When Archaeologists Play Tourist, Silly Photos Happen

We are back in Edfu after spending four days in Luxor for Eid.  Eid is a Muslim holiday (literally means “feast”), and lasts for four days.  Because it is a holiday where our workers will not work, it meant that we got to take a break as well, and pamper ourselves in Luxor.  Over the past few seasons, we have learned that it is worth it to pay a little extra to stay in a western-style hotel, so that we can have really good showers and breakfasts.  We stayed at the Sonesta, which is a very popular hotel for tourists- it even has a nice pool which we got to enjoy for a day.   But seriously, it is the showers we go there for (two words: water pressure).

If those are just the feet, imagine the size of that statue!

Eid is usually our time to sight-see in Luxor, though after three years I have seen almost everything that is open.   On Thursday, Janelle, Jonathan, Aaron and I visited the Ramesseum (mortuary temple of Ramesses II), which I had never been to before.   It’s not nearly as well preserved as Medinet Habu (mortuary temple of Ramesses III), but was still roofed in places, which is always cool.  Thursday we also visited the Valley of the Kings, which is always fun, though unfortunately all of the 18^th Dynasty tombs were closed.  I have really been wanting to see Thutmose III again, and Janelle had never been in there.  I don’t have any pictures of the tombs because you can’t bring your camera into the valley.  The same went for the Valley of the Queens which we also visited.  Only three tombs were open there, but they were really beautiful ones so it was worth the trip. 

Friday was our hiking day, where we hike from Medinet Habu to Deir el Bahri (temple of Hatshepsut) over the gebel (the Arabic word for mountain).   We always start at Habu because it’s really well preserved, and has lots of important texts and reliefs.  While Medinet Habu was the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, it was in use into the Coptic period as a settlement, since it had really high walls which made it excellent for defense.   We then walk to Deir el Medina, the workmen’s village for the Valley of the Kings.  From there you can take the stairs up the mountain to the path which takes you from Deir el Medina to Deir el Bahri.  It’s a great hike, and gives you a beautiful view of the valley below.   After our hike, we returned to the east bank for lunch (McDonalds!) and to explore a bit of the town as we tried to determine if we could get from the main east-west street to the main north-south one.   Several side streets later, we eventually made it back to our hotel, though we had gotten quite the eyeful of the slaughtering of the animals for the feast!

"Smiting" photos, with Janelle and I playing the foes
while Tasha plays the king.

Artistic reinterpretation of the Sea Peoples reliefs at Medinet Habu.

The beginning of the stairs up the gebel.  There are over 500
of them to the first cliff path, and over 500 more
 if you want to reach the top (we opted for the lower path)

We can fly!

Overlooking Deir el-Bahri.

So much good food!

I spent most of Saturday in bed/by the pool because I caught a cold and felt sick, but I was well enough to join the rest of the team at the house of our reis (chief workman) for dinner that evening.  He and his family spoiled us with fantastic homemade Egyptian dishes, including cabbage stuffed with rice, lamb, tagine vegetables, this green gooey stuff everyone but me likes, and many other things I can’t even remember.  It was awesome. 

Now we are back in Edfu and it is back to work!