chickened out, but I was determined to go in even though heights did bother me. I told myself not to look down as I was climbing the staircase. Once I got to the top, a few of our goup realized they left their ticket at the bottom of the stairs with Mayer, and guess who else left theirs? Me! I did not want to go down and back up. One of the men in our group offered to retrieve mine, thank goodness. Once we were back on the move we saw the entrance and then we descend down a long tunnel where we had to crouch down to avoid hitting our heads on the ceiling before arriving at the antechamber, which was decorated. We descend again, into the burial chamber which still holds the cartouche-shaped sarcophagus. The burial chamber is oval shaped and decorated by stick men. This tomb is unique not only for its location, its age (it is one of the oldest tombs), but the style of decoration. A worker offered us a flashlight so we could look into the sarchophagus. He was not fluent in English, but we saw what he wanted us to. There was a drawing of Tuthmosis' wife and sketches of hands on the inside. He definitely wanted a tip for the extra information and the use of his flashlight. It was extremely hot and stuffy, and very difficult to breathe, so I was ready to move on. I dreaded the descent down the steep stairs, but I remained calm and made it down safely. The view as we walked out of the valley was just as breathtaking as it was coming in!

Later that morning we toured Hatshepsut's tomb. Hatshepsut was an 18th-dynasty pharaoh who was one of the handful of female rulers in Ancient Egypt. Her reign was the longest of all the female pharaohs, and her funerary temple still stands as a tribute to her incredible rise to power. It was a beautiful tomb and one that looks most like modern architecture. Mayer informed us about her and the following is an excerpt from a website that I believe is worth reading:

"Hatshepsut ruled from around BC 1503 to BC 1482. She was the eldest daughter of Thutmose I and his queen Ahmose and in accordance with the laws of the time she got married to her half-brother Thutmose II and ruled jointly after her father died.
From the minute she became queen she also became the actual ruler of Egypt since her husband remained sick for a very long time till he died leaving her with two daughters and a stepson, Thutmose III, from another secondary wife. Since the laws of Egypt stated that a woman could never be pharaoh and at the same time a pharaoh cannot rule without a queen, she made herself her stepson’s guardian and ruled with him. However, being the strong woman she was, she hated the idea of sharing power with a child so she came up with a plan that would help her get rid of her stepson and make the people of Egypt accept her as their only ruler.The plan was a story about her divine birth, which her loyal priests carved on the walls of the many temples built during her reign. According to Zahi Hawas the story runs as follows: “Amun, the king of gods, gathered all the gods of Egypt and declared that he wants to have a child that would rule Egypt, so the god of wisdom and knowledge, nominated Ahmose, the wife of king Thutmose I to be the mother of that child.” Drawings on the walls of her temples record the events of this holy marriage and divine birth of the daughter of Amun, Hatshepsut. However, she is portrayed as a boy and not a girl. After popularizing this story Hatshepsut banished Thutmose III to a distant palace and declared herself both the pharaoh and the queen of Egypt. And to make sure that Egyptians will always accept her as their only ruler all her royal statues portrayed her as a man with a pharaoh’s attire and beard! However, her femininity was still asserted through the soft, straight lines outlining her nose, big eyes and high cheek bones. Though during her reign Egypt was an empire with a strong army, the use of weapons was minimal; a fact which made some historians call her the queen of peace. Carvings on the walls of her two remaining temples show images of tribe leaders from as far as Somalia and Ethiopia paying tribute to her and accepting her rule willingly -a far cry from the images of defeated foreigners lying under the feet of the victorious pharaoh that fill the walls of ancient Egyptian temples. Prosperity came with the peace and stability that she was able to provide for her people. Caravans and trade ships traveled along known and unknown routes to places in East and central Africa and Asia and came back loaded with goods that helped improve Egyptians’ life style. If you thought Cleopatra’s and Antonio’s love story was intriguing and romantic (Shakespeare’s version of the story aside) wait till you read more about Hatshepsut’s love affair with her head Engineer, Senmout. (I read once, but can’t remember where and so can’t confirm it, that on a wall in her Deir Al-Bahari temple there is a carving that shows Senmout and Hatshepsut together with the word “lover” written under his picture and “goddess” under hers). However, like the majority of famous love stories, Hatshepsut’s love for Senmut led to her downfall. After becoming close to him, Hatshepsut appointed him as the governor and guardian of her daughter and gave him more than 80 titles. She also allowed him to build his grave close to hers (he dug a tunnel between the two graves), an honor that was hardly ever granted to commoners. Senmut’s growing power made many people jealous especially that he was not of royal blood and hence thought undeserving of the attention and importance given to him. As a consequence, many important figures in the government started supporting Thoutmosis III’s claim to the throne especially that he had grown to become a strong warrior. What happened in the final years of her reign is uncertain, however, Egyptologists agree that it was a period where everybody was plotting to get hold of the crown. Senmut somehow was banished from the palace and died or was killed right after leaving and soon Hatshepsut also died. Again, some say it was a natural death, others say she was poisoned by her stepson.
Though after her death her name was removed from the walls of temples or replaced by the name of Thutmose III, the fact that she was the only pharaoh queen to rule on her own, and to rule successfully, for almost two decades in spite of the religious beliefs of the time is an achievement that was never repeated in Egypt’s history."

After touring the tomb we had a photo opportunity, but did not stay long because the heat there was incredibly hot.

On the way back to the cruise ship we stopped at the one of the main attractions on the West Bank of Luxor, a landmark which everyone passes on the road to the monument area, are two gigantic statues known as the Colossi of Memnon.These two huge ruined statues, around 17m high, once stood at the entrance gate of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III, though very little of the temple behind them remains today. They were cut from two massive granite blocks, brought from quarries near Cairo, and carved to represent the pharaoh Amenhotep III of Dynasty XVIII. There was a massive temple here, but villagers stole the stones to use in their homes, so nothing else remains.

It was so nice to get back to the cruise ship and lay down for a nap in cool air conditioning. We really enjoyed the cruise, and this would be our last night aboard. We were treated to bellydancing and whirling dervishes.

By Missy

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Photos

Valley of the Kings
Missy in front of the entrance to King Tut's tomb.

Valley of the Kings
This is an amazing model in the visitor's center of the tombs at The Valley of the Kings. It shows how they are buried deep inside the mountain.

Valley of the Kings
This natural shaped pyramid is believed to be the reason the Kings wanted to be entombed here.

Valley of the Kings
This steep narrow staircase led to a tomb where Tuthmosis III wanted to be buried inside the mountain so tomb robbers would not find him.

Valley of the Kings
Another picture of the stairs.

Valley of the Kings
Excavation is still in progress at the valley

Valley of the Kings
Michele at the Valley.

Heiroglyphics
A very interesting story in heiroglyphics about Queen Hatshepsut. See the story for more information.

Queen Hatshepsut's temple
Missy in front of the temple.

Colossi of Memnom
Missy in front of the entrance to the Valley of the Kings

Hatshepsut's Temple
Columns carved with the likeness of Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut's Temple
Michele posing in front of the beautiful temple.

Luxor
Luxor at sunset.

Our last night on the boat
Michele on the boat.