Who knew there were so many tombs!!! Over 3000 already excavated in this area alone. We did our best to visit many of them in the Valley of the Queens and the Tombs of the Nobles...12 total. Considered the best (and most expensive $70 each) of all tombs anywhere is the tomb of the beloved & most beautiful one of 5 wives of Ramses, Nephertari. Worth every penny! Brilliant rich colors in intricate detail etched in 3D covering the walls & ceilings of the tomb's corridor & side rooms about 200' deep. Royalties with variety of jewels, headdresses, & clothing including leopard skins; slaves worshiping, preparing foods, headless, rowing boats & working; chariots pulled by galloping horses being whipped by drivers; lotus flowers; birds of all types especially fierce eagles & vultures & proud peacocks; the doglike figure embalming; grapes & wine makers; soldiers armed; cows alive & other butchered; barbers, bakers, fishermen & farmers plowing...I could go on and on and on....Each tomb unique though similar in many ways. Some with large statues, others pillars, fake tomb openings & side rooms. Simple unreal. 3500+/- old....and we celebrate a place after 100 years. We had the pleasure of having a 10 year old boy as our guide in the Valley of the Nobles. He was so charming and pleased to be with us. We taught him some English and he in turn, taught us some Arabic...and that children are children wherever we go.
When we tired of being enclosed in tombs, we walked by the remains of a palace & the ruins of the storage bins Joseph (yup, the many colored robe guy) had built during the 7 years of abundant wheat harvest in preparation for the 7 years of famine that he'd predicted. Talk about a bible story coming alive!
We had a traditional light supper of grilled vegetables, tahini & bread in the small village nearby. As we walked by the Temple of Mendin at Habu, many children ran out to greet us so I had them form a circle & we played Ring Around the Rosie..laughing as we fell. I wonder what made children laugh 3500 years ago in this same place??
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