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Again, we start early and head for the Valley of the Queens.
First stop to see the ruins of a site where the bodies were prepared for burial. Only 3 statues remains, the rest destroyed by earthquakes. Oh yeah, the most important stop too – to get a cappuccino – the push button machine at breakfast does not cut it.
Only 100 people a day (or so they say) are allowed in the grave site of Nefertari and you are limited to 10 minutes in the tomb. The colors and paintings on the walls were all cleaned and preserved by the Getty Foundation in conjunction with the Egyptian Antiquities Organization over a 6 year period in the late 1980’s. The results are stunning. Nefertari was the principal wife of Ramses II – although he did have 90 other wives. Nefertari had at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. Ramses II had between 48 to 50 sons and 40 to 53 daughters.
Nefertari actually had tattoos!
Notice her forearms
We then moved on to the valley of the Kings. There are currently 62 gravesites that have been discovered. Although gravesites 63 and 64 are in the process of being excavated right now. We visited 3 or 4 gravesites. Remember they are buried deep in the ground, so they all have this feature.
And my knees are paying the price. I’m not sure I can navigate another set of stairs!
These are pictures from the various burial sites.
Middle left: Guarding the tomb, and collecting the ticket
The bodies in the gravesites have long been removed. They were either stolen by grave robbers or moved to Cairo for storage. All except one…..King Tut. Archeologists had been searching for years for his gravesite and when it was finally discovered in 1922, the lead archeologist was so excited he ripped the gold mask off of the King and broke several of his vertebrae – thus he was not stable enough to be moved. So we got to see King Tut!
And the excavation continues
Final stop for the morning. The village where the workers and artisans lived who prepared the burial sites. The day a pharaoh took the throne, work on his burial site began. The workers were blindfolded each morning and transported to the work site, then blindfolded to be returned at the end of the day.
But in this village, they also all worked on each other’s burial sites. So these are pictures from the artists tombs.
And for those of you who think we are probably walking miles and miles each day…..no. We walk and then we get a lecture and learn more and walk a little, then climb down flights of stairs, come back up and listen more. Makes for a tiring day, but not from over exercise!
And now after two days of staying on the boat, it is sailing down the Nile.
Rush hour on the Nile
It is not very scenic until you hit the locks, where all the salesmen arrive. They are screaming lady, lady, lady and hawking their wares. If you are interested, they throw the item up and you throw money down. I saw more merchandise thrown up and thrown back down again without any money changing hands.
And finally moving thru the locks – led by the salesman. We hope the gates open before our boat gets there – or he will be crushed!
And the salesman escapes
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