The Valley of the Queens (Valley of the Queens (Luxor, Egypt))

Member Name: catherine21

Product:	Valley of the Queens (Luxor, Egypt)
Date:	31/07/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating historial site, amazing paintings in the tombs

Disadvantages: Can't see all of the discovered tombs

Valley of the Queens is located on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor, Egypt. It is the site of over 70 tombs of ancient Egyptian Queens, dug out into the rock.

It is a fascinating historical site, as it gives an insight in to Egyptian rituals associated with death, and shows the treatment that was given to the Egyptian Queens after death.

The insides of the tombs are painted with depictions of the after life and of scenes of the Queen's life time. They are not as extensively decorated as the tombs in Valley of the Kings, where the Pharoahs were buried, however there is still a lot of artwork inside the tombs, and an amazing amount of the colour has kept, considering they have been there are 3000 years.

Most of the tombs are empty as the contents were either stolen many years ago, or have been transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Althoug many tombs have been discovered, only a few of them are open for the public to look at at any one time. They tombs are rotated in terms of which ones are open so that the paintings and the insides are not destroyed by too many tourists. This is a bit of a shame that you can't see more, but it's good that they are being preserved.

There are a lot of fascinating stories about the Queen's, and the one prince who is also buried there. I would recommend booking a tour guide to take you around the area so that you can hear all about their lives and their history. However, don't let one of the touts lurking around the site take you around, they don't tend to be very knowledgable, and will make up facts to get money from you. Its better to book the trip with your tour company in advance, we booked ours though our Kuoni rep.

The Valley of the Queens, like all ancient Egyptian sites, is fascinating because new discoveries are constantly being made. When we visited we were told that just two months earlier, four mummies had been found in one of the tombs and they were putting together their history.

The Valley of the Queens is a really interesting archaeological site, and a must see if you are visiting Luxor.

Summary: A must visit!