Up very early for
breakfast as we leave at 7:00 am for our sightseeing. I have one egg over easy, toast, grapefruit juice, and tea. We take bottles of water with us in the backpack.
At 7:00 am we meet Robert in the ship's reception area, get our leaving the ship cards as usual, and depart the ship.
VALLEY OF THE KINGS. Lies in the Theban hills of Qurna northwest of Dier el Bahri. The valley is sacred to the local goddess Mertseger and to Hathor. The valley is surrounded by high cliffs dominated by a natural pyramid shaped peak. The VOK was intended to ensure eternal life for the pharaohs. These tombs of the kings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasties were planned to preserve their mummies and funerary articles for eternity. Unfortunately most were not safe from tomb robbers. Until the time of Ramses I queens and royal children were also buried here. The tombs were hewn and decorated by skilled craftsmen who lived at nearby Deir el-Medina. We are told that there are 2 types of tombs, broadly speaking. The split level ones of the early XVIII rulers such as Tuthmosis I and Amenophis II and the straighter, longer tombs of the XIX-XX Dynasty. Some of the tombs were in pretty good shape and you could make out the scenes. Some places colors fading, carvings deteriorating. To be expected given they are thousands of years old.
Upon arrival we board a small tram that takes us from the parking lot to the visitor's center. Our admission includes entry to 3 tombs and Robert explains we will visit the tomb of
Ramses IV, the tomb of
Ramses IX, and the tomb of
Ramses III. There is an extra charge to visit
Tut's tomb. I buy tickets for Richard and me. Even though there are over 60 tombs in the Valley of the Kings not all are open to the public. Those that are open are rotated as to when they can be accessed. This is to mitigate effects of damage from heavy tourism. Lots of the wall paintings are protected behind glass panels. A few of the tombs like Tutankhamun require an additional charge to enter.
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Tram
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Visitor center
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| Admission ticket |
TOMB OF RAMSES IV #2 in the VOK. Areas of brilliant colors but inferior carving. Ceiling of the burial chamber twin figures of Nut. On the sarcophagus are texts and carvings of Isis and Nephthys to protect the mummy from harm. Ceiling decorated with cartouche's of the king's name, winged scarabs, and vultures.
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Book of Gates
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| Book of Gates |
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Sarcophagus
Ceiling burial chamber-Nut swallowing the sun
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TOMB OF RAMSES IX #6 in the VOK. This belonged to one of the last rulers of the XX Dynasty. Stepped corridors, inclined ramps. Walls depict Ramses before the gods. Symbolic extracts Book of Caverns-mast of Re's boat is formed by the penis of Babi, an old Kingdom baboon god whose phallus was a bolt on the door of heaven. Burial chamber-Book of Night in yellow upon dark blue background. Two sky goddesses stretch back to back across the ceiling. Voids swirling with creatures, stars, and heavenly barques. While the sarcophagus is empty you can still see Khepri-scarab incarnation of the reborn sun at dawn.
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| Horus, Khnum, Hathor |
TOMB OF RAMSES III #11 in the VOK. One of the largest in the VOK. His reign marked the height of the XX Dynasty. Scenes of every day life. Side chambers-scenes of cooking, baking, sailing ships, weapons.....
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Boat people
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| Ankh vs. cobra |
TOMB OF TUTANKHAMUN #62 in the VOK. Died suddenly. Maybe assassinated due to an unhealed wound in his skull or maybe from a leg infection? Only tomb left intact. Discovered in 1922 under the debris of the tomb of Ramses VI above it by English archaeologist Howard Carter. The mummy is still in the second coffin in the tomb. The sarcophagus contained 2 wooden coffins covered with stucco and gilded and the third one was solid gold.
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Admission ticket
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| Postcard |
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Funeral procession
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Left to right-Tutankhamun followed by his spirit/ka standing before the god Osiris, lord of the underworld; Tut standing before goddess Nut who welcomes him to his tomb;Aye (Tut's successor) shown wearing leopard skin and holding instrument for the opening of the mouth ceremony
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12 baboons represent 12 hours of night and above them are 5 standing gods and the sun barque with the god Keeper who appears as the sun in the early morning in the form of a scarab which sits between 2 figures of the goddess Isis
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| Tut standing between the goddess Hathor who is giving him the symbol of life and the jackal-headed god Anubis |
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Book I bought
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| From the book |
VALLEY OF THE QUEENS. Used as a royal burial ground for queens, princes, and princesses in the 18th-20th Dynasties. The tomb I really wanted to see was not open for visitors-Queen Nefertari. We see tombs Prince Amenherkhopshef, son of Ramses III; Tyti-possible wife of Ramses III.
