20 April 2001 - Day 8 - Valley of the Kings and Queens Although the Temples of Luxor is listed on the Egyptian Links page before the Valley of the Kings and Queens site, the actual chronology of the two evens was the Valley of the Kings and Queens first and then the Temples of Luxor second, but since the image-link-buttons looked better in reverse order, that's why I put them that way! :-) As was quickly becoming the case, we woke up early again on the morning of the 20th so we could cram in as many ancient Egyptian sights as possible between the hours of sun-up and sun-down. A nice, relaxing vacation might have been preferable, but when you've only got four days along the Nile to see the glorious history of this country, you can't waste even a single minute! (. . . which makes me want my next vacation to be on some totally deserted island somewhere in the middle of the South Pacific where I can just throw away my watch, disregard schedules, plans, and time all together and just ignore the world and relax!) :-) The itinerary for the day was packed: Breakfast at 7:30 a.m., drive out to the Valley of the Kings at 8:30, be at the local tourist shops by 11:00, swing by the Valley of the Queens by 11:30, run back to the ship for lunch by 1:00 p.m., and then race out to the temples of Luxor and Karnak by 3:30 and 4:30 respectively and crash in our beds aboard the boat by 7. But before I continue, I think a little history is in order so you can understand why the whole area is worth flying and cruising half way across the country for!

Valley of the Kings On the mountain-side behind Thebes there are many small valleys of which the Valley of the Kings, also known as "the tombs of the king of Biban al-Malak" is the most famous. Originally it appeared as a gorge lost among the rocky ravines. Today even though roads have been built making access much easier, it still retains intact its mysterious fascination. Its history began with the unlikely decision of a pharaoh, Tutmose I, not only to build his tomb away from the funerary temple but to ensure his body burial not be in a monument but in a secret place. His resolution to do this broke a tradition going back 1,700 years. The architect, Ineni, excavated for the sovereign a well-like tomb in an isolated valley and then carved out of the rock a steep stairway leading down to the burrial chamber, thus setting a precedent which was followed by all successive pharaohs. Tutmose I's rest however did not last long, neither did that of the other kings. The history of the Valley of the Kings is one long story of pillaging, plundering and night time robberies by the light of a few torches. It was not only thieves, who already during the pharaonic era were engaged in systematic plundering to obtain the jewels and other treasures, but also religious and devout men who, knowing that their sovereigns were not safe, carried them away from one burial spot to bury them in another. And so it went on; Ramses III was burried three times! Tomb of Tutankhamon It was discovered on November 4, 1922 by Howard Carter (acting on behalf of Lord Carnavon) and it made history because of the enormous amount of treasure found in the burial chamber which, fortunately had remained untouched by grave robbers. Unlike its contents, the tomb itself was very modest, perhaps because it was built in great haste as a result of the unexpected death of the king. Inside among all the funeral trimmings the thing which stands out because of its great beauty is the pharaoh's sarcophagus. It is more correct to say the sarcophagi since the royal corpse was contained in three mummy cases: the first of gilded wood, the second also of gilded wood but with the addition of a powdered glass paste while the third is out of solid gold. The golden sarcophagus is one of the greatest masterpieces of goldsmith art of all time; it contains two hundred kilograms (450 pounds) of gold, is one and a half meters high (4.5 feet) and is encrusted with lapislazzuli, turquoises and cornelians. Forget not, though, that in addition to the discovery itself, there has also evolved the legend of "the Pharaoh's curse." The sudden violent deaths of the majority of those who took part in Lord Carnavon's expedition, with the exception, strange to say, of Carter himself, lent strength to the belief in a posthumous vendetta by the dead Pharaoh whose eternal sleep had been disturbed. History of course is full of such legends and this one only adds to the fascination of the already fascinating romance of Tutankhamon.

