Valley Of The Queens

Sorry ladies, but the tombs in the Valley of the Queens is not nearly as impressive as the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.  On the other hand, they are still pretty impressive, enough to be a UNESCO World Heritage site, which, of course, means "UNESCO means you must go!"

Just up the road from the Valley of the Kings, we went into three tombs. Ironically, two of the tombs held men, while only one was for a woman.  It's also a bit strange that the wives of the pharaohs were not buried with their husbands.   There are 91 tombs in the main valley (or wadi) and another 19 in nearby valleys.

Obviously, just as not every tomb in the Valley of the Kings is for a man, not every tomb in the Valley of the Queens holds a woman.  From what I could see, the biggest difference is that the valley of the kings, as well as the tombs, is bigger and more grandiose.  Both appear to be devoid of plant life.

The star of the show is tomb of Queen Nefertari, but with a $40 entry ticket, Carol and I passed on it.  However, more on that in the next blog post.

I forget the name of the guy for the first tomb we went into, but after that we went into the Tomb of Titi.  She is believed to be the wife of Ramesses III, although she may have been a daughter.  Our third and final tomb was for Prince Kha Em Wast, the fourth (out of 70) son of Ramesses II.  He has been called the "First Egyptologist" for his efforts to restore ancient buildings, tombs, and temples.

The visit to the Valley of the Queens was shorter, and though we went later in the morning, there were fewer people at the scene.

Valley of the Queens

A rock dam built by ancient 

Egyptians to keep flash floods

from destroying the valley.

Quite the blue hair.

Spread your wings and fly up to heaven.

Titi as a child.

A good look at a number of the tombs.