Bob and Theresa: Egypt - Day 8 - 27 March 2019

Egypt and the Eternal Nile

Day 8 - 27 March 2019

Hot Air Balloon Ride, Valley of the Kings,

and Dress like and Egyptian night at dinner!

The majority of the group got up at O Dark Thirty to ride a hot air balloon. Theresa is extremely uncomfortable with heights, so we slept in until 5:30! These few photos are from Mike Ewing who took the balloon ride with his wife Janet.
This photo shows they were not alone in the air! Thinking back to the felucca ride and "Bumper Boats" I'm kind of glad Theresa is uncomfortable with heights!!

They passed over the Valley of he Kings and other excavation sites

Janet and the sunrise at dawn from the balloon!

They apparently were close enough to rooftops to make new friends!

They say the domes help with the heat

Okay! Back to Siefker pictures!
We boarded the bus and drove about 30 minutes to meet the ballooners!

We saw a number of balloons but none with our group

Our ballooners arrive hungry (we had their breakfasts on the bus), a little sleepy, but happy!

Even at dawn, the hawks were out seeking their prey!

The parking lot where we met our ballooners was immediately adjacent to an archaeological "dig"

We routinely encountered all sorts of vehicles on the road with all kinds of balance and load problems!

The Valley of the Kings - with tombs of the Pharaohs!

This diorama is a representation of all the tombs they have discovered so far

The underside shows the tombs in 3-D.
(The one hanging straight down suffers from a broken thread!)

From the visitor center, we ride trolleys to the area of the tombs.
As was common in many of the sites we visited, there was a modest camera fee.

Good signage. You could self guide here and do okay.

Hassan had us lined up with his favorites.

Ramses IV tomb. Great lighting and walkways.

The colors are eye popping

The cartouches identify the pharaoh buried here

The hieroglyphs identify all the help the pharaoh will need in the next life

As well as obstacles (snake pit) and help to avoid

We pause in between to get insights for next tomb

This is an interesting tomb that had two occupants!

Egyptian artists were didn't know how to show depth in their drawings. So the legs and head face left but the body is shown face on

Again, eye popping color and details

The original burial chamber was vacant
The second owner dug further for his chamber

The gold figure with the red balls is the goddess Nut.
(Her head is on the left.) Where does the sun go at night? Nut eats it and gives birth each dawn. She is also, it would seem, very flexible! The other half of the mural (not visible here) shows her also devouring the stars at dawn and giving birth to them at dusk.

Snakes are not always bad, especially when the head is a falcon! Think about the burial mask of King Tutankhamun - both a falcon and cobra

The sarcophagus had been destroyed by grave robbers

Janet, Mike, Theresa, and Bob

Vallee Donovan, our hostess from Ga Tech Alumni

Very little machinery.
Lots of muscle!

Many of the tombs are simple and empty and now sealed off.

One pharaoh had the idea to defeat tomb robbers by putting the entrance 30 feet above the valley floor! Didn't work.

At the end of the morning, Janet makes her way back to the tram

As does Theresa

The merchants are very persistent and aggressive

Our last stop today is at the tomb of Hatshepsut.
(Looks more like a modern building in DC!)
Hatshepsut became queen of Egypt when she married her half-brother, Thutmose II, around the age of 12. Upon his death, she was regent for her stepson, the infant Thutmose III.

A jar from the tomb of Ramose and Hatnofer was stamped with the seal of the "God's Wife Hatshepsut" while two jars bore the seal of The Good Goddess Maatkare. Hatshepsut was acknowledged as king, and not queen, of Egypt by Year 7 of her reign. Hatshepsut extended Egyptian trade and oversaw ambitious building projects, most notably this temple, the Temple of Deir el-Bahri She is depicted (at her own orders) as a male in many images and sculptures.

Statues of Pharaoh!

The falcon honors Horus

The entrance to the main chamber

The entrance to the inner chamber
Note the square hole over the door

Pharaoh offers to the gods. I would have missed this except for one of the elderly Egyptian men eager to help in some way for a small tip. He also showed us the windows that align to allow the sun in the inner sanctum during the solstice

Twice a year, at the solstice, the holes above the two doors align with the sun. The axis of the temple is set so that the sunlight penetrates through to the rear wall of the chapel, highlighting the Osiris statue

The first photo of the door misses the small solar ocular, visible here

The exterior of the lower decks were replete with wonderful, albeit somewhat faded carvings and paintings

Signage was good here too (plus the internet helped me "remember" some of the many facts Hassan told us!)

This shot looking back to the visitor's center gives an idea of the immensity of the tomb!

There are a number of other "digs" in the area

This relatively modern building, not far away, was built by some American archaeologists who didn't relish tent dwelling!

Several caves (presumably tombs) were visible in the cliffs above the valley

That afternoon, Hassan facilitated a political science discussion on modern Egypt. It was especially interesting to have Heather in attendance, since she taught Political Science at Purdue.

Dress up night!
Vallee looks stunning!

Mike and Janet

Nancy and Sara

Theresa and Bob (in Old Gold and Black - what else?)

Theresa and Heather in matching Old Gold and Black!

Bob and Steven were the two "tall guys"!
(although Bob claims the last inch for Steven was hair!)

Dinner was delightful

We had a number of birthdays and anniversaries during the trip.
Harry and Linda were celebrating their anniversary!

The galley crew made a raucous noise and got the couple up to dance!

A few days ago, while we were watching the felucca fiasco and waiting for Sun Ray to dock, we struck up a conversation with these two gals. Elyssa (Canadian) and Oephna (Ireland) work for Emirate Airlines and were on holiday from Dubai.
This would be the last night to see them, so we said our good-byes