Swiss archaeologists with Switzerland’s University of Basel have discovered a 1,000 year old tomb of a female singer in the Egypt’s Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The tomb was found by accident close to another tomb that was discovered 100 years ago. This is the only tomb of a woman who is not related to the ancient Egyptian Royal families ever found here. The singer was named Nehmes Bastet which indicates that she was

Feline God Bastet

protected by the feline God Bastet. At the time of the singer’s death, Egypt was ruled by Libyan kings, but because Thebes (now within the city of Luxor) was ruled by the high priests, they had the authority to bury family members in the royal cemetery which would explain how the singer came to be buried there.

This is the 64th tomb to be unearthed in the major tourist attraction of the Valley of the Kings. Way back in 1922 the golden funeral mask of Tutankhamen was discovered along with other amazing objects in the tomb of the king who ruled over 3000 years ago.

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The River Nile in Egypt conjures up a world of magic and mystery. A cruise along the Nile will take you through a land of ancient civilisations and is one of the best ways to see all the historic sites located along the river’s banks. Attractions include the temples of the Pharaohs, pyramids, tombs and obelisks.

River Nile

Cruising up the Nile from lower to upper Egypt will leave you in awe of this amazing country. Apart from the fascinating attractions that line the Nile river banks Nile cruise passengers will also get an insight into rural Egypt. Many people who visit Egypt don’t get to see life outside the major city’s and tourist areas but on a cruise you will see how life in rural Egypt has changed very little over thousands of years.

Colossi of Memnon

The Valley of the Kings is the one site not to miss on your bargain holidays to Egypt. This is an eerie site with more than 600 royal tombs, including the Tomb of Tutankhamen that will remain in your memory for the rest of your life. It is in these royal tombs that mummified pharaohs were sealed to begin their journey to the ‘afterlife’. You will also be able to visit the Colossi of Memnon, a gigantic pair of enthroned statues that once guarded the entrance to a long lost temple. Read more »

The Luxor region has a larger concentration of awe inspiring tombs and monuments than any other region in Egypt. Located in the Nile Valley, Luxor is a unique holiday destination full of ancient Egyptian treasures and timeless romance. Luxor is like a huge open-air museum where you can step back in time with an insight into ancient Egyptian civilization.

The Valley of the Kings is located on the west bank at Luxor and was the royal cemetery for 62 Pharaohs. It is here that the pharaoh’s were buried and hoped to meet their gods in the afterlife. The tombs here cover a whole range from simple pits to a tomb with more than 120 chambers and corridors. There are two main parts to the Valley of the Kings, west and east. Most people associate the Valley of the Kings with Tutankhamun’s Tomb but he was a minor king and there are much more impressive tombs and monuments in the valley than his.
The Valley of the Queens is found at the southern end of the valley. This is where the queens and their children were buried. Only four of the tombs are open to the public, the most famous being that of Queen Nefertari.

Queen Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple

Located at the head of the Valley of the Kings, this is One of the most beautiful temples of ancient Egypt. Sitting beneath the peak of the mountain, the temple sits directly against the rock which forms a natural amphitheatre around it. Designed by the architect Senemut, this amazing temple gives the impression that it has grown out of the rock. Hatshepsut ruled as regent for her step-son Thuthmosis III but took the role of pharaoh instead of passing power to him when he came of age. Dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra, the temple had a garden for Hatshepsut’s father with exotic trees and plants in the lower courtyard but after her death the temple was deliberately damaged by her step-son who replaced her image with his own and obliterated any references to her.

Colossi of Memnon

Situated on the west bank at Luxor are the famous ‘Colossi of Memnon’. These massive quartzose sandstone statues once flanked the entrance to Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple. The statues now stand on their own in a field on the road to the Valley of the Kings. Although the statues are in poor condition they are still worthy of a visit. The Legend of Memnon is all about one of the statues that had a crack running through it. When the early morning rays of the sun warmed the statue it gave an eerie moan. The ancient Greeks believed that the statue represented King Memnon and that the eerie sound was him greeting his mother Eos. However since the Romans tried to repair the statue it has remained silent.

Luxor Temple

Built by the New Kingdom Pharoah Amenophis III, this small but interesting temple is found in the centre of the town.

