Valley of the Kings Burial Grounds

No one is allowed to take pictures in the Valley of the Kings (because years ago some Italian dignitaries abused the privilege). A burial ground would always be on the west side of the Nile, a place of truth and this particular site is under a mountain with a pyramid shaped top so there was lots of power here as well as a way to the hereafter.

In the late 1800's the first tomb was found and since then there have been 62 caves or tombs located. King Tut was the last tomb found here until just 10 days ago a new tomb was unearthed with an intact mummy believed to be the wife of a priest. Speaking of mummies, almost all of them have been moved out of the area if they hadn't been destroyed or ground up to use as an elixor. 25 are in Cairo (14 intact), 3 in Luxor and some can be found in most of the major cities of Europe.

The hieroglyphics found in each tomb tell the story of that person's life, depict his enemies that he has conquered, show him or her going to heaven and judgement and also tell the stories from the Book of the Dead. We entered three tombs, Ramses IV, in cave 2, Ramses IX in cave 6, and Thutmosis III in cave 27. This last tomb was up the side of the mountain then inside we descended two levels, each about 60 steps, to the location of the sarcophagus, a granite coffin.

We drove past the Valley of the Queens but did not enter it as it is not as special. We stopped for pictures of Al-Deirdre Al-Bahdrhi Temple, where Queen Hatshepsut, the daughter of Amman-Ra is buried. It is considered a mortuary temple. Surrounding the temple were what looked like holes in the mountain side. This is where the soldiers were buried so they could protect the queen.

King Tut on right & his wife.

Our next stop was at Habu Temple or the Temple of Media, built by Ramses III. Ramses III was like a modern day architect as he had lots of buildings, temples and statues built. This temple was to commemorate military actions. On the left wall are the images of Ammon-Ra with his wife, Mut, behind him and facing him is Ramses III.

Our last stop before heading back to the ship was at The Colossi of Memnon. These two statutes are of Pharoah Amenhotep but were claimed by Agamemnon, a Greek hero of the Trojan War when one of the statues began to whistle, supposedly calling to his mother, the goddess of dawn. A few years ago someone tried to steal them which resulted in them breaking apart.

The 3 1/2 hour drive back was spent napping!