Stacey’s Mini-Extravaganza to the Middle East

The Valley of the Kings.  It’s thought this site was chosen because of the rock formation above that looks like a pyramid.

After my adventures in Aswan, it was time to jump on a train and head about 3 hours north to Luxor.  Luxor is one of the most touristed cities in Egypt as it is the location of many burial tombs of various pharaohs and nobles from centuries past.  The biggest draw is perhaps the Valley of the Kings which is a valley in the desert housing 63 known tombs of Kings including the famous tomb of King Tut (though more are likely to be discovered).  There is also a corresponding Valley of the Queens with fewer tombs though the tomb of Nefertari is said to be the most amazing tomb in either valley.  Unfortunately, that one will cost you $5000 to see and you will need special permission from the head of antiquities in Egypt.

Examples of the inscriptions from inside various tombs in V of K

Note the stars at the top of this one.  These stars covered the ceilings of every tomb I entered as well as the ceiling of some parts of the Karnak Temple (tomorrow’s post)

You may recall in Cairo that I mentioned that the creation of hidden tombs became the norm in the New Kingdom as an effort to prevent looting of the pyramids.  Indeed the pyramids were often looted almost immediately after their construction and given the difficulty of creating such huge monuments it is theorized that pyramid construction eventually fell out of favor and most royal burials were moved to Thebes (present-day Luxor).  In fact, the tombs were also looted there with the exception of the most famous tomb of all…that of King Tut.

It is worth mentioning here that while King Tut is perhaps the most famous Egyptian pharaoh, his reign (and his tomb) are rather unremarkable.  He took the throne as a nine year-old boy and died at the young age of 18.  He left no male heirs, was likely seriously disabled and it is currently theorized that he died of a severe strain of malaria.  So why is he so famous?  Largely because his tomb is the only tomb in the Valley of the Kings to be found almost completely intact including both his mummy and more than 1700 objects to give clues about life in ancient Egypt.  Opened in November 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter the tomb of King Tut is the only one in the valley to still contain his mummy…the rest of the royal mummies (as well as all of the artifacts found in the tomb) are now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo as we’ve seen previously.

So…in the Valley of the Kings I was allowed to enter three different tombs and all three were interesting and unique in some way.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos because of the damage caused by our camera flashes.  I did find a few pictures elsewhere on the web of the inside of the tombs and have included them here.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

After the Valley of the Kings it was off to see the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.  Queen Hatshepsut is an intriguing character because she is the only female pharaoh to ever rule over Egypt and how she came to that post is a rather interesting (and still somewhat debatable) story. As the story goes, she was the daughter of Tutmosis I and since he had no sons of his own his daughter’s husband (Tutmosis II) was set to inherit the throne.  Apparently Hatshepsut was a strong-willed woman and her husband extremely weak-willed (some say this was by design as she had her eye on the throne since she was a teenager).  Unfortunately, Hatshepsut was widowed before she was able to produce a male heir so rather than allowing the son of one of her husband’s lesser wives to take the throne…she herself assumed the throne.  She was rather conniving in how she did this as female pharaohs were non-existent so she first took over as a regent for the infant heir (Tutmosis III) and then banished him to military school for 20 years ultimately naming herself queen though keeping with the traditions of male pharaohs by wearing the false beard and short kilt of the other kings.  Admittedly, the time of rule under Hatshepsut was a peaceful and prosperous one for Egypt though ultimately Tutmosis III returned to power and angry at his step-mother he is said to have defaced her tomb and attempted to remove all evidence of her existence from Karnak Temple.  Quite an Egyptian drama…

The rest of the pictures here are from Hatshepsut’s temple…tomorrow it is hot-air balloon rides and a trip to both Karnak and Luxor Temples here at the Mini-Extravaganza.  Stay tuned…

Various scenes here and below of the Temple of Hatshepsut

Colossi of Memnon

Sunset over the Nile