Day 5 -- Flying Back in Time

DAY 4 -- We are flying back in time today.

We started the day very, very early with a 2:45AM wake up call.  The first part of this EXTREMELY FULL day was to travel by air from Cairo to Luxor. At the Cairo airport our group of sleepy travelers were guided through three levels of security – off with your shoes-belts-watches, put your bags through and then get dressed again three times.

DW and I had one final photo opportunity at the airport. 

Once on our flight we could relax and prepare for a full day of exploration. After landing in Luxor (ancient city of Thebes) we visited the Temple of Luxor. This site dwarfed any ancient site Hubby D and I have ever visited.

Interestingly enough, Luxor was also once the religious capital of Egypt. This was during the height of the Pharaonic period, when it was also known as the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. However, it wasn’t called Luxor back in those days, but instead, it was known as Thebes, and it was situated on the western bank of the river.

Today we would be exploring the Temple of Luxor. The entrance to the Temple of Luxor itself is known as the first pylon. It was built by Ramesses II. Six massive statues of Ramesses, two seated and four standing flanked this entrance, but unfortunately only the two-seated statues are still relatively intact.

"Do you think that pylon leans to the left a little?" Awe, the great discussions have started.

The temple is dedicated to the gods Amun, Mut, and Khonsu and was the focus of one of the most important religious festivals in ancient Egypt - the annual Opet Festival. During this festival the cult statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu would travel from the Temple at Karnak to the Temple of Luxor.

In ancient times, the temple was approached by the long Avenue of the Sphinxes, which connected Temple at Karnak (we will visit tomorrow) and Luxor temples, leading to the first pylon. Nectanebo I lined this processional road with human headed sphinx but this was a rather late addition to the site (dynasty 30) and it is thought that he merely built over an existing processional way. The avenue is now called the Avenue of the Sphinxes. Literally, this avenue is over 3km long and has a sphinx (lions and human heads) every 10 feet or so on both sides. Very impressive.

DW took another picture to send home to the newspaper.

The carvings were unbelievable. Could they really have carved this with only stones and brass? 

After our visit to the Temple of Luxor, we arrived at the Sanctuary Sun Boat IV where we will be staying as we cruise up the Nile. 

Champagne for lunch?

Our boat was not extremely large and we were very glad. There was a maximum of 40 passengers and almost that many crew members. It was wonderful.

We had a lovely sitting room.

The view was fabulous. 

Hubby D took full advantage of the view. LOL

There was also a lovely bedroom area.

The bedroom had a fabulous view out the front of the boat.

These lilies were in our room and smelled wonderful.

Even the bathroom was extra large for a boat.

After lunch on board the boat we visited the West Bank of Luxor to explore the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most beautiful of all of the temples of Ancient Egypt. Located beneath the peak of a mountain, it sits directly against the rock forming a natural amphitheatre.

Although it was uncommon for Egypt to be ruled by a woman, the situation was not unprecedented. As a ruler, Hatshepsut was preceded by Merneith of the First Dynasty, who was buried with the full honors of a pharaoh. Nimaathap acted as regent for her son, Djoser, and may have reigned as pharaoh in her own right. Ahhotep I, lauded as a warrior queen, may have been a regent between the reigns of two of her sons, Kamose and Ahmose I, at the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty and the beginning of Hatshepsut's own Eighteenth Dynasty. Amenhotep I, also preceding Hatshepsut in the Eighteenth Dynasty, probably came to power while a young child and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari, is thought to have been a regent for him. 

The most notable example of another woman who became pharaoh was Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. 

Hatshepsut became a widow before the age of 30. She had no sons — only a daughter, Neferure — and the male heir was an infant, born to a concubine named Isis.

This temple had beautiful colors. It is amazing the color is still there from thousands of years ago even though they have been exposed to the outside atmosphere.

The ceiling was beautiful.

Since Thutmose III was too young to assume the throne unaided, Hatshepsut served as his regent. Initially, Hatshepsut bore this role traditionally until, for reasons that are unclear, she claimed the role of pharaoh. Technically, Hatshepsut did not ‘usurp’ the crown, as Thutmose III was never deposed and was considered co-ruler throughout her life, but it is clear that Hatshepsut was the principal ruler in power.

She began having herself depicted in the traditional king’s kilt and crown, along with a fake beard and male body. This was not an attempt to trick people into thinking she was male; rather, since there were no words or images to portray a woman with this status, it was a way of asserting her authority.

In comparison with other female pharaohs, Hatshepsut's reign was much longer and more prosperous. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but generally is considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era.

This carving shows the queen as a man. She is wearing the crown of upper and lower Egypt and has on a traditional kilt.

Late in his reign, Thutmose III began a campaign to eradicate Hatshepsut’s memory: He destroyed or defaced her monuments, erased many of her inscriptions and constructed a wall around her obelisks. While some believe this was the result of a long-held grudge, it was more likely a strictly political effort to emphasize his line of succession and ensure that no one challenged his son Amenhotep II for the throne.

More analysis.

After exploring this amazing structure, we traveled to the Valley of the Kings including the Tombs of King Tutanhamun and Seti I. The tombs were not just amazing, they were unbelievable and this was totally unexpected for me.

The main use of Valley of the Kings was for burials mainly from 1539 BC to 1075 BC. The valley contains 63 discovered tombs of different rulers, pharaohs, and queens of the old kingdom starting from Thutmose I and ends with Ramses XI. There are many tombs believed to be located there that have not been found.

