Day 13 - Tomb of Nefertari

Have I said how cold it is here first thing in the morning and last thing at night?

I'm writing this snuggled under the covers having woken later this morning, at 6am. The room is freezing and its a chore to get up and get ready for breakfast, something to be donequickly!

I took a taxi from the village and went up to the Valley of the Queens. All was quiet, I was the only visitor at 8.30am. 

The tombs here are all protected by glass panels, so quite difficult to photograph, even if you could. I have decided to write what I see instead.

I am going inside Khaemwaset's tomb first. It is truly beautiful! I need to write this as I see it. The colour blue is so rich that I wonder if this is where we get the term royal blue? 

The colours are vibrant and the art work precise and detailed. The hieroglyphs are very clear, no ambiguity here at all. One relief shows him wearing a spotted upper garment, but wrapped like a bandage around his torso. When the ends get to his waist they are clasped with the small cartouche symbol. 

Standing in here alone, apart from a 'limpet', I can study each relief in detail. From my untrained eye I think they were made like this; the plaster must have been maleable, the artist drew an outline and raised detail first. This was then traced to make colured outlines and then later filled in with other colours. 

To make the linen look fine and transparent, to show the quality, I think they painted the body first then went over it with a light wash of white. This would make the legs show through. A beautifully decorated girdle then covered the front of the body. All of the bodies have jewellery, arm bands of gold and lapis. Even the side lock of youth has a decoration, where the hair is brought together over the ear. The tall fans are beautiful, I can't work out what type of feathers though. The are a mixture of brown and mid blue

The scenes relate to book of Gates, which the Prince had to pass through. The guardians or genies that protect each gate carry a knife in each hand. There is a cat God, Miu, who is beautifully represented here. There is also a god here,  who the guard clearly tells visitors is Sekmet. It's not, it's Nebneryu. 

The tomb is a straight, but not very long. It starts with a flat roof then changes to a barrelled one, which is where his body would be placed. After that is another room, presumably for all his goods. 

There is literally no one else but me here. It very quiet, the only sounds are that of buzzing flies, birds twittering and the voices of the police down the valley. The mountains look wonderful against the back drop of a cloudless, vivid blue sky.

This is what I've come Egypt for and the best part about it. What could be better than sitting outside such a stunning tomb and absorbing such an amazing view?

To the right of where I'm sitting there are masses of secured tomb openings. They are mostly just shafts, but some have steps down to a locked gate, so they must be promising. 

I've now moved around to the other tombs that are open. I'm sitting on a wall opposite the tomb of Nefertari. What a wonderful place for a tomb! The mountain and sky above, right at this moment, are perfect. It's a shame she's not actually resting here, as Tutankhamun is in his tomb. Considering  Nefertari's tomb is closed, there are police sitting outside - interesting!

This next tomb is that of Queen Titi. It's nowhere near the quality of the previous one. There's lots of damage and it's hard to make out what the reliefs are. Thank goodness for Kent Weeks' book, my 'bible' whilst I'm here. 

Most of the plaster has fallen off. Only the upper areas remain in a reasonable condition. It's such a shame, as it probably was as good as the other one at the time it was made. At the end of the tomb, which is all on the same level, there new glass panels. There is a notice for them not to be cleaned. I expect that's because they scratch them. I noticed that the panels in the previous tomb were very dusty. Some were difficult to see through, they were that bad!

I've just lent my torch to some men who are trying to fix a fluorescent tube in a blocked off side chamber, so I'll have wait here now!  

The colours aren't vibrant here but the decoration is similar. However, I would think for future visitors it would be best to visit this one first or they would be disappointed. 

I went outside and sat down before tackling the final tomb. All of I sudden I was joined by an inspector/Egyptologist. The minister is coming with his entourage. I watched their arrival then went to see Amenherkopeshef. 

This is a lovely tomb and the only one that slopes slightly. At the end of the corridor there is a stone sarcophagus. 

The room is very low and even I have to bend down. There's no decoration in this room. The art work here is of the level of the first tomb, excellent.  In fact, it is very similar. The skin colour is a bit darker though.  Looking at the design of the belts etc, they are very similar indeed. Maybe it was drawn by the same person. 

The prince also has the sidekick of youth but he wears a Sem priest  leopard skin. 

I notice that this wrapping the torso is done in here too, but this is more like a belt, secured with tassels. The kilts all have the most lovely patterns on them, more so than in his brother's tomb. 

I left this tomb and went outside to walk to the car park. I phoned my driver to come in 30 minutes as I wanted to write and have a drink first. I finished my latest blog instalment and made to leave the site. Suddenly there was a crowd of people coming towards me but then they turned and walked towards Neferari's tomb. There must have been about 40 people. There were camera crews and lots of other people marshalling them around. I carried on walking and, to my amazement was ushered with the others! I couldn't really believe what was happening so I just followed everyone else. 

We came to the front of the tomb and there were men in uniform, others in suits and all trying to gather us closer. 

Basically, it was the Minister of Antiquities, Mr El Damaty, who had invited the world's press to see the tomb of Nefertari. How I managed to be included is beyond me but I wasn't going to say no was I?

We went down the steps to the tomb. I took a photo of the sign to prove I had been because I had no idea of what was about to happen.

We got inside and there was a short speech, basically to say - take as many pictures as you want, video too! I nearly cried when they said that! In fact an American journalist said that she loved the way I had 'articulated my feelings'. I hadn't realised that I'd said it out loud!

The man from National Geographic insisted on me having my photo taken inside as I had just taken his and then it was a case of photo, photo, and photo (plus a couple of videos Ladies!)

I looked at my watch and saw it was nearly midday. The NG man asked me if I had somewhere better to be. I told him that I had to meet Kent Weeks soon and of course he knew him and asked me to pass on his best wishes! The whole thing was just surreal. 

Thinking back, I think I was the only 'nobody' there. They all seems to be journalists, yet I knew I would get the scoop on them all by posting on Trip Advisor once I got outside!  Someone actually spoke to me and I told them I was a blogger, so they didn't bother with me. In fact, the General who was there allowed me to take his photo, knowing I would be writing this. 

I'm only posting a few general pictures inside the tomb on this blog. I took so many I'm going to set up a Flickr account when I get home. To wet your appetite, here are a few. 

(Note: check out my Facebook page for the rest of the photos, Facebook.com/indianarowz)

I forced myself to leave, very reluctantly, but I had a driver and Kent Weeks waiting for me. I raced to the Theban Library to see him and told him how lucky I had been   He was delighted for me and then we discussed the pros and cons of the proposed opening to the public. He the had to leave as his tour group was arriving shortly at the Winter Palace. 

I stayed with his assistant, chatting about the great plans for the library. They need a building but haven't got the funds yet. They are having to make do with a mud brick building for the moment and it should be open next week. It's a real shame that they are having to leave their present building but it may be a blessing in disguise as they will be more centrally placed for more children and women to visit. 

I made my back to the hotel. I couldn't wait to tell my friends at the Winter Palace so off I went to their hotel. As I got to reception I was tapped on the shoulder by Dr Weeks, saying hi again. He was just about to introduce himself to the tour group.

My friends loved the photos and, to celebrate, I took them out for tea. 

We picked up the same battered taxi as we did previously and it was hysterical getting to the restaurant, Pizza Roma in St Joseph St. It just kept chugging along!  

After a lovely pizza we went to the Sonesta bar for a hot drink. We were the only people there - again!

I went back to my hotel, paid the bill and went to bed. I had packed already so I just fell into bed, emotionally drained after such a wonderful day. Nothing can ever beat this one!