Our Egyptian Adventure COMPLETED
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mommapants · 03-21-2011, 11:13 AM

Cool update. The workers home really do lool like they are smushed right on top of one another.

PrincessSharon · 03-21-2011, 12:19 PM

Great photos! Sorry about the mosquitos. My bites tend to swell a lot, but other than being itchy, they don't bother me. Glad you didn't get too bitten up.

**KMB733** · 03-21-2011, 01:32 PM

Another great update! Glad Mark was able to get the mosquito before it got you!

**chezp** · 03-22-2011, 03:22 AM

Friday 28 January – part two: “I want my stones back!”

Just like all the other tombs, these were beautifully decorated. In the days when these were built, the Egyptian week was ten days long, eight of which were working days, while the other two were holidays. On the two holidays in the ten day week, these were the days that the workers would decorate their own family tombs.

The first one we went into was the Tomb of Sennedjem, who was a servant in the 19th Dynasty, which was discovered in 1886. It shows Sennedjem, the head of the family, and his wife, worshipping various gods. In these tombs, the whole family would be buried. Although, as with all the tombs, you can’t take photos inside, we did buy some postcards, so we could share the images with you, as they were truly stunning.

The second tomb that’s open to the public is the Tomb of Inherkhau, the scenes in which include the Cat of Heliopolis killing the serpent Apophis under a holy tree.

Miriam had been keen that we came here first, as they only allow in a maximum of ten people at one time, and once inside, you could see why. They’re tiny.

The first tomb wasn’t too bad to get into, but the second one had really steep steps to it, which were a nightmare to get both in and out of, but it was so worth it for what you see down there. In the second one, we had to wait for people to come out, and while we were in there, we were joined by a group of six people – and let’s just say that was very cozy (and hot!

) down there.

In each of the tombs, you end up getting a guided tour from the operators, whether you want one or not. We were good and gave a small tip, as you’re supposed to do, but I’m not convinced that the other people we saw down there did the same, which isn’t on.

: Miriam told us today that her daily wage is 35LE (about $6) and that’s fairly well paid, which puts things in perspective. These people desperately rely on tourists and to us, 5LE ($0.85), which we gave all the guides in each of the tombs, is nothing, but I’m sure it makes a difference to them.

Our next stop was over to the Valley of the Queens, which wasn’t that far away. It lies to the southwest of the Valley of the Kings and hold the tombs, not just of the royal wives, but also their children. Royal wives from the time of Ramses I were laid to rest here and there are around 80 tombs here, but just like the Valley of the Kings, only a few are open.

As we walked to get to the site, we were hassled again by the usual hustlers. Miriam told me that the reason they keep focusing on Mark and not me is that because, traditionally, the men are the keepers of the money in a household. Not in my household, they’re not!

This is nowhere near as big as the Valley of the Kings, so you can just walk up to the tombs, but it’s also not as crowded. We were practically alone here.

One of the first tombs we came to was that of Queen Nefertari, but sadly it’s been closed to the public for a number of years. It’s the most colourful and most highly regarded and Miriam told us that, occasionally, they open up the tomb for special events and, when they do, they charge something crazy like $20,000 to enter. They claim that money goes towards the restoration of the site, but there’s no restoration to be seen anywhere here. She also told us that, when it was open, it only used to admit 100 people a day and those tickets were often gone by first thing in the morning.

There are only three tombs open to the public and we started with the Tomb of Prince Khaemwaset, which is the tomb of one of Ramses III’s sons, who died in infancy. The colour in here is so dramatic. We couldn’t get over how vivid the scenes were. In here, we were shown around by a guide, who explained that he’s the chief guardian of this tomb and has been for the last 20 years.

He was very knowledgeable and very friendly.

Our next stop took us to the Tomb of Queen Tyti, who was married to Ramses III. She was a force to be reckoned with, as her husband was a great warrior, yet how did he die? At the hands of his wife, who poisoned him!

The tomb is small and it’s not in as good a condition as the other ones we saw, but some areas are still very colourful. I loved the scenes of Hathor, who’s depicted as the cow god, in the fields. He’s also seen in human form, pouring water from the Nile to revive the queen.

The final tomb we visited of the three that are open was the Tomb of Amunherkhepshef, another of Ramses III’s sons. Amun would have succeeded his father, but he died as a child. The tomb hall contains beautiful, brightly-coloured paintings of Ramses with his young soon. It’s here that the skeleton of a five-month-old foetus is on display. It was fascinating and gross all at the same time.

When we came out of there, we wandered back towards the entrance, getting more photos on the way.

As we headed out, we stopped to look at some postcards, as we wanted some, not being able to photograph inside the tomb. But, despite the fact that they were cheap (and amazingly got a lot cheaper, when he thought he wasn’t going to sell anything!

), they were very poor quality. They looked like they’d been badly photocopied, so we passed.

On the way in, one guy had given Mark two stones, telling him to remember “number 16” on the way out. When Mark failed to part with any cash, the guy asked for his stones back, which Mark was only too happy to do, as he really didn’t want them in the first place.

Next: nice way to treat your enemies!

honeybee723 · 03-22-2011, 08:47 AM

I think it's a real feat that you've kept all of your money on you and didn't spend it with all of those hustlers out there.

Another great update, I only wish you were allowed to take photos inside the tombs.

**Colexis Mom** · 03-22-2011, 08:56 AM

The tombs sound fascinating!

Great pictures from the Valley of the Queens!

lauriep · 03-22-2011, 01:02 PM

Interesting sites! The hustlers really sound annoying. I have a feeling they'd sell more if they'd back off a bit. The pestering just makes you want to escape!

mommapants · 03-22-2011, 02:30 PM

I wish you could take photos too. I just can only imagine what thy looked like and I'm sure my imagination pales in comparision to the real deal. I would hate all the hustlers by the end of the trip you must be experts on ignoring them.

debrabrown · 03-22-2011, 03:19 PM

How cool would it have been to see inside the tombs?! Bummer. I don't think I'd pay that price though. Yikes!

**KMB733** · 03-22-2011, 05:55 PM

Great update from the Valley of the Queens. Great pictures too!

**chezp** · 03-23-2011, 02:29 AM

Friday 28 January – part three: nice way to treat your enemies!

Our final stop was to be at Medinat Habu, which my guidebook describes as “second only to Karnak in size and detail, the beautiful temple of Medinat Habu is one of the less-visited sights in Thebes.”

As you approach it, it looks very different to any other temple we’ve seen so far. It’s more like an army barracks, complete with defences and that’s exactly what it was, as Miriam explained that it was turned into a fortress.

It originally started out as a funerary temple for Ramses III, and like many other such temples, the walls are used to record the various victories of the pharaoh. On the first wall you come to, you can clearly see the different nationalities of the people that he conquered.

Once we got into the temple courtyard, Miriam explained that some of the images show how the ancient Egyptians would treat their enemies, by cutting their hands off.

We entered the funerary temple complex....

... and then Miriam left us to enjoy some free time and take lots of photos in the final section. Here, it would’ve once been full of columns, but Mohammed Ali, whose mosque we saw in Cairo, used these columns to build his mosque.

He was also the one responsible for taking the alabaster from the pyramids. I think you can imagine that Miriam perhaps didn’t have that much for time, after he’d done all that....

Next: we’ll “show you around”

omd · 03-23-2011, 08:37 AM

Once again the pictures are amazing! It is very difficult to try and picture how many people with such talent it took to build all of these temples and to do all of the beautiful carvings.