Tombs of the Artisans

Visionary art in Pashedu's vault

Monday 7 January: The now ruined village of Deir al-Medina is where the families of the craftsmen and artists who dug and decorated the royal tombs were housed. Their own small but exquisitely decorated tombs are right next to the village and clearly, here in their own tombs, the painters also excelled.
Sennedjem's Tomb (# 1)
A royal tomb artist, his own tiny vault showcases his talent. There are images of Sennedjem and his wife Lyneferti worshiping gods of the afterlife together with scenes from the book of the dead including a black-and-white calf, representing rebirth, carrying Sennedjem on his back. A 19th dynasty artist, Sennedjem's tomb was created around 3,300 years ago.
Irinufer's Tomb (# 290)
Most of the images here are well preserved and in the style of the royal tombs. However, little is known about the 19th dynasty tomb builder.
Monday 14: Now back in Luxor town I've decided to take a trip back to the West Bank to see one tomb, not enthusiastically described in my guide book, that I missed earlier. So, I take the ferry across and a bus up to the ticket office. I'm glad I did, it's a stunner.
Pashedu's Tomb (# 3)
The mural on the back wall of the burial chamber depicts Osiris with the Mountains of the West behind him and the eye of Horus, the avenger of Osiris, looking out from the mountains. There's an image of Pashedu drinking from a pool beneath a palm tree together with numerous images of the black jackal-headed god, Anubis, god of mummification and tomb guardian.
Slideshow of the Tombs of the Artisans.

Tombs of the Nobles

Girl band grace Nakht's tomb wall

Sunday 6 January: Following a light lunch at the Ramesseum Rest House I cross the road and, avoiding a handful of touts, climb up the hillside towards the beckoning tomb guards. Tour buses don't stop here and it's late afternoon so I have the tombs, and their guardians, all to myself.
Royal tomb art tends to depict scenes of gods and journeys to the afterlife whereas art in the tombs of ordinary folk tends to focus on more down-to-earth subject matter. 
Nakht's Tomb (# 69)
A scribe and astrologer during the reign of 18th dynasty ruler Tuthmosis IV (the pharaoh most famous for clearing the Great Sphinx of Giza of sand) Nakht's tiny tomb is one the West Bank's beauties. Among other scenes, the figures of a trio of female musicians playing the harp, lyre and pipes is one of the most elegant, seductive and endearing of all Egyptian art. Girl power preserved in painted plaster 4,500 years ago, don't you just love it.
Ramose's Tomb (# 55)
In contrast to Nakht's, Ramose's tomb is large, plain and incomplete. What it does have are surviving reliefs (most were desecrated by later rulers) relating to the rule of 18th dynasty rebel pharaoh Akhenaten who, during his short 17-year reign, changed Egypt's multi-god religion to the worship of just one god, the sun god Aten. He also moved Egypt's centre of worship to Tel Al-Marna, several days sailing to the north. Ramose, a local visor at that time, followed the court to Tel Al-Marna abandoning his unfinished tomb here in Thebes.
Sennofer's Tomb (# 96)
Sennofer was clearly a man after my own heart because when you duck under a low beam to emerge in the inner sanctuary of his tomb you find paintings of grape vines heavy with fruit growing up the walls and covering the whole ceiling. Absolutely fantastic but, sadly, just one photo and no flowing wine.
Wednesday 9:
Khonsu's Tomb (# 31)
Khonsu lived during the reign of 19th dynasty king Ramses II (the Great), around 3,250 years ago. There's many colourful scenes of Khonsu, the shaven-headed priest, making offerings to the gods, but more remarkable is the beautiful ceiling adorned with pastel-shaded birds swooping down from the sky.
Ushrhet's Tomb (# 51)
Much of the decoration here was chiseled out by tomb robbers in 1941 but the celestial ceiling remains. Ushrhet overlapped the reigns of 19th dynasty kings Ramses I and Seti I.
Benia's Tomb (# 343)
A golden false door in the first chamber was intended to lead Benia to the afterlife, wonder if it worked?
Thursday 10:
Roy's Tomb (# 255)
I was going to miss out Roy's tomb but as I'm cycling past it to Howard Carter's house today I've decided to drop in, and I'm glad I did. Only recently opened to the public, Roy's tiny tomb is beautifully decorated. There is a vibrant scene of Roy and his wife, Tawy, being introduced, by falcon-headed god Horus, to the seated god Osiris, ruler of the underworld. Next to it the couple make offerings to Hathor and Reharkhty. Roy was a steward to 18th dynasty warrior king Horemheb who ruled around 3,330 years ago.
Slideshow of the Tombs of the Nobles.

