Things to see and do Nile Valley

Located in the southwest corner of the Valley of the Kings, the tomb of Sety II was dug a few meters from that of his wife Taousert. It is 75 m deep. It was partially unfinished at the time of his death. It takes up the same architectural canons of the other rectilinear tombs in which three corridors precede a vestibule, a funerary chamber. It was probably not Seti II who was buried there, for his name was largely erased from the cartouches in the tomb; the jealous work of Amenmes who succeeded him.

Located 3 km north of Aswan, on an island where species of shrubs were protected in huge weather, sixty species of birds were elected home.

The dromos (Greek for "path") is a 3.3 km-long path used by the sacred boats in the Opet ceremony procession to reach the Nile via the sacred lake and canal, paved with large boulders and lined with lion-bodied sphinxes. Some bear a ram's head, others a human head. At the time, there were over 1,000 sphinx statues in the alley. The two temples of Luxor and Karnak can be reached on foot along the ancient alley in less than 1 hour (if it's not too hot). Listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.

The first Aswan Dam was built between 1898 and 1902 at the request of the British Governor. The aim was to regulate the flooding of the Nile in order to make better use of agricultural land. Similarly, the end of the flood allowed the development of Cairo, without fear of flooding. This first dam was raised twice. It was after its elevation that the island of Philae was submerged. Under the aegis of UNESCO, the temple of Philae was moved to the island of Agikia between 1972 and 1980.

If you drive along the road to Gourna, you'll see two pillars which, as you approach, turn out to be two gigantic statues, the largest remains of the funerary temple built for Amenhotep III on the left bank. Originally carved in a single block, they reach a height of around 20 m on their plinths and represent Amenhotep III in a seated position, hands on knees, the position of peace. His mother and wife are depicted smaller at his feet. They originally adorned the entrance to the king's huge funerary temple.

Nothing remains of the temple - which explains their unusual presence in the middle of a sugarcane field - even though it was gigantic, stretching 700 m to the foot of the Theban Mountain. Shaken by an earthquake at the very beginning of the Christian era, the northern statue began to emit a sound due, it seems, to the heating of the stone exposed to the sun, a whistling sound that the Greeks attributed to Memnon, the mythical king of Ethiopia, son of Dawn, who inspired numerous pilgrimages and gave his name to the site. For two centuries, until Septimius Severus had the statue restored, depriving it of its distinctive sound, the Colossi of Memnon were a major tourist attraction. Among their famous visitors was the emperor Hadrian, whom Marguerite Yourcenar, in Memoirs of Hadrian, imagines resting in the shadow of the statue. Excavations are still taking place on the site, in the shadow of the colossi if you will.

Still welded to the rock from which it was to be extracted, it rests with its entire mass (1,200 tonnes) and length (42 m) on its granite bed. Abandoned as it was and left unfinished because of cracks that appeared in some places, it would have been the largest obelisk known once erected. The surrounding area is a former quarry where the workers used to work to remove the enormous blocks of stone that looked like temples, palaces or deities.

The work was insane, judge! You had to start by hammering the rock with a stone as hard as dolorite, until a sufficiently wide and deep notch was made. Wooden wedges, previously soaked in water, were driven in, and as they dried, the wedges expanded and shattered the rock. The operation was carried out on three sides. Depending on its use, it was roughened on the spot, sometimes even almost finished. It was then placed on a wooden sledge and taken down to the river by a special ramp. It was made of rubble, on which the masons sealed several layers of bricks covered with a thick layer of silt kept wet and slippery.

The felucca, in charge of transporting the blocks, landed a little before the receding water level near the bank. Once aground, there was time to load the felucca. At the next flood, the boat was afloat and set sail for the delivery. Unloading was carried out in the same manner.

The temple is dedicated to the god Khnum, represented with a ram's head, lord of Elephantine and part of the eponymous triad who commanded the Nile, god who created living beings on his potter's wheel. The goddesses Neith and Heket were also celebrated, the former being the mother of all gods, and the latter having participated with her in the creation of the world.

It was built during the Ptolemy period, in the 2nd century BC, and by the Roman Emperor Claudius between 41 and 54 AD. The hypostyle hall was then preceded by a second hypostyle hall, a naos, a main chapel and side chapels, with an ambulatory running all around the temple. The building is currently located 9 m below street level.

