Day 4: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's Funeral Temple and Luxor Temple

An early view of Luxor Temple, to which we returned later in the day.


One of the hundreds of Tourism and Antiquities Police posts stationed everywhere tourists might be.


Our approach to the Valley of the Kings started early in the morning and was, like most of our mornings in Egypt, fairly hazy. Still, our excitement began to build early. This valley has over 30 tombs excavated, though only some are open to the public. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed inside the amazingly well preserved chambers, but nothing could dampen the spirit of discovery we could feel as we entered these underground pyramids.





Queen Hatshepsut was the first woman to rule as Pharoah. During her reign she had this funeral temple carved out of the hill rock. Only last year, after 60 years of excavation and restoration, were all three levels finally reconstructed.








Luxor Temple, by day and by night. The sphinxes in the bottom picture used to line a 3km stretch of road between Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple.


As with many Egyptian monuments, the flooding of the Nile over time had buried Luxor Temple under many layers of silt and sand. This mosque had been built, unawares, right on top of the temple.