Monday, January 11, 2010. 5:45 pm. Luxor

The second day of touring on the West Bank at Luxor. On the bus by 7:00 – tombs of the Nobles. Ramose (TT 55), Khaemhet (TT57), Benia called Pahekamen, Mena (TT 69), and Nakht (TT 52). Ended the morning with a visit to a saff tomb high atop the hills. It is now largely undecorated except for fragments of coloured ceiling plaster which bears a checkerboard pattern.

In the tomb of Ramose, Sandy and I notice a relief of Akhenaten where a vulture is depicted behind the seated king, but not behind his head as in the Old Kingdom statue of Khafre, but rather on the seat itself. It's spreading its protective wings around Akhenaten's waist and behind. Huh.

Gurna has changed a lot in recent years. Most of the houses have been demolished, leaving only a handful of alabaster shops. What hasn't changed was the number of young girls selling dolls for $1 USD and the persistence of local salesmen who want you to buy their small statues. Their stories range from “my grandfather found this” to “I made this” depending on the audience. For some reason, they pick up on the fact that I don't want to buy anything and mostly leave me alone. But... anyone who had obviously bought something got their full attention. One guy with aviator sunglasses stuck with us the whole day, offering this and that whenever we weren't actually in a tomb. A fair bit of shopping was done, and I think they made out OK.

Lunch at the Happy Habu. Baba ganoush, fried eggplant, deep fried cauliflower, deep fried eggplant, stewed okra, stewed potatos with tomatoes. Quick visit to a bookshop on the same block, right next to the entrance to Medinet Habu. Was tempted by a new AUC book on ancient Egyptian art, but restrain myself.

Afternoon: Ramesseum. The day is bright and hot (32C) – a far cry from the last couple of times I have been here. We arrived around 1:45 and stayed for an hour and a half. We toured the court and hypostyle hall and the back rooms, ending with the storage magazines outside the temple. This was my first time to the magazines, which are made of black mud brick. There is a columned access way which runs the length of one of the storage magazines; we theorize this was where the food was dispensed, its grandeur designed to impress upon people that it's pharaoh who's feeding you.

On the way out, we got a really good look at the first pylon. The sun is in position to give us good raking light so we can clearly see the inscriptions and reliefs (many of which depict Ramesses II in his chariot, or simply larger-that-life.) On my previous visit, it was overcast, and the pylon was mostly a wash of tope.

By the end, we're all pretty bagged from all the climbing and walking.

Tonight: Luxor Temple. Meet at 7:00 pm in the hotel lobby. I will probably go, but I'm seriously in need of rather a lot of sleep tonight.

Later: We did indeed go to the temple and closed it down. Okashsa (UCL professor and our local guide) took us through the temple and really managed to make sense of most of it for us. Fabulous. But it's on-the-bus at 7:00, so I've got to sleep now, and repeatedly. To be continued.

PostScript: To those who have left comments, many thanks. Despite being in one of the most fabulous places in the world, and despite being in very good company, it's still nice to hear from the people back home. I will try to do something about replying to your questions in an upcoming post.