Valley of the Kings

We met our fellow travelers at the Colossi of Memnon, two statues on Luxor's west bank that had been visible from the ballon.

Although they're considerably smaller than the Colossus of Rhodes, they're still here after 3,400 years.  Imagine if Stephen Sondheim wrote their song!

Howard Carter discovered King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, our next stop.  The Egyptian Museum in Cairo displays the contents when they're not traveling the world to promote tourism.

But the tomb vacated by the 19-year-old Tut is hardly the most impressive.  Ahmed, our guide suggested we visit those of Ramsesses III, IV and  IX.  Rules prevented him from accompanying us inside.  Imagine the underground traffic jams in peak tourism season if tourists stopped for lectures.

If burrowing deep into a mountain didn't always deter tomb robbers (or archeologists!), it did preserve the wall paintings and hieroglyphics that pharaohs commissioned to decorate the final resting places of their sarcophagi.

It's hard to imagine how the artists created their colorful work using only oil lamps and mirrors to reflect sunlight illuminating the entrances.

 

Turbaned men bar entry to the tombs if you have a camera but no photo pass.  It cost almost as much as admission.

They also use their flashlights and lascivious giggles to solicit tips by pointing out Min, the god of reproduction, on the ceiling.