The Valley of the Kings

We went inside three tombs, Ramesses IV, IX and Merneptah (son of Ramesses II). We only have photos of the inside of the tomb of Ramesses IV. This tomb had plastered walls and the paintings inside are still very clear and the colours really vivid. It also has the complete Book of the Dead painted on its walls. It was used as a refuge for the coptic christians at one point in history, as is shown by the graffiti at the entrance to the tomb.

After visiting the tombs, we then climbed up to the top of the cliffs surrounding the valley and met up with our donkeys again. From there we rode around to the eastern side (along some very narrow paths - and the donkeys still wanted to overtake each other!). There was a great view of Queen Hatshepsut's funerary temple from above. We then met up with our guide again and visited Deir El-Medina, the village of the workers who built and decorated the tombs. We entered one of the worker's tombs, which was richly decorated just as Ramesses IV's had been, but in a much more realistic style.

From there our group split up, and Simon, Helen and ourselves ventured forth on our donkeys to see Queen Hatshepsut's up close. We had a few minor mishaps with our animals along the way - Dan's donkey's bridal broke so he couldn't control it's direction (it just wanted to go home all the time!) and Jen's lost it's balance at one point and she went toppling off onto the rocks (and had some colourful bruises on her knees afterwards). After that we rode past the Colossi of Memnon, however we couldn't be bothered getting close as it was really hot and we were almost collapsing with the exhaustion.

But we all got back in one piece (each)!

Subfolders other Up one level

Pictures Small - Large making friends with the local feline community Small - Large entrance to the Valley of the Kings Small - Large Small - Large inside the tomb of Ramesses IV Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large looking back up to the entrance Small - Large the enemies were represented upside down Small - Large part of the Book of the Dead Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large coptic graffiti Small - Large coptic graffiti Small - Large Small - Large gearing up for our walk to the top Small - Large Small - Large fantastic view of the valley from above Small - Large struggling to reach the top Small - Large Small - Large our group at the top Small - Large jen on her donkey Small - Large Queen Hatshepsut's from above Small - Large Small - Large riding the donkeys along the cliff path Small - Large inside the worker's tomb at Deir El-Medina Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large the workers' village at Deir El-Medina Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Simon, Helen and Jen out the front of Queen Hatshepsut's Small - Large Small - Large feint images of spice trees Small - Large feint image of Hatshepsut's boats Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large Small - Large view from Hatshepsut's with lush Nile valley in background Small - Large Small - Large the Colossi of Memnos