Valley of the Kings

Near Luxor is the Valley of the Kings, the burial place of the pharoahs.  Originally the pharoahs were buried in the pyramids, but the pyramids were
very vulnerable to grave robbers, so later kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings and their tombs buried and hidden for protection.
Only a few tombs are open at a time, and pictures are not allowed inside, but we did buy a few postcards etc to give a flavor.

The tomb of Thutmose III	King Tut's tomb - extra money to go in but worthwhile! Tut's mummified body is still visible here.
More info about Tut's tomb
The tomb of Rameses I Scenes from inside the various tombs
The boat here is carrying the king to the land of the dead	One of the Egyptian gods
	The king being prepared for the afterlife.  The king can be identified by the crown on his head (sticks up at the back and with a long feather type thing sticking up at an angle towards the front)

After seeing the main tombs, we went to see Queen Hatshepsut's temple. Queen Hatshepsut was one of the few female rulers of Egypt,
and furthermore she ruled as a male, even to the point of wearing a fake beard etc (though even the male pharoahs wore fake beards)
To solidify her status as ruler, she built this temple (in the background)

The cattle goddess Hathor (note the cow ears)

The Lotus flower, sacred to the Egyptians

Another view of Hathor, the cow goddess