The West Bank of Luxor

Luxor West Bank 031
Originally uploaded by susiebarber

I had the most phenomenal day! I was given a private car and guide to make up for all of the crap that has happened since I got to Egypt and I had a blast! My guide has a BS in Archeology, but couldn't make a living at it, so took courses in Cairo to get her license to be an English speaking guide. She was the best -- she knows everything, but knew how much to tell me and could answer all of my questions. I learned so much and was absolutely amazed by everything I saw.

We started with a drive by of Mr. Carter's house (the man who discovered Tutankhamen's tomb) on the way to the Valley of the Kings. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I was very surprised. After walking through a visitor's center which had a 3-D model of the valley and tombs, we stepped outside. It's really very plain. Just walkways through the valley with an opening in the rock or ground here and there. The openings, of course, are to pharoh tombs and there are more than 60 of them now and they discover more and more each year. Your ticket into the Valley includes entry into 3 tombs. There are several open and you pick and choose which of the open ones you'd like to enter. Tut's costs extra. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos inside any of the tombs. I did buy a packet of photos from the inside of some tombs, but cannot scan and post them until I'm back home. Sorry.

What I did see is this: beautifully carved sarcophagi, wonderful etchings and heiroglyphics just like at the temples, but fully painted, and lots of chambers. The painting quite a surprise and so very colorful, even after all of these years. I paid extra to see Tut's tomb, which is the smallest of all in the Valley. He died suddenly and the tomb was made in haste. But his sarcophagus is in there, as is the boy king himself. He is the only mummy left in the Valley (the rest are in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo) and he is there in a glass case for you to look down upon. He really wasn't very big at all. On the wall by his sarcophagus, there were very large monkeys painted. This was the first time I've seen monkeys in any of the antiquities I've been in (and I haven't seen any live ones either). Apparently, they were a symbol of power in ancient Egypt.

Outside his tomb are photos taken of the discovery. Most have Carter in them. He's either standing over the mummy or doing something else that makes him seem important. There are no photos of the tomb with all of the treasures in it. They really don't know where everything was placed at all. Even more interesting is, Carter kinda didn't discover it himself. He had an Egyptian boy working for him and he ordered the kid to dig him a well. The kid picked a spot, started digging, found two steps and went and told the boss. The rest is history. Oh, and according to my guide (and I'm sorry, but I didn't get her name), Carter was in such a hurry that he cut the clothing off the mummy rather than preserving it and even damaged the mummy because he didn't take his time removing the gold mask. I lost a bit of respect for the guy today.

After viewing the four tombs, I took a bit of a hike. I walked up a trail from the Valley, over the ridge, and down to the Temple of Hatshepsut. It was damned hot, but I was determined to see the view from the top. My guide was much smarter -- she met me on the other side. Anyway, the temple is the funerary temple of the Pharoh Hatshepsut, the only female pharoh to have ruled Egypt. She was an oldest child and when her father died argued that her mother had an affair with the Sun God and so she was the rightful new Pharoh. She ruled, but wearing a fake beard and dressing like a man. Eventually she was killed by a male family member and after her death, her temple was defaced.

Then it was time to go to the Valley of the Queens. This valley has more tombs than the Valley of the Kings, but note that many of the tombs are for men (Pharoh's sons, etc.). It's called Valley of the Queens because of Nefartiti's tomb -- the best preserved of any in either valley. I went into 3 tombs there, but only one was for a Queen. They were all 3 very colorful and one even had a skeleton of a 6 month old fetus (the Queen had a miscarriage when falling after hearing of the death of one of her sons who was buried in this tomb). Nefartiti's tomb is accessible only about 2 days a week to groups willing to pay 20,000 Egyptian Pounds, or about $4,500 US. We saw a group going in, but I just couldn't afford to go in. I should have tried to sneak in.

Next, I was taken to a village that is built alongside these hills. The government has gotten many to move away and have demolish many homes to allow for further excavations. There are some holdouts, though and the guide took me to one of these homes. I was taken down some stairs to a tomb under the house. Not much there, but interesting none the less.

Our last major stop was at Deir Al Medina, which is the village where the workers who built the tombs lived. Those folks knew how to build and besides their homes, there are tombs, a temple and a few small pyramids. I went inside 2 tombs and over to the temple. I was allowed photos in these tombs and though they were small, they were nice.

We did some drive bys of other places that were largely destroyed by Nile flooding and earthquakes over the centuries, but nothing too spectacular. But what a day! I I loved every minute of it. I may go back over the the Valley of the Kings to see more tombs. Each entry ticket I buy gets me into three tombs of my choosing, so why not? In the meantime, I go to the temples on the east bank of Luxor tomorrow.