I arranged for a tour of the West Bank of the Nile for Monday morning at 8am. The sun sets in the West so ancient Egyptians considered that side for the dead. I really hoped Yanmei would come, but she felt sore and tired. Also she does not like tombs.
First we went to the Temple of Hatshepsut. The temple was extensively restored in the early 20th century by a Polish expedition. This is the same Queen I mention in my previous post about Karnak. Her temple was partially destroyed by her son, and several of her images were chipped out. Others he replaced her name with his. How could he do this? Well to rule in 1500 BC she portrayed herself as a strong man in the pictures, even including a beard in some of the images. My guide said that she wore a fake beard in public ceremonies. Of course the people knew she was a woman, so it wasn't a disguise, it was that she wanted to show she could do anything a man could do.
A funny thing is Hatshepsut is portrayed as slender and beautiful, although with a beard. She made a record of her expedition to the land of Punt, and in the inscription the queen of Punt is portrayed as fat and ugly, haha. However Hatshepsut's mummy has been found and it turns out she was very fat herself.
After the temple we went to the Valley of the Kings. They have a strict no photos rule there. This actually worked out okay, because I forgot to recharge my camera's battery, so it was almost dead by this point.
A regular ticket to the valley lets you enter three tombs of your choice, among the ones that are open to the public (about 10 of the 63 known tombs). The tombs were built between 1500 and 1000 BC. I went into the ones my guide recommended, which were KV6, KV11 and KV14. The numbers represent the order of discovery. All the lower number ones have been open since antiquity. King Tut's tomb is KV62, but it is small. My guide told me when the king is crowned he starts construction of his tomb, so the longer the reign the more elaborate the tomb.
The interesting thing is when the king dies they stop work on the tomb, mummify him and seal the tomb. So the tombs are not complete. KV14 had the best example of this. The chambers near the entrance were fully complete and engraved and painted, then deeper in the walls are carved but not painted, then smooth walls with lines drawn on where they planned to carve the figures and hieroglyphics, and finally a rough hewn tunnel to start the next chamber. Really interesting stuff, and also amazing preserved for being 3500 years old. Of course they were all looted except for King Tut's tomb. The tombs have high ceilings and wide corridors so they don't feel claustrophobic.
After the Valley of the Kings, we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon, so named by the Greeks. They are actually 3350 year old statues of pharaoh Amenhotep III. They are 18m tall and weigh an estimated 720 tons each. The north one (right of me in the picture) was severely damaged in the 27BC earthquake. The upper body fell off and the lower part cracked. The crack caused the statue to make a noise when the wind was correct. It became known as the singing statue. About 200 years later the Romans repaired and restored it, which is why it looks like it is made of several blocks, because it is. The restoration sealed the crack so it stopped singing.
Finally I went back to the hotel where Yanmei was having breakfast although it was actually lunch time. After the meal we relaxed for a while and rested. We spent some time near the pool on the bank of the Nile.
I think we're both a little tired of Egypt and we are looking forward to Europe.
-David
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