Day 8, thursdag 19 april 2012.

Today's program: Deir-el-Medina, Valley of the Queens and Medinet-Habu.

First we drive to Deir-el-Medina where the builders of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Queens lived.
From the town is only the foundation left, but there are also two beautiful decorated tombs.
The temple present there, is dedicated to the goddesses Ma'at and Hathor and worth a look. And the deep hole behind the temple was an attempt from the inhabitants to dig a well, something they did not succeed in.

Deir-el-Medina
	Click on the ticket for the pictures
The village was founded by Pharaoh Amenhotep I. He ruled from 1508-1484 BC. He was the 2nd king of the 18th dynasty. This was a time when Egypt recovered from the Hyksos rule. At that time, members of the royal family still lived in Thebes. The graves of the members of the Family of the 17th dynasty are in Dra'Abu el Naga which is also located on the West Bank at Thebes.

Until the end of the Middle Kingdom the royal tombs were pyramids, which lie in the north in the Delta.
Now with the start of the New Kingdom there is a big change and there is a valley chosen as cemetery for the kings. Above the Valley is a natural pyramid that has the name, El Korn.

Deir-el-Medina, the tombs
In the Western mountain beside the village are the graves of the villagers. These tombs are beautifully executed, small but very beautiful. The people who lived in the village they made them in their spare time. Unfortunately there are only a few open, like (TT001) of Sennedjem, he lived in the 19th dynasty (TT359) Inherkau he lived in e 20th Dynasty under the reign of Ramses III and Ramses IV (TT003) of Pasjedoe he also lived in the 19th dynastie. All three were working in the Place of Truth. Sennedjem has his grave behind his house made ​​equal to the angle as you come running. On 2 February 1886, the tomb of Sennedjem was discovered intact. The grave contained 9 mummy cases and 11 mummies and grave goods were present. Due to lack space, the contents ended all over the world sadly. The grave contained equipment including the sarcophagus of Sennedjem.	Click on the image for the pictures

This place will stay for 500 years the royal cemetery and was named Biban el Muluk or the place of truth, better known as the Valley of the Kings.

A smaller valley was chosen on the other side of the village and that was the cemetery for princes and princesses, this valley was named Ta Set Neferu or the place of beauty and known to us as the Valley of the Queens.
At these two places the graves of the royal family had to come and they were made by the best artist of the country.
Deir el-Medina was founded, the ancient name Pa-demi which means the village. It was placed in the desert, just behind the mountain Medinet Koeray about 6 km from the Nile.

Click on the picture to see more.

The well

In 1950 there was a huge discovery by Bruyere. He found namely a huge pit, the pit is just behind the village near the temple that stands there now. The well can still be seen, he's dug in the late period by the people who lived in this area. They thought to dig a pit and the groundwater came naturally, but as the pit was 50 meters deep and 35 meters wide and there didn't came any water, they gave up the courage.

The well is then only used as a gathering of all objects that were everywhere in the area, such as images,'s ostraca, papyri, furniture and ceramics.
When this well is found, this has made a huge impact on the history of the village, because the information we have obtained here is so huge that the village, its inhabitants and the environment could be completely mapped.

The Valley of the Queens.

After Deir el-Medina is the Valley of the Queens on turn, I have chosen this valley because in 2006 I had already visited the Valley of the Kings .
In the Valley of the Queens I visit three graves which are all beautifully decorated. Unfortunately, the tomb of Nefertari is still not accessible, but that may not spoil the fun, because as I said the three graves that are allowed to be visited were very beautiful and a little tip does wonders for the guards, especially since the tourism is still at a low ebb.

The Wadi el-Malakat or Valley of the Queens is actually built for the children of kings. In antiquity the name Ta Set Neferu translated is "Place of Beauty". It is close to Medinet Habu.

Rameses II is the first, who built a grave there for his great queen. And Rameses III did it also. Most graves have only 1 room and are often undecorated. And of 60% we do not know who is buried. This is due to the enormous damage to the graves. So far there are about 100 graves.
The most famous is the beautiful tomb of Nefertari, wife of Rameses II. Unfortunately, the grave is closed because it is very fragile. But lucky me I have some pictures of it!

Pictures of QV 66 the tomb of Nefertari. (Click on the image)

Then we have the tombs of Titi wife of Rameses III and his sons Khaemhat and Amonherkhopsjef. These last 2 graves are beautiful and worth a visit.

Images from QV52 the tomb of Teti. (Click on the image)

Images from QV44 the tomb of Khaemwaset. (Click on the image)

Images from QV55 the tomb of Amonherkhopsjef. (Click on the image)

Images from QV43 the tomb of Set-hirkhopshef. (Click on the image)

The temple is located on the West Bank at Thebes and is very well dug by the Americans. During the New Kingdom kings were buried in the Valley of Kings and the place for the cult of death was from then on no longer directly in front of the grave like by the pyramids is the case.
There is from the 18th dynasty a change, the cult is not only dedicated to the king but also to Amon and other gods. We know this from Hatshepsut were it was already done.

Images of Medinet Habu. (Click on the ticket for more)

Pharaoh Amenhotep I was the first who built his temple on this plain, opposite to the entrance of the Karnak temple. The ridge directly opposite the entrance to the Karnak temple is called in Egyptian "right across our lord" which was Amun of Karnak. In this hill are the graves of the 17th dynasty kings and the tomb of Amenhotep I is also found here. And on the plain so the temple of Amenhotep I, Seti I has also built here. The entrance to the Valley of the Kings lies on this line with the entrance of the temple of Karnak.
You could see it like this, all temples lie between the temples of Karnak and Luxor.
The temple of Rameses III is therefore an end out of the direction but it is a holy place.

Medinet Habu is also called "Place of Djemme" called. It was an important place of Amon.
Amon is called here Amon of the Holy place. Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III built a small temple for the gods.

Under the foundation of this temple one has yet found a foundation from the time of Mentuhotep, 11th Dynasty. The Ptolemies also have made their contributions and the Copts have used the temple as a religious center. The excavations took place from 1926 to 1936, but the publications were only completed in 1954.

That this temple is so well preserved is probably because after this temple no more temples were built here. The high walls and the fortress-like appearance of the temple, is because there came more attacks from the desert and from foreign nations.

So after another exciting, where I was able to see many many beautiful and great things, we drove back to the hotel. Time to refresh ourself and pack our suitcase, because tomorrow we leave to Aswan, were stay for 4 days.
So time for a snack and a cold beer, see you tomorrow.