Valley of the Kings Day!

Hot air balloons were ascending into the sky - much bluer now that the remains of the sandstorm the day before our arrival was continuing to clear.

This was a magnificent sight - and I did my best to capture the balloons as they rose from beyond the window of our moving bus.

The time was barely 7am - we had left extra early to try to beat the heat of the day.

And it didn't seem to make much difference.  The sun rose anyway, and beat down on the parched earth.

"Drink more water!" said our Egyptologist guide, Yusef. 

This was my first glimpse of the Valley of the Kings.

The place where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles under the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

There were no shade trees. No water sources.  We really got the true feeling of what it must have been like to be those who built this place in honor of those pharaohs and family members of royalty who are entombed here.

Going down into the tombs.

Wondering in awe at sacred spaces.

We know who the pharaohs were - 

But who were the artisans?

Thousands of years old - and the pigments are still bright!

Many of my group, braving the heat with me.

What an amazing adventure!

If I remember correctly (which is doubtful) this was the tomb of the son of Ramses III.  He died as a young teenager.

We didn't have time to go into ALL of the tombs, but could choose the ones we wanted - some were a bit more difficult to climb down into (and out of) and honestly, with the heat, they all started to run together.

Carved and filled in with pigments.

SO fantastic!

Listening to Yuself with the help of our "whispers"  a listening device with ear buds we wore around our necks so that we could hear his voice no matter where we were as long as we were in range.  The whispers were great when addressing such a large group.

Such a foreboding place!

Entrances look like this on the outside.

We were also told that being able to photograph these tombs was a privilege recently restored after Covid restrictions relaxed as a way to get tourists back to visit Egypt.  Tourism really took a dive all over the world.

It's easy to feel a bit claustrophic in here.

Just wow!

Stepping further back.

I wish I knew all of the stories that these images portrayed.

Some of them were recognizable - almost.

But the 3 headed lizard with legs?

Or the 2 headed snake?

We saw the Ankh symbol everywhere which simply means "Life".

This tomb descends deeper -

Into the end of the chamber.

Figures sitting.

Pigments were mostly gone on this wall.

Can you imagine what it took to paint this ceiling?

I have already forgotten what Yusef told us about the boat images.

Something about floating off into the afterlife.

More boat images on the ceiling.

Scarab, eyes, boat, snake -

Crocodile

Cartouches

Fascinating!

I have always been intrigued by ancient cultures. This was a dream come true for me.  And since coming home I've dug in and looked for more documentaries that I can watch about the the ancient Egyptians and how they lived.

If you are interested, try this one - there is also a part 2 if you click to YouTube to find it.

Click to Play:

It was SO super hot -

But I wouldn't trade this experience for the world!

I hope everyone had a restful weekend.

Today friend Martha is coming over to the QPO so we can load her quilt in the long arm and get it quilted up. She was a great help at the inn while I was gone and I'm excited to see her and spend some time catching up.

What do you have going on for this Monday that feels like it should be part of a long holiday weekend, but isn't for many?

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

First things first, second things second.

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Put things on the list, cross them off one thing at a time, and don’t forget to BREATHE!

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Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!