EGYPTIAN SPLENDOR
Globus tour QE 10 days
October 7-15, 2005
October 7-15, 2005
Day 8: VALLEY OF THE KINGS AND MUCH MORE
Ahmed got us out of bed early the next day. As our launch cruised the Nile, we saw the sun rise over the East bank. It was truly a picture of the rebirth of the solar disk which so impressed the Egyptians and infused their religion.
I was always far too much a sucker for cute kids, and this dwarf child was helping people up the ramp from the boat landing so of course I had to give him baksheesh.
Rising so early meant that we got to the Valley of the Kings before the crowds. We were about the third bus there. We had a lot of time to explore without huge lines. Renée and I visited two tombs, the ones listed as more easily accessible. Some of our companions reported horrendous steps and steep ramps, but we had easy walks in KV2 (Rameses IV) and KV6 (Rameses IX). Cameras are not permitted inside the tombs. However, the threshold guardian was amenable to a little baksheesh to bend the rule just a bit and allow this shot.
Many of the scenes from inside the tombs have been published so many times, but it was still a thrill to look up at the ceiling and see Nut the sky goddess stretched above the sarcophagus, just as it is in the books. This is a commercial photograph, but it gives the awesome feeling of standing there and seeing it.
Our next stop was the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. She is depicted wearing a beard, the symbol of a pharoah so she is considered to be truly a ruling queen. Ahmed gave us a sketch of the six generations of intrigue, politics and war that led to her accession along with her infant son Thutmose III.
We then stopped to watch alabaster being worked almost in the old ways. These men with primitive tools turned out some beautiful work. Then of course there was a shopping opportunity.
Ahmed then added an unscheduled stop, at the Mortuary Temple of Rameses III. This is where the actual mummification took place. Ahmed told us early in the tour that he knew every patch of shade in Egypt! Often our group was in a comfortable shady spot while other guides lectured to their groups out in the hot sun.
This temple is one of the few in which the original colors are still visible on the stones. It lets one imagine how beautiful and colorful the Temples must have been when they were actually in use.
Time then for a quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon. Now they stand all alone in an empty field, but they are still amazing works of the human hand and mind.
Motoring back to the boat for lunch we engaged in a contest to spot camels and water buffalo first, and get our cameras lined up!
The afternoon was devoted to the Temple of Karnak. This was the most important and largest temple in ancient Egypt, the place where royalty was educated. It was being built over a period of 1500 years. The amazing size of this collonade stretches the mind to its limits.
The famous avenue of ram headed sphinxes is very beautiful. Even at the end it was still under construction. This line of columns clearly shows more finished work on the left side, and the pillars to the right become rougher because they were still being carved when they were abandoned.
This uncarved wall shows the process of construction also. The remains of a mud brick ramp are in front of it, showing that the ramp was built up as the rough stones were put in place, and then the master masons finishing the wall worked down the wall as the ramp was torn down.
That night on the boat the show featured a belly dancer and a whirling dervish. This guy actually spun round and round for 20 minutes without stopping, performing various figures and feats as he did so.
NEXT DAY
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| Ahmed got us out of bed early the next day. As our launch cruised the Nile, we saw the sun rise over the East bank. It was truly a picture of the rebirth of the solar disk which so impressed the Egyptians and infused their religion. | I was always far too much a sucker for cute kids, and this dwarf child was helping people up the ramp from the boat landing so of course I had to give him baksheesh.
Rising so early meant that we got to the Valley of the Kings before the crowds. We were about the third bus there. We had a lot of time to explore without huge lines. Renée and I visited two tombs, the ones listed as more easily accessible. Some of our companions reported horrendous steps and steep ramps, but we had easy walks in KV2 (Rameses IV) and KV6 (Rameses IX). Cameras are not permitted inside the tombs. However, the threshold guardian was amenable to a little baksheesh to bend the rule just a bit and allow this shot.
| Many of the scenes from inside the tombs have been published so many times, but it was still a thrill to look up at the ceiling and see Nut the sky goddess stretched above the sarcophagus, just as it is in the books. This is a commercial photograph, but it gives the awesome feeling of standing there and seeing it.
| Our next stop was the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. She is depicted wearing a beard, the symbol of a pharoah so she is considered to be truly a ruling queen. Ahmed gave us a sketch of the six generations of intrigue, politics and war that led to her accession along with her infant son Thutmose III.
| We then stopped to watch alabaster being worked almost in the old ways. These men with primitive tools turned out some beautiful work. Then of course there was a shopping opportunity.
| Ahmed then added an unscheduled stop, at the Mortuary Temple of Rameses III. This is where the actual mummification took place. Ahmed told us early in the tour that he knew every patch of shade in Egypt! Often our group was in a comfortable shady spot while other guides lectured to their groups out in the hot sun.
| This temple is one of the few in which the original colors are still visible on the stones. It lets one imagine how beautiful and colorful the Temples must have been when they were actually in use.
| Time then for a quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon. Now they stand all alone in an empty field, but they are still amazing works of the human hand and mind.
| Motoring back to the boat for lunch we engaged in a contest to spot camels and water buffalo first, and get our cameras lined up!
| The afternoon was devoted to the Temple of Karnak. This was the most important and largest temple in ancient Egypt, the place where royalty was educated. It was being built over a period of 1500 years. The amazing size of this collonade stretches the mind to its limits.
| The famous avenue of ram headed sphinxes is very beautiful. Even at the end it was still under construction. This line of columns clearly shows more finished work on the left side, and the pillars to the right become rougher because they were still being carved when they were abandoned.
| This uncarved wall shows the process of construction also. The remains of a mud brick ramp are in front of it, showing that the ramp was built up as the rough stones were put in place, and then the master masons finishing the wall worked down the wall as the ramp was torn down.
| That night on the boat the show featured a belly dancer and a whirling dervish. This guy actually spun round and round for 20 minutes without stopping, performing various figures and feats as he did so.
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NEXT DAY