Valley of the Kings

Located on the west bank of the Nile just outside of present day Luxor lies The Valley of the Kings. The valley lies at the base of the pyramid shaped peak of Al-Qurn and has been the site of royal burials since the 21st century BC. At least 63 tombs are located in the valley, though we may not know about all of them. The last one was discovered in 2006 and archeological digs are still ongoing. The Valley of the Queens nearby has at least 75 tombs.

Unfortunately photography is not allowed anywhere in the Valley of the kings. We saw some glorious tombs, including the tombs of Ramses IV, Septah and the tomb of Twosret and Setnakhte which was still magnificently decorated after 3000 years...in color!!!. In the Valley of the Queens we saw the tomb of - not a queen - but a young boy, Amunherkhepshef, a son of Ramses II. This magnificent tomb still has color so vivid you would think it was painted in your lifetime.

The one exception to the no photography rule (strictly enforced) is the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Located just over a ridge from the rest of the valley of the kings. This classic temple was a departure in style for the ancient Egyptians. Hatshepsut got on the wrong side of her step son and when she died, he did his damnedest to obliterate her memory, defacing her temple and removing her name wherever he could find it. He wasn't entirely successful though, and one can still see how glorious this temple must have been in its day.


	The temple is in all the architecture books and I have longed to visit since my first architecture course. It's design looks modern when compared with other monuments of the period and it is literally cut into the hillside It blends in perfectly with its surrounding - in spite of its modern appearance. Starkly beautiful and often one of the hottest places on Earth. The temperature was around 105 degrees and it wasn't even noon.

The pictures below were taken by Kara, as was the first one.