And that was of course sourced in my handly little information-packed book titled All of Egypt: English Edition, Copyright 2000, Casa Editrice Bonechi. And now, my pictures. . . We drove up from the city center of Luxor, where The Nile Dream had docked, in a nice mid-sized airconditioned bus and wound our way up through the backroads on the outskirts of town, hugging the Nile River for several kilometers then turning straight toward the neighboring desert mountains in the not-too-far distance. As you approach the Valley of the Kings, the above Colossi of Memnon statues welcome you into one of the most mystical regions in all the world. Above: once you arrive at the Valley of the Kings visitors' area, you enter through a souvenir/gift shop and then walk out into a waiting area and are greeted by an armada of openair trams packed full with passengers, which then slowly chug their way up the valley floor incline where you get dropped off about 100 meters (yards) from the tombs. I was particularly humored by the marketing slogan painted along the roof of the vehicles: Smile you are in Luxor! Apparently they're trying to get tourists to forget about the mega-tourist-massacre that happened here several years ago! (More on that later!) Above: our tourguide Osama explaining the layout of one of the tombs which is constantly providing archeologist with new finds. Above left: translation anyone? Above right: although it appears that I am walking on relatively level ground, I was actually descending quite a steep decline. Above and below: at the bottom of the corridor you see this great stone scultpture. I'm sure if it's a sarcophagus - since there weren't any tourist brochures around explaining any of this, but I thought it was really cool as it sat there in the middle of this ancient chamber carved out of white stone. Above: the view as you ascend the slight inline toward the mass-collection of tombs which you can see in the far-middle-back part of the picture - two parallel lines signifying entry point wall into a tomb - as well as where people start walking to the right. According to our tourguide Osama, the main reason this particular valley was chosen to house the tombs of the kings was the pyramid-shaped geological formation towering over the valley at the back of the image. Below: a collection of images from inside the corridors and chambers of various tombs in the Valley of the Kings. (All taken without flash!) Above: this tomb was absolutely stunning on the inside but the imagery totally overwhelmed my camera. I wondered, "Maybe I could take a whole series of images and then piece together a mosaic," but as I started pointing my camera I just thought, "No, this isn't going to work. There's just too much! Where would I even start???" (In the bottom of the picture: our tourgroup!) Above images: interestingly enough, most of the hieroglyphs and images painted onto the walls and ceilings of the corridors and chambers of the tombs are fully accessible by the thousands of tourists that pass through the valley on a daily basis. By fully accessible I mean that you could just run your hands over and touch (or destroy) everything if you so chose. There was one tomb which had panes of glass protecting the walls, but the rest were completely vulnerable. I'd be interested to know what kind of damage, and how much, occurs to these priceless engravings and wall paintings every year. Above: once we finished with The Valley of the Kings, we descended out through the narrow valley pass back toward the neighboring flatlands that lead straight into the Nile River. Instead of returning to the city of Luxor, we hooked a sharp turn onto the Valley of the Queens roadway (above) where we briefly pulled over for a pit-stop and then visited one of the local tourist shops selling various souvenirs handmade of regional minerals and stone. Above: as we pulled over on the side of the road before getting out of the bus and walking to the tourist shop, this little girl (and her friends!) came running up to bus and showed off a collection of simple, tiny handmade dolls which they were selling for about $2 a piece. Above: driving to work in central Egypt. Above left: the young man on the right is named Mohammed and he worked in the alabaster souvenir tourist shop that we visited neighboring The Valley of the Kings. He was pretty funny actually, since he was quite the sales man. When Aungela and I walked into the shop, along with the rest of our group, Aungela split off and parused the walls looking for something to purchase and as soon as she had left my side Mohammed swooped up beside me and said in quite good English, "Your wife is a very beautiful woman. How would you like to look at some of our nice alabaster souvenirs?" And I stood there thinking for a second, "First of all, she ain't my wife, and secondly, what praytell is the connection between Aungela being beautiful and me needing to look at alabaster trinkets??? Bizarre!!!" So I said, "Well, yes, my wife is very beautiful, isn't she! And yes, I would like to take a quick gander at some of your wares, although, to tell you the truth, I'm only looking for something small." "Well right this way sir!" So Mohammed gave me the grandtour and as soon as he found out I spoke a little Arabic, he instantly became my best friend. I was actually chuckling to myself because he came up close to me and just started going off semi-whispering all sorts of things to me in Arabic. As we slowly walked up and down the length of the wall, looking at various pieces for sale, I just nodded my head saying, "Yeah, uh huh, ok, yes. . ." pretending as though I actually understood what he was saying. For some reason I just found it entertaining as he continued speaking to me in this random hush-hush voice as I was totally oblivious to the meanings of his utterances. Sure, I can understand basic conversations like, "How much is this? Where is the restroom? What time is it? Etc." but I certainly couldn't understand the plot he was unfolding for me in the middle of his store. Well, I ended up buying a little black obelisk that stands about 25cm (10 inches) tall with hieroglyphs on it (that now stands on the end-table here in my bedroom), and after he wrapped up the item and handed it over to me, he said, "Daniel, come visit my family!" So we walked down the steps of the shop, passed by a small group of men working on several nice alabaster vases, and trotted up to the front door of his house, which was more of a garage-like opening in the face of the building. Mohammed introduced me to his father and his two little brothers and so we chit chatted for a few minutes and then he offered to pose for the picture above. Of course, though, these sorts of shots don't come free in Egypt so I handed him a 20 pound note ($5) which he was very grateful to receive. (20 pounds is a lot of money in Egypt, especially for just 5 seconds worth of work!) Once we had finished our little pit-stop in the family garage, his father went back to work and Mohammed and I returned to the shop, where the rest of the tourgroup was still bartering over the prices of several souvenirs, and Mohammed pulled me aside and said, "What is your address and phone number? Let's stay in contact!" Now, I have been around a bit and I am very aware that in the 3rd World, when someone asks for your address, that's usually code for: "I would like to constantly write you letters so you can feel bad about my poor life here in Egypt and send me money." And not that I'm opposed to sending a little money as charity (which I actually plan on doing), I would prefer to do it on my terms and not be harrassed, so I said, "Actually, Mohammed, I'm not going to give you my address," to which he replied, "Well, perhaps you could give me your wife's address in America?" "You know that as a Muslim you can't ask a me for my wife's address!!!" "Yes, I suppose you're right." So I said, "Look, give me your address, and I'll see what I can do." I think that eventually I'll end up sending him 100 pounds ($25) and enclose a little note that encourrages him to continue studying English and to work hard and help his family. We shall see. Above: Patricia chit chatting with some of the local boys. Above: viewof the little town across the street from the souvenir shop. One thing I really liked about the village, aside from everyone being extremely friendly was that despite the fact they really didn't have much money and had a very limited standard of living, they took pride in their town and the dirt roads were well kept and the little homes all around were clean and tidy, and looked very dignified - unlike many other places I've been in the world where people actually have more money but care less about their community. Above: I thought this image was extremely interesting. As you may know, Egypt is an Islamic country, and according to their holy book the Quran it is forbidden to worship idols or practice peganism or polytheism of any sort, which in many Muslim cultures has been interpreted to mean that there may be no physical representations of divinity, much less imagery of the pre-Islamic gods and idols. In Egypt, where the economy is heavily dependent upon a tour industry largely interested in the contributions of ancient pre-Islamic Egyptian culture, apparently they can get around this ban on no portrayals of peganism and polytheism by scrawling the words "bismallah ar-rahman ar-raheem" (above, in red) across any such images. The saying translates to "In the name of Allah, the most Gracious and the most Merciful." For some reason, I just find that interesting. Once everyone had made the purchases at the little gift shop they had come to make, he all jumped back in our nice, airconditioned mini-bus and drove out to The Valley of the Queens, which by this time in the morning was slowly being roasted by the incessant African sun. Above: Aungela doing what she does best - bartering every last penny off the purchase price of her souvenirs! Below: yet another contribution by All of Egypt on the historical significance of The Valley of the Queens.

