Valley of the Queens
Cut to the chase. Valley of the Queens and Valley of the Kings are THE most impressive sites in Egypt! One word, amazing! These tombs, over 120 individual tombs, are in spectacular condition. All tell the story of how their owner made the journey to the after-life, not much at all about what they did while ruling. Some are modest, some are extraordinary.
With your standard entry fee, you can visit a limited number of tombs, usually 3 of the 11 that are open at any one time. With our Luxor Pass Premium, we can visit all the tombs that are open, no extra cost, so it was a great investment. And, because we purchased the Cairo Pass when we arrived a week ago, the Luxor Pass was 50% off, $100.00 USD each. We saved about $150.00 on tomb entry fees alone.
Enough of all that, on with seeing the tombs. Our first stop was Valley of the Queens, 8:00am and the temp is around 92F, gonna be a hot one today! The early Egyptians called this area, “wadi” meaning valley, or Ta-Set-Neferu, “place of beauty”. QV 52 is our first tomb, Queen TyTi (TiTi). She was queen in the 20th Dynasty but it is unclear if she was married to Ramesses III or his daughter, or as some claim, the daughter-wife of Ramesses III. Whoever she was, she was important enough to be buried in the Valley of Queens.
Entrance to Queen TyTi tomb
Royal Cartouche of TyTi
Two Egyptian explorers in TyTi’s tomb.
Her tomb is a display of fantastic color scenes of Gods protecting her on her journey to the after-life. Many of these Gods, Anubis (depicted as a jackal, protector of graves), Horus (depicted as a falcon, God of Sky), Ma’at (depicted as a lady with wings, she is “justice”), and Ptah (depicted as a man holding a long staff, creator of- maker of things / craftsmen) appear in every tomb, both Queen & King. There is also Ra, the sun God depicted as a circle; Sobeck, depicted as a crocodile; Apophus, depicted as a snake with 1 head (not to be confused with Uraeus, the Cobra and sign of nobility). A multi-head snake was the sign of evil or bad and appeared in a few tombs as being defeated by the Queen or King.
Local deities confirming the Queen’s position in the after-life with Ma’at overseeing.
The Queen and her “Ka” (after-life soul) receiving the “open mouth” ritual
Apis, bull God, son of Hathor, Mother of the Sky
Queen TyTi receiving gift of long life from her “Ka”
Justice confirming the Queen’s entry into the after-life
OK, so remember all this as you look at the photos of these tombs, but mostly, keep in mind that the first tomb here dates back to 1550 BC, 3700 years ago! This is a bit overwhelming since each tomb is completely covered, from entrance to main chamber, with hieroglyphics qualifying the interned for the after-life. Virtually no space was left blank unless the Queen or King died before the tomb could be completed. One thing more, these photos were not colorized. The only adjustments are clarity and lighting, these are the original colors, 3700 yrs old.
Entrance into the main chamber
Impressive. None of the hieroglyphics have been restored? Do you think early to mid spring would be a better time to visit for weather and tourism?
Yep, these are original. Because they used limestone and a plaster mix, the color dye was absorbed. Very similar to ancient Roman frescoes. Best time to visit- I’d say April or May, cooler temps, fewer crowds, kids still in school.