The official name for the site in ancient times was The Great and Majestic Necropolis of the Millions of Years of the Pharaoh, Life, Strength, Health in The West of Thebes (see below for the hieroglyphic spelling), or Ta-sekhet-ma'at (the Great Field).

Our first tour was through the tomb of Seti I also known as KV17.

The tomb of Seti I is the longest (at more than 120 meters), deepest and most completely finished in the Valley of the Kings.

Seti's tomb also represents the fullest development of offset, or jogged royal tombs in the valley. It was discovered in October 1817 by Italian Giovanni Battista Belzoni The tomb was discovered only a few days after the tomb of his father, Ramesses I.

Carving out the tombs was very difficult.

The detail on these hieroglyphics was simply amazing. Hubby D questioned Raafat that they appeared to be applied rather than carved. Raafat insisted they were carved. Doing research about this, I found several articles that describe "casting" stone to create carvings.

There is a myth that aliens helped the Egyptians. There are even hieroglyphics they claim show space ships.

The panel in Seti I’s tomb with these images was originally carved with a set of “normal” hieroglyphs. At some time, the glyphs were plastered over and re-carved — a well-known phenomenon in ancient Egyptian monumental writing. After centuries of time, the plaster has come off, revealing what we see now — two sets of hieroglyphs superimposed on each otter making them look like different forms.

Seti I's reign is known for high achievements in art and culture, and his tomb was one of the hallmarks of his building projects, with highly refined bas-reliefs and colorful paintings. The decorations are more refined than in earlier tombs, with figures having larger ears and smaller mouths. 

As we viewed the paintings and reliefs, our guide, Raafat pointed out how the human form became more defined as the centuries passed.

There is a hieroglyphic mural in the tomb for Seti I that shows the four races of the world. A Libyan, a Nubian, an Asiatic and an Egyptian. 

We also toured the tomb of Ramesses II also known as Ramesses the Great. He led several military expeditions reasserting Egyptian control. The early part of his reign was focused on building cities, temples, and monuments. 

This shows Ramesses II preparing for war.

He is believed to have taken the throne in his late teens and is known to have ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC. Estimates of his age at death vary; 90 or 91 is considered most likely.

On his death, he was buried in a tomb called KV7 in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881, and is now on display in the Egyptian Museum.

This is a picture of the entrance found to the royal cache.

His tomb is the most complex in the valley. It is highly decorated and contains hieroglyphics including the Book of Gates. The Book of Gates is an Ancient Egyptian funerary text. It narrates the passage of a newly deceased soul into the next world. It can be found in all of the tombs for each of the pharaohs for whom they were built.

Ramesses VI was another one of our tours. Ramesses VI has a magnificent burial chamber, the ceiling of which is highly decorated with hieratic graffiti and images.

During the tour of the tomb of Ramesses IX we saw the hieroglyphic of the three-headed snake.

There were some hieroglyphics that were incomplete or not carved. These unfinished carvings were left when the pharaoh died and needed to be buried. 

One side of this column is unfinished.

Only part of this drawing is carved.

Our final tour was through the burial chamber for King Tutankhamun also known as KV62. Unfortunately no photography is allowed in Tutankhamun’s tomb so I scanned these images from cards we were given. 

The biggest difference in King Tut’s tomb was that the hieroglyphics were very large. He only lived a short period of time and did not have a long history to write about. Also, they only had 70 days to prepare his tomb. When a pharaoh came into power, he usually started work on his tomb and the temples around it. Apparently Tut was not prepared to die so quickly.

Tut is seen sitting down or with a cane in many of the hieroglyphics. He had a crippling bone disease in his clubbed left foot. He and his young wife had 2 stillborn daughters so he had no surviving children.

Tutankhamun was ruler of the late 18th Dynasty and was, ironically, one of the most poorly known of the pharaohs until Howard Carter’s discovery of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Although the tomb had been partially robbed and resealed in ancient times, most of the funerary equipment, including the coffins and sarcophagi, were found in excellent condition, and it was certainly the best preserved of any of the royal tombs. Tutankhamun might have been only eight years old when he first reached the throne and he died at 19. However the splendor of his funerary equipment has made him very famous.

On our way back to the river Nile, we stopped at the famed Colossi of Memnon.

Unfortunately the person taking this photo cut off the Colossi.

However, with this enlargement showing a woman photographing the Colossi in the background, you can tell the massive size of the statue.

Along the way, there were vast areas where stone were laid out waiting to be reconstructed. Reassembly of the antiquities must be a  massive undertaking.

When we finally arrived back at the boat, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner and greet conversation with our fellow travelers.

The meals on the boat were an experience and culinary thrill.

SAFETY MOMENT - That first evening on the boat the “Manager of the Boat” gave us a safety moment by asking, “Do you know where your lifejacket is located?”  There was also a small card lying on the counter in our room. There was not a culture of safety so we had our own safety moment in our room.

After that morning’s early start, we were exhausted and fell to sleep easily. It was an amazing day. Thank goodness this turned out to be the longest day of the trip. I am not sure I could have done very many days with this much adventure. 

‘Til the next day and more Temples. . . 

Cheers,

Brenda 

The sunset that evening from the top deck of the boat was magnificent.  The perfect ending to a wonderful day.