Valley of the Queens About a kilometer and a half (one mile) from the Valley of the Kings is the Valley of the Queens which today is called "Biban al-Harim." In the region, eighty tombs have been discovered there but they are badly damaged, some showing traces of fire, others having been used as stables. The tombs mostly date from the period 1300 to 1100 B.C., that is the XIXth and XXth dynasties. A little more open than the Valley of the Kings, access is via a pass where atelae commemorating some of the achievement of Ramses III can be seen. Prayers addressed to Osiris and Anubis have been carved on some of the rocks. Deir al-Bahari Queen Hatshepsut who was more a patron of the arts than a military commander, ordered a funerary monument to be built for her father Tutmose I and herself, choosing for the site a valley which had already been consecrated to the goddess Hathor but had then been abandoned. The great insight of her architect-minister, Senmut, was the way in which he exploited the rocks spread out in a fan shape behind the monument. The conception of the monument was thus new, indeed revolutionary. The temple, pointing to the east, consisted of a series of vast terraces which by means of ramps led to the sanctuary. Access to the first terrace was by means of an avenue lined with sphinxes and obelisks. At the end of this terrace was a portico from which a ramp led to the second terrace which was also closed at the end by a portico. On one of the walls a series of beautiful bas-reliefs depicts the birth and childhood of the queen as well as the expedition she organised to the mysterious country of Punt which has been assumed to be somewhere in the center of Africa since among things depicted are giraffes, monkeys, panther skins and ivory objects. The left hand side of the valley on the other hand was occupied by the gigantic funerary temple of Montu-Hotep I, who five hundred years before Hatshepsut, had also had the idea of building his temple in the valley. He built his tomb according to ideas some of which were typical of the Old Kingdom while others foreshadowed the New Kingdom. At a later period a Christian convent installed itself in Queen Hatshepsut's monument. This was called the "Northern Convent" which gave the area its present name of Deir al-Bahari. We should be thankful that the convent was installed in the temple because it protected it from later depredations.

