March 23 Valley of the Kings

After an early breakfast we met up with Maria and our driver to go to the West Bank. The Valley of the Kings has 63 royal tombs from the New Kingdom Period (1550-2055 BC). We visited three of these tombs – Maria’s favourites (Rameses IV, Siptah, and another). The tombs have suffered great damage from treasure hunters and floods. We were sad to learn that the humidity caused by tourists (sweat/breathing – an average of 2.8 g per person!) has affected the reliefs and the pigments of the wall paintings. We felt guilty even being there after learning this. Hopefully, the government will put systems into place to preserve the tombs shortly. Sadly the country does not appear to have the infrastructure to do so.

It was thrilling to see the tomb of Tutankamun. We also saw Howard Carter’s house high on a hill where he lived for approximately twenty years. Carter searched for close to eleven years before making a last ditch effort to find the tomb of Tutankamun. His sponsor had given up all hope and was soon to cut off all funding. Can you imagine chow thrilled Carter and his team were to discover the tomb after so many years of work!! Carter called his sponsor and told him to get to the valley as soon as possible. He waited for him to arrive before removing actually removing the sarcophragus.

It was also very exciting to see several archeological digs currently in progress. Discoveries just waiting to happen!

We then left the Valley of the Kings and drove over to the Temple of Hatsheput (1473-1458). The temple is carved into the dramatic, rugged limestone cliffs on the other side of the Valley of the Kings. The temple was vandalized over time. Thuthmosis III removeede his stepmot5her’s name whenever he could. Years later the early Christians turned it into a monastery and defaced the pagan reliefs. Maria’s knowledge of Egyptology came in very handy and she told us story after story about the temple’s history.

Before leaving the West Bank we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon. The pillars are the only part left standing of a Amenhotep III’s memorial temple, believed to have covered an area even large than Karnak! The magnificent colossi are each cut from a single block of stone and weigh 100 tons! They were even a tourist attraction during the Greco-Roman times!

It was exhausting touring the Valley of the Kings and it was only 20 degrees Celcius. We couldn’t imagine touring during our summer when the temperature can go as high as 50 degrees!

We headed back to the Mercure in the afternoon and spent hours swimming, reading, and just hanging out. Back at Mara’s we indulged yet again in their Egyptian feast. The boys loved it and Steve, Mara’s son, made sure to pack up enough food for Brendan for the entire next day.