Day 6 (Archaeological Day 3): Wow this stuff is old…

Sorry for the delay on these – I didn’t write most of it until we got back. Hopefully pictures will follow later tonight or tomorrow.  Also this one is super long so just pick a paragraph…

The Nile at sunrise

Having arranged a tour yesterday from Mohammed at Aladin Tours, we got up about 6:30 to shower and eat breakfast – this hotel makes omelets (which were actually just “flat” scrambled eggs folded over) and brings out bread with nice jam (we also got to watch about 10 hot air balloons rise over the Nile…something I would do if I ever came back).  At 7:30 we met our tour guide and drive, and departed for our half-day trip.  Our guide, Hassan, was a university graduate, in his 30s, married, and had two daughters.  He spoke English well, but he was also proficient at german and French.  Our driver, so far as we know, just spoke Arabic.  After deciding last night that it would be beneficial to hire a guide rather than just a car, it helped to know right away that we wouldn’t struggle with a language barrier.

In front of Hat's temple

In order to drive to the other side of the Nile you have to take a pretty extensive detour to the only bridge in Luxor (which we didn’t complain about given the car was air-conditioned).  Our first stop was at the ticket office to buy a ticket for Seti I’s temple, and then we continued towards Hatshepsut’s (from here on, Hat) temple (cough fortress cough).  Hassan believed it would be better to go there first because most tours start at the Valley of the Kings so it would be less crowded there later, and he was probably right.  When we arrived at Hat’s place, there weren’t that many people there yet, so we got to walk around pretty freely (and take relatively uninterrupted pictures).  The temple is relatively far from the welcome desk, so you get to ride a little tram thing up to the temple.  Hassan laced us with information about the construction of the temple, the location, the stone, and especially the life of Hat.  Evidently the story goes something like this:

The blank space above Pat is where Hat used to
be but Tuth III scratched her out

Hat was the daughter of Tuthmosis I, who also had a son but via concubine, so in order for him to rule he had to marry a legit princess – Hat.  Tuthmosis II apparently was weak and Hat knew it. He reigned for 8 years but she held power for most of it and wielded it over him to make him decay faster.  Hat also had a kind of secret man who helped her (played by me when Hassan told the story).  Tuthmosis II had a kid (Tuthmosis III – being played by patrick), and II held a big ceremony in which the gods “happened” to say III was going to rule after II – how convenient that it happened right in front of everyone.  Hat gets angry, so she and her secret man (lover?) make a plan.  Tuth II dies when Tuth III is like 9.  Later Hat sends him out on some hunting expedition where he “happened” to get captured by pirates (not sure if that part of the story is actually true, but like I of all people was going to keep pirates out of a good story).  Viola, Hat has the throne – she’s the first female ruler.  But then people began whispering about this secret man.  So he “happened” to end up dead. Great.  Hat builds this huge temple/fortress (it’s carved into the mountain, like Helm’s Deep – yes I made the Lord of the Rings reference).  Evidently Tuth III (still pat) has grown up with the pirates and become a fierce warrior.  At the end of Hat’s reign he comes storming back in a rage.  He scratches her name off all the walls in the temple and every other thing she had put her name on in Egypt – except the things with the gods’ names on them or where she was in the royal and godlike pose cause he didn’t want to make the gods angry.  Wow, that was way longer than I thought it would be.

Anyway…….we spent time there looking around.  Then we went back to the car and headed for the Valley of the Kings.  Thus far, 63 tombs have been opened. Again you have to take a tram to the tomb entrances.  These are even more interesting.  How they were found, especially by people just wandering looking for places to rob, I’m not sure, but they are way back in the mountains.  Only a dozen of them are available for visiting, and your ticket only allows you to enter three, so between pat’s Lonely Planet book and our guide, we selected tombs 11, 14, and 34 (more info to come).

First was tomb 11 – that of Ramses I who built or started a lot of things around Egypt.  The tomb initially goes straight back, but then they apparently ran into a tomb that already existed.  In this first part there’s a little room and on the wall is a painting of someone playing the harp for a host of gods.  (It should be noted that the colors and paintings in these tombs are remarkably intact and many still look brilliant.  These tombs aren’t quite the sweat-producers the ones yesterday were, but they’re still reasonably hot and humid.)  The tomb bends (by which I mean it takes a 90 degree right and then a quick left and heads the same direction it had been) and then continues over a deep “protection” ditch, and then you arrive in the burial room (the walls and ceiling are painted almost the entire way).  It was all pretty neat, and there are portraits of the gods everywhere.

Tomb 14 was next.  It was a combination tomb – it used to be a queen (who’s name I can’t remember), and then someone else opened it, through out all her stuff, and decided to make it longer and put his stuff in.  Unfortunately for him, he died before it could really be finished (which seems to have happened a lot), so most of the addition isn’t finished.  But the queen’s part is stunning.  It goes pretty much straight and then you come to what was the queen’s burial chamber.  It was easily the prettiest and most intact tomb we’ve seen.  The rest of it beyond the chamber isn’t particularly interesting, but the queen’s section was amazing.

