Wednesday, April 12, 2023 – Day 112
Preserved tomb wall art in King Tut’s tomb. This is the original art, without touch up or photo editing. The colors were amazing!
This morning, as the sun was rising, our ship docked in Safaga, Egypt on the Red Sea. Our destination for the day was the ancient city of Thebes, now Karnak, to see the Karnak Temple Complex and then on to the Valley of the Kings.
Our excursion had an early start, leaving Port Safaga at 6:30 am, driving for 3 hours to Karnak on the east bank of the Nile River. After Karnak we would venture on to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile. All told, the days travel would be 13 hours.
These long bus rides are the price we pay for traveling by ship and having to drive inland to see these sights, but it proved to be worth it! The drive to Karnak was interesting. We had two bus drivers so that they could switch and take breaks over the long trip. We had heard we might have armed escorts with our buses, and we did!
Our armed escort riding in the bus with us.
We drove across vast expanses of very empty land; it is so barren here. Mile after mile of sand and rock had a hypnotic effect on 90% of the bus – it was a quiet ride!
Young guard stationed in the middle of what looked like nowhere.
Every few miles the army/police had heavily armed men stationed standing watch at check points. As we came within range of the Nile River water table, small villages and towns sprang up, nearly every intersection had an elevated, armed guard tower or armed guard standing behind a portable ‘riot’ barrier.
The amount of security was surprising given the size of the little towns and villages near the forces. We couldn’t tell if these forces were there to protect the people from outsider threats or if they were there to control their own people and prevent uprisings. Either way it seemed like a lot of resources for the area.
Once we reached the Nile River valley things began to turn green!
The mighty Nile River.
Able to irrigate near the Nile, agriculture is possible.
The sugar cane harvest is underway. Two donkey carts full of harvested cane on its way to processing.
Some drive-thru, farm to table family shopping.
Finally, we arrived at the Temple of Karnak. Constuction on this complex began somewhere between 1971-1926 BC and was completed about 30 BC. Some 30 Pharaohs are believed to have contributed to the construction of the complex during their reigns.
This is a view of the Avenue of the Sphinxes that line the entrance to the Karnak Temple. At one time, the Avenue of the Sphinxes connected the Karnak and Luxor Temples some 2 miles apart.
Some of the Sphinxes, who have the bodies of lions and heads of rams, have lost their heads.
One entrance to the Great Hypostyle Hall. There are 134 columns in 16 rows coving an area of 50,000 square feet. Of these 134 columns, 122 are 33 feet tall and 12 are 69 feet tall.
The columns in the hall have two types of capitals (tops); the ‘fluted’, or open papyrus pictured above and the closed papyrus below. The carvings and colors on the columns are spectacular.
The lintels or cross beams at the top of the columns are estimated to weigh 70 tons, each. Archeologists believe the lintels were lifted into place by a series of levers or pulled up earthen ramps; and we think we are hot stuff with all our mechanical, power-driven equipment today!
Obelisk of Thutmosis1, the second tallest ancient obelisk still standing on earth. Originally twin obelisks, one lays in rubble near this one standing 65 feet high. It is made of a solid piece of Aswan granite estimated to weigh 320 tons. A third obelisk, that remains incomplete and in place in Aswan, has given Archeologists great insight into how these obelisks were constructed. It boggles my mind!
Colossal statue of Ramses II that stands at Karnak. This statue has been reassembled after it and 5 others were destroyed in an earthquake in the 4th century AD. This one has been restored and placed in its original position; the work was completed in 2016.
After leaving Karnak we crossed over the Nile to the west bank and drove into the Valley of the Kings.
Above is a map of the Valley of the Kings with 65 tomb entrances identified. Archeologists are still working in this valley, so more may be found!
We were able to visit 3 of the 65 tombs here at the Valley of the Kings. This is typical of the entrances of all three we entered. They were remarkably spacious, and the air was cool, so I was able to walk in and out, but I didn’t linger long! Our time was limited, and I wanted to get to all three (well that and me and small spaces don’t mix).
Notice all the hieroglyphics carved into the walls, likely telling the story of the king and his family buried here.
In the carvings above you’ll see two different styles of crowns on the figures; one is representative of the northern kingdom, the other the southern kingdom. When you see both in the carving it means this king ruled over both the north and south.
We finally reached the tomb of Tutankhamun. If you don’t want to see his mummified remains… don’t scroll down beyond the next picture.
Elaborate carvings in a tomb.
His mummified remains below…
The display case (coffin) was behind a railing keeping tourists at a safe distance, so we were a bit stunned when the attendant in the tomb motioned for me to give him my camera. I thought he was confiscating it because I’d misunderstood the rules for taking pictures! But what he was doing was offering to take pictures for us (yes, we tipped him). He took my camera, took several close-up pictures, then had us crouch down to look into the coffin and to our amazement he was taking our picture through the glass. Seemed a bit irreverent and caused a bit of nervous laughter. But this is a unique souvenir! If you ever want to see close ups of King Tut’s face and feet, just let me know…
We have a day at sea and then will be transiting the Suez Canal, so we are two days from Haifa, Israel. We are watching the situation in Israel carefully and will decide soon what excursions we’ll do while there. We are scheduled to be in Jerusalem on Orthodox Easter and with the escalating tensions of Ramadan, Easter and Orthodox Easter it might not be the time to go. So, stay tuned.