Egypt Field Report

November 29, 2022

Back To the Valley of The Kings

I’ve gotten behind in my reports and am trying to catch up before I forget and Christmas sweeps me away.

From my hotel in Luxor the easiest way to get to The Valley of the Kings is by boat across the Nile and then take a car.

The second you step out of your guarded hotel entrance you are accosted, “Taxi?”, “Horse Carriage?”, “Boat?”

The boat ride should cost 30 EGP (Egyptian Pounds) or about a $1.25. Sometimes they hit you for 100. It’s a quick trip across the Nile and then to a car. The ride to the Valley is 5 minutes. You pass the big statues of the seated pharaohs, called The Collossi of Memnon, hang a right, then left, go straight – you’re there.

It wasn’t until I watched a balloon ride YouTube video earlier this year that I understood how close some of these sites are to each other. From a balloon you can see the Collossi, The Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple, the worker’s village, a ruin of one of Rameses II’s temple, etc. etc. etc.

The entry ticket allows you to see three tombs. On the days I went nine regular tombs were open and three that required an extra ticket. If you wanted to see more tombs you needed to buy another entry ticket.

The three requiring an extra ticket are Ramesses V&VI, Seti I, and Tutankhamen.

I was told that various tombs are open on various days, but it seems the reality is they keep a tomb closed for awhile to let it “recover” from tourists.

Seti I is the father of the famous Ramesses II and his tomb is multi roomed and spectacular, but for me the most interesting was that of Ramesses V & VI.

It’s unusual to have two pharaohs buried in the same tomb but that’s what happened. Plus, a little chiseling out of V’s name and replacement by VI.

If you are going to come to Luxor and visit the Valley of the Kings I would recommend Kent Weeks’ book “LUXOR.” It is the only guide you will need. Don’t leave home without it. (Or buy when you get here.) He described every tomb, temple, and ruin in detail.

All the tombs follow a similar theme. Well, most do. It’s the trip of the pharaoh into the afterlife and the trials he must go through to make it. I don’t understand it all – yet. In fact, I’m more like the kid saying, “Jesus rose from the dead? Uh un NO.”

But before we go down the rabbit hole of the afterlife stuff let’s look around at the Valley.

The car drops you off in the parking lot by the ticket office. You get your tickets and take a little tour bus to the gate. A short walk brings you to the center of the action. On your left is the refreshment area, to the right are three tombs, the middle one is King Tut. Just behind it and to the left of Tut is Ramesses V & VI.

Past the refreshment area is Seti I and two or three other tombs. Up the path bending to the right are other tombs. One branch had open tombs; one had closed tombs.

It’s easy to get confused and overwhelmed. Seti I is unique, but most of the tombs are like Ramesses V & VI. A long descending hall divided into “rooms” that are defined by an inset arch and columns. The rooms describe the passage of the pharaoh as he travels through the night. There’s his spirit called “the ka” and there’s his body called “the ba.” At the midpoint of the passage he meets up with the pharaohs who have gone before him. At another point his ba slips back to join the other pharaohs and his ka goes on.

Where the ka goes I’m not sure, and when the ba slips back to be with the other pharaohs is sometime in the middle of the night. I gotta wonder when the current dead pharaoh meets up with those who came before I’m thinking he might have some ‘splainin’ to do. Like, “Hey, why did you chisel off my name and put yours there instead?” Does the new dead pharaoh do this cycle every night? if so, what about the other dead pharaohs? would they be in the chariot or whatever too? You’d need to get a bigger chariot for sure. There’s a lot here that doesn’t make sense. But hey, You know what? Ya gotta keep asking questions. I remember asking Bob Brier (Dr. Mummy), “Didn’t anyone ever ask – does this work?” I got a quick, “No. Never.”

The Pharaoh accompanied by gods
begins his journey

The tomb of the two Ramasi ( I made that up! Pretty clever, huh? ) – for me was the most interesting. It is fabulously decorated and repeats the themes you see in all the other tombs, but in better detail.

If you want to understand all this stuff – that is the tomb to study.