Finally we went into tomb 34 – Tuthmosis III (who we encountered earlier).  This dude was super paranoid and didn’t want anyone finding his stuff, so he made the entrance up high in the mountain and made it ridiculously tricky to find by adding in extra twists.  In order to see it, you have to climb 64 steps, then go down a ramp into the mountain, and then down another 24 steps before the tomb abruptly changes direction in the mountain, and then its another 35 down. (I realized I should count on my way out, which is weird cause I almost always count steps when I’m going up and down stairs).  When you finally get there, you find a room that’s about 45’x20’ with the stone sarcophagus still there.  In this room all of the decorations are painted onto the walls.  Hassan explained that in most eras, the style was to draw the design on in red, reposition and outline in black, then carve the design into the wall, then add whatever colors it was supposed to be.  During Tuth III’s time, however, things were just painted directly on the wall without and carvings, which Hassan tells us makes it more impressive that the paintings are still completely intact.  Of course grave robbers still found the tomb, but pat and I spent plenty of time wondering how they dug and created such elaborate tombs so long ago.

After three tombs we walked back to the parking lot where we met our driver. He was out of the car talking to another driver, and it was the first time I noticed how big he was. I’m talking pick your favorite wrestler big.  His arms were nearly ripping the sleeves of his tight shortsleeve, collared shirt.  If there was anyone in luxor I wanted to be driving around with, it was this guy. We made sure to tip him favorably at the end of the day.

Temple of Seti I

Finally we went to the temple of Seti I.  This temple is nowhere near the tourist hotbed the first two sights were, which was pretty nice.  Hassan talked to us about it and the history of the gods for a while and then let us explore.  It wasn’t in the same condition as many of the other sights, but still it’s unbelievable to imagine what this place was like when it was built.  Still, there were some cool inscriptions and columns.  At the end we got in the car and drove back to the hotel.  We tipped our guide and driver and said thanks.  We took refuge in the hotel for a little while (evidently it gets up to 40 C in luxor, which on the days we were there was like 106 or 107 F), and then went out to see the Luxor temple - which we can see from our hotel.

Luxor temple

It just wasn't straight

The row of sphinxes that leads up to it is apparently almost a mile and a half. Which is ridiculous to begin with.  But then you get to the temple that has large statues, columns, obelisks, and courtyards.  The funny thing about this temple is it isn’t exactly straight. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but its different from all of the others.  Anyway, we looked around for a while, saw a graveyard of roman statues, stopped at the luxor museum (which had a couple mummies – very cool and extremely gross) and then went back to our hotel to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

Dinner was at a place called the Aladin Café – pronounced Al-a-DEEN, but we said Aladdin cause we wanted to.  I had chicken kabob, which was great because my vegetables were cooked so I was able to eat them and the chicken was pretty good.  We splurged and each got a coke, and on my plate they put a small candle in an onion peel.  Afterwards we went to sit down by the Nile for a while and hang out, and then we returned to our hotel room where we read and then went to sleep.

Part of the row of sphinxes

Sunset behind the mountains

A couple of extra notes: it was great today to not have to continually worry about people trying to sell you things or haggle for prices for rides or whatever.  All of the places we visited had markets by the exits and when they saw us with Hassan they left us alone.  It was nice to know we had a ride too.  We realized after a couple of days that we had been paying well over double for what cab rides should cost.  It turns out if you suggest a reasonable price to a driver and he says no, if you start walking they drive next to you and try to talk you down. If you just keep going eventually they say ok (though we only did this when we could also walk to wherever we were going so if they actually said no it wouldn’t be a big deal).  It seems a little unfair, but every cab that drives by honks and asks if you want a ride, and every store you pass they try and just get you to stop and look at something.  Some random people on the street will even just introduce themselves and shake your hand and not let go while they try and tell you about their shop.  Obviously, with our backpacks and sunglasses, tourists like us look like money and potential on legs.  Admittedly, we stopped at a papyrus store because the man asked us to read and copy an address someone had given him to send a postcard to, and then he asked us to make a sign for him that showed how much the postcards were.  We spent enough time in there that we each decided to buy a painting and then he convinced pat to buy another.  We walked away wondering whether or not the whole thing was one giant ruse or if he actually needed our help with the other stuff. We thought about going and asking him, but decided not to.

A hall in the Luxor Temple

On a very positive note, my appetite and energy has almost fully returned.  I’m eating multiple full meals a day and now (finally) finding myself wanting to snack in between, which is difficult because that isn’t the culture and there isn’t anything to snack on.  But it makes me eat way more at each meal so that’s ok. The trip is getting better and better, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Finally, I find myself desperately wishing I had brought along my notebook from anthropology with Dr. Ringle.  I recognize every name of all of the people but can’t remember nearly any of their stories, not to mention many of the gods.  We’ve certainly learned more about all of it, but I wish I had my notes to go back through and remember the order of everything.  It’s really frustrating knowing not only that I have the information somewhere, but also that I should remember, and I just can’t.  Admittedly I wasn’t superb in the class, but still.  Like Hassan mentioned Abydos and I cannot for the life of me remember why it is so important.  Just that it was really important.

Luxor Temple at night

That’s all for today.  Hopefully days 7 and 8 will go up soon? Pending how much energy I have…