I visited 11 tombs today! I wasn’t sure if I would get in all eleven or not, but I did. Even better, I managed to visit them all before it got too hot out :). I left at 6:30am, which really helps to keep the heat down. All of the tombs of the nobles are situated around this small village of mud brick (and some cement) houses. Included in the village are dozens of children trying to be your guide or sell you handmade dolls. This isn’t too bad as they are kids and can be given a little leeway, but I had to yell at this one guy to finally have him stop trying to show me around! Not only did I not want to pay someone to show me things I could easily find myself, but more importantly the tomb guards won’t let you take photos if there is someone else with you such as a guide. Well that and some people are just annoying, and the most annoying seem to come in the form of Egyptians trying to make a little extra cash. My patience for Egyptians trying to make a little extra cash is really wearing thin, so it’s a good thing that I will be leaving in 11 more days.
I started with the tombs at the bottom of the hillside for obvious reasons and went to the more frequented ones first. The tomb of Ramnose was quite impressive, it actually had several columns in the front part of his tomb as well as engravings on the walls. His tomb looked more like one from the valley of the kings then of the workmen. Apparently tourists don’t generally walk up the hill and aren’t usually found in the other tombs, especially not at 7 in the morning. So I had them all to myself. Actually it is more the fact that the tourbuses have a tight schedule and rush everyone through the few bottom tombs. I was fortunate that my guide the other week actually brought me to a couple of the better tombs up the hill. She did know that I preferred the more obscure stuff though and was willing to walk for it.
I had to hunt around a bit to find the next piles of tombs, which was actually quite enjoyable since the views are just gorgeous from up there, and I got some really pretty shots of the outside of the closed tombs. Ramses II’s tomb was closed unfortunately, but it made me wonder why he would have a tomb here as well as in the valley of the kings. Apparently there was a noble also called Ramses II. The painting on the ceiling of all of the tombs was beautiful, and the colour is still quite vibrant, especially considering how many thousand years ago we are talking about.
I was extremely fortunate to get photos inside the tomb of Sennefer, which is the most beautiful in the tombs of the nobles I think. It also had many pretty square pillars with scenes on them as well. I got about 50 photos inside the tomb. I took photos in four tombs all together, and have to look back in the tomb book to try to remember which four of the 11 I visited that I got photos of. One of my favourite tombs was of Nefersekheru who was the royal scribe in charge of the temple offerings. His tomb was beautifully decorated, but unfortunately the paint was more faded, and there were more pieces missing then in some of the other tombs. The guard didn’t offer to let me take photos, so I didn’t ask, especially since it was the last tomb I was visiting and I was getting a bit tired and didn’t have any small bills on me. The two tombs in this area are barely ever visited, and I can see why since they are damn hard to find! They are way off to the right, and a good 6-7 minute walk from any of the others. Needless to say they don’t get visited by tourists that often, which is a shame as they are truly lovely, and were a couple of my favourites.
I also got to see the sarcophagus with the mummy inside of it. This was down the bottom of a hole, underneath a metal door that the guard had to lift up for me to see. It is nice that they do show it though, and different that it isn’t in some museum like many of the other sarcophagi and mummies. I had rented a bicycle for the day, so it was a nice 5 minute ride downhill back to my hotel. Perhaps it’s bit of a waste to rent a bike for only 10 minutes of riding, but I have to say it beats the extra walking in the heat. To end off the morning, I was delighted to see the hotel staff walk by with my case of bottled water, and the timing was perfect after a morning of tombs!
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