Valley of the Kings, Luxor & Karnak
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
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27
38
Trip End
Apr 22, 2008
Safaga,
Egypt
Friday, April 4, 2008
Safaga is arid desolate desert but the Nile valley is lush green. It was over 3 hrs. by bus between Safaga & Luxor. Our buses were required to travel in a police-escorted convoy & we saw military with machine guns all along the way. Egypt's no. 1 industry is tourism & after a disastrous event years ago, they're making sure we're all safe.
The Valley of The Kings is a valley where, for a period of 500 yrs. from the 16th to 11th century B.C., tombs were constructed for the Kings & powerful nobles of ancient Egypt.
The valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. "King Tut" was buried with jewelry, toys, games, furniture, clothing & weapons-all needed for the afterlife. What a tragedy that nearly all the tombs have been looted by grave robbers. The exception was King Tut's tomb (discovered in 1922) & only because the entrance to his tomb was concealed by debris. Since then, over 63 more tombs have been uncovered.
Although the workers have been dead for thousands of years, the work is still being uncovered. In 2006, KV63 tomb was uncovered. Recently, the Univ. of Chicago team removed debris from Ramses 111 tomb. It was believed that only 12 chambers were located here but the team has located over 130 so far & they are still removing debris.
We visited the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman Pharaoh who ruled between 1490 to 1483 B.C. This exquisite temple has rows of square granite columns blending into the limestone mountain. Egyptologists have long thought this area contained many more tombs. For the past 3 yrs., the Govt. has relocated over 600 families who built homes on this land for over 200 yrs. They were given a new home in a new community with a school, hospital, mosque, etc. Their homes were destroyed & last month, over 100 tombs were uncovered! Work continues in this historic area.
We also visited the Temple of Karnak, the largest temple in the world (Notre Dame of Paris could fit inside). It was built in 1400 B.C. on the bank of the Nile. Several colossal statues stand inside the temple with an obelisk in front. Originally there were two but one was taken to Paris in 1831 where it now stands in the Place de la Concorde. Recent excavation under the obelisk showed two statues, a man & woman, lying close together. As in Seattle, Wash., Rome, Italy & elsewhere, buildings were constructed on top of the ancient cities. These have recently been uncovered. A huge mosque will soon be removed as there is a temple underneath. Modern technology has allowed Egypt to locate these treasures.
We also made a brief stop at the Colossi of Memnon to see two immense statues of Amenhotep which guarded the entrance to his tomb.
We are now on the Gulf of Suez & will be in the Suez Canal late this evening. (It is 7 pm Fri. onboard, 10 am in Calif.). If you would like to see us in the canal, click on princess.com, then click bridge cams at the bottom, then go to Pacific Princess.
We will arrive in Port Said, Egypt on April 6th & I'll be going on a tour to Giza to see the Pyramids, Sphinx & the Egyptian Museum.
Hope I haven't been boring you to date.....if so, that's what the delete button is for. Love to hear from you!
Linda
