Mags
17-04-2008, 12:54 PM
Valley of the Kings
The day started early due to the heat, it was already in the 80's at 7.00am.
We had an Egyptologist as our guide for the tour, she made the visit so much more interesting with all her knowledge of ancient Egyptian history.
The Valley of the Kings, situated on the West Bank of the Nile, looks like a huge mound of rock but there are tombs of more than 60 kings buried deep into the hillsides of this desolate, sunbaked valley... the tombs are all deeply cut into the solid rock. Despite the precautions they took to hide their treasures from tomb robbers, only a single tomb - that of the boy king Tutankhamun - has ever been found intact.
Unfortunately no-one is allowed to take photos inside the tombs, just the exterior surrounding areas. We were able to enter three tombs that day, Rameses IV, Rameses VI and that of Tutankhamun. The inside of the tombs are very colourful and a work of art with hieroglyphics covering the walls and ceilings. Many of the tombs plunge up to 100m deep into the rock.
Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered in 1922 by an English archaeologist, Howard Carter. Sadly King Tut's tomb is a sad anticlimax as its treasures are all in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, leaving only a small empty chamber........ but it is still well worth the visit.
Because the sun sets in the West, Egyptians believed that the Western Desert (West Bank) was the entrance to the Underworld where the dead dwelled and through which the sun passed at night..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06391.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06392.jpg
Entrance to one of the tombs....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06393.jpg
Howard Carter's house in the V of the K, which remains empty..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/howard-carter-s-houseballoon.jpg
Temple of Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut was one of the few women to rule Egypt in her own right, though her statues depict her wearing the ceremonial false chin-beard of a male pharaoh in token of her rank. Her temple stands alone and appears to grow out of the pink cliffs into which it was built.
Many images of the Queen were defaced by her stepson and eventual successor, who resented her power and desecrated her temples here and elsewhere, often replacing them with his own.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06394.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06401.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06402.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06403.jpg
Unfortunately, two weeks before we arrived there was a nasty accident here. A Russian girl was taking photos on the second level where many of the columns were laying on the ground. She was moving backward to get a better picture and tripped over a column and fell over the edge ...... by the time the ambulance reached her she had sadly died.
While we were there, the officials had roped off the edge of the temple to save another tragic accident from happening.
The day started early due to the heat, it was already in the 80's at 7.00am.
We had an Egyptologist as our guide for the tour, she made the visit so much more interesting with all her knowledge of ancient Egyptian history.
The Valley of the Kings, situated on the West Bank of the Nile, looks like a huge mound of rock but there are tombs of more than 60 kings buried deep into the hillsides of this desolate, sunbaked valley... the tombs are all deeply cut into the solid rock. Despite the precautions they took to hide their treasures from tomb robbers, only a single tomb - that of the boy king Tutankhamun - has ever been found intact.
Unfortunately no-one is allowed to take photos inside the tombs, just the exterior surrounding areas. We were able to enter three tombs that day, Rameses IV, Rameses VI and that of Tutankhamun. The inside of the tombs are very colourful and a work of art with hieroglyphics covering the walls and ceilings. Many of the tombs plunge up to 100m deep into the rock.
Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered in 1922 by an English archaeologist, Howard Carter. Sadly King Tut's tomb is a sad anticlimax as its treasures are all in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, leaving only a small empty chamber........ but it is still well worth the visit.
Because the sun sets in the West, Egyptians believed that the Western Desert (West Bank) was the entrance to the Underworld where the dead dwelled and through which the sun passed at night..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06391.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06392.jpg
Entrance to one of the tombs....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06393.jpg
Howard Carter's house in the V of the K, which remains empty..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/howard-carter-s-houseballoon.jpg
Temple of Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut was one of the few women to rule Egypt in her own right, though her statues depict her wearing the ceremonial false chin-beard of a male pharaoh in token of her rank. Her temple stands alone and appears to grow out of the pink cliffs into which it was built.
Many images of the Queen were defaced by her stepson and eventual successor, who resented her power and desecrated her temples here and elsewhere, often replacing them with his own.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06394.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06401.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06402.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Mags40/Egypt/DSC06403.jpg
Unfortunately, two weeks before we arrived there was a nasty accident here. A Russian girl was taking photos on the second level where many of the columns were laying on the ground. She was moving backward to get a better picture and tripped over a column and fell over the edge ...... by the time the ambulance reached her she had sadly died.
While we were there, the officials had roped off the edge of the temple to save another tragic accident from happening.