Private Tour to the West Bank of Luxor

The Valley of the Kings is where the modern myth of Egypt began with Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, complete with all of the treasures with which he had been buried, in 1922. The fame of that discovers ushered in a new era of Egyptian tourism as the treasures of Tutankhamun toured the world and generated new, widespread interest in the history of Ancient Egypt. The valley is not very impressive at first glance.

It is not much more than a sun-blasted gorge of generic, red rock, but hidden underneath the earth are the tombs of nearly 70 pharaohs. Excavation is ongoing in some of them, but many are open to visitors on a rotating schedule to allow for restoration. Seeing the ornate decorations on the walls of these tombs and imagining the painstaking process necessary to create them is well worth the visit even in the hottest months.

In terms of visual impact from afar, there is no rival to Hatshepsut’s Temples. The unique multi-tiered structure nestled up against the limestone cliffs at the shoulder of the river valley is a truly stunning sight. The uniqueness of its layout mirrors that of the pharaoh responsible for building it.

Hatshepsut was the only female pharaoh in the history of Ancient Egypt. She came to power during the New Kingdom after the death of her father, Tuthmose I, and her half-brother and husband, Tuthmose II, who succeeded her father on the throne.

She originally served as queen-regent to her husband's son by another wife, Tuthmose III, but seized the throne from him and managing to hold onto power until her death. However, Hatshepsut’s status as the only female to rule Egypt is not the only reason for her fame.

She was also a very successful pharaoh. She ruled over an era of peace and prosperity, expanding lucrative trade routes to the land of Punt in the south.

These two gigantic, 59-foots tall statues are the first sight that greets visitors who take the ferry across from the East Bank. They were made famous in antiquity by a mysterious sound emitted from one of them each sunrise. Scientists now think that this sound was caused by air passing through pores in the stone as it was warmed in the sunlight, but there is no way to confirm this since the sound stopped centuries ago.

Regardless of its cause, the sound was the source of the statues’ name as it caused the Greeks to believe that the statues were of the immortal Memnon.

In reality the statues are of Amenhotep III and his wife, Tiye, and they used to guard the entrance to a great temple complex that some believe might have rivaled Karnak in size. Amenhotep III, who ruled during the New Kingdom around the peak of Egypt’s historic power, is regarded as one of the most prolific builders of Ancient Egypt. This temple would have been the most significant of his building projects, but little remains of it today.

Archaeologists believe that the temple was quickly ruined by repeated plundering and because, unlike other monuments, it was located within the floodplain of the Nile. The limestone that the Egyptians used in construction was eroded away by centuries of exposure to the annual floodwaters.