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Published: March 16th 2023
Our time on the Nile had now come to an end as we arrived in Luxor...we disembarked, jumped in our van and were off and running to visit one of the sites I was most looking forward to: Valley of the Kings...the name conjures up all sorts of magical visions; the various tombs, archaeological digs spanning centuries, King Tutankhamun (of course!) and the mysteries surrounding them all, what more could you ask for??
Our first stop en route was the Colossi of Memnon, a site with two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III...having stood since 1350 BCE, the twin statues stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple, which in its day was the largest and most opulent temple complex in Ancient Egypt. The statues contain Roman-era inscriptions in Greek and Latin, dated to between AD 20 and 250; with many of these inscriptions making reference to the Greek mythological king Memnon, whom the statue was then mistakenly thought to represent. While interesting not much remains of the site: the two statues are pretty damaged and the site itself is apparently on the edge of the Nile floodplain, so years of floods and erosion have unfortunately swept
away much of the complex, still enjoyed the visit though...
Now it was time for the main event as we arrived at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings, couldn't wait to get exploring! Situated on the west bank of the Nile (opposite Luxor) the valley consists of 63 rock-cut tombs (so far!), excavated for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BCE. The tombs range in size and room counts, and unfortunately the majority have been looted over the centuries, but the decorations in the tombs still stand and provide some clues to the beliefs of the period.
Four tombs were included in the tour, with our first stop being KV6, that of Ramesses IX (all tombs have KV numbered designations, KV standing for "Kings Valley")...punched our ticket, slipped past the iron gate and started making our way down into the tomb...while a bit eerie the paintings/carvings that adorned the walls and ceilings were beautiful, the decor however only covered about half the tomb which suggested that it had not been completed by the time of Ramesses' death we were to
learn...it was a great start to the visit, wandering through the tomb to the burial chamber, although it was probably our quickest visit as it was fairly busy, fortunately it would turn out to be the busiest tomb we would visit this day...
Great introduction to the site, but the next stop was the big one: the Tomb of Tutankhamun... Discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter and his crew, the sheer number and condition of artifacts found was to ignite a media frenzy at the time and become the most famous tomb found...Having seen a bunch of the treasures at the Egyptian Museum earlier in the trip I wondered what there would actually be to see in the tomb itself, and was it going to be stuffed with tourists so as to not be enjoyable? Fortunately we missed the hordes, and after reading up on some facts and history from the placards at the entrance we made our way down into the tomb, only to be greeted by Tutankhamun himself! Was not expecting that, the mummy of the boy king was resting in a glass climate-controlled case at the bottom of the ramp (and guarded of course),
what a cool surprise...not a whole lot to the tomb, the Annex and Treasury have been sealed again so couldn't see them, although the stone sarcophagus was still there and the murals were beautiful, certainly a highlight of the day...
We then set to exploring the tombs of Ramesses III (KV11) and that of Tausert & Setnakht (KV14-Tausert being the final pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and Setnakht being the first pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty-and father of Ramesses III). Absolutely fascinating; the tombs were filled with beautiful murals, carvings and in one case an impressive but unfortunately broken stone sarcophagus...these tombs were certainly quieter than the first one we visited, it was great not being rushed and having the time to really absorb what we were seeing...while the entire site did not seem too crazy-busy, Ahmed did a great job keeping an eye on where the masses were gathering and selecting the order of tombs based on lower occupancy which really gave us the time to properly explore and enjoy them...
Ahmed then recommended we add one more tomb to the visit (at an extra cost), as it was one of his favourites and we all heartily
Ahmed selfie...
...with the rest of us at Hatshepsutagreed, so we were off and descending into the tomb of Ramesses V & VI (KV9)...and I can see why he recommended it: the tomb itself apparently contains some of the most diverse decorations in the Valley of the Kings, and just seemed to go on and on...again stunning, the murals were in such great shape and colour that it was hard to believe they were thousands of years old...the first long, ornate corridor led to a pillared hall, where a second long corridor then led us down to the antechamber (decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead) before arriving at the burial chamber, beautifully decorated with scenes from the Book of the Earth (or Book of Aker). I think this was my favourite tomb, again there weren't many folks there, and the colour and vibrancy of the murals/carvings were amazing...
That concluded our visit to the Valley of the Kings, a much anticipated stop that did not disappoint...back in the van (and welcomed a/c) we were then off to our next stop: the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut...
A long promenade led to the complex, consisting of three massive terraces backing into the cliffs of Deir
el-Bahari...built in the 15th century BCE, its prime function was to serve the royal mortuary cults of Hatshepsut and Thutmose I, where offerings could be made to the spirit of the king...the backstory of Hatshepsut is pretty interesting: upon the death of Thutmose II (to whom she was the principal wife), Thutmose III (son of Thutmose II by a secondary wife, Iset) became the new ruler at the tender age of two...being so young Hatshepsut became his regent, soon his co-regent, and shortly thereafter declared herself to be the pharaoh, but never denying kingship to Thutmose III. When he came of age she appointed him the head of the armies, and the twenty-two years of co-rule (until her death) marked a time of great prosperity...then for some reason two decades after her death Thutmose III decided to erase all references of her rule, by scratching out all the faces of the carvings in the complex (and in Luxor)...these can still be seen today around the site, which unfortunately mars some of the beauty of the carvings/murals but also adds an amount of mystery to them as no one knows for certain why Thutmose III chose to do this...
Wandered
around the complex and then made our way back to the "Coca-Cola Temple" (snack bar/souvenir shack at the entrance) for a bit of shade...it was early afternoon now and after hours of wandering around in the sun and heat we were all starting to wind down...it was then into the van and off to the hotel where we would spend the balance of the afternoon lazing around the pool with a cold Sakara beer, very civilized! Nice balance of sightseeing in the mornings before the peak heat of the day, with plenty of time for R&R around the hotel pools in the afternoons, perfect...
Great start to Luxor, with the Temples of Karnak and Luxor slated for the next day...
(Thanks again to Wikipedia for filling in the historical reference gaps above)
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Hieroglyphics of the Valley of the Kings
This is a super impressive blog, Jeff. I am posting many of your pics in TB's "Rock Art of the World" thread in the Photography Forum. Definitely worth checking out!!!