Who wants to be transported by "time machine" to Ancient Egypt - this tour is for you!
Today I want to talk about an amazing place,where it is possible to see with your own eyes the funerary temples in which some of the pharaohs were buried. The Valley of the Kings is located on the left bank of the longest river in the world.
Thutmose was the first to once decide that he needed to place his tomb in a secret place. He wanted to protect his burial from looting. But in the end, this is a whole city of the "dead" or a huge necropolis of the pharaohs with amazing funerary temples that amaze with their beauty and grandeur.
The Valley of the Pharaohs is divided into two parts East and West. The guide said that the pharaohs were buried separately from their wives and children, they were buried in the valley of the queens, they are much more modest.
The Valley of the Kings or as it was called in ancient times - the city of the dead. Despite the gloomy name, everything is actually not so gloomy and scary. In addition, the ancient Egyptians respected the afterlife and were not afraid of death. During their lives, they were preparing for the transition to another world, about which much has been written and shown in documentaries.
I agree with many who have been on excursions in Luxor that it is worth visiting the Valley of the Kings and that trip is even interesting and informative. In ancient times, this place was called the City of the Dead, it is also the Valley of the Kings, since the pharaohs of many dynasties were buried in this valley. Ordinary people were not buried in the Valley of the King.
Before an excursion to Luxor, you should prepare: take drinking water with you and dress in clothes that cover your knees and shoulders. It's not just about decency, it's also about heat. If the trip is made in the summer, then the heat can reach +45, or even +50 degrees. In addition, the valley, in fact, is among the mountains in the desert.
My first visit to the Valley of the Kings was quite a long time ago in 2017, so I would lovely repeat this trip in the nearest future. Besides my love for Ancient Egypt, I want to take another look at the burial places of the pharaohs.
If you are traveling with a guide, then as part of the tour it is planned to see and even go inside some burials. For an additional fee you can see the tomb of the famous (but not particularly significant in the history of Ancient Egypt) pharaoh - Tutankhamun and few others.
Photography is not allowed inside the tombs or you can pay and take your camera with yourself! But, unfortunately, many tourists violate the rules and prohibitions, believing that these rules were invented just like for fun.
We started our tour with the “Tomb of Memnon” or the double tomb of the two pharaohs Ramses V and his successor Ramses VI, which was the first in the valley and where all the funeral books were collected (you need to buy a ticket for this tomb separately).
There are two guards at the entrance. One stays, and the other offers for an additional fee to conduct a tour and show something fascinating.
Our guide stays at the entrance and does not go down to the tomb, apparently they have such an agreement so that everyone can earn. We were not told anything about filming on the phone. I took pictures of everything I like.
It has been open for visits since ancient times, as archaeologists have found traces left by ancient tourists. This only confirms that there were vandals before, and in order to prevent this from happening again, they put glass showcases, but they are not everywhere.That will allow you to admire the beauty and no one will harm.
The ceilings and walls of the corridors that descend relatively smoothly, although there are also steep descents, about 100 meters. All of them are painted with color drawings, as well as hieroglyphs that tell about the life of the pharaoh.
There were one or two rooms at the end of the corridor. In which they stirred the sarcophagus and all the other things that were at the burial of the pharaohs. I wonder how they carried such large sarcophagi through these narrow corridors.
It's amazing how well the drawings are preserved in the tombs and what the paint itself looks like. Everything looks amazing and mesmerizing.
It is difficult to imagine how much time it took for all these works of art. How and with what they were painted, that they are so well preserved to this day.
At the foot of this tomb, is the more famous tomb of Tutankhamen (almost all of its treasures are in the Egyptian Museum). We also visited it, but the tomb did not produce a wow effect on us. If there were at least some treasures left, it would be much more interesting.
I liked the tomb of Ramses III, V, VI more. To be honest, I don’t remember the names of the other two tombs, but they are all very similar, but the cave paintings are not so spectacular.
All the tombs that we visited are almost the same, differing only in the number of rooms and rock paintings.
During the inspection of the valley, historical facts and stories about the ongoing work on the construction of tombs, as well as about the ongoing funeral processions came to mind in my head. The family and retinue of the deceased pharaoh overcame the path to the burial place on foot in the heat.
You need to pay extra for visiting the most interesting tombs, and I advise you to pay, because free tombs are not very interesting, without sarcophagus, and you I am sure want to see everything, especially if time allows it.
It is a very interesting place with incredible energy. Archaeological excavations are ongoing to this day. I wonder what else they can find. It's an amazing world that is shrouded in secrets. To date, 64 tombs have been found, and almost all of them are royal and it is impossible to visit all of them, but what we saw still excites and attracts attention.
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Thank you for reading. You are always welcome to check my posts.
All photos are original.
"Do what is right, mot what is easy nor what is popular" - R. T. BENNETH.