Below: Deir al-Bahari, the Northern Convent - 3,000 year old former funerary monument for Queen Hatshepshut. Above: me in had and headwrap. Yes, it may be a lame look, BUT the temperature was approximately one BILLION degrees outside when that picture was taken and so I was faced with the option: either buy a headwrap to cover my neck and my arms (when I fanned it out) and use the hat to shade my face, or have all my skin burned off and return to Saudi Arabia a charred mess. Thank you, no. I'll stick with looking lame. Above and below: main stairway and ramp leading up to the second floor entrance of the temple. Above: located on the right side of the temple, this was the starting point of the 1997 Luxor Massacre that left 80 tourists dead - half of them at this very spot. I remember reading about the massacre several years ago, so as we were walking up toward the temple I shuffled up beside our tourguide Osama and asked in a hushed voice, "Hey, Osama, what's the story on the Massacre of 1997?" He replied, "Do you really want to know?" "Yes, I do," I replied. "OK then. Do you see that ground level section of the temple over there on the right?" "Yes." "Well, that's where the horror began. According to reports, the 12 gunmen were standing behind the columns of the temple with machine guns strapped over their shoulders and silently waited as a busload of European and Japanese tourists pulled up and emptied out near the building. As the group walked up to the base of the structure and their Egyptian tourguide began explaining the ancient history of Queen Hatshepsut's temple, the men jumped out from behind the stone shields and opened fire on the entire group, leaving everyone lifeless in a pool of their own blood." "God, how horrible!" I said. "And then what happened?" "Well, just as the murderers had finished bumping off their first 40 victims, another bus of tourists pulled up and let its passengers out at the souvenir stalls just behind us, all of them totally unaware of the horror which was unfolding just steps away." "Yes, go on . . ." "By this point, the crazed men began marching straight toward the group, guns in hand, and sprayed the market place in a rain of bullets that mowed down an additional 40 tourists and business operators. In all, by the time the authorities had arrived, 80 people lay slain, strewn across this very courtyard, staining its sacred white sands red!" "Oh God! And what happened to the perpetrators?" "They all either killed themselves during their escape into the surrounding hills or were shot dead by the security forces that had pursued them. Whatever the case, none of the murderers escaped their crime alive." Dramatic, eh? Fortunately, security across the entire country has been massively strenghtened since the massacre, but still, as we walked around the temple taking in all its magnificent architectural beauty, I couldn't shake that little voice in the back of my head that softly wondered from time to time, "Could it happen again?" Below: images of the Northern Convent. Above left: cartouche with the name of Queen Hatshepsut. Allegedly she was rather disliked and most traces of her name were destroyed shortly after the end of her reign. Above right: if I'm not mistaken, this is an image of the sun god Ra. (Or is it Horus?!) (Or are they the same?!?) Above and below: Valley of the Workers, neighboring the Valley of the Queens.

The valley was a necropolis of all the worken who built and decorated the royal tombs of Thebes. They were the stonecutters, masons, painters and sculptos who every day made their way to the royal necropolis through a path leading over the hills of Deir al-Bahari. The women remained in the village, cultivating the wheat and barley. The houses of these workers were extremely simple dwellings. Built of dried brick, whitewashed inside, they were very small with a tiny entrance hall, one room and a kitchen. Sometimes they had a cellar and a terrace.

Above: entering the tiny, obscure Tomb of Anherkha. Below: . . . and discovering it to be one of these most beautifully painted and stunning tombs I saw in all of Egypt!

At the time of Ramses III and Ramses IV, Anherkha was "Deputy Master of the Two Egypts in the Place of Truth." He had two tombs built at the same time. The one lower down the valley nearer to the village shows vivid fantasy and great inventive capacity, especially in the scens illustrating family life, such as the one where a husband and wife, dressed alike in linnen garments, are shown affectionately seated together at a banquet.

Above: note the tomb-overseer peaking his head around the corner. "10 pound tip, picture OK." "Alright alright. . . here's your baksheesh. . ." Beautiful, no? After checking out the cramped quarters of the stunning Tomb of Anherkha, I returned to the bus where Aungela had stayed behind in order to take a rest and be pampered by the vehicle's aircondition - not a shabby choice! By this time it was coming up on noon, so we returned to The Nile Dream, had a small lunch, relaxed for a few minutes and then head back off the ship onshore to visit Luxor's two crowing's jewels, the Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor located conveniently right downtown. Next: Luxor Back: The Nile River Egypt Tour 2001 Links / Daniel's Links Megasite