Temples of Karnak

Just north of Luxor city are the fascinating Temples of Karnak. This temple complex was built over a period of 1500 years and was the most important place of worship in ancient Egypt. Thought to be the largest surviving religious complex in the world, this huge site is a mass of sanctuaries, obelisks, pylons and kiosks dedicated to the Theban gods.

Luxor enjoys long hot sunny days and clear blue skies all year round making it an ideal destination for a romantic get-away and family holidays alike. Summers can be exceptionally hot, making the winter a better time to book one of the many sightseeing holiday packages available to Egypt.

Horemheb

Financed by Theodore Davis, a wealthy American, it was a young British Egyptologist named Edward Ayrton who, in 1908, discovered the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings.  Horemheb was the successor of Ay, who in turn had succeeded Tutankhamun as pharaoh of Egypt. He was actually not related to the earlier kings of the 18th dynasty, though he served in the courts of first Amenophis IV, and then Tutankhamun and finally Ay. Horemheb was a royal scribe and general of the armies at various times.  He restored the old worship of Amun and reconstructed the provincial administration and military cadres.

Initially, the tomb was filled with rubble washed in by the infrequent rain over the past thousands of years.  After removing the debris from the entrance, another two days was required to clean the rubble from the tomb itself. 

Unfortunately, much of the funerary equipment was in pieces due to the rubble.

In his tomb, Horemheb developed several innovations which would carry on from the 18th into the 19th dynasty tomb builders. His tomb does not have the right angle between the end of the descending corridor found in earlier 18th dynasty tombs, and he introduces painted bas-reliefs instead of the simple paintings found in earlier tombs.

Also, for the first time he inscribes passages from the Book of Gates on his tomb Walls rather than those from the Amduat.  The Book of Gates is a religious composition regarding the “gates” that separate the night’s twelve hours.

In addition, there are a number of idiosyncrasies in Horemheb’s tomb that are never repeated.  These include a slope in the burial chamber from the first pair of pillars to the steps of the “crypt, a second set of stairs leading to the crypt, and a lower storeroom beneath the burial chamber’s annex.

Entering the tomb, the first stairway down ends in a corridor that in turn leads to a second stairway and a second corridor.  Finally one arrives at the first room with a shaft. On the walls of the shaft are paintings of two groups of deities. The first group is Hathor, Isis, Osiris and Horus, on the left, and

Hathor

Hathor, Anubis, Osiris and Horus to the right. Here, Isis replaces the goddess Nut found in earlier tombs. Decorations, as in earlier tombs, are limited to this shaft, the antechamber and the burial chamber proper. However, the painting are much more sophisticated then many earlier tombs, obviously produced by more skilful artists who vary the stances, gestures and clothing of the figures. There is also an extensive use of color with multicolored hieroglyphs and blue-green backgrounds.

From here the tomb leads to a two-pillar hall and then to a third corridor and finally a vestibule. The burial chamber with its six pillars and four lateral and one back annex are next.  The annexes were used to store funerary equipment.  Within the burial chamber is the king’s large, red granite sarcophagus and the walls are painted with the fifth division from the Book of Gates, including a figure of Osiris. The sarcophagus is interesting from the standpoint that it incorporates features both from before and after the Amarna period, making it transitional. The gable-ended lid is completely unique.

There was considerable funerary equipment found within the tomb.  A number of wooden (cedar and acacia)  images, broken by the rubbish were discovered. Also smashed were alabaster canopic jars with portrait-headed stoppers and four miniature lion-headed embalming tables. Other items of funerary equipment included Lioness headed couch, Hippo headed couch, Cow headed couch, Three large Anubis figures, A “germinating Osiris”, Magical bricks, Model boats, Fixed and folding chairs, Pall Rosettes, Faience beads, and Wood and stone containers for embalmed provisions.

Horemheb

Interestingly, while Horemheb reigned for at least 28 years, his tomb was never completely finished. This would have been enough time to finish the most complex of tombs.

The work was apparently started and stopped at various times, and because of this, Egyptologist have learned a great deal about how tombs were built. In particular, different stages of the decorations were left unfinished, giving Egyptologists considerable clues to the techniques used by the early artists.