The Trip That Keeps Growing

Day 9 15 October 2021 Luxor • Optional Luxor Hot-Air Balloon Ride • Explore Valley of the Kings • King Tutankhamun’s tomb • Esna

In the morning we traveled to the Valley of the Kings, once known as the Necropolis of Thebes. After two unsuccessful tries on previous Egyptian visits, we have finally made it! Located on the west side of the Nile, it is about an hour bus ride from Luxor. During the New Kingdom, rather than building pyramids, the pharaohs carved their tombs into the cliff sides of the West Bank of the Nile River, thus creating the Valley of the Kings. Here many of the tombs are adorned with images of the kings and colorful hieroglyphs, while some of the ceilings were painted dark blue for the sky with yellow starfish for the stars. These tombs acted as gateways for the pharaohs as they departed to the afterlife. For thousands of years these tombs lay unexplored (except for early tomb robbers), until 1768 when the tomb of Ramses III was found. From that time until 1922, other prominent tombs were uncovered, but sadly they had all been looted by tomb robbers. But while the contents of the tombs were gone, the artwork on the walls and ceilings survived and gave archaeologists and the world a glimpse into the lives of the Pharaohs. Then in 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter made an amazing discovery – the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamen.

Although only a minor pharaoh in ancient Egypt (he died at age 18), King Tut is perhaps the most well-known. That is because his tomb remained sealed for about 3,000 years until it was discovered, untouched by grave robbers. Inside the tomb, archaeologists found over 5,000 artifacts, including his gold coffins, gold face mask, breastplate, and ancient chariots. There was also a coffin that contained the mummified remains of two premature babies, believed to be Tut’s children. One of the interesting things found in Tut’s tomb was a one-cup serving of 3,000-year-old honey that was still edible.

Also found in some of these tombs were board games, including Tut’s and Amenhotep III’s beautiful senet sets, with sliding drawers to hold parts, because, even then, people hated losing game pieces. Actually, King Tut had 5 senet boxes in his tomb. Senet, one of the world’s earliest board games, dates back to 3100 BCE. The game was played between two people, using a decorated board with 30 tiles. The object of the game was to use tokens to race toward the end of the board while simultaneously keeping your opponent from reaching the end. These 30 tiles were painted with symbols that represented the various obstacles a person faced during his life. Sticks or bones were thrown to determine the moves by each individual. To the ancient Egyptians, this game was a symbol of their most important goal in life – reaching the afterlife. The name “senet” translates to “passing,” after the journey of passing to the afterlife.

All the artifacts from King Tuts tomb have now been moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum, but his mummy remains in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

To date sixty-three tombs of pharaohs, queens, high priests, and other elite members of society from the 18^th-20^th dynasties have been discovered. And even today, archeologists are still discovering new tombs in this area.

We left early in the morning, after the group that did the balloon ride returned to the ship. We elected not to do the ride. On the bus drive, we could see other balloons floating above the area, showing the tourists the Valley of the Kings from up high. As we crossed over the Nile, we could see many riverboats that have been mothballed because of Covid. While tourism is increasing in Egypt, it is no way near the number of tourists pre-Covid. We also had to share the highway with a flock of sheep on their way to greener pastures!

Our first view of the Valley of the Kings was a hillside that had a line of open cave-like tombs where many of the Egyptian nobles and elites were buried. On top of the hill was the home where Howard Carter lived while he was excavating King Tut’s tomb. Some speculate that this particular mountain was selected by the pharaohs because the peak of the mountain looked like a pyramid. It was also made of limestone which made digging the tombs much easier.

We had tickets to go into four of the tombs – Ramses VII (6^th pharaoh of the 20^th Dynasty), Ramses IX (8^th pharaoh of the 20^th Dynasty), Ramses III (2^nd pharaoh of the 20^th dynasty), and finally the tomb of King Tut’s (13^th pharaoh of the 18^th Dynasty).

Ramses VII was the first tomb we visited, but it is small and unfinished, although it did have some beautiful carvings/paintings on the walls. Ramses IX’s tomb is one of the most beautiful tombs in the Valley of the Kings, while Ramses III’s tomb is one of the largest in the complex. It is amazing when you realize that the paintings and hieroglyphics you are seeing were created over 3000 years ago. Several of the walls in the tombs we visited had extensive hieroglyphics – chants and spells that were part of the Coffin Texts (and later the Book of the Dead) which would help the pharaoh in his journey to the afterlife. We also saw quite a few baboons portrayed on the walls. The baboon was considered the manifestation of the moon good Thoth (who was also the god of scribes, judgement, knowledge, and the afterlife).

For all the hoopla and fanfare associated with King Tut’s tomb, it is very small. In fact, most Egyptologists believe that it was not built for him, but, as he died unexpectantly at a very early age, it was the only one available. His mummy, which was damaged during the tomb’s excavation, remains in a glass-enclosed, hermetically sealed coffin in his tomb.

