Day 5
It was another early start with breakfast starting at 6AM to meet our guide at 6:30AM. Surprisingly a lot of the folks were also starting early today for two reasons; get done early before the afternoon heat begins and since the boat was set to leave Luxor and set sail by 1:30PM.
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In ancient Egypt the East Bank was meant to signify life and the West Bank signified death, following the sunrise and sunset and hence any kind of settlement on the West Bank was forbidden.
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It was a 40–50-minute drive to the West Bank to the Valley of the Kings. Along the way we passed two massive statues of the Pharoah Amenhotep III, called the Colossi of Memnon which is right in front of the Mortuary Temple that are in ruin right now in the region referred to as the Theban Necropolis. This was where the bodies were prepared or mummified for burial. The hills from that point on were peppered with tombs of princes, princesses and nobles dug right into the slopes. You can see the entrances to those tombs, probably all plundered now as you drive through the valley. A little further ahead there were still standing buildings with circular roofs, not typical of Egyptian architecture that were used to store corm and wheat, constructed under the instructions of the prophet. The road winds around and through a few hills as we reach the entrance to the Valley of the Kings.
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During the Old kingdom (2686 BC – 2181 BC) pharaohs were buried in pyramids, while during the New Kingdom (1550 BC – 1069 BC) pharaohs were buried in hidden tombs to conceal them from being plundered by grave robbers and thieves.
The story is that these tombs remained hidden by years of sand accumulation and one day a goat herder Ahmed, discovered it as one of his goats fell into one of the vertical shafts and as he went down to rescue it, he discovered what was soon going to be one of Egypt’s most treasured possessions. He found 40 wooden coffins with mummified bodies preserved inside stretching as far as he could see with inscriptions and kings, canopic jars, and other items. The story is that high priests of the kings had transferred the mummies from the original burial chambers to protect them from robbers. Anyway, as the story goes Ahmed and his two brothers slowly brought items out, smuggling and selling to live off until 1880’s when the Authorities got involved and took possession.
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The sacred tombs were constructed within the cliffs of the valley on the West Bank of the Nile, near their capital at Thebes and filled with all the necessary objects for life after death. The tombs’ entrance was then blocked, and the chambers were hidden to allow for the mummies and their souls to be preserved for eternity.
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From the entrance there was a short cart ride up hill. Once there it looked like a proper valley with hills going off in different directions with pathways running between them to the entrance of each of the tombs. There are 63 discovered tombs there so far beginning from the reign of Thutmose I (died in 1493 BC) to Ramses XI (died in 1070 BC). The tombs were dug into the ground with long chambers running at an angle into the ground ending in larger rooms that extended further down or in the burial chamber itself. Two of the six tombs that I was really interested in were closed at that time; Hatshepsut since it was filled with scorpions and snakes and Ramses II for reasons unknown, possibly maintenance.
The first tomb we entered was for Ramses IX (reigned between 1129 BC – 1111 BC). Entering the tombs entrance throws you off completely as you realize very quickly that the pharaohs of the New Kingdom preferred their tombs to be decorated compared to the Old Kingdom where there was none. The corridor was extremely wide and all the walls and ceilings, every inch of it was filled with cartouche and hieroglyphics, images and depictions that reflected stories, gods, and a lot more. It was truly magnificent to see all the work and effort that was put into making the King’s final resting place to reflect a document of his achievements. The walls were so
bright, due to restoration activities, but the colors and the imagery were immaculately preserved, and you can touch it all. The corridor ended with an empty burial chamber since the actual mummies are now displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The next one was Merenptah (reigned between 1197 BC – 1191 BC; son of Ramses II). Equally as awesome as the previous one as we walked through it with a bonus of seeing the actual inner stone sarcophagus and the massive stone outer covering that was taller than me standing in the middle of a large burial chamber. The chamber was so large that we could very easily walk around the stone outer casing which had other casings, up to 7 that were one inside the other till the actual gold sarcophagus with the mummy was kept. There were inscriptions all over the ceilings and the walls like the other tomb.
Next stop was Set I (reigned between 1290 BC – 1279 BC; father of Ramses II), the largest of all the tombs discovered so far in the valley. It was one chamber after another connected by long corridors completely ordained from floor to ceiling
including pillars with engravings, inscriptions, cartouche and more in bright colors. Yes, it’s restored but the sheer glamor of the setting accentuated by the lighting was to behold. When we just though we were done there was more, another passageway that went further down brightly that opens into a massive room with extremely high ceilings and interconnected chambers finally leading into the most beautiful burial chamber you could imagine. You can tell this king lived in complete opulence as his time was supposed to have been one of prosperity for the kingdom. Magnificent!
The final stop in the valley of the Kings was the most famous one and the No. 62 tomb in the valley of King Tutankhamun (reigned between 1336 BC – 1327 BC) which was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. This was much smaller compared to the others we visited today, but the highlight was seeing the actual mummy of Tutankhamun that was housed in a glass case at the end next to the outer casing of the sarcophagus in the burial chamber. The tomb was supposed to have been filled with some of the most beautiful and intricate works of craftsmanship, which is now displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. We were glad to come here in October since we learnt afterwards that every November the mummified remains of the king would be shipped to Britain for a month before being returned to the site again.
That ended the Valley of the Kings. If you visit the Kings, you must see the Queens, so next on the agenda was the Valley of the Queens. But before we did that, we stopped at a local stone masonry shop where I bought myself some hand carved canopic jars.
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Entering the valley of the Queens was not crowded or as large and was not as well excavated (yet) as the Valley of the Kings. Most of the tombs are still very well hidden, but the setting was still very similar with tombs scattered all over the hills.
The most famous of the tombs here is of Queen Nefertari (died in 1255 BC; wife of Ramses II) discovered in 1904. We had to wait a bit here since they were only letting people into the tomb in certain numbers. But the wait was worth it. The architecture of the chambers and the carvings on the walls and the colors seemed so fresh and indescribable. It’s hard to imagine something as beautiful as this hidden away and remained completely untouched for thousands of years. All I’ll say is get a ticket and go see it for yourself.
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We saw a couple more tombs one of which was the tomb of a prince that died as a baby, with mummified remains of the baby on display inside.
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That was it for the day, back to ship on time by 12:30PM for some lunch and a shower. We were supposed to set sail by 1:30PM but there is always someone who is late, glad it was not us to keep the boat waiting. Not too much of a delay though, we set sail by 2:00PM. Took a nap till 4:30PM and at around teatime at 5:00PM the boat was getting ready to make the dam crossing at Esna. There was a procession of cruise ships lined up one behind the other as we entered the dam’s gates to cross over to the other side.
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There was a mini cocktail party at 7:30PM followed by an ala carte dinner and some more free time on the top deck of the ship. It was a quiet setting as people just mulled around with some drinks or reading a book as we sailed on to Edfu or as our guide would say “swim” all night to the next destination.