Continuation of a trip which started on :
Jan. 23 (part 1)
Jan. 24 (part 2)
Jan. 25 (part 3)
Jan, 26 (part 4)
For "mysterious" reasons, it took our Golden Age group, much longer to get organized this early morning, after half of it went up on an air- balloon, over the "Valley of the Kings" .( I passed)
Thus,the bus finally departed from the Stienberger Resort Achti Luxor,an half an hour later then planned
Crossing from the Nile's East bank into the "City of the Dead" on the West bank.
Crossing the Only Bridge in Luxor
The Luxor bridge, the only obe over the Nile was opened in 1998 and made it possible to cross the Nile river without using a ferry.
Riding the bus over the bridge took much longer then Yesterday's Nile crossing by boat
The Bus ride proceeded among neat patches of green cultivated fields, clusters of palm trees. donkey's carts loaded with sugarcane, and depleted farm houses all kept alive by the Nile diverted water, flowing through the men made canals, and which facilitates the yellow desert landscape so verdant lush.
Although we arrived relatively early that morning to the touring site, the valley was already mobbed with many visitors and parked busses,
Valley of the Kings
The principal burial place from the 16th to 11th century BC, of the major royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom, as well as a number of favorite and privileged nobles as well as the wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs.
On the West bank of the Nile opposite ancient Thebes and now modern Luxor, the desolate dry river wadi /valley consists of 2 valleys: within the heart of the Theban Necropolis, where the majority of the royal tombs are situated ,
Situated over 1,000 feet of limestone and other sedimentary rock, it is formed of the cliffs interspersed with soft layers of marl. The sedimentary rock was originally deposited between 35 and 56 million years ago during a time when the Mediterranean Sea sometimes extended as far south as Aswan
The Valley was used for primary burials from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC. It contains at least 63 tombs, beginning with Thutmose I (or possibly earlier, during the reign of Amenhotep I) and ending with Ramesses X or XI, although non-royal burials continued in usurped tombs.
Electric cars transport the visitors from the site's entrance gate to the upper hill
For a period of nearly 500 years rock-cut tombs were excavated for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom -the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties , and were archeologically explored since the end of the 18thc
Almost all of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of the opulence and power of the pharaohs.
The valleys of the royal tombs and chambers are,decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology which reveals the beliefs and funerary practices of the period.
Since the 1920s, the valley has been famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world.
it became a World Heritage Site, in 1979 along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis.[
Exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the valley, and a new tourist center has recently been opened.
The Tomb of Ramesses IV - KV2, After a short reign of about six and a half years, Ramesses IV died in 1150 BC and was buried in tomb KV2 in the Valley of the Kings His mummy was found in the royal cache of Amenhotep II's tomb KV35 in 1898.
The tomb of Ramses IV was firstly discovered by Edward Ayrton between 1905 and 1906, and then it was excavated again in 1920
The tomb has been open since antiquity and contains a large amount of graffiti.
This tomb also contains around 50 or so examples of Coptic graffiti, mostly sketched onto the right wall by the entrance way,
Usermaatre Heqamaatre Setepenamun
the full name of Ramesses IV, was
the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty (the 2nd son of Ramesses III to mother most likely Queen Tyti) who became crown prince, as his father's chosen successor, when his elder brother Amenherkhepshef died aged 15 in 1164 BC, when Ramesses was only 12 years
His rule has been dated from reigned to 1155 to 1149 BC.
Wife Queen Duatentopet
Ramesses IV came to the throne in difficult circumstances. surviving the harem conspiracy, as his father Ramesses III, was assassinated by conspirators led by Tiye, a secondary wive, to establish Pentawer, her own son and Ramesses IV's half-brother, on the throne.[ Ramesses IV, however, was able to secure himself on the throne, and had the conspirators arrested and executed.
He strove through extensive building activity to maintain Egypt’s prosperity in an era of deteriorating internal and external conditions.
