Valley of the Kings

Today we stay in Luxor and disembark early In order to make our way to the valley of the kings. I guess I didn't pay as much attention in grade six when we studied ancient Egypt because I was under the allusion that I would be seeing an array of pyramids here. But no! Instead in this valley, accessible by only one entrance, are limestone hills where hundreds of tombs are tunneled into the mountains and are still being discovered. Most of them when opened had little if any contents in them, having been robbed some centuries earlier. The only exception was Tutankhamen tomb whose contents I described in an earlier post. What is incredible is the depth of these tunnels and caverns, the polished limestone walls, the drawings and descriptions in detailed color and the encasement containers and rooms at the bottom. Stories and instructions from the " Book of the dead" are also on these walls as instructions to the king to follow when he returns from death.

These tombs were begun when a Pharaoh took the throne and the depth depended on how long his life and rule was. The workers lived in a small town nearby and were part of a community where their sole purpose was the building of these tombs. When they got word that the king was dying, they had to then hurry to finish the tomb endpoint cavern, sometimes leaving some of the descending walls undecorated. Only the family was allowed to bring the treasures and the body over so that no others would know the location of the tomb and more importantly where the mummified body lay. If anything happened to the body, then their would be no next life for the Pharaoh. Period. We were allowed No cameras on this site which was hard for me as the walls inside we're incredible. Thus no pictures of the inside to post for now till I can scan some in later.

From here we go to Hatshetsut's (the man queen) temple which was complete destroyed by her stepson along with any statues and depictions of her after her death. The temple has been reconstructed on the bases of the remnants by the polish government beginning in the 19 th century and continuing today. Sections of the original have full color renderings that withstood the test of time. It's a mammoth structure the basically backs on to the valley of the kings. Her mummified remains have recently been identified.

We come back to the boat and hear a lecture along the way about some elements of life in modern day Egypt. An afternoon on deck to soak up some sun and read is followed by some entertainment of a belly dancer and a whirling dervish before supper.

Tomorrow morning some of us will be up very early at 3:30 am in order to return to the valley of the kings for a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the west bank of the Nile! I'm so excited as it will be my first balloon ride which I've always wanted to do.