Back to the West Bank and Farewell to the Sonesta St George

Howard Carter's House, Luxor

Howard Carter's Study

Kitchen at Howard Carter' House.  Achmed (2) from Cairo Explaining.

Climbing Down to One of the Tombs of the Nobles

Tomb of Ramose, Governor of Thebes, Showing His Funeral Procession with Weeping Women in the Cente

Shave and a Haircut?  Tomb of the Scribe, Userhet, Depicting Barber Cutting Hair

Workmen on Lunch Break, Tomb of the Royal Inspector Khaembet

The last night of the cruise, we bid farewell to our guide, Achmed (el Prince).  He took the 11 PM train back to Aswan from Luxor.  The next morning (December 8) we disembarked from the boat and three of us returned to the West Bank with a new guide, Achmed (2) from Cairo.  Had a very interesting morning, stopping at the house where the archeologist Howard Carter lived following his discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.  We then visited three of the more than 400 Tombs of the Nobles (15 actually open), burial places of high-ranking officials to the pharaohs. Unlike the royal tombs, with their emphasis on their passage to the after-life, these tombs are decorated with scenes from the daily lives of the nobles. Climbing down into the entrances was a challenge, but the scenes we found were well worth the exertion.

From the Nobles' Tombs, we headed to the Medinet Habu, the last of the great temples constructed during the New Kingdom.  Built by Ramses III, it exists as a somewhat exaggerated record of the king's reign.  Ramses, learning from the eradication of previous pharaoh's names and exploits, had carved his record deep into the stones and