The Ramesseum

Ramses II's great funerary temple

Saturday 6 January: Constructed 3,250 or so years ago by Ramses III's father, Ramses the Great, the monument is dedicated to, you guessed it, himself - Ramses the Great. From a distance you can appreciate the whole of the site and the sharp contrast between the barren 'red land' of the desert and the cultivated 'black land' earth of the Nile flood plain. As his funerary temple, Ramses II intended the Ramesseum to last until eternity but the columns and statues lie in ruins. Even the great power of Ramses was no match for an earthquake.
Owned by the son of a friend of Howard Carter, the friendly fair-priced Ramesseum Rest House is my lunchtime stop of choice.
Slideshow of The Ramesseum.

Habu Temple

Relief, Ramses smiting Libyan foes

Saturday 5 January: Leaving the Valley of the Queens, I walk back and down to Medinet Habu for lunch. Opposite the restaurant is Habu Temple, the mortuary temple of 20th dynasty king Ramses III, constructed around 3,180 years ago.
Although part-built, altered and extended by many rulers, the most spectacular works were created Ramses III. The twin towers of the first pylon has huge reliefs depicting Ramses victory over his Libyan foes. There's a lot of smiting going on but one gruesome scene shows a scribe counting the severed right-hands of the enemy to get a tally of the dead. Perhaps unhappy with the total, or maybe there was a left-hand or a woman's hand in the pile, Ramses ordered a recount. In the next scene the process is repeated but this time the mound in front of the scribe is a pile of severed Libyan penises. Well, I guess that's one way to do it.
Slideshow of Habu Temple.

Valley of the Queens

 Afterlife journey depicted in pastel

Saturday 5 January: A short morning stroll northwest of my hotel is the Valley of the Queens. Surprisingly, all three of the tombs that are open to the public here were built to contained the mummies of the sons of 20th dynasty king Ramses III, who ruled around 3,180 years ago. None of the Queen's tombs, including that of Nefertari which is regarded as the Thebe's finest, are open.
Prince Amunherkhepshef's Tomb (# 55)
Scenes show Amunherkhepshef, with a boy's side-locks of hair, being presented to various gods by his father, Ramses III. He was probably a young teenager when he died and was entombed here in the Valley of the Queens where his sarcophagus remains.
Prince Khaemwaset's Tomb (# 44)
Another of several of Ramses III's sons who died young, Khaemwaset's tomb is similar to that of his brother's tomb nearby. His sarcophagus and mummy are in the Ezegio Museum in Turin.
Prince Sethherkhepshef's Tomb (# 43)
Originally built for yet another of Ramses III's sons, Sethherkhepshef, the tomb was never finished and the prince was buried elsewhere. 
Slideshow of the Valley of the Queens.

Queen Hatshepsut's Temple

Hatshepsut's futuristic monument

Friday 4 January: Hiking back from the Valley of the Kings I traverse the high cliff-top path above Hatshepsut's grand mortuary temple. Not for the faint-hearted, there's no fence so you can creep close to the edge for superb birds-eye views of both Hatshepsut's Temple and the adjacent ruinous Temple of Montuhotep II below. Based in Thebes and founder of the Middle Kingdom, the 11th dynasty ruler, Montuhotep was the first Egyptian king to be buried in the West Bank, about 4,020 years ago.
Taking the steeper of several paths down I find myself inside the ticket office precinct, for free, but it's well past lunchtime so I exit to the Ramesseum Rest House for a bite to eat before heading home.
Tuesday 8: This morning, en-route to the Valley of the Kings, I buy a ticket and take time to look around Hapshepsut's magnificent colonnaded three-tier temple. The lush gardens and avenue of sphinxes have gone but the wide approach ramp remains leading to the upper terraces where a few images of Hatshepsut are still in place, complete with false-beard, most having been erased by her successors.
It remains an awesome place especially considering it was built around 3,480 years ago during the powerful queen's 21-year long, 18th dynasty New Kingdom, reign.
From here I continue up over the mountain again for my second visit to the Valley of the Kings.
Slideshow of Queen Hatshepsut's Temple.

