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)

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Come to enjoy!

Special offer at this time to visit the beautiful city of Luxor and rent a flat at special price.
Discovering Luxor Temple, Karnak, museums and wonderful green landscape in West Bank.
Having Tours with us to explore tombs in the Valley of the Kings and all the wonder Pharaohs civilization.

Have a look at our website http://www.enjoyluxor.com and find large apartments, each 2 bedrooms with all amenities, sunny with large veranda and top roof in front of the Valley of the kings illuminated at night.
5 minutes by walk to the Nile or by car to the most sacred temples.
The weather is just perfect at this time and Luxor is very safe.

SPECIAL PRICE WEEKLY RENTAL   95£, 150$, 115€

We are waiting for you to spend your best Holidays!

Enjoy Luxor at your own pace

Spending a couple of days in West Bank to feel the magic of Pharaohs time, it’s the way to live here, you have to feel this one time in your life! Then, Egypt does the rest, you will know!

Everything is very special.
First, You are here! and all around you is just amazing.
Some people come to visit as they buy them bread everyday and ask: how much?…and go back, forgotten the essential! Incredible but real! And they stay never long in most of sites, it’s the positive!
Then…come back to our beautiful and calm day in West Bank, the true way to be here.
So, you are here, the weather is very lovely, the sweet color of the nature and the main of your day make you feel in other world.
Two majestic statues welcome you in this beautiful world, the Colossi of Memnon, whose make feeling quiet, strong, high and so present all over this time (3400 years old!). When you pass over them you enter the magic land of the eternal Luxor (ancient Thebes) where the Kings and Queens Valleys are, Temples and sites where the Pharaohs lived and died.

Only one road to «jump» from temple to temple, and you go back in the line of lifetime. Along this road, the Temples of Sethi I, Ramses II, RamsesIII, Hatshepsut for the most famous and beautiful conservation and restoration, but also Amenophis III, Merenptah, still in restoration. The Sacred mountain keep the marvels of the tombs of kings, queens and nobles, with beautiful color make you thinking it was done yesterday.

To enjoy your journey, there is some nice places to stay between you’r visiting temples if you are bit hungry, or just to appreciate fresh juice (orange, mango, lemon, banana…) and keep your good vibes with beautiful view, never far away from king’s Valley and green landscape, palm trees and sunny colors. I’m thinking specially one place call «Moon Valley» and so, other are nice too without feeling you are in a flashy fashion place,that’s why West Bank is so special cause you feel the nature like before.

Visiting Luxor, and specially West Bank, at your own pace, need a couple of days to see, feel and enjoy this very special time in your life.
Spending sunset time on the Nile, discovering the two beautiful temples in est side, Karnak and Luxor Temple and when the night comes, the sacred mountain illuminated is just wonderful.

 

Luxor, you will always amaze me!

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.

 

 

Tour to the Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings is a gigantic site on a mountain with Pharaoh’s tumbs (the most famous being that of Tutankhamum) carved inside the rocks, some are like chapels and contains many rooms, from 5 to 120! long corridors, magnificient paintings everywhere, unestimable treasure of history, sarcophagus and sometimes mummies, other artifacts are exposed in the museum. You can visit 3 tumbs with a ticket and can purchase more visit.

We propose you to take you on a journey in West Bank with highlights such as the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple, Carter’s house and the Ramses III Mortuary Temple.

(Travelling in air conditioned car) tickets excluded

How you spend your day:

We come to pick you up in the morning at your place of residence, and let yourselves be driven to the sites of your choosing, with a lunch pause in the restaurant of your choice or of our own suggestion. We carry on the visits and take your back to your place at the end of the day. You can customise according to your wishes, here is our proposition for a great day visiting Luxor:

The Valley of the Kings

This is the place were the Thebans Pharaoh’s (Luxor Ancient name) are buried. Situated on the West Bank of the Nile, where the Sun sets, it once was the place of the deads, where no living person was allowed on this side, except the tombs architects and workers (whose village is Deir el Medineh) who were forbidden to cross the Nile to the East. There are more than XX tombs and still some discoveries to be made. A ticket allows you to explore 3 tombs but you can visit more by purchasing special tickets.
The most famous tombs is Tutankhamun’s (KV x) and there are some exceptionnal ones with up to 120 chambers (KV x) or well preserved ones (KV x) with extraordinary paintings. A really emotionnal moment in an extraordinary site that can be visited many many times.

Hatshepsut Temple

Hatshepsut was the most important of the rare female Pharaoh and therefore created disapproval in this patriarcal society. Many attempts after her death to eradicate her trace on hieroglyphs but this temple is here to stay and still in good condition. Located in Deir el Bahari, a complex of Mortuary Temples, it is dedicated to the Sun God Amon-Ra . Its most striking feature is a long colonnated terrace filled with many tall sculptures representing the Pharaoh and Deities. The temple’s architecture contains pylons, courts, a hypostyle hall, a sun court, a chapel and a sanctuary. The surviving reliefs on the wall document the birth of the first divine female Pharaoh and an expedition to a mysterious country near the Red Sea (the Land of Punt) from where they brought back copper, asphalt, naptha, carved amulets, myrrh and incense.
Hatshepsut’s temple is considered an incomparable monument of Ancient Egypt.

Ramses III Mortuary Temple

Located in Medinet Habu, Ramses III mortuary temple is gigantic and stunningly well preserved, thanks to a 4 decades long excavation work. The Temple is 150m (500 ft) long and 300m (1000ft wide) and contains an astonishing 7km² (75,350 sq ft) of very well preserved decorated wall reliefs.The first pylon (pictured) leads into an open courtyard, lined with colossal statues of Ramesses III as Osiris on one side, and uncarved columns on the other. The second pylon leads into a peristyle hall, again featuring columns in the shape of Ramesses. This leads up a ramp that leads (through a columned portico) to the third pylon and then into the large hypostyle hall. Reliefs and actual heads of foreign captives were also found placed within the temple to symbolise Pharaoh’s control over Syria and Nubia.

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