January 23,2023
The Valley of the Kings
After almost 4 hours in the bus we were ready to adventure….sort of. The first thing we encountered was the gauntlet of merchants to get to the entrance. It took almost 20 minutes to get everyone through because people wanted to shop and the merchants were very aggressive and several of the “olds” had to be rescued by our guide. Eyes down and walk fast was my strategy. While he was rescuing several of our group wandered off in search of the W/C which was on the other side of where you presented tickets and they were lost for a bit. But after all the chaos we finally got to the area where the shuttles were and I was first to our shuttle and the Egyptian man who was driving the shuttle and I stated chatting and he as me if I wanted to drive the shuttle and of course I said “Oh Yeah”!!! So that is the source of those pictures and the picture of the real driver Farook. What a fun memory!!
Driving up to the valley surround by mountains and I wondered where the tombs were and then we arrived at the top and start seeing the entrances. The outside is so unassuming but once I entered the first tomb I was overwhelmed with the beauty of what was underground. Pictures do not do justice to the splendor of the tombs. I stood in awe of the work that it took to create the artwork in the tombs.
The tombs were built over a 500 years period from the 16th to 11th century BC. The tombs evidence elaborate preparations for the next world, in which humans were promised continuing life and pharaohs were expected to become one with the gods. Mummification was used to preserve the body so that the deceased’s eternal soul would be able to reanimate it in the afterlife. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues as to the beliefs and funerary practices of the period.
With the 2005 discovery of a new chamber and the 2008 discovery of two further tomb entrances the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers. The chambers range in size from a simple pit to a complex tomb with over 120 chambers. All of the tombs other that King Tut’s had been stripped prior to
In 1922, a team excavated Tutankhamun’s tomb, (King Tut). It was a rare find because of the over 5,000 artifacts that it contained as the other tombs has been robbed of all of the contents. When I was in the King Tut tomb I tried to image how that many artifact could have been in the small chambers as the Tomb is about 20×20. When I was about to take a picture of King Tut’s mummified body the lights went out!!! One of the other tourists started yelling, “ It’s the curse”!!
In one of the tombs a guard motioned for me to give him my camera. Without thinking I handed it to him and he then disappeared into a closed off area. After about 5 minutes I started thinking I was never gonna see my camera again but he soon returned with my camera with a smile on his face and was so proud to show me the incredible pictures he had taken of area’s not open to the public.
Because of the chaos of getting to the tombs we only had 45 minutes to go inside the tombs but I was still able to view 4 tombs and actually take a bit of time to reflect on the beauty and effort that created this incredible treasure. Amazing that they were able to create these tombs with the tools available at the time. The complexity of the artwork is beyond belief. The Egyptians were amazing engineers!
I made a rookie mistake leaving the tombs by not putting my camera into my backpack and was confronted by several merchants that saw me as a wealthy tourist and would not let me walk away. At one point I was surrounded by three who would not take no for an answer. After 10 minutes of the barrage and slowing moving forward one guy said “Free” so I took the item and headed forward with him chasing me. After I cleared the market I turned around handed it back to him. Not my favorite part of the day. I was happy to be back in the bus!!!
As crazy as parts of the day were the 45 minutes that I got to be inside the tombs was worth ever bit of it. Unbelievable that the tombs were built, discovered and that the artwork is still so vibrant!!! I so blessed to have this experience!!!
Off to the Temple of Karnak
Amazing experience…pictures are fabulous