The openwork portico reveals six columns of the hypostyle hall. This structure is characteristic of Ptolemaic monuments and their Roman replicas. The scene represents Titus facing several deities. The two side doors were used by the priests

The hypostyle hall has preserved its 24 lotus-shaped columns whose scenes narrate the creation of the world orchestrated by Neith. The west wall is the oldest wall of the building and contains scenes of offerings from the periods of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The east wall shows a scene of a massacre, while in the corner is a calendar of the festivities celebrated. Its ceiling is perfectly intact; it has astronomical elements that explain the solar race and the constellations.

This superb but small tomb measures just 30 m in length and comprises just 3 chambers. It contained 3,000 pieces of the deceased's funerary furniture. Tutankhamun was hastily placed here in the surprise of his death. Only the burial chamber is represented. The 12 baboons depicted come from the Book of Amdouat and represent each of the 12 hours of the journey to the afterlife. Most of the treasure will be on display at the GEM in Cairo, but the red quartzite sarcophagus and the mummy are still on site.

It was Augustus who erected this temple, originally located 40 km north of its present site. Earlier, Amenhetep II had built a temple here dedicated to Mandulis, also called Meru, a minor Nubian god, but also celebrated at Philae in the temple of Isis. His lion-like appearance associated him with Tefnut, the distant and dangerous daughter of Ra. Even later, he was linked to Apollo. Measuring 71.60 m long by 35.50 m wide, it was one of the largest sanctuaries in Nubia at the time, alongside Philae and Abu Simbel. The dismantling and relocation of the temple was the first work of its kind, and served as a model for all others of its kind in the region.

Two surrounding walls surrounded the temple; only one remains today.

Pylon: two upright positions indicate that masts once stood in front of this recent temple, typically of Roman date; it gives access to an open-roofed courtyard surrounded by 14 pillars.

Pronaos: once past the Ptolemaic portico, access is gained to a covered pronaos supported by eight columns.

Sanctuary: two vestibules precede the sanctuary, where Augustus is depicted giving offerings to various deities.

Enclosure: the enclosure provides access to the outer walls of the temple and to the now useless site of a nilometer.

To the west, a small chapel dedicated to Dedoun, a young Nubian god known as "the purveyor of incense", also appears at Philae.

Located on the right bank of the Nile, some 20km south of the town of Al-Minya, the Beni Hassan necropolis is a group of princely tombs dating back to around 2,500 BC. It comprises 39 tombs dug into the upper part of an arid rock. The relief and color of this rock overlooking the Nile make it one of Egypt's most beautiful sites. Only twelve tombs have decorative motifs, and of these, four are open to the public. In order, visit Khety (no. 17), Baqît III (no. 15), a little further on Khnoum-Hotep (no. 3) and Amménémès (no. 2). The last two are the largest and most beautiful. These tombs were dug at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, straddling the ^11th and ^12th dynasties (2060-1785 BC), for the nomarchs, the Pharaoh's regional representatives. Their power led to the collapse of several dynasties throughout the history of ancient Egypt.

To the south of the cemetery is a temple built by Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III, dedicated to the local goddess Pakhet 1. It is known as the Grotto of Artemis, because the Greeks syncretistically identified Pakhet with Artemis, and the temple is underground.

The numerous textiles and 38 mummies found during the excavations were put to scientific study by the Louvre in the 1990s. It revealed that mummification was not the exclusive preserve of the ancient Egyptian religion, since Egypt's first Christians, the Copts, were also mummified. If you'd like to find out more, take a look at the excellent documentary: The Mystery of the Coptic Mummies of Antinoe. The site is sometimes called Antinoe or Antinoupolis: on the site of his lover's suicide, the emperor Hadrian, who developed the Pax Romana throughout his reign, built the memorial city of Antinoe, of which only a few walls of mud bricks, shaped by the wind, remain.

With few remains, the Beni Hassan necropolis will be of interest mainly to those seeking to establish a chronology in the evolution of funerary art.

They will be seduced by the proportions of these vast tombs, of fairly simple architecture, with surprising paintings. These include a caravan of Asians, a fig harvest and a duck hunt. Whether surprisingly vivid animal scenes or depictions of wrestlers in action, they sometimes border on the comic strip or the Kâma-Sûtra. Gazelles are depicted mating, and the wrestlers aren't just fighting!

