Luxor
January 8, 2007
Today I am extremely tired, it was hard for me to keep my eyes open on the bus. At the same time I am extremely excited because today we get to see 2 temples! First we went to the Temple of Karnak, which was absolutely amazing! Our guide, Amr Shamala is very helpful and gives us great explanations about the sites. Karnak was really amazing, especially to start out with. To begin with the avenue of the Sphinx's blew me away. We then move to the first statue I had seen here in Egypt. It was the figure of a queen carved in front of the taller statue believed to be Rameses II. The statue is hard to ignore as you enter the first quart at Karnak. If this statue is not Rameses, it is probably Amenophis III. I was in total awe for the remainder of the day. When we were finished at Karnak, we then took the bus to the Temple of Luxor. The temple has two large statues in the front that display the name of Rameses but may have been someone else when first built. This happened a lot in Egyptian history when one pharaoh would re-carve a statue of a prior pharaoh to show off or to make sure their name lived on. The colossi here at Luxor could have very well been Amenophis III, which was changed when Rameses II came into power. This temple had a depiction of King Tut going to the afterlife which was extremely exciting for me. As we moved on through the temple we saw a place where the the Greeks had chipped away at what some of the Ancient Egyptians hieroglyphics and painted on some of their own art. We were very lucky to see one very clear depiction which was very new according to Amr, he said the last time he was in the temple it it hadn't been found yet. Both of the temples today were out of this world. I definitely now realize that neither pictures or words can describe or prepare someone for the real thing. Still, I can hardly keep my eyes open so I will go to bed early tonight. It is our first night on the Nile cruise ship, we boarded the ship right after we got back from the temples, and the sound of the lapping waves are putting me to sleep.
January 9, 2007
Today I felt so much better when I woke up because I was able to get lots of sleep last night. I fell asleep right after lunch yesterday (5:00 p.m.) and didn't wake up until 3:00 a.m. this morning. Today was absolutely incredible for me, I was so many great things I don't even know where to begin. We started with the Valley of the Kings! The first tomb we went in was that of Rameses III, where Amr explained to us some of the meanings of the depictions on the walls. Egyptians were the first to come up with a 12 hour day and 12 hour night because of the sun. It rises in the East and sets in the West, the East side is for the living and the West side is for the dead. The Ancient Egyptians saw the nighttime as the sun traveling through the underworld and then being reborn again when the sun rose in the morning. The Egyptians started to bury the pharaohs in the valley because the pyramids made it too obvious to thieves were to find treasure. Burying the kings in the valley helped to stop the thieves from finding and looting the tombs. I learned that to keep the paint from fading, the Egyptians would glaze the walls with a mixture of honey and egg whites. Then they would burn something inside the tomb to vacuum out the oxygen before sealing it. I was surprised by how rich some of the colors were, some depictions looked as if they were painted yesterday. We also learned today, that on the left side of the tomb there is writing that makes up a pattern of questions and on the right side are the pharaohs answers. For example, a question on the left side would be something like: "Did you treat people fairly?" and the answer would be the symbol for "Yes". For questions like: " Did you kill innocent people?", the answer would be the symbol for "No". The symbol for "Yes" was an image of a person with one arm bent upward, as if the figure was flexing. The symbol for "No" was an image of a person with both hands in the air, as if saying "I had no part in it". I was so excited before we even got in and once we did I had no words for my amazement. I literally almost started crying, it was breathtaking to see something so magnificent. The detail and colors in the depictions were incredible. As we moved on to the second tomb of the day, Rameses I, the colors only intensified. The tomb we visited afterward was the one I have been looking forward to; King Tutankhamun! KV62 is were King Tut's tomb is located and was incredible to me, I can't believe that anyone would be disappointed, yes it is small but absolutely amazing! Just to think I was standing where he once was was astonishing. The sarcophagus had four guardians with wings to protect each corner and one of the masks was in the first coffin, I couldn't take my eyes away. I wish we could have taken pictures but I understand why it's forbidden. The flashes from cameras cause the paint to fade and the oil from a persons skin fades it as well. I don't understand why people don't know how to be a little respectful, when I saw graffiti on some of the walls of the chambers it made me sick to my stomach. I'm glad they have put up glass in front of the walls now. The fourth tomb we visited was of Rameses IV, I loved the ceiling, the depiction of shu holding up Nut represented the sky. Nut had a sun disc in her belly, which meant it was nighttime. The detail was stunning! When we arrived at Dier el Bahri, Amr described this temple and Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut had pharaonic titles and was an actual co-regent for 15 years. She was very devoted to the worship of Amun of Thebes and dedicated the temple to him. The temple was built by the architect Senenmut out of limestone. We then left to visit the tombs of the nobles where the tomb of Ramose. Ramose was very powerful in the 18th Dynasty but was not actually royalty. After this was the last site of the day, the tombs of the people who has worked in the Valley of the Kings. These were the tombs of Sennutem and Anherka. The best part about these tombs were the magnificent colors. Also, Amr was able to convince the security guards to let us take pictures without using the flash, of course not without a little baksheesh(Egyptian for "Tip"). On the way back to the ship we have been on for the last couple of days we saw Howard Carter's house! The H/S Solaris II is gorgeous. The great thing is that the men who clean our rooms are always doing something to make us laugh. They do something creative with our towels and bedsheets everyday! I came back to my room to find a Swan, made out of a towel, on my bed. Anyway, on the trip home we also caught a glimpse( and hopefully a clear picture) of the Colossi of Memnon. We also got the chance to go to an alabaster shop that Amr recommended. The guys there were extremely funny! "Do you like fat men?",one man asked me, that guy was the best! I ended up buying 2 alabaster jars for 400 pounds, not too bad! I think it might be worthy enough for an "Egyptian Pound", haha a corny inside joke between me and Rachel. Anyway, not too much else occurred today, dinner then off to bed!
