Tomb of Amenhotep III soon reopened to visitors?

Have you already enjoyed a walk to the Tomb of Ay (KV 23), middle of Valley of the Kings?
This is a nice way to feel the heart of the nature, when the wind whistles in your hears and echoes from the cliffs leave you a good omen for the rest of your discoveries.

This is the sacred place chosen by Pharaoh Amenothep III (also called Amenophis III, XVIII dynasty) and Pharaoh Ay (end XVIII dynasty), for them eternal life.
Located in the Valley of the West, or Valley of the Monkeys (named from Ay’s Tomb, decorated with twelve monkeys), the tomb of Amenothep III is along the way. Great Pharaoh of his time, Amenothep III reigned 38 years and let Egypt in peace and prosperity. By a «simple» cavity rock, never we imagine one of the biggest Tomb of Ancient Thebes is just 24 meters deeper!

Discovered in early excavation of the Valley of the Kings looted and emptied of its treasures (KV 22). Later, Howard Carter and Lord Carvarnon made a complete description of the tomb, in 1915.
After the entrance, many rooms lead to burial chamber : Corridor, pillared hall, chambers (it’s unique, two seems to be dedicated for Pharaoh’s wives), ante chambers. Burial chamber is decorated with fine quality, representing Pharaoh and deities (frescoes) and only the top of the big sarcophagus is still inside.

The tomb is closed for restoration, but workers are daily on the site now!

Through these pictures about magic nature and Pharaonic marvels, you can discover the place chosen by Amenothep III, Great Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, away from other tombs in the Valley of the Kings, as to mark his difference. He was Akhenaten’s father, his successor, entering in Armarnen era, stopped by Pharaoh Ay, who is the only other tomb in this Valley!

Development workers, at the foot of the cliff.                                                                       A tent  for meeting point or sharing a cup of tea, most of work is deep underground.

At the entrance of the tomb, the large pipes used to regenerate the air for workers underground.

External regenerator air connected to pipes inside the tomb. You can see the (small) entrance in the background.

Overview of the (small) entrance to the tomb at the immensity of the cliff.

Be sure to spend a beautiful trip through this balad, feeling nature, sunshine and nice discoveries we’ll be happy to share you!

If you like to spend couple of day in Luxor and the marvels, why not rent a flat to enjoy your visit?

Along the way, complete your discoveries by visiting Ay’s Tomb,presumed successor of Tutankhamun.
(ticket office in the Valley of the Kings 25LE around 2.5GBP; 4USD)

Find more excursions 

A visit to Carter’s House

Visit the world of Howard Carter takes us back to early last century in the fabulous story of his discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb and its Treasures.

Enter his home is also a great tour to see all objects of his time. His office, his sketches, his library. His typewriter that allowed him to maintain his correspondence with Lord Carvarnon, his camera at the time and his photo lab but also intimate places like his bedroom. The living room contains old objects, piled like the treasures stored in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
We relive and imagine his daily life, at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings, where he devoted all his life, his love and passion for Egypt.

Idea : You can complete and enjoy this day with a visit of Tutankhamun’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings (including 3 other tombs) and discover pieces of his treasure in Luxor museum

Howard Carter, British archaeologist and Egyptologist born in 1874 and died in 1939, to 64.

Talented  painter, he discovers Egypt at the age of 17 , reproducing in the site of Beni Hassan, between Cairo and Luxor,  frescoes  of princely tombs, richly decorated with scenes of agricultural and artisanal life. Then, he becomes  a big fan of all these wonders Pharaonic.

The many stages of his life lead him to become one of the most renowned archaeologists, crowned by his victory of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Howard Carter will work with the greatest Egyptologists of his day, Flinders Petrie and Gaston Maspero who offered him to work for the Department of Antiquities as inspector general of monuments in Upper Egypt. But his impetuous nature will make him crossing period of loneliness  and he resigned for excuses he will never do to wealthy French tourists demanding repayment of the ticket of a site considered too dark!
Maspero who regrets the departure of the talented Carter, introduce him Lord Carnarvon, who excavate in amateur since 2 years without success. He needs a man to supervise his action and will finance his work.

They will work together over 10 years,  searching many sites without great succes and finance and Lord Carnarvon’s hopes are diminishing with time. After evidences of an unknown pharaoh was found, a so-called thutankhamun, the famoustly obstinated Howard Carter began looking for his grave in an unprospected area. November 4, 1922, four days after starting excavations, Howard Carter had his consecration by discovering the first steps of the entrance to a tomb never plundered. Anubis on the door announced a great person. November 25, the opening of “the door” left Carter’s team in shock, faced with these historical treasures and millennia we have the chance to visit today, in several museums.

A special room is dedicated in Cairo’s museum, where it is magical to watch the perfection and beauty of the gold mask of Tutankhamun’s mummy, and also other  beautiful objects in the museum of Luxor.

1922 – 2012

90 this year, after the discovery of these magnificent treasures.

His office, where we imagine him with several feelings, to see his sketches, his library,

We guess a few moments of relaxation while listening to music or typing on his machine..

Through the light, Carter is still here…

A video projection is provided with Carter that speaks to us in hologram, not available this day…anyway, it’s an enjoyable trip!

Have a look to the oven working with external air!

Some everyday items

Decrypting the treasures of Egypt

Hello World!

Is anyone interested?

http://www.mndaily.com/2012/02/09/excavators-find-treasure-egyptian-trash-heap

KV 64

KV 64   We know more about this discovery!

During the season of 2011, three edges of an unknown manmade feature appeared at 1.80m to the north of KV 40, on the 25th of January, the first day of the Egyptian revolution. Due to the situation, it was immediately covered with an iron door.

As this structure is so close to KV 40 and as it was impossible to know whether it was just a short unfinished shaft or a real tomb, we gave it the temporary number 40b. This number is now replaced by the final designation KV 64. The KV numbers should definitely be used exclusively for real tombs or deposits and not for possible cavities and yet unascertained structures. (…)
The tomb has a single chamber of approx. 4m (north – south) by 2.4m (east-west). The room was filled with debris to about 0.8m under the ceiling. On the left (north) side of the chamber, a black wooden coffin lies upon the thick layer of debris. On its sides, large yellow hieroglyphs are painted. Traces of yellow decoration are visible under the dust on its upper side. Next to the feet of the coffin stands a small, wooden stelae (27.5 x 22.5 x 2cm) with very bright colours. The type of stelae and coffin clearly indicate to the 22nd dynasty, 9th century BCE. It is one of the very few burials of this period in Thebes that can be observed with its objects still in their original position. It is located on the path leading to Tuthmosis III’s tomb.

From the texts on the stelae and on the coffin, it appears that the burial belongs to a lady who was a chantress of Amun, called Nehemes-Bastet. Her father was a priest in Karnak.” (Universität Basel). She was a temple singer during Egypt’s 22nd Dynasty (approximately 945 – 712BC), according to an inscription in the tomb.

Professor Susanne Bickel of the University of Basel told the BBC that the coffin was opened on Monday and she was able to see the “nicely wrapped” mummy of the woman who was buried in the tomb.”  The coffin found in the tomb contains an intact mummy from almost 3,000 years ago.

Until now the only tombs found in the historic valley were those linked to ancient Egyptian royal families.