The «high dam» is located a few kilometres upstream from the river. Its construction began in 1960, following bilateral agreements between the Sudan and Egypt on the use of the 32 billion cubic metres of water that the 1929 agreements had left free.

The construction was entrusted to Soviet engineers; the work was completed in 1972. Its length is 3 600 m, its height of 111 m, with a thickness of 980 m. The dam is the centrepiece of the energy independence of the country whose electricity production exceeds its consumption.

However, different problems arise. Ethiopian and Sudanese silt deposited at the bottom of Lake Nasser and will require soon to be désensablé. The lake water reservoir could decrease if riparian countries in the Nile upstream use more water for irrigation of their land.

Nubia, which stretched south of the first cataracts, was inundated with lake waters. The population was relocated between Kôm-Ombo and Aswan, creating ethnic problems. Today, the pride of the Nubian people generates the development of clean tourism around their musical culture, culinary culture and traditions.

Khaemhat was royal scribe and inspector of the royal granaries during the reign of Amenophis III, whose 38-year reign was marked by peace, wealth and power. His highly ornamented tomb reveals rural scenes and religious representations, such as the sacrifice of geese. Among the bas-reliefs adorning the walls of his tomb are several depictions of the agrarian goddess Renenoutet, in the guise of a snake-headed woman suckling her son. Khaemhat took great care to ensure that this goddess watched over his final resting place.

The grave is 91 m long. It was dug for the son of Thutmes III. One descends into the tomb by stepping over ritual holes, intended to ward off demons. The burial chamber is illustrated with the Book of Amduat and its ceiling is studded with the Star of Nut. Its sarcophagus is still in place, magnificently decorated. His mummy was still inside at the time of his discovery. It was in one of the annexes of the burial chamber that nine other royal mummies had been stored, hidden from the thieves' desires.

Only a few ruins remain of the ancient city, located in Kom el-Ashmuneïm, 8 km from Tuna el-Gebel. But new discoveries suggest that Tuna el-Gebel will not remain in the shadows for long. In 2017, the Egyptian authorities reported the discovery of a necropolis with numerous funerary wells dating from the end of the Pharaonic period (26th dynasty and after) and the beginning of the Ptolemies in the mid-4th century. In the region of Tuna el-Gebel, opposite Amarna, and 60 km south of Minya, the Egyptian mission is continuing the excavations .

Nefertari, the most famous of Ramses II's wives, is buried in this magnificent tomb, rediscovered in 1904. Access is via a staircase leading to the antechamber, where the queen is depicted on the left wall playing senet, a kind of chess game. On the right is the vestibule, of rare beauty, featuring the sovereign before Osiris and Amun, Thoth and Anubis. A staircase leads to 2 annexes where Nefertari is depicted before 3 genies. Lastly, access is gained to the burial chamber, supported by 4 massive pillars, which surround the tomb more in place.

One of the great achievements undertaken by UNESCO to safeguard the Nubian heritage, this museum opened its doors at the end of 1997. Entirely built in pink granite, it houses splendid pieces from Nagada 1 and 2 to Islamic and Christian Nubia. The name Nubia currently applies to the region stretching from the city of Aswan in the north to Debba.

It possessed important riches: gold, copper, semi-precious stones and amethyst. It was also the passage point for products from Equatorial Africa such as ivory, incense, eggs and ostrich feathers

Nubia has never been geographically isolated from Egypt, but it was not until 1899 that Lower Nubia was attached to Egypt, a British treaty ending the disputes caused by Mohammed Ali.

In 1907, the first Aswan Dam was built. On 8 March 1960, Unesco launched an appeal for an international expedition to save the Nubian monuments. Philae, Abu Simbel and the others will be moved, and Ancient Nubia will be flooded, forcing its inhabitants to emigrate to the north.

Such a civilization, charged with such an ancient history, had of course a priceless heritage characterized by the architecture of its habitat, its craftsmanship and its artistic expression.

The Nubia Museum traces the existence of this people step by step. The exhibition portrays the rich history of this region, which during the Hellenic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic periods retained its full identity.

