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The Theban Necropolis |
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For many Visitors the Theban Necropolis consists of a visit
to the Memnon then some time in either the Valley of the Kings,
Deir-el Medina or the Valley of the Queens. There is however another
aspect to the West Bank which is little known, and all you need
to find it is the nerve to try the local transport and an ability
to ignore people trying to sell you stuff.
And amid long robbed out tombs and in forgotten chambers there
are still surprises to be found, like the mummified leg bone shown
above which lies in a niche in a small tomb at the entrance to
the burial shaft
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Many of these tombs are in full view of the hotels on the
East Bank at Luxor, and the tourist Busses and Taxis drive past
them all day. These visitors probably wonder what these openings
on the hillside contain, little realising how easy it is to find
out.
This pillared hall belongs to a tomb which, like so many,
had an Arab house built on top of it. This particular tomb was
only accessible because the house above it had fallen into ruin.
So when you look at the village perched on the hillside you
realise the reason why the local Arabs build their houses where
they do. |
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Most of the visible tombs have gates fitted or the entrances
bricked up but many of the smaller sepulchers consist of a passage
of about 10 metres leading to a chamber. From this chamber there
is either a vertical shaft or another steeply sloping passage
like the one shown here. This is the tomb where the bone at the
top of the page was found.
Unfortunately all the decoration in the accessible parts of
these tombs has long since been removed, if indeed they were
ever decorated. |
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Find out more about this tomb, including what was at the bottom of this shaft, more human remains and the present occupants in the Thebes Update
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There is some surviving decoration on the entrance 'porches'
of the tombs facing the Nile. On one in particular one end of
the roof remains in place, although how long this will remain
with local children trying to sell bits of it to tourists is
uncertain. |
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The best of the surviving artwork is in the tombs which are now
locked. When I took the photo shown above I had no idea what
lay beyond the small breech which existed in the dry stone wall
in front of the gate blocking the entrance. I was amazed when
the film returned from processing to see this elaborate artwork
had survived. |
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On another entrance 'porch' a very faint scene can be distinguished
on the left hand side of the entrance to the tomb itself. Again
it is very difficult to make out much detail, but here I have
attempted to 'restore' the image from the surviving colour. Unfortunately
my artistic abilities don't stretch to filling in the missing
bits. |
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All is not well on the fringes of the Theban Necropolis.
Neglect and theft mean that many of the 'minor' tombs are in urgent
need of help.
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