| 5th day
beginning (West
bank)
-
The
Valley of the
Kings, is the place where Pharaohs
of the New
Kingdom
(XVIIIth to XXth dynasty, ~1500 to
1070 BC) have been buried starting with the female
Pharaoh Hatshepsut. 62 tombs have been
discovered, some since Antiquity, the last one,
Tutankhamun's, in 1922 by Howard Carter. The latter is
generally opened to visit; we recommend it if you
visited, or intend to visit, Cairo Egyptian museum to
see Tutankhamun's treasury: the modest size of the tomb
is amazing compared to the amount of objects it
contained! The other tombs are opened in rotation. We
hereafter mention those not to be missed if opened ***
and the most interesting ones **. A normal ticket
permits three tombs except Tutankhamun's for which a
special ticket is required. We start from the far end of
the valley down to the entrance: the site is adequately
signposted and it is easy to find any
tomb.
¤ Tuthmosis
III's tomb, KV 34,
the earliest among those opened to visit (Tuthmosis
III
died
~1425
BC). Hidden at the far end of the valley, in a straight
cut-out part of the mountain, it is reached by an ascent
up iron stair and then a steep descent down into the
tomb. On the walls are represented a crowd of deities of
the world of the beyond who ensure the regeneration of
the sun during its night travel and consequently
Pharaoh's life in the beyond as, after his death, he was
supposed to become the sun. The burial chamber has the
shape
of a cartouche.
¤ Tausert's
and Setnakht's tomb, KV 14,
is
special as it has two burial chambers, one for each
Pharaoh who was buried here, Tausert first
(~1188
BC), the wife of Seti II, who ascended the throne after
her husband died, then Setnakht (~1184 BC), a general
whose origins are unclear, who dethroned Tausert and may
have usurped her tomb. The decoration presents
beautifully realized scenes, with well preserved colours
especially in the small rooms and antechamber prior to
the burial chambers: the Goddess of Truth and Justice,
Ma'at, with large wings, protecting Osiris or
accompanying Horus. This is one of the best preserved
tomb in the valley of the Kings.
¤ Siptah's
tomb, KV 47 (~1188
BC); this King inherited the throne while still a minor
and Egypt was in fact ruled by his step mother Tausert
who eventually became Pharaoh after Siptah's early
death. The tomb has nice pastel colours maybe in
relation with the youth of the King. At the end of the
corridor, before the burial chamber, see a beautiful
embalming scene with the God of mummification, Anubis,
assisted by Goddesses Isis and Nephtys, bent over the
deceased represented as
Osiris.
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