It's a small grave, 49 meters long, very deep. It received the body of Ramses I, founder of the 20th dynasty, and grandfather of Ramses II. It is thought that this tomb must have been larger, but the death of the king forced the architects to make do with what they had had time to dig; the present burial chamber was to be a first vestibule according to their original plan. The colours of this tomb are particularly well preserved. The reign of Ramses I was very short, less than two years.

The grave is 116 m long. It was begun by the brother of Ramses VI, Ramses V, who died early, and who preceded his brother by six years in this mausoleum. It recalls the walls of the tomb of Ramses III. The ceiling of the burial chamber, by its complexity inspired by the Book of the Earth, earned it the name "tomb of metempsychosis" by the scholars of Bonaparte. This book specific to the Ramses dynasty tells the story of the solar god's journey into the afterlife and the complexity of his hidden world. The two sarcophagi exist only in pieces.

The tomb of the second king of the ^20th dynasty, Seti ^I, to whom we owe some of the finest high-reliefs in Egyptian art, is a respectable size: 137 m deep. His tomb mirrors the other monuments erected during his reign. After a succession of three corridors, a 6-pillared hall adorns a tomb whose walls are richly decorated. The burial chamber boasts a sumptuous astrological ceiling inspired by the book of the afterlife, the Amdouat. The alabaster sarcophagus is now in the Sir John Soane Museum in London.

Sennefer was prince and administrator of the temple gardens of Amun during the reign of Amenophis III. A narrow staircase leads to the deep vault of his beautiful tomb. This tomb is also known as the Tomb of the Vines, as many of the ceilings are decorated with vines. Although the work lacks finesse, this tomb will seduce you with its irregular ceiling, with bunches of grapes hugging the hollows and bumps. The walls and pillars depict the prince and one of his wives, Senetnay.

The very fine tomb of the Vizier under Thoutmes III expresses, through its decorative motifs, the power and might of the official promoted to a high distinction. On the front wall, as you enter from the left, are depictions of various tribes (Syrians, Sudanese, Ethiopians, etc.), charged with tribute as a sign of submission, including exotic animals such as panthers, giraffes and monkeys. On the walls of the narrow chapel, remarkably precise scenes show Rekhmiré supervising his workers, as well as a funeral banquet featuring some very pretty guests!

Usirhat was a royal scribe under Amenophis II, and his tomb features the usual scenes. His tomb is located at the bottom of the Gournah hill, a position that reflected his social status. This monument represents one of the pinnacles of funerary art of the period, with its two famous scenes, that of the barbers and the chariot race. Both have been featured in numerous works on ancient Egypt. The tomb was open to the public for many years, and remains so today, albeit intermittently.

One of the finest tombs on the site. A high-ranking civil servant, Menna was scribe to the Lord of the Two Lands under Thutmose IV. His tomb is decorated with touchingly realistic rural scenes. Some scenes have been reproduced in art books. For example, a bad debtor is beaten by the scribe's men, and a young child carrying an antelope on his shoulders is touchingly lifelike, as is the cat snatching eggs from a nest. The statues of Menna and his wife Henouttaouy can still be seen at the back of this one.

Solitary and majestic, the mausoleum of Agha Khan III, buried in 1959 (2 years after his death), overlooks the Nile with its pared-down architecture, inspired by the Fatimid tombs of Cairo. Erected at the request of his wife Begum, whose house lies below, the ^48th Imam of the Ismailis (a dissident sect of Shiite Islam whose 4 million followers are mainly in Pakistan) rests here "in the name of a merciful and clement God", in a marble sarcophagus. The mausoleum is located on the other side of the Nile, which is particularly photogenic.

If you follow the pavement path straight on through the sand, you'll come to a small temple from the Ptolemaic period, in fact a tomb from the ^4th century BC, that of Petosiris and his family. High priest of Thoth, Petosiris is said to have been a great religious reformer. On his death, he is said to have become the object of a cult himself.

His well-preserved tomb is well worth a visit, if only for its Hellenistic-style reliefs (on the right as you enter the vestibule). The guardians will not fail to suggest that you visit Isadora, a mummified young girl who is said to have drowned in the Nile. It's not a very pleasant sight.

Retracing your steps, turn left and head towards a sort of half-buried mastaba, to descend into crypts carved out of the rock.