Valley of the Kings

Nut's ceiling in Ramses VI's tomb

Friday 4 January: By road it's a long way around the mountains to the Valley of the Kings so my best approach is to hike over the mountains, from Deir al-Medina (the workers' village), taking the same path that the gangs of tomb builders would have used in ancient times. An hour or so later I drop down into the Valley of the Kings but I'm on the wrong side of the ticket barrier and have to walk down to the car park to buy tickets. Photos are not allowed in the tombs but you can take one surreptitiously or wait for a tomb guard to say "shhh . . . take photo" . . . "baksheesh". I visit the open tombs in chronological order.
Tutankhamun's Tomb (# 62)  
Though small and underwhelming the boy king's tomb is Egypt's most famous due to the relatively recent discovery of it's almost intact treasures by British treasure hunter Howard Carter, while in the employ of Lord Carnarvon, in 1922. The 'wonderful things' he saw here have long since been shipped to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and nothing now remains except the hastily completed artwork and stone sarcophagus. I manage to sneak a photo of an image of goddess Nut greeting the king but, even so, the expensive extra ticket required to visit Tut's tomb makes it pretty poor value.
Tutankhamun died, aged 19, after a short, 18th dynasty New Kingdom reign, 3,330 years ago.
Merneptah's Tomb (# 8)
It's a steep climb down to Merneptah's large pillared burial-chamber and the decoration is badly flood damaged but his huge granite outer sarcophagus and the lid of his inner sarcophagus remain in-situ. His mummy, originally encased in four sarcophagi, is now in the Egyptian Museum.
The 13th son of 19th dynasty ruler Ramses the Great, his older brothers died before their father so Merneptah eventually became pharaoh in his 60s, around 3,220 years ago. 
Siptah's Tomb (# 47)
Another steep climb down along musty corridors this time with fantastic flying vultures adorning the ceiling.
The 2nd son of 19th dynasty king Seti II, the club-footed Siptah probably ruled briefly around 3,210 years ago.
Queen Tawosert & Setnakht's Tomb (# 14)
Yet another steep shaft-corridor, typical of 19th dynasty tomb construction, leads down to the large and unusual double burial-chamber with well preserved decorations. The tomb was originally built for Seti II's wife, Queen Tawosert, but after her deceased husband's successor, Siptah, died she took power herself and enlarged the vault to match her new status. However the tomb was usurped, by 20th dynasty king Setnakht around 3,200 years ago, and used as his own. In the burial chamber a depiction of the final scene from the Book of Caverns shows a magnificent ram-headed bird as the soul of sun god Ra guarding over the reappearance of the sun at dawn.
I've seen enough tombs for one day so I walk back over the mountain, down to Hapshetsup's temple, and along the road, past the Ramesseum and home to the Marsam Hotel.
Tuesday 8: Returning to the Valley of the Kings, this time I take the steep mountain path from Hatshepsut's temple and, once again, drop down into the tomb area.
Ramses IV's Tomb (# 2)
A shallow descent along white corridors decorated with tomb texts and with a starry ceiling leads down to a sarcophagus chamber decorated with scenes from the Book of Gates. Surviving the 20th dynasty 'Harem Conspiricy', Ramses IV, son of Ramses III, ascended to the throne around 3,160 years ago.
Ramses V & VI's Tomb (# 9) 
The tomb was started by 20th dynasty ruler Ramses V, around 3,150 years ago, but it was later extended and also used by Ramses VI. Magnificent double-figures of the lithe yellow star and sun-disk spangled body of beautiful sky goddess Nut encompasses the dark blue ceiling, one of her heads about so swallow a sun disk. Fantastic.
Ramses IX Tomb (# 6)
Another magnificent, though unfinished, chamber ceiling with a double-image of sky goddess Nut swallowing and releasing the sun disk. Ramses IX, who ruled 3,120 or so years ago, was the last of the 20th dynasty kings.
Slideshow of the Valley of the Kings.

West Bank Thebes

Colossi of Memnon's lonely vigil

Thursday 3 January 2013: I've booked a room in the splendid Marsam Hotel. Constructed in traditional mud-brick style it's cool during the day but warm at night without the need for air-conditioning. It was originally built to house visiting American archaeologists but the appeal for me is that it's in the heart of ancient Thebes, right in among all the tombs and temples and away from the hassle of the west bank, where all the Nile cruise ships dock. Every hawker in Luxor tells me that their boat is 'the ferry' to the 'other side' but I ignore them and board the real local ferry, a beige double-decker with a turned-back winkle-picker style bow (95th mode of transport). It's E£1 (about 10p) to cross and the same for a local minibus to 'ticket office', where advance purchases are made for the smaller sites.
Just before the ticket office I shout "OK, henna" (okay, here) and jump off at the fabulous Colossi of Memnon. For most this is just a fleeting photo stop on their tour itinerary, but I stay a while. A pair of self-portrait statues they were erected by 18th dynasty king Amonhotep III 3,400 years ago and are all that remains of his mortuary temple. For me they are the gateway to the West Bank and I walk to my hotel, just behind them.
Most people think that when Egypt's Middle and New Kingdom power base moved south to Luxor (Thebes) the practise of concealing royal tombs beneath pyramids ended. Not so, every tomb in the west bank is in the shadow of 'The Horn', a pyramid-shaped mountain at the head of the Valley of the Kings. From the comfort of the Marsam (half-board, E£125) I am within hiking distance of the whole of the ancient Thebes necropolis and I'm here for a week. Great.
Thursday 10: I end my last day on the West Bank by cycling to Howard Carter's House, a picture in time. Carter was the British draughtsman turned archaeologists made famous by his discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. He himself is buried in London's Lambeth cemetery not far from where I live. So, if some time in the future you hear that some midnight-drunk has dug up Carter's grave, you'll know who it is. Poetic justice.
Slideshow of West Bank Thebes.