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| Valley of the Kings |
A "must see" place to visit in Egypt is the Valley of the Kings. After the era of the building of pyramids, the next stage was to carve tombs into the mountains, which would hopefully protect the Kings from the grave robbers. Alas, this did not happen and so far, only one tomb was not found and plundered by grave robbers. This was the tomb of King Tutankhamen, which is also in the valley of the Kings.
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| Large entrance to the tomb |
The entrance ticket which you buy at the gate, allows you to go into three tombs. You can basically pick any three tombs. The Tomb of King Tutankhamen is not included as one of the three tombs. You can buy an extra ticket if you want to go into King Tut's tomb. This is by no means the most impressive of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, but because of the significance of this tomb, being the only intact tomb of a Pharaoh ever to be found, there is much interest to see inside.
You can also buy a ticket (quite expensive) if you want to take photos inside of the tombs. First time I visited the Valley of the Kings quite some time ago, you had check your camera in at the entrance gate. I think today, with every man and his dog having a cel phone with a good camera, they have all but given up on preventing people from taking photos inside the tombs. The only tomb where photos are not allowed is in King Tut's tomb, but if you are there alone and you "talk nicely" to the guard, it is always possible to get a few quick photos! At all of the entrances to the tombs, there are big signs says photography is not allowed. I had quite an interesting experience in a few of the tombs with my camera. There was a large group of African Americans at the valley of the Kings the same time I was there. So, I had bought my expensive ticket to take photos, which I had showed to the guard at the entrance and I was happily taking photos. I overheard the group of African Americans moaning at the fact that I was taking photos when it stated that photos were not allowed. Their deduction to why I was allowed to take photos and they were not, they put down to "White privilege". I heard these same comments from different members in the group in two different tombs! I was so tempted to say to the second group that it was not "white privilege" but my ability to read the signs at the entrance gate and to know that I need to buy a ticket to take photos. Oh well, an interesting experience. I really enjoyed taking photos in the tombs. Obviously as I had a ticket to take photos, these are all my photos!
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| Inside one of the tombs |
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| Vanquished enemies - upside down |
Basically the older the Pharaoh got, the more time there was to work on his tomb, so the more elaborate it would be with more decorations on the walls. What a joy to have a really big opening going into the tombs. After some of the other back breaking narrow entrances I had climbed through and basically to see not much, it was great being able to walk upright into the tombs.
The guide suggested which tombs I should go into. I really cannot remember which three they were. Now I am sitting here and thinking just how stupid and I! Had camera and cel phone, yet did not think to photograph the name on the entrance to the tomb I went into! I guess I can try and figure it out from my photos. All three of them were amazing. I did, by some pure stock of luck photograph the entrance to one of the tombs. This was the tomb of Ramases IX. There is just so much to see and all of the stories which have been told along the walls of the tombs. Stories of great battles and vanquished enemies.
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| Decorated roof in a tomb |
The tomb of King Tut is small and there is not much in the way of decoration and stories on the walls. I guess that as this was the boy king, he died before a great tomb could be built for him.Unlike the other tombs, the actual mummy of King Tut is still resting in his tomb. It is believed that because he was a boy king and died very young, the building of the next tomb, above his one, resulted in his tomb being covered with rubble. One just has to wonder, how many more tombs are still undiscovered. The vast treasures from King Tut's tomb can be see in the Egyptian museum in Cairo. The new massive museum which is being built in Cairo will be well worth a visit once it has opened. Kin Tut will no doubt have pride of place in that museum.
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| Inside the tomb of King Tut |
You can also buy a ticket (quite expensive) if you want to take photos inside of the tombs. First time I visited the Valley of the Kings quite some time ago, you had check your camera in at the entrance gate. I think today, with every man and his dog having a cel phone with a good camera, they have all but given up on preventing people from taking photos inside the tombs. The only tomb where photos are not allowed is in King Tut's tomb, but if you are there alone and you "talk nicely" to the guard, it is always possible to get a few quick photos! At all of the entrances to the tombs, there are big signs says photography is not allowed. I had quite an interesting experience in a few of the tombs with my camera. There was a large group of African Americans at the valley of the Kings the same time I was there. So, I had bought my expensive ticket to take photos, which I had showed to the guard at the entrance and I was happily taking photos. I overheard the group of African Americans moaning at the fact that I was taking photos when it stated that photos were not allowed. Their deduction to why I was allowed to take photos and they were not, they put down to "White privilege". I heard these same comments from different members in the group in two different tombs! I was so tempted to say to the second group that it was not "white privilege" but my ability to read the signs at the entrance gate and to know that I need to buy a ticket to take photos. Oh well, an interesting experience. I really enjoyed taking photos in the tombs. Obviously as I had a ticket to take photos, these are all my photos! 
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