You'll wander in semi-darkness along vast, perfectly ventilated corridors lined with niches in which thousands of baboon and ibis mummies have been found. This is hardly surprising, given that Hermopolis worshipped Thoth in both forms.

In 2018, new excavations uncovered over 40 well-preserved mummies in four Ptolemaic burial chambers (323 to 30 BC). 12 of these were children's, six were animals' and the rest were adult men and women. It would seem that they correspond to a middle-class family from the last pharaonic dynasty.

Scribe and astronomer of Amun under Thutmes IV, eighth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. The first room is arranged as a kind of tiny museum. There are scenes of ploughing and duck hunting in papyrus thickets, as well as men, barefoot in the vat, treading grapes. These scenes were inspired by Nakht's property in the Nile Delta. The statue of the deceased is a copy; as for the original, it lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the ship that transported it to the United States having sunk.

This grave is 76 m deep. Like that of his son Amenophis II, it is dug into the cliff escarpment. Designed on the same model, the father's tomb is less decorated than the son's. The burial chamber contains a series of graffiti representing the complete deities of the Book of Amdouat (740!) which must have preceded the work of the painter. It is the oldest tomb in the valley. Its funerary chamber is characterized by its cartouche shape. Its red quartzite sarcophagus is still in place, beautifully decorated.

The funerary temple of Ramses II, originally a splendid structure designed to remind his descendants of the glory and prestige of his reign, is today rather dilapidated, but still imposing.

The average archaeologically-inclined traveller will see almost as much of it from the outside as he will by entering the enclosure, and will thus make substantial savings. The facades of the two pylons, partly destroyed, depict the pharaoh's warlike exploits against the Hittites. Every year, from October to January, the Ramesseum conservation team resumes its excavation and restoration work. You can play your part in safeguarding the site by purchasing a Ramesseum excavation booklet, the proceeds of which are donated to the association in charge of promoting the site.

In the first courtyard between them, the upper part of a colossal pink granite statue of Ramses II lies on the ground. With its pedestal, it must have measured some 18 m, and its weight is estimated at at least 1,000 tonnes.

The great hypostyle hall preserves 29 columns (out of the original 48) supporting a few fragments of ceiling. It is followed by two chambers, the first of which retains a ceiling decorated with astronomical scenes. The brick stores behind the temple (clearly visible from the mound alongside the road) served as warehouses. They are the only visible remains of the extensive outbuildings that surrounded the Ramesseum. For Marguerite Yourcenar, it was the most romantic temple in Thebes.

Fatimid tombs whose domes can still be seen are located behind the Nubia Museum, and a few metres from the unfinished Obelisk, the largest carved monolith lying on the ground. The marble plaques that adorned the tombs are mostly in Cairo, they bore the names of the deceased. The authorities do not appear to have marked the locations. The tombs are topped by a dome and small cement walls that delimit their rectangular contours. Some marble slabs have calligraphy on them.

You will find all the answers to your questions and even to the ones you don't ask yourself! A veritable mine of information for everything that is a historical visit, it will also help you with the logistics on site: accommodation, catering, excursion agency... And as for transport: it is much more practical to contact us here rather than going to the station to try to find out which buses leave where and at what time. In case of problems, you can even call the person in charge on his mobile phone who will be happy to help you out.

The kiosk of Kertassi is a small temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor or the goddess Isis. It was located 40 km south of New Kalabcha, until it was moved in 1960 by the Egyptian antiquities department during the rescue of the Nubian temples. It was to serve as a stop for the procession of the sacred boat in the Ptolemaic period, of which it is probably a contemporary. The columns of this kiosk have either papyriform or hathoric capitals. Maybe he's a contemporary of Trajan's kiosk at Philae.

This temple built by Augustus was dedicated to the gods Serapis and Isis. It was located 50 km to the north before it was relocated due to the Aswan Dam construction project in 1960. This temple was never completed, and has no inscription, so it is difficult to attribute it to the Romans. It is of modest dimensions, and consists of a hypostyle hall with fifteen columns. A terrace is accessed by a spiral staircase, which remains unique in Egyptian architecture. The temple was transformed into a church.

