We’re halfway through our trip around the stunning country of Egypt! This means today we can no longer put off a visit to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt and Tutankhamun’s tomb!
The Valley of the Kings, one of the most well known archeological sites in Egypt, is located on the west bank of the Nile river in Luxor, Egypt. As most of you know, it was the burial place of the Egyptian pharaohs and nobles of the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BCE) and contains over 60 tombs and chambers. The most famous of these is Howard Carter’s discovery – the tomb of King Tutankhamun, also known as the “King Tut” tomb, which was discovered in 1922.
But first, we visited the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The Temple of Hatshepsut is a mortuary temple and was built for Hatshepsut, one of Egypt’s most powerful female pharaohs, during Egypt’s New Kingdom (1539-1075 BCE).
And if Hatshepsut is too hard to say, you can just say Hot Chicken Soup. Just kidding, but the locals love that joke.
The temple is known for its unique architectural design, which combines elements of traditional Egyptian and classical Nubian styles. It was built into a cliff face and has a series of terraces and colonnades that lead to the inner sanctuaries. The walls of the temple are decorated with reliefs depicting Hatshepsut’s life and rule, as well as scenes from Egyptian mythology. The temple was damaged over time, but was rediscovered and restored in the 20th century, and is now a popular tourist attraction in Egypt.
After visiting the Temple of Hatshepsut, we finally made our way to the Valley of the Kings!
Our ticket (included with our tour) allowed admission into 3 tombs. The tombs that are open to visitors rotate so if you visit multiple times, you will see different tombs each time. This is done to prevent damage to the tombs be it from visitors or environmental damage.
Admission Costs:
King Tutankhamun’s tomb has an additional entrance fee (and was not included in our tour, so we did pay extra for that). Admission to the Valley of the Kings is E240 (~$8 USD) for 3 tombs. To enter King Tut’s tomb, it is an additional E300 (~$10 USD).
The walls of all the tombs are decorated with colorful and well-preserved hieroglyphs, reliefs, and paintings, which provide valuable insights into ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs. King’s Tut’s tomb is especially beautiful, but it wasn’t decorated for him! He died so young, they had to scramble to find a burial tomb for him. In fact, it is believed that he was buried in part of his step-mother, Nefertiti’s tomb. (She has yet to be found.)
His mummy is so fragile, that they have chosen to keep him in a climate-controlled display case in his tomb instead of moving him to the museum! So you get to see his beautifully decorated tomb and his mummy when you visit!
There are over 60 discovered tombs in the Valley of the Kings and with our admission, we were allowed to enter three. We visited Ramses III, Ramses IX, and Merenptah’s tombs.
What did you picture the inside of King Tut’s tomb to look like? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to explore Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple with us!
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