Travel Plans: Today, after an early breakfast and hotel check out, we transfer to Cairo airport to board a plane bound for Luxor. In Luxor, we will board the Sonesta Star Goddess to begin our Nile cruise. After touring the West Bank and the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, we will set sail on the Nile headed south.

Why the West Bank: The minute you became the pharaoh, you started work on your tomb. Problems rose with grave robbers stealing the gold, jewels and treasures buried with the mummies to provide for the afterlife from the pyramids. The West Bank, across the river from Luxor, acted as a secluded spot for your mummy to spend eternity. The pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty stopped the tradition of pyramid building, and had their tombs tunneled deep into the mountain sides of the region. These complex catacombs were harder to rob and easily concealed. Even the tomb for Ramesses II’s many sons, which has over 100 rooms, remained hidden until only about 10 years ago.

Entrance to the West Bank: The Colossi of Memnon flank the outer gates of the largest of the temples on the west bank, that of Amenhotep III. They are the first monuments to greet you as you enter the West Bank necropolis. Despite being damaged by nature, ancient tourists, and faulty repairs 18 centuries ago, the statues are over 75 feet tall, and impressively beautiful. The statues are carved from blocks of quartzite and depict Amenhotep III and his mom and Amenhotep III and his wife and daughter. Due to an earthquake in 27 BC, these statues became known for a bell like tone that occurred on hot mornings as the humidity hissed out of the cracks and fissures. This turned them into instant tourist attractions, because hearing the song meant that the gods liked you. Tourists flocked in, including a Roman emperor or two. The song came to an end when the Roman emperor Septimius Severus “fixed” the statues in 199 AD by plugging whatever crack or hole was making the magic, and silenced them forever.

Temple of Hatsepsut: The area around the Colossi is where most of the major temples of the West Bank were constructed, and those of Thutmose III and IV, Amenhotep II, Sety I, and Ramesses III are still quite majestic. The amazing Tombs of the Nobles are also nearby. Up and around the road a bit, sits the most stunning, the Temple of Hatshepsut, who ruled as pharaoh for 15 years, and who is fittingly interred in the Valley of the Kings. She was the daughter, sister, wife and aunt (which, as you will recall, were overlapping categories) of the first three Tuthmosis, and her own reign was grand. Her temple is being lovingly restored by the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology. The temple is built into the side of the mountain, with a long ramp that leads across two giant terraces. Three columned facades are being restored, the first now completed almost to perfection. In its original state, the courtyards were filled with fountains and flowering plants and trees. Even now, it looks remarkably modern.

Valley of the Kings: The tombs of the pharaohs were located in the secluded Valley of the Kings. The name is a bit of a misnomer, because not all of the 62 tombs excavated to date are royal. (Those of nobles and the privileged were generally undecorated, and we won’t be seeing those.) The most famous tomb is the one that belonged to Tutankhamun, a relatively unimportant pharaoh who was hastily buried is a tomb probably not even intended for him. The tomb is famous because it was concealed under the village of the workmen who cut the tomb for Ramesses VI (one of the largest tombs in the valley), so when it was discovered in 1922, the tomb had all of its treasure.

Not all of the tombs are accessible (Hatshepsut’s, for example, is not), and of those that are, the authorities rotate which are available to be visited, so we cannot predict which ones we will see. Generally, they keep open a couple of examples of each of the three basic types. The early tombs have staircases and corridors, change direction and are decorated with scenes from the Book of the Secret Chamber. The middle stage tombs incorporate the Litany of Ra, and the dead pharaoh will appear before the falcon-headed sun god. In the last phase, the tombs are basically just huge sloping corridors, but a wide set of books are used as the basis for the art. Aside from the long downward corridor, the tombs generally have a well room (a deep shaft designed to foil burglars), a hall generally held up by pillars, and the burial chamber. Additional chambers and corridors would be added for decoration and such, or to bury a few extra relatives and guests.

Valley of the Queens: Most of the wives of the pharaohs and their children were buried in the Valley of the Queens, which is in the hills to the south of where their husbands were buried. Few are open to the public, and even the restored Tomb of Nefertari, one of the most impressive monuments in the West Bank, is open to only 150 people per day. The cliffs surrounding the valley make the experience spectacular. Perhaps because the tombs were laden with less treasure, greater effort was devoted to the wall paintings, which often remain reasonably intact. Egyptian art evolved significantly during this period, with paintings stretching across adjacent walls, and considerable more realism in the portrayal of the figures. Often modeled in low relief in plaster and then painted, occasionally an individual figure will break out from the scene.

Captain’s Party: Tonight our Captain invites you to a cocktail party where you can meet and mingle with the ships officers and staff. Who doesn’t love a man in a crisp white uniform, especially when he’s buying the drinks!