A Walk Over the Hills 
 
Footpaths connect the sites on the West Bank and many are the same ones taken by ancient craftsmen on their way to work or by priests and guards who made tours of inspection of the temples and tombs. Several routes climb over the Theban Hills and offer outstanding views of the monuