The Valley of the Kings

Our day started with a visit to the Colossi of Memnon. these giant twin statues depict King Amenhotep III and originally there was a mortuary temple to him behind them that was destroyed in a giant earthquake in 1200 BCE and again in 27 BCE.

An aerial view of the colossi from Dale’s balloon ride over Luxor

There were two parts of our journey that were foundational to my childhood dreams of Egypt – seeing the great pyramids and seeing King Tut’s tomb. Today we got to see Tut’s tomb. Surprisingly, it wasn’t my favourite part of the valley of the kings. His tomb was very small and empty. All his grave goods are in museums but his body remains in this tomb. All you could see of his remains were his blackened head and feet. They actually burned his face trying to get his mask off because it had been soldered on after he died.

The stairs into Tut’s tomb

King Tut’s sarcophagus

Telling Tut’s journey to the afterlife

More of the story

The gang with King Tut’s remains

The tomb of Sete I was the highlight of this day. It was big and bright with hieroglyphs and paintings. The stairs were challenging but definitely worth the climb. At the end of the day we had explored 6 different tombs and climbed the equivalent of 45 flights of stairs.

SETI I

SETI I

SETI I

Seti I

We also toured the tombs of Rameses I, III, IV and Rameses V/VI. Each was different but with similar iconography.

Rameses I

Rameses I

Rameses III

Rameses IV

Telling a story of Rameses IV

The ceilings told stories with time. figures with hands up show morning, hands down is night, the number of figures tells the hour.

All of us by Ramses IV’s sarcophagus. It was broken in antiquity and reassembled.

In Ramses VI used his father’s tomb and simply added on. some of the symbols in this tomb were interesting. The sedge plant is the symbol of Upper Egypt (southern Egypt, closer to the source of the Nile) and the bee was the symbol of lower Egypt (northern Egypt, closer to Cairo and the Delta). These symbols were in all the tombs. Scarabs and the eyes of Horace were also common. Scarabs symbolized birth, life, death and resurrection. Eye of Horace is associated with becoming whole and healing. It is often associated with funerary proceedings and has protective properties.

Scarabs and eyes of Horace

You could tell by the bleakness of the site why the tombs were undiscovered for centuries. People had know of the tombs in general and of course grave robbers had been mining the tombs over the years, however, the environment was bleak and harsh with a lot of rubble covering the entrances. There are 63 tombs that have been explored so far, but there are still tombs being found and the work is still done largely by hand. Who knows what lies untouched.

The Valley of the Kings

Ending our Valley tour, we stopped at Howard Carter’s house. He was sponsored by Lord Carnarvon for 5 years and in 1922, was on the verge of losing that sponsorship when a water carrying youth accidentally found the steps down to Tut’s tomb. They proceeded to excavate and the opening of the tomb was a big event. However, Carter did a bit of looting prior to the official opening for his own collections. These pieces have mostly been repatriated and all the grave goods will be shown in the new museum in Cairo.

The Valley of the Queens

The name of this valley is Ta-Set-Nehru or “place of beauty”. It was the burial place of the wives and children of the pharaohs. There are at least 90 known tombs on the sight. We went into the tomb of Nefertari,the great Royal wife of Ramesses II. We last met them at Abu Simbel. Her tomb was discovered in 1904 by an Italian archeologist. This was important because he had the insight and techniques to save the vivid paintings in her temple. We were blown away. All I can do to describe the experience is show you some of the pictures.

Nefertari & Isis

Nefertari and Horace

I can’t begin to name all the characters in the painted scenes but I hope to figure it out with some research after I get home. we also visited the temple of Queen Hatshepsut before heading for lunch.

Hatshepsut’s temple.

The guardians of the temple?

This day also included a felucca ride across the Nile to Gezira el Mozh, an island known for growing bananas and housing a little zoo of a jackal, a crocodile and some monkeys. It was a bit distressing to see the caged animals so I wandered around a bit and noticed a cotton plant. It was much more interesting.

A felucca on the Nile

Walking the plank from the felucca to shore!

Bananas

Cotton

Our next stop was a visit to the Luxor museum. It houses a number of the objects found at the temples of Karnak and Luxor, but I will describe those temples later.

King Amenhotep III

King Tut in the aspect of the god Amun. You can tell because his foot is forward. A god would have them together.

Sober (crocodile god) and Amenhotep carved out of a solid block of alabaster

We learned that the broken part of the snout was lost in antiquity. It was repaired when the nose was found when they were dredging the canals. The restorer did an excellent repair and it holds up well, especially when you think the repair was made 1200 years after it was originally carved in 1386 BCE (by the same guy who repaired the sphinx at Giza). The repairer left a text describing that he wanted to save the monuments for humanity.

It was a full and wonderful day. Tomorrow, the valley of the kings!

Kom Ombo & Edfu

Our departure was delayed today due to weather. The heat wave broke, finally! However, it also triggered a sandstorm that interfered with sailing times. But, by the time breakfast was done, we were underway. I spent some time watching life on the river before we docked and left for Kom Omba.

Kom Ombo is a temple that was built in the 2nd century BC to honour the crocodile god Sobec and the falcon god Horus. This is the only temple in Egypt to be dedicated to two different gods. Crocodile mummies were found on site here.

Kom Ombo

Sober, the crocodile god

Some of the symbols in the temples are starting to make sense to us. For example, the ankh and sceptre in the image below refers to temple priests who carry the secrets of divine creation (ankh) and the secrets of divine ruling and dominance (sceptre).

Ankh & Sceptre Symbols

After lunch we set out for Edfu, another temple dedicated to Horace. This one was huge and well preserved. We have learned a great deal of Egyptian history by thinking about the eras in which the monuments we see were built. For example Edfu was built by Ptolemy dynasty, a group of Macedonian Greeks who ruled Egypt from 305-30 BC. Cleopatra was the last ruler of this period. We arrived at the Edfu temple in style in a horse drawn buggy. The horse alternated trotting, running and dodging other vehicles/people in the streets. It was fun. Of course we took the same buggy back to our boat.

A short but wild ride to the temple

Like most temples, the decoration focused largely on the king’s victories in battle and mixed that in with tributes to the gods.

Pilots of Edfu

The God Horace is typically depicted in falcon form. We all agreed that Horace and Dale share the same frowny eyebrows.

Same eyebrows?

Like all temples, there were large segments where only the priests were allowed. One of these spaces was the temple library where papyrus scrolls were kept. Jane found the library too tempting to miss.

Jane in the Edfu library

The inner sanctums housed sacred items such as Barques. These ceremonial boats were used to celebrate the sun god in ceremonies and were paraded through the streets and sailed on the Nile during festival days.

A life size replica of a ceremonial boat based on temple drawings

We noticed the temple dogs at Edfu keeping watch as we departed. We returned to our boat for a relaxing evening. The food continues to be great.

Transitions

We left our lake cruise ship to move to our river cruise ship. In doing so we learned a lot about the dams on the Nile. The old dam was built in the early 1900’s and was upgraded a few times before the new dam was built. The new dam was built at a point of rapids. The Nile was historically divided into sections defined by “cataracts” or rapids. These dams caused a lot of challenge to the Nubians and many were displaced in the construction of both dams.

Wild life at the dam

The most amazing bird of some kind

The building of the dam was a complex political process. The Suez Canal became a pawn in the process. Eventually the Russians came through with the needed loans. The Egyptians built a monument of friendship to honour the deal. The dams are considered military sites and we noticed the armed presence (soldiers, guns and tanks). As we drove past a guard post I noticed a sign with the name of a temple on it that I was happy to be reminded about. I took a picture of it. Our bus was then pulled over and our guide asked for my camera to show that I hadn’t taken a picture of anything military. I was happy my camera was safely returned.

Monument to friendship between Russia and Egypt

Our second stop of the day was the vibrant Temple of Philae. It was relocated a few metres from it’s original site as the water from the dams flooded it. The rescue required a huge set of retaining walls to be built around the site and the cavity between them filled with sand.the water around the temple was then pumped out. They then got rid of the built up silt by hand and dismantled the temple stone by stone. Then the stones were moved onto a natural island where it stands today and reassembled. We arrived to a bustling dock, alive with vendors and the small boats that take people to the temple site.

The dock at Philae

The Temple of Philae was the centre of the cult to the Goddess Isis and her connection to Osiris, Horus and the king during the Potolemaic period (300 BCEish). This is considered the last temple of the classical Egyptian style. It’s construction was interrupted the Romans. The site transitioned to a Coptic church and was held by Napoleanic troops at one point. A highlight were the temple cats.

Philae

Isis is depicted in many carvings most importantly in the Egyptian trinity – Isis (mother), son (Horus) and Osiris (father). there is a large granite boulder as part of the temple foundation that is seen as the place where her tears over the loss of her husband. These tears are said to be the cause of the Nile flooding.

Where Isis cried a river of tears

We are starting to recognize Hieroglyphics and their meanings. For example, the ankh symbolizes life and resurrection. The sceptre represents stability, the curve is Neb/god.

God gives life and stability

There is still more from this day and I’m a bit behind in keeping up. It’s been hot and exciting, so fatigue is real.so I am off to sleep for now. As we learned in New York, tomorrow is a latter day.

Wadi El Sebou

We began our day exploring the Valley of the lions. The temple of Wadi El Sebou has a double row of sphinx protecting it from all threats. Like most temples, this one was heavy on glorifying the Pharaoh’s victories, in this case Ramesses II, while dedicating the temple to the gods. There are many friezes depicting Ramses making offerings.

Protectors in a row

Rameses receiving eternal life from his god.

We learned that the ankh symbol represents life and rebirth. Typically, this was received through the breath. One reason why many of the statues we see have the noses broken off was a way vandals had of interfering with the pharaoh’s eternal life.

Rameses offering incense

The Temple of Dakka was another of the relocated Nubian temples, this one journeyed 100 km to its now resting place. It was dedicated to Thoth, god of wisdom and writing in the 3rd century BCE and upgraded several times by Roman emperors. It’s shape is called a Pylon.

Dakka

We returned to our boat for another wonderful lunch on and had a relaxing afternoon on Lake Nasser. The lake was named for Gamal Abdul Nasser, the president of Egypt during the time the dam was planned and built. It was nice to have a slower day.

Unfinished Obelisk & Nubian Museum

Did I mention that there is a heat wave right now in Egypt. We stopped at the Northern quarry to see the unfinished Obelisk. This piece of granite would have weighed about 2.3 million pounds and would have stood 42 meters high (similar to the Lateran Obelisk in Rome). However, this one cracked while being carved and was left in the ground.

Unfinished Obelisk

Back to the heatwave, it was 45C while we climbed up to the top of the quarry to look at the Obelisk. It was worth it. Our next stop was the Nubian Museum. Nubia is an ancient region of Egypt that lies between the first cataract (rapids) near Aswan and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles. the name means Land of Gold. We toured the small but impressive museum that documented Nubian history up to modern times.

In the Nubian Museum

We left the museum to go back to our ship, have another meal and relax. Several of us purchased Galabeas (long cotton dresses worn by both men and women). We looked good showing off our Egyptian style.

Galabeas night

Kasr Ibrim & the Temple of Amada

We set sail from Abu Simbel and started heading into Nubian lands. The building of the High Aswan dam caused a significant part of Nubia to be flooded. UNESCO organized an international group of 50 countries to move temples out of harms way. The temple of Abu Simbel was the largest undertaking, but we saw a few more today. Kasr Ibrim was an important fort, originally 70 meters above the Nile. Now it is a ruin on an island.

Our first stop of the day was at the Temple of Amada. The first skill we have built is getting in and out of the boats that take us ashore. These motor boats hold all 24 of us on our tour and today we walked a plank to get onto shore.

Dale walking the plank

Our view of the lake from shore

Our view as we walked to the temple

The temple of Amada is the oldest of the Nubian temples and was created by Pharaoh Thutmoses III. Neither Dale nor I took a picture of the outside, but the insides were amazing.

Offering incense to the gods

Scorpion Cartouche

We encountered locals on our way out of a building who showed us some local wildlife. Jacquie denied evolutionary instincts to hold a scorpion. For those who love her, the stinger had been removed.

The Scorpion Queen

The temple of Al-Derr was moved here. It was originally carved out of the rock (rather than built).

The tree of life

Tomb of Pennut dates from the reign of Ramses VI (1143-1136 BCE). It was also relocated before the valley filled. This tomb was built into a hill and was the smallest site we’ve visited, just one room.

We headed back to our boat and found the lounge for a bit before a reception where the crew were introduced and cocktails were served . We had dinner and crashed early. Another great day.

Off to Aswan

We were up before our 2:30am wake-up call for our flight to Aswan. Everything was going well as everyone was on the bus in good time. Then we hit a traffic jam. we were stuck in a honking mess, slowly inching forward until our driver, with aggressive honking and determined jockeying for position, got us back on the road. We cheered his skill as we got back on track. We made it through security and to our gate just as our plane was boarding.

We were immediately whisked off from the airport to a 3 hour ride to Lake Nasser. The desert is immense and uniformly flat and unicolour. There are naturally occurring hills that resemble pyramids. We were left wondering what lies beneath. we drove by a desert reclamation project. They are attempting to reclaim farmable land and so far it is working.

Abu Simbel complex

Abu Simbel was built by Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE) to celebrate his victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. The monument was constructed here because it was the right spot for the sun to shine on his image twice a year (February 21 and October 21, his birthday and coronation days). He had a second temple built for his favourite wife Neferatari.

RamsessII

The battle

The inner chamber

Guess who won the battle?

Nefertari’s temple

The whole complex was set to be flooded with the completion of the Aswan High Dam. A UNESCO project saved this site and others by moving them. The entire Abu Simbel temple site was cut up, moved to higher ground and painstakingly reassembled in the exact orientation of the original. The only change was that the sun hit the inner temple figures one day later. It was a massive international project costing over 40 million USD at the time.

Abu Simbel at dawn

Our day focused on this site, culminating with a fantastic sound and light show. I got up early to see the sight from our cruise shift as we left port. I will give you more information about the cruising portion as we go.

