Travel: Highlights of Luxor

Egyptian Gazette

This is a really badly formatted feature on the Egyptian Gazette website. It probably made a lot more sense in the print version of the newspaper. It deals with key archaeological highlights in Luxor: The tombs of the nobles, the Luxor Museum, the Mummification Museum, Medinet Habu, and the tomb of Nefertari. Here's the summary of the Valley of the Nobles (which are truly fabulous):

The nobles - local rulers, ministers and governors under the pharaohs - enjoyed a good life and were keen for pleasures to continue after their death.

As a result, their tombs are not decorated with cryptic texts from the Book of the Dead, but with realistic and vividly coloured depictions of their lives. The work is inferior to that of the royal tombs, but it provides a wonderful insight into ancient Egyptian society and the daily life of wealthy Egyptians and their servants. Luxor is rich in these tombs.Whereas the pharaoh's tombs were hidden in the Theban hills, the nobles built theirs ostentatiously on the frontline, facing the mortuary temples of their masters. There are many tombs in this necropolis, but only seven are open to the public. The farthest two are the tombs of Rekhmire and Sennofer. The first has scenes of the vizier Rekhmire receiving tributes from foreign lands and overseeing the agricultural revenue, while the second is known as the “tomb of the vines” for its ceiling of beautifully painted vines. The decorative style of the nearby tomb of Ramose reflects that he was a vizier immediately before and after the Amarna revolution. The superb carvings along the entrance wall are all in the classical style, showing Ramose making offerings, but on the opposite side they also reveal the more naturalistic Amarna style. Immediately south, the tomb of Khaemhat, a royal scribe, contains a variety of fishing, family and funerary scenes and has exceptionally well-preserved colours.Farther north lies another beautiful group of tombs. The Tomb of Nakht has fascinating scenes of a banquet with dancers and a blind harpist, with a cat eating fish under his chair, while that of Menna, an inspector of estates, depicts scenes of rural life and of Menna and his wife performing ceremonies for the gods.

Changes have been made to the site, including a change in the format of the URLs, but I can't tell whether or not this involves archiving articles. I recommend that if you are interested in the above, you visit it soon in case it vanishes as usual!