The temple of Dakka has been moved 40 km from its original location. It dates from several eras, including Ptolemaic and Roman. It was dedicated to Thoth.

Pylon: Augustus had it built in a disproportionate way in front of a rather modest temple; it is dug multiple chambers.

Portico: In the purest Ptolemaic style, the portico is openwork in its upper part, giving access to a classical pronaos, followed by a rectangular vestibule.

Sanctuaries: two sanctuaries follow each other, one from the Arkamani period, the second from the Augustan period.

The temple was built by Ramses II, called here "the beloved of Amon". It was originally located 4 kilometers east, where Lake Nasser is now. The temple known as "Ramses-love of Amun" served as a resting place for the sacred boat on its way down the Nile. Inspired by the lion-bodied stone sphinxes guarding the central aisle, it was named Ouadi es-Seboua, the Valley of the Lions. The temple has a progressive classical structure with three pylons.

First pylon: has disappeared, but gives access to a first courtyard lined with sphynxes with human heads topped by the double crown of Lower and Upper Egypt.

Second pylon: has disappeared, but gives access to a small courtyard lined with falcon-headed sphynxes in front of which stands a statue of Ramses II; a stepped staircase extends the courtyard and leads to a terrace.

Third pylon: is still standing; one notices a monumental statue of Ramses II, on the left, flanked by his daughter Bentanat; the pylon is decorated with bas-reliefs narrating the victories of Pharaoh.

Third courtyard: surrounded by ten Osirid pillars leading to a portico by an inclined ramp.

Hypostyle hall: small hall consisting of twelve monumental pillars, overlooking a vestibule serving two side chapels and a three-part sanctuary. If Amun-Ra is worshipped there, the great gods of the time of Ramses have a special place there. The temple was transformed into a church as the representation of Saint Peter on the bas-reliefs of the sanctuary attests.

The oldest temple in Nubia, built in Dynasty 18, contains beautifully coloured bas-reliefs made under Thutmes III and IV and under Amenophis II.

Hypostyle Hall: it is reached by crossing a grey brick pylon built by Seti I to protect the temple; Thutmes IV is represented there; in front of the portico, it is Thutmes III who is represented on the walls of the temple.

Vestibule and sanctuary: it is mainly Amenhetep II who is represented on the bas-reliefs and in the sanctuary.

This small rock temple is located in the same place as the Kalabsha temple. It was built by Ramses II to be one of the first buildings used for public relations purposes. It is entered through a courtyard where Pharaoh's battles against the Nubians on the left and against the Libyans and Asians on the right are depicted. The vestibule is decorated with Ramses II presenting offerings to Hathor and Khnum. The sanctuary is decorated with Ramses facing Ra and Khnum. The small temple of Beit El Wali is in many ways fascinating.

The fortress occupies a cliff overlooking the Nile, dominating the site of Aniba, seat of the governor of the province. The first vestiges of the reign of Amenophis I are dated. The present remains are a mixture of a Coptic cathedral and an Ottoman fort commanded by Selim I. For three centuries, the descendants of the first Ottoman soldiers lived in these places, until 1811. The Aswan High Dam transformed this place into an island and drowned its surroundings. Qasr Ibrim is the only site in Lower Nubia to have survived the Nile floods.

This is the only Nubian tomb that survived the flood. It was carried out for Penout, a high-ranking official of Ramses VI. It was located 40 kilometres south of its present location, not far from Kasr Ibrim.

The tomb consists of a chapel and the tomb itself, dug out of a niche. The burial well, which opened in the middle of the room, remained in place when the monument was transferred. The frieze representing the deceased and his children is particularly beautiful, the linen veils of the clothes being very refined.

Partly buried, the temple was built by Ramses II and was dedicated to Ra. It is remarkable for some of its colourful representations.

First hypostyle hall: it is accessed by crossing a pylon; at the back four Osirid pillars support some ceiling elements.

Second hypostyle hall: six columns supporting a reconstructed ceiling. Ramses II stands in front of a splendid ished tree. Then follows the sanctuary flanked by two side chapels. The chapel on the left is remarkable for the representation of the sacred bark of Amon.