Where Pyramid building began in ernest

Today we set out for the first pyramids built. The first one was the step pyramid at Saqqara. King Djoser built a temple complex described as his residence for eternal life. Imhotep was the architect for this and other incredible projects. Saqqara is a massive site that is still being actively excavated. The complex was originally surrounded by a large granite wall. The entry way was lined with columns and led to a massive court yard. The site was initially a graveyard filled with Mastabas (little brick rooms or caverns with flat roofs). Important people picked up the pyramid trend within Saqqara and continued for centuries.

We also saw two pyramids that followed upon the trend a little ways away, but within sight of the Step Pyramid. There were two pyramids at the Dahshur site built by king Sneferu. The Bent Pyramid is unique because it has a rhomboid shape. There was an active dig happening inside. Intrepid Dale climbed up to see what was happening. He was able to see down the tunnel into the tomb. They don’t know why the shape was chosen, but our guide was clear, the shape was always the plan. The Red Pyramid was the prototype for later pyramids like the ones at Giza.

The Bent Pyramid

The Red Pyramid

Our next stop was a nearby tomb of Kagemni. This temple was disovered in 1843. It revealed a number of intricately carved figures depicting daily life activities. Our guide spent considerable time explaining the images. We then had the option of going into King Teti’s tomb. This required going down into spaces too small for Dale.

Hippos and crocodiles

Women dancing

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. Our pita were made by a woman working in front of a wood-fired oven. We were greeted by a band that played drums, a recorder and had a dancing boy. The music and dancing were not great but we rewarded their efforts with a tip.the food was fantastic and the meat portion was served on a coal-fired hibachi. The hummus and baba ganoush were wonderful with the fresh pita.

The wind picked up as our day went on and was felt the reality of the environment. Windy in the desert means you keep your mouth closed to avoid eating sand. The day was delightful and we made it back in time for a rest, a lecture about the Nile river and supper. Tomorrow we are off to Aswan. I may not have internet access, but I will post again when I can. We have an early morning call to catch our flight. We leave the hotel at 3:30 (gasp!) in the morning.

A Bucket List Day

We survived our travel day yesterday and got to the hotel around 7 pm local time (9 hours later than Edmonton time), had supper and went to bed. We got up bright and early for breakfast and tour briefing. I took a moment to look outside my room window in daylight and the pyramids were right there in front of me.

There are 24 people on the tour, 5 Canadians and 19 Americans. We were all in different stages of jet lag so things got off to a late start. By 10 am we were on our way to the Giza Plateau.

The pyramids of Giza

The great pyramid

The great pyramid is huge. To give a perspective, Dale is 2 metres tall and he is standing at the base of this pyramid. the large pyramid is 480 ft tall. The second one is 450 ft but built on higher ground so looks larger. We noticed the third one was much smaller and not much was said about it. We wandered around the pyramids and were allowed to climb up a few blocks to get a sense of the build. It was impressive.

Dale beside the Great Pyramid.

There were “hawker-Ozzi” (people who sell souvenirs at the stops we made) and it”s challenging because they are persistent. We learned that saying “no thank you” sternly wasn’t a winning solution. Avoiding eye contact seems to work.

Our second stop was an opportunity to go for a scenic view of the Giza plateau and a camel ride. The gang went for a brief ride while I focused on the camels. They are massive and fun to ride. They are also “working” police animals.

Getting going…

Egyptian mounted police

After the ride ended, we headed to the Sphinx. It was massive and has long been the protector of the Giza plateau.

The Sphinx

The immensity of the Pyramids was mind blowing. Our guide described the various theories about how they were built but the reality is, no one really knows. He pointed out that the architects planned the buildings with precision for their purpose and to withstand threats such as earthquakes. For example, notice how there is no mortar between the rocks and how each stone is cut to fit together. This makes it sturdy, even if the ground shakes.

A wall in the causeway at the sphinx

Our afternoon was spent at the Egyptian museum. There was so much to see. Our guide focused us on statues for our 2.5 hour tour. We appreciated this as you could wander here for days and not see everything.

Triad of King Menkaure, Goddess Hathor and Theban, nome-goddess

Most of the Tutenkahmen artifacts have been moved to the new, huge Egyptian museum that isn’t open yet. However we saw his thrones, jewelry and his sarcophagi (240 pounds of solid gold in one sarcophagus) and his death mask. We weren’t able to take pictures of them, but we could stare in awe. The new museum is across from our hotel and it is massive. We will have to come back and spend a month just walking it’s halls.

King Kahfre, builder of the 2nd pyramid.

A statue of Tutankhamen

His golden throne for travelling.

We were hungry and tired at the end of our day but hugely satisfied with all we experienced. We are excited to see what tomorrow brings.