Viking RA - Day 2

 

THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS

We boarded the two busses to take the short trip to the east side of the Nile and the Valley of Kings.

The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III. The original function of the twin Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple, a massive construct built during the pharaoh's lifetime. They now stand at the entrance to The Valley of the Kings.

Valley of the Kings contains 63 known tombs, constructed for the pharaohs and nobles during the New Kingdom which encompasses the 16th to 11th centuries BC.

Our ticket gave us access to any three of the tombs open to the public. Ramses IV was our first stop. We also visited Ramses III and Ramses IX tombs.

The entrance to the tomb was a long descending corridor. We thought that it was extremely congested with tourists, but were told we were lucky because visitation was fairly light the week we were there.

The walls were covered in Hieroglyphics and chiseled artwork.

It was amazing to see how the original color was still visible.

The ceiling was painted with blue sky and stars.

Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, is represented by a jackal.

Ships were very important for the ancient Egyptians along the Nile River.

 

TEMPLE OF QUEEN HATSHEPSUT, EGYPT'S GREAT FEMALE PHARAOH

The temple was carved into the Theban Hills.

Columns at the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.

Northern colonnaded facade of the upper terrace.

The Egyptian god, Amun, sitting at a table of offerings wearing a feather headdress. Kurt kept calling his feather headdress bowling pins.

Looking out at the approach Plaza gave a sense of the enormity of the site.

 

QUEEN NEFERTARI TOMB IN THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS

This site was not crowded because Egypt has imposed an exorbitant entrance fee (1400 Egyptian Pounds or $90 USD) per person. Also there were strict time limits (10 minutes)/daily entrance limits (250 visitors per day). All excursion tickets are included with Viking tours. Viking made sure that all their tours include entrance to Queen Neferatari's tomb. Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first and favorite of the 52 Royal Wives of Ramesses the Great (Ramses II). No wonder he is now called the busy man.

 The Valley of the Queens

An average tomb entrance. This one is not open to the public.

We descended the colorful corridor into the tomb of Nefertari.

The excellent state of preservation and the vibrant colors is the reason why there is limited access to this tomb.

The walls were covered in colorful Hieroglyphics and art.

 

SUNSET CRUISE AND RETURN TO LUXOR

Late that afternoon we got underway for a short cruise down river (north) and back to the Viking dock at Luxor.

Sailing past other river boats docked at the Luxor Temple.

Highly prized seats on the aft of the Sundeck.