Valley of the Queens
Luxor 3 – Valley of the Queens
Yesterday was the King’s and today was the Queen’s turn. Visiting the Valley of the Queens isn’t as impressive as the Valley of the Kings. A lot more tombs but not as many open to the public. Two tombs are worth mentioning: Queen Nefertari and QV 44, one of the sons of Ramses III. The Queen’s tomb because of its lavish decorations and the other because there is a mummified fetus in it. The relic was found in a small valley just off the Valley of the Queens, why it is in this tomb was not explained, but still interesting. This valley has not been excavated as thoroughly as its male counterpart but they are still discovering them but most appear to be ‘unfinished’ tombs. These are mostly holes in the ground as either the money ran out to pay workers to finish or the Queens were not really important
Moving on we then went to the “tombs of the workers” located in Deir el Medina.
This area was where the miners and workers who excavated the Tombs lived. The community was uncovered at the turn of the Century. This community lasted about four hundred years and after the workers left it was used a a Christian Monastery.
The one tomb we entered here was also an ornate one but with very small rooms and entryways. We had to bend over to go through from room to room. Well worth the effort of the kneeling and climbing to see it, hot and sweaty though!
Next on to the Tombs of the Nobles as it was getting hotter we only entered one – a very large room and hardly impressive, but part of the tour. The drive around the area was really interesting as the area had many unfinished tombs, workers cottages and even abandoned villages dotted around the countryside. It seemed that the whole mountain had been burrowed into over the thousands of years.
But we had a “mandatory” stop to go to first, “Do you want to see a gold shop?” Like a red rag to a bull and one of our group was off to the races “Yes please” forty five minutes later we emerged and one of us had a lighter wallet or a larger credit card bill. Returning to the hotel we visited a site that we had passed on the previous day – the large Temple of Thebes. The only relics that remain are the Statues at the front of the complex. A popular tourist spot and good photo-op.
A gallery of pics taken this day
