During the night we docked at Thebes (modern day city of Luxor). Thebes dates back to 2300 BC and includes the temples of Luxor and Karnak, plus the Valley of the Kings, the Colossi of Memnon, and Hatshepsut’s temple of Deir el-Bahari – all of which we visited during a couple days of being docked there before flying back to Cairo.
When I opened my drapes, I found myself looking directly into the stateroom of a complete stranger on another riverboat. We were right up against each other. Actually, we were sandwiched between a couple of boats and had to walk through three other boats to get to shore. A Nile traffic jam. This wasn’t too bad for just coming and going to sightsee, but was a little awkward when leaving the boat for the airport and taking our luggage with us. This was especially true when boats didn’t quite line up properly and we had to balance along the ledge of one to get to the opening of another. I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had ever fallen into one of the gaps between boats.
We started our day at the Valley of the Kings, where for roughly 500 years (from the 16th century to the 11th century BC) the pharaohs, their families, and other nobility, were buried. At this point, archeologists know that there are at least 63 tombs. The possibility exists that there are still some undiscovered tombs. The most famous tomb in the valley thus far is that of Tutankhamun, which was discovered intact in 1922 by Archeologist Howard Carter and the 5th Earl of Carnarvon.
We arrived fairly early in the morning before the heat reached its highest point for the day and before the valley was completely thronged by tourists. Here and there I actually managed to time taking a photo without a lot of people. As we sat under an awning listening to our Egyptologist talk about what we were about to see in the tomb we were going to visit, more people began arriving. By the time we actually ventured into the tomb of Ramses IV (KV2), we were no longer alone.
Ramses IV was a pharaoh from the 20th dynasty. Although his tomb has a lot of graffiti on the walls from ancient Greek and Roman visitors, it is still in great shape with most of the original colors intact. This is in part from its position in the valley. The frequent flash floods that take place in the Valley of the Kings have not reached this particular tomb, unlike Ramses II whose tomb is in very poor shape.
Seeing Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62) cost extra. Our Egyptologist offered to wait for anyone who wanted to see it, but tried to talk us out of it. He said that there wasn’t much to see – everything was in the Cairo museum except for Tut’s body which was in the remaining inner sarcophagus inside the tomb. I was determined to see it anyway. I was the only one from our group who was interested.
Photos weren’t allowed in Tut’s tomb. I couldn’t even carry my cameras in with me. I had to check them in with the person from whom I bought the special ticket. Fortunately I had taken a photo of the outside of the tomb as we passed it earlier. I left the rest of the group sitting in the shade and hiked over to the tomb’s entrance. Nobody was there to look at my ticket, so I just went ahead down the stairs. When I was nearing the bottom, I could see a few women over to my left looking at something that I couldn’t see. There was a man a ways ahead of me, looking over at Tut’s sarcophagus to the right. I stopped to take in what was on the walls of the tomb and give the guy time to move on before I reached the sarcophagus. I was excited to be there and wanted to get it all imprinted on my mind, especially since photos were not allowed (otherwise I would have been shooting loads of photos and video).
The man moved on and I went down the last few steps to the level of the sarcophagus. It had glass on top so that the coffin inside was visible. I stared at that for a while and then looked around the rest of the tomb. It was quite small. It was amazing to me how they had stuffed all the things I had seen at the Cairo Museum into these tiny rooms.
The women had gone up the stairs and out of the tomb. The man was on his way up the stairs. Nobody had come down after me. I could see what looked like two blackened feet sticking out from under a sheet in a glass case. Holy moly! Was that Tut? Was he out of his coffin and in that case? I swung around to the area that had been to my left and approached the glass case. Those feet were Tut’s! He was under a sheet except for his feet and his head. I reached his head, looked him in the face and said, “Hello Tut.”
Suddenly the lights went out and I found myself alone in King Tut’s tomb with Tut himself in total darkness. Trying not to panic while imagining a bony little hand reaching for my throat, I fished around in my travel purse for the flashlight I always carry. I had it in my hand and turned on when the lights came back on. Tut had not moved. I was relieved. I thanked him for his hospitality and headed up the stairs.
When I reached my group, I found out that the power had momentarily gone out for the entire Valley of the Kings. I told the group (and especially the Egyptologist) that Tut was now in a case instead of his sarcophagus. But we were on a schedule so it was too late for anyone else in the group to go down to see him.
We left for Hatshepsut’s temple Deir el-Bahari, which was carved from the side of a mountain on three levels. In 1997, 62 people, mostly tourists, were killed by terrorists on the steps of the temple.
Hatshepsut was the daughter of Tutmose I. She was married to her half-brother, Tutmose II. She reigned in between her husband and his son from another one of his wives, Tutmose III. Both Tutmose III and his son, Amenhotep II attempted to erase Hatshepsut from history. Her name was chiseled from monuments and records and her statues were removed or defaced. Here and there, however, something remained. That was enough for Hatshepsut not to be completely erased from history.
After spending time at Deir el-Bahari, we stopped off at the Colossi of Memnon. These are statues of Amenhotep III. His grandfather was Amenhotep II and his father Tutmose IV. His son was Akhenaten and grandson Tutankhamen. The statues had once been at the entrance of a temple that no longer exists.
The next day we explored the temples of Luxor and Karnak.