His chief wife is Queen Duatentopet or Tentopet or Male who was buried in QV74. His son, Ramesses V, would succeed him to the throne
The tomb is mostly intact, is laid out along a straight axis consisting of three slowly descending corridors. This is followed by an enlarged chamber, and then the burial chamber. Past the burial chamber lies a narrow corridor, flanked by three side chambers, decorated with scenes from the Litany of Ra,
Religious/Mythological Funerary texts/Graffiti depictions for the benefit of the deceased to help the spirit be preserved in the afterlife., from Book of Caverns,
Book of the Dead, Book of Amduat and the Book of the Heavens are on wall display
A pillared hall was converted to be the burial chamber. The sarcophagus is in place with a magnificent goddess Nut filling the ceiling above it.
The Tomb of TutAnakhAmun - KV62,
The burial place of Tutankhamun , a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom who reigned only 9 yrars in . 1334–1325 BC
Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered in a near-intact condition in 1922 .
Excavators were led by Howard Carter. and widely considered as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, thanks to which this king became one of the best-known pharaohs. Some artefacts from his tomb, such as his golden funerary mask, are among the best-known artworks from ancient Egypt. and their discovery attracted a media frenzy and became the most famous find in the history of Egyptology.
Tutankhamun the Pharoh
This young king ascended to the throne around the age of nine and reigned until his death around the age of nineteen. taking the throne under the unprecedented viziership of his eventual successor, Ay, to whom he may have been related
He took the throne after the death of his Akhenaten the father had radically reshaped ancient Egyptian religion by worshipping a single deity, Aten rejecting other deities, a shift that began the Amarna Period
Aten -Sun God Amun Tut led by Anabis gets life from Hathor
Tutankhamun is primarily known for restoring the traditional polytheistic ancient Egyptian religion, and religious practice that were suppressed. by Akhenaten in favor of the Atenist religion, changing also his name from Tutankhaten, referring to Akhenaten's deity, to Tutankhamun, honouring Amun, one of the foremost deities of the traditional pantheon. Similarly, his queen's name was changed from Ankhesenpaaten to Ankhesenamun, He was also one of few kings worshipped as a deity during his lifetime; a practice which was usually done posthumously for most pharaohs.
Ay, Tutankhamun's advisor. became pharaoh on Tutankhamun's death
The tomb consists of four chambers and an entrance staircase and corridor.
The tomb's low position, dug into the floor of the valley, allowed its entrance to be hidden by debris deposited by flooding and tomb construction.
Thus, unlike other tombs in the valley, it was not stripped of its valuables during the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070 – 664 BC
It is smaller and less extensively decorated than other Egyptian royal tombs of its time, and it was probably originated as a tomb for a non-royal individual that was adapted for Tutankhamun's use after his premature death.
He was buried with a wide variety of funerary objects and personal possessions, over 5,000 artifacts, most of which were housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, such as coffins, furniture, clothing and jewellery, that were densely packed.in the unusually limited space.
Robbers entered the tomb twice in the years immediately following the burial, but Tutankhamun's mummy and most of the burial goods remained intact. Tutankhamun's mummy and sarcophagus are still on display in the tomb.
The discovery provided insights into the material culture of wealthy ancient Egyptians, but limited evidence about the history of Tutankhamun's reign, some about the Amarna Period that preceded, as well as on patterns of ancient tomb robbery..
The Tomb of Ramesses III - KV11
This is the king whom I wrote about - the second Pharaoh of the 20 Dynasty (20 Dynasty (1189 - 1077 BC) and at which the grand temple he built, we visited the previous day (Jan 26/2023).
It is one of the largest tombs
The tomb has been open since antiquity, and has been known variously as "Bruce's Tomb" (named after James Bruce who entered the tomb in 1768) and the "Harper's Tomb" thanks to paintings of two blind harpers (harp playing) in the tomb.