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Admission ticket
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Book I bought
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| Tyti tomb |
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Tyti tomb
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| From my book |
TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT. Set against mountains this partly hewn rock temple is an awe inspiring sight. The temple rises in terraces. One of the most popular monuments on the West Bank. Designed by Queen Hatshepsut's architect Senenmut in the 18th Dynasty. The temple was damaged by Ramses II and his successors and Christians later turned it into a monastery-Deir al-Bahri which means Northern Monastery. She was the only woman ever to reign over Egypt as pharaoh. Wife of Tuthmosis II. Widowed before she could produce a son. A secondary wife did have a son and heir. Made herself co-regent with young Tuthmosis III before assuming absolute power. When Tuthmosis finally assumed power he defaced Hatshepsut's cartouches and images. Lower terrace at one time planted with myrrh trees and cooled by fountains. Middle terrace also at one time had myrrh trees brought from Punt in the famous expedition that's depicted along one of the square pillared colonnades flanking the ramp to the uppermost level. Stump of a tree remains.
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Admission ticket
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Postcard
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| Our guide Robert showing us the remaining stump of the tree that would have been planted at the Middle Terrace |
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| Ramp to first terrace |
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| Ramp to middle terrace |
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| Listening to Robert give us information on the temple |
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Hatshepsut as Osiris as it was believed that the pharaoh became Osiris upon death
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| Leaving the temple area |
ALABASTER FACTORY. We see a short demonstration of the process and then there's the store, of course. I bought a beautiful piece for 170 LE after haggling it down from 200 LE. I probably still paid too much for it!
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| Alabaster Factory/store |
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Demonstration
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| Small alabaster vase I bought |
COLOSSI OF MEMMON. Stands in a field next to a road. Represent
Amenhotep III and are all that's left of the pharaoh's mortuary temple which was thought to have been the largest ever built in Egypt. The temple was gradually destroyed by the annual floods of the Nile and plundered for building material by later pharaohs.
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From my book
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| Colossi of Memmon |
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| Back to the ship |
Back on the ship before 12:00 pm. It's been a very busy morning.
Lunch. Didn't write anything down in my notebook so I don't know what I had. We leave the ship again at 2:30 pm for afternoon sightseeing.
KARNAK. Greatest of all Egypt's monuments. Karnak was a political, religious, and military powerbase. Home to the pharaoh, high priests, and other administrators. Pharaohs from the 12th to the 22nd Dynasty ruled from here including Ramses II and Tutankhamun. Three separate temple enclosures. Grandest was Amun dedicated to the supreme god of the New Kingdom. This really impressed me. I just couldn't believe the hugeness of some of the states, pillars, etc. A vast area to see. Wish we had had more time here.
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Admission ticket
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Postcard
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| Processional Way flanked by ram headed sphinxes |
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| Entering the First Pylon |
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First Pylon-vista of receding 43 meter tall towers
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| Colossus of Ramses II |
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| Great Hypostele Hall |
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| Hatshepsut's obelisk |
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| Sacred Lake |
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| Giant scarab |
LUXOR TEMPLE. In the heart of the town. Grand colonnades and pylons. dedicated to the Theba Triad of Amun-Min (bull which serves the cows), Mut-consort of Amun-Min customarily depicted wearing a vulture headdress and Uraeus and the combined crown of the 2 lands, and Khonsu-Amun and Mut's son, the traveler crossing the night sky as the moon god either portrayed with hawk's head or your boy with side lock of youth.
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Admission ticket
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| Postcard |
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| Mudbrick Roman chapel |
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| These flank the gateway |
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| Obelisk carved with reliefs it was one of a pair until the other was removed in 1835 and taken to France and re-errected in the Place de la Concorde |
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| Mosque of Abu el-Haggag |
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| We ran into our friends who stayed at the same place as us in Abu Simbel! |
Back to the ship around 5:30-6:00 pm. A short time in the
pool after this long, hot day.
Dinner is at 8:00 pm. Our last night. Shrimp cocktail, cream of tomato soup, beef consume, vegetable medley with parmesan cheese. Veal and beef, grilled chicken breast, sea bass. Dessert-banana boat. Gave envelope at box by reception for the staff to divide but gave out extra to our cabin guy and our server at meals. A separate envelope for Robert, our guide.
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| Our table/group |
Tonight's entertainment is a
BELLY DANCE AND WHIRLING DERVISH SHOW. It was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. Singers, dancers. Great way to end our cruise. Overnight in
Luxor.
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Getting the passengers to participate
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Our group-everybody dance!
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Our group
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| Whirling dervish |
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Wow!
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Twirling above his head
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