Ay is the twelfth and penultimate pharaoh. He ascended to the throne through his marriage to Tutankhamen's widow, Queen Ankhesenamun. Ay's tomb is not completely finished. Ay had had a tomb dug, and when the city and the cult at Aten fell, he had to dig a new tomb in haste at Thebes. His short reign did not allow him to complete more than the decoration of the burial chamber. It shows Ay hunting the male hippopotamus, and twelve baboons who gave the name to the valley. The stone sarcophagus is still in situ.

This is one of the stops on a dahabieh cruise.

On the west bank of the Nile: numerous graffiti and stelae show the importance of this place of worship where, as the flood raged, Hâpy and the elephantine triad, considered to be the masters of the river, were celebrated. Three sanctuaries built by Merenptah, Seti ^I and Ramses II have survived in part, and the ceilings still retain their colors.

On the east bank of the Nile: impressive sandstone quarries, stelae and ex-voto statues.

The construction of this small chapel, dedicated to the goddesses Nekhbet and Hathor, is attributed to King Amenophis III and his father Thutmes IV. The chapel, almost square, is supported by four columns with Hathor capitals. The interior is decorated with paintings that have retained their original hue. This small chapel was used as a resting place for the statue of Nekhbet during certain processions. The goddess protected the important mineral resources of this part of Egypt. In front of the entrance was a small hypostyle hall with four columns.

Ahmes son of Abana, born of a soldier father and a mother named Abana, is a soldier who played an important role under the orders of three pharaohs. His biography, on two walls of his tomb, relates all his feats of arms especially when the north of Egypt was annexed by the Hyksos. Born under the reign of Seqenenrê Taâ and died under that of Thutmes I: he took part in the various wars of reunification led by the pharaohs. He received seven times the supreme honorary decoration, the decoration of gold, from the hands of three different kings.

Pahéry is a painter and head of works in the tomb of his grandfather, Ahmnose, son of Abana, a war hero. He becomes governor of Elkab and Esna. His status as a nomarch enabled him to build his own tomb. The theme of the artistic copies served as a basic documentation, to express his artistic talent. The tomb he occupies with his wife has well-preserved paintings of scenes from agricultural life and the funeral rite rendered to the deceased. At the back is a niche housing a statue of Pahery, his wife and his mother.

All the necessary information.

Born into a prestigious family, he was Third Prophet of Amun during the ^20th Dynasty. His large sepulchre is poorly preserved and has lost most of its decorations, but his first room remains interesting. Large statues of the deceased are carved into the rock. The preserved wall decorations, depicting scenes of banquets and members of Amenenope's influential family, or Amenenope being presented to Osiris, are of exceptional quality and enhanced by the white of the walls.

Resident of the Royal Nursery, chief treasurer and supervisor of public works during the reign of Tuthmosis III. Benia's tomb, small and quite simple, with a classic T-shape, is quite complete. In several scenes Benia is depicted in front of tables on which offerings are piled up. The mouth opening ritual ceremony is also painted there. In a niche at the bottom of the tomb are statues, carved directly into the rock face, representing the deceased sitting surrounded by his parents.

This tomb belongs to an official named Khonsu, a theophoric name modeled on that of the son-god of the Theban Triad (Amen-Mut-Khonsu). He was also called To, the first prophet of Thutmes III, during the reign of Ramses II. Preceded by a courtyard, the tomb has a classical inverted-T plan. Among the many paintings, most depict the cult of the god Montu and of Thutmes III, but there are also scenes of worship of the god Ra by the deceased and his family and of funerary scenes. Ducks in flight adorn the ceiling.

A passage in the tomb of Nefersekherou leads to that of Dhutmosi, which is in poor condition. But by chance, the ceilings of these two tombs have been very well preserved. Beautifully coloured ceilings can be seen. Each has one or more central motifs, which take on geometric forms. Five different patterns are repeated, three of which are in the main room. The painted motifs are separated from each other by coloured stripes and, in the case of the main ceiling, by text stripes.

The small tomb of Nefersekheru, scribe of the divine offerings and officer of the Treasury during the reign of Ramses II, is quite similar to its neighbour. It would be conceivable that the latter succeeded his neighbour Neferrenpet. Despite its small size, it represents a characteristic ensemble of the period. It is very complete and its paintings have retained vivid colours. The ceilings are finely decorated with various geometric motifs in very well preserved colours. The monument consists of two separate underground complexes.