Decorations include colorful painted sunken reliefs featuring the traditional ritual texts. The corridors are decorated with the Litany of Re. with the Book of Gates and the Book of Amduat, and leads over a ritual shaft, and then into a four-pillared hall. (more)
The hall is again decorated with the Book of Gates. and with scenes of the opening of the mouth ceremony leads into a vestibule, with scenes of the Book of the Dead, and then into the burial chamber proper.
Spells from the Book of the Dead. monsters and deities of the underworld
The pharaoh is welcomed to the afterlife by the falcon-headed god Horus.
Anobis- and Horus - mummifying Gods
The secular scenes, in the small side rooms of the entrance corridor, dispaly foreign tributes, such as highly detailed pottery imported from the Aegean, the royal armoury, boats and, in the last of these side chambers, the blind harpists.
The burial chamber is an eight-pillared hall in which stood the red quartzitesarcophagus This chamber is decorated with Book of Gates, divine scenes and the Book of the Earth
Ramses III’s sarcophagus is in the Louvre in Paris, its detailed lid is in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and his mummy – found in the Deir Al Bahri cache – is now in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. It was the model for Boris Karloff’s character in the 1930s film The Mummy.
Osiris hands the ruling items to Pharoh
Tomb of Ramesses VI -KV9
first discovered in 1898
Dating back to the twentieth dynasty, pharaoh’s ramses VI tomb (KV9) was initially built by king Ramesses V (.1147–1143 BC) and later on taken over by his uncle Ramesses VI. (1143–1136 BC)
The huts of the workmen who built this tomb were built directly on top of the ground that concealed the staircase that led into the tomb of Tutankhamun. In other words, it is this tomb that led to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s in 1922 with all of its world-famous treasures inside it.
The tomb features some of the most well-preserved wall reliefs and decorations. funerary texts, like the book of gates, the book of caverns, the amduat, and the book of the dead are there to help the king in his journey into the afterlife.
exquisite ceiling decorations which include astronomical scenes. the ceilings on the burial chamber have been dedicated to nut, the goddess of the sky and heavens, where she is depicted about to swallow a sun disk, representing the sunset. other sun disks dance around nut’s body, depicting the suns movement, from day to night, and showing how the mortal king could achieve a glorious rebirth in the eastern horizon at dawn.
Tomb of Ramesses IX -KV6
A rather simplistic tomb which has stood open since antiquity.
and dozens of inscriptions in the tomb were left by ancient visitors.
Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses iX ruled 1129–1111 BC and was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty in the New Kingdom. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after Ramesses III and Ramesses XI., According to Papyrus Turin 1932+1939, Ramesses IX he enjoyed a reign of 18 years and 4 months and died in his 19th Year . He re-established stability in the country after the chaotic period following the death of Ramses VI
He is believed to be the son of Mentuherkhepeshef, a son of Ramesses III, since Mentuherkhopshef's wife, the lady Takhat bears the prominent title of King's Mother on the walls of tomb KV10, which she usurped and reused in the late 20th Dynasty;
The body of Ramesses IX was found in the Deir el-Bahri cache in 1881, in a coffin originally prepared for the lady Neskhons, wife of Pinudjem II.
The decorative theme for this tomb begins with the king's adoration of the sun disk, accompanied by Isis and Nephthys on the lintel over the entrance.
The burial chamber has a vaulted ceiling with a double representation of Nut and passages from the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night.
Again the decorations are Litanies of Re, there are also passages from the Book of the Dead, the Book of Caverns, and in the last part, the Book of Amduat
There is little in the way of funerary equipment which Henry Salt, collected is now in his collection at the British Museum. In 1888, the sepulchre was cleared by George Daressy.
The Temple of Hatshpsut - the She Pharoh King "Foremost of Noble Ladies"
A mortuary Temple of Deir el Bahri, from over 3000 years old, of several floors with columns in front, where Hatshapsut - great She -King was buried.
Hatshepsut was usually carved or drawn as a man, complete with muscles and a beard, as was the artistic tradition for pharaohs
