SATURDAY, JULY 31: VALLEY OF THE QUEENS

• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner onboard
• Visit the West Bank:
  1. Valley of the Queens (with Tomb of Nefertari) (slide show)
  2. Ramesseum (slide show)
  3. Luxor Museum (slide show)
  
• Briefing by Egyptologist
• Overnight in Luxor

Today, we venture in to the Valley of the Queens to visit Queen Nefertari’s tomb (called “the Sistine Chapel of Egypt”). (AWESOME 3-D, zoomable representation) It’s known for the precision of its vivid drawings, and some visitors have called it “the most beautiful in Egypt”.

Pay a call on the Ramesseum which was designed as a temple for the god Amun, and a center for worship of Rameses III. You can see several astronomical/celestial ceilings there. You are almost certain to be able to recognize Rameses III’'s cartouche by the end of our visit.

As the heat of the day continues, we'll go to the Luxor Museum. You often see it described as ~“small collection, but of very choice artifacts”. The Sky & Telescope scouting party who assessed the museum found it both compelling and a lot to contemplate! The stars of the show are “The Luxor Statue Cache”, statues found beneath a courtyard of the 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple in 1989, and viewed as among the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Some of the artifacts of trades, e.g. construction, looked very modern. Relics from Tutankhamun's tomb and mummies are riveting and give you a sense of the society-wide focus on the afterlife. Many of the museum's statues were created as personal memorials to individuals, endowed with warmth and familiarity, rather than as a generic governmental tribute to the king. Look forward to an educational, fascinating and charming museum session.