Valley of the Kings

Today we went across the Nile to the otherside of Luxor where the tombs are. Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. So far they've uncovered about 50 tombs and it is believed that hundreds still remain. Admittance into the Valley grants means I could go into any 3 tombs of my choice. These tombs, like everything else in Egypt, are amazing. Everywhere I looked was covered in vibrant heiroglyphics, either carved directly into the walls or painted on, depending on if the king died before the tomb was actually finished or not. By this time on the trip I was actually able to recognize some of the symbols and understand at least part of the story that the artwork told. The amount of detail was amazing to see.

The main rule of the valley is that no photography at all is allowed. One reason is because they want you to buy there postcards. Another reason is that if too many people forget to turn their flashes off the artwork will be damaged. Luckily this is a CGU group so we don't follow the rules. We were walking along one of the tombs and one of my group members took a picture, no flash, very subtle. That is until another one of my group member gasped and shouted his name! The security guard grabbed his camera which meant my group member followed. The fine for taking a picture is 1000 Egyptian pounds which converts to about 200 US dollars. Luckily our tour guide bargained it down to 100 Egyptian pounds. As we were leaving the other group member that had outed the picture taker told said picture taker that they wished he had had to pay the full fine because "He was destroying the thing that I loved." I think the heat had gotten to her but it had been a week without decent tv at this point so any source of drama was pounced on.

After the valley we headed over to a nobleman's tomb. The nobleman's tomb was not as big as the kings, we had to climb down steps and crawl into the room, but the pictures were still vibrant and descriptive. The best was the Dr. Gabra was sitting in there with us practically lying down pointing out all of the artwork and it's historical significance. The nobleman's tomb showed a story of feasts while the workers tomb that we saw next showed a story of farmwork. The story of the feast and farmwork would also carry over into Karnak Temple, which we saw the next day.

After the tombs we headed to Hatshepsut Temple. Hatshepsut was the only female pharaoh and if you thought family scandal begin with English royalty, you are mistaken. Hatshepsut took the crown of pharaoh because the eldest son was too young to rule yet. He grew up and went off to school and when he came back, he wanted the throne. She said no and continue to rule until she was finally forced out of power. To demonstrate his power over his mother, Thutmose III wiped out any statue or heiroglyphic that bared her name. Thus the temple is full of bodies with no faces. The majority of people on the trip are Women Studies majors and they did not take too kindly to this slight. Cabby especially decided it was time to step on her soap box and use that might Texas accent to explain to anybody who would listen how messed up it was. And don't worry, she's still not over it. I am going over her house this week to watch a documentary about Hatshepsut and her accomplishments. Woot. Woot.

One of the most interesting things about this day was our interacting with our tour guide Islam. He made some rather bold comments throughout the day. For one he couldn't understand why anyone would be interested in Hatshepsut. She didn't do anything. And by not doing anything I mean she didn't go to war. Thus she must have been a loser. The straw that semi broke this camel's back was when he started talking about the Jews who lived in Egypt during WWII. He claimed they were losers for leaving once Germany had occupied Egypt. Now at first I was hot mad, but then he tried to explain himself and I realised two things, 1) he has no clue how fierce the word loser is when referring to a whole religion/culture, 2) he has no clue about Judaism at all. When we started the conversation he thought that the Jewish religion believe in a Holy Trinity. Right then I realized that this man was just talking out of his so I don't have to bother with taking him seriously. But actually when I listened to what he was saying, what I think he was trying to convey was the if the Jewish community had stayed in Egypt during WWII and recognized themselves as Egyptians, then the country would have protected them and then Egypt's economy actually lost a lot since they left. This piggy backed onto his idea that Israel is not needed since all Egyptian Jews are Egyptian first. After a long day in the sun I just chalked up our disagreement to a deluded version of Egyptian pride.