Luxor - Valley of the Kings

This morning we departed for the full day tour with a great guide to the West Bank of the Nile - the Valley of the Dead. Egyptians believed that the West Bank, where the sun died every day and went to its night journey of 12 hours, was the place for the dead. After the age of the pyramids in the old kingdom, they moved to more discreet burials to protect against tomb robbers. They built deep burial chambers in the mountains where the mummies were placed, together with all the necessities for afterlife. Now, there are about 600 tombs found, between kings, queens, nobles and workers. We first went to Valley of the Kings and visited tombs of 5 pharaohs. A couple of Rameses, Tutankhamun and Seti, whose tomb was the most gorgeous. All the tombs have brilliant colors and rich decorations. The tomb of Tutankhamen is very interesting - it was sealed and covered by mud for millennia and therefore was never robbed. It was found in 1920, full of incredible treasures. What’s astonishing is how small the tomb is and how it fit all the stuff that we later saw in Cairo in the Grand Egyptian Museum. All the objects have been moved there, while the mummy of the 19-year old boy king is there.Read more