We then traveled about 10 minutes to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (see the end of this blog for more information of Queen Hatshepsut). Unlike most temples built in the New Kingdom, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut was built of limestone instead of sandstone. It was built against a limestone cliff at the end of a valley that is overshadowed by the Peak of the Thebes. Leading up to the temple were a line of sphinxes. The walls of the Osiride columns are decorated with beautiful scenes of courtly life, in particular the transport of obelisks by barge to Karnack and the birth of Queen Hatshepsut (in order to legitimize her reign, she claimed to be the daughter of Amun Ra). Inside the temple are brightly painted reliefs on the walls and statues and sphinxes of the queen. Unfortunately, a lot of the drawings which tell the story of her royal birth have disappeared over the years. Most of the statues have been reconstructed from the remains of the original statues that were destroyed by her successor, Tuthmosis III. In the 7^th century AD, it was named the “Northern monastery” after a Coptic monastery that existed in the area, but today its formal name is the Temple of Deir El-Bahri (meaning Temple of the Northern Monastery).

The temple consists of three terraces with ramps leading to each one. On the southern side of the 2^nd colonnade is a depiction of the journey to Punt (now Somalia), the first known picture of a trade expedition. It shows the journey, by ship via the Red Sea, of an expedition sent by Queen Hatshepsut to Punt sometime around 1482 BCE. At the entrance to the ramp leading up to her temple is the remains of two trees that were brought from Punt during that expedition. Throughout the complex Queen Hatshepsut’s name has been erased and many of the columns destroyed by Tuthmosis III.

Leaving the Valley of the Kings, we stopped to view the Colossi of Memnon, two twin statues of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenhotep III (standing 75 feet high), that once stood guard to his memorial temple (a long-ago casualty of the Nile flooding and an earthquake). The name Memnon came from the Greeks after the Trojan hero Memnon, who was killed by Achilles. For many years they were thought to be statues of the Memnon (hence their name). The two statues were carved from blocks of quartzite. The northern most statue is of Amenhotep III with his mother, while the other statue is of Amenhotep III and his wife and one of his daughters. Although it is impossible to make out the figures of the women in my picture, they were carved between the legs of Amenhotep. They have also found tombs of pets of the royal families. Amenhotep III was considered the most prolific builder Egypt had ever seen.

Leaving the Colossi of Memnon, we returned to the ship by motorboat, in time for lunch. The ship then set sail for Esna, about 33 miles south of Luxor. We spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the sights along the Nile. About 5 PM, the ship entered the locks of Esna. As with other locks we have trans versed, we entered on the low side, and once the lock closed, water filled the lock raising us to the level of the river on the other side. After dinner we retired early as it had been a long, ho,, but exhilarating day.

Queen Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut, the 6^th pharaoh of the 18^th Dynasty and the most famous female pharaoh, was perhaps the first great woman in history, 14 centuries before Cleopatra made her way down the Nile.

Growing up in a time of prosperity, unity and great enlightenment, Queen Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I. Although men and women were considered equals, succession to the throne followed the male lineage. Unfortunately, her father and his Royal wife (Hatshepsut’s mother) had no male heir, so when Thutmose died, his son (Thutmose II) by a secondary wife succeeded him. Hatshepsut was 12 at the time and to strengthen the royal line she married her half-brother and ruled alongside him for 14 years, until he died. His son by a secondary wife (Thutmose III), who was only 7 at the time, succeeded his father. As was the custom Hatshepsut was appointed his regent, ruling until he became of age. However, when it was time to turn control of the monarchy over to the son, she decided not to, instead proclaiming herself the pharaoh in 1473 B.C. It is believed she did this to prevent a political takeover from a rival branch of the family when the young, naive and untested son would take over.

She gave herself the title of King of Upper and Lower Egypt, instead of Queen, as the title “King” would show her to be in charge and not just a “Great Royal Wife.” She also changed her name to the male form, Hatshepsut, and referred to herself as both “he” and “she” (perhaps the first non-gender person in history – my thoughts only). She dressed in men’s clothing and wore a false beard.

She used propaganda and pictures to claim her divine right to rule. She would picture herself as the daughter of the god Amun, and as the daughter of a god, she would claim divine birth and her right to be a pharaoh. The walls inside her Mortuary Temple are filled with pictures of her divine birth.

Her 22-year reign was not only the longest rule by a female, but also one of the most effective. She built many magnificent temples and monuments, including the one dedicated to her, restored trade routes, encouraged the growth of the arts, and helped establish the 18^th Dynasty as an era of peace and prosperity.

Unfortunately, Hatshepsut’s step-son Thutmose III, who succeeded her did his best to destroy any trace of her existence. Statues were destroyed, royal documents were revised, her cartouches and image were removed from monuments, and her mortuary temple remained empty. Many historians believe this was not an act of revenge, but rather necessary for Thutmose III to circumvent challenges to the royal lineage, making it appear that he inherited the throne directly from his father.

Below is a list of the kings and pharaohs that had tombs in the Valley of the Kings

Thutmosis I (father of Hatshepsut)

Hatshepsut

Thutmosis III

Amenhotep II

Thutmosis IV (responsible for the Dream Stela at the Giza sphinx)

Amenhotep III (father of Akhenaten)

Akhenaten

Smenkhkare (Akhenaten’s successor)

Tutankhamun (boy king Tut)

Ay (uncle and successor of Tutankhamun

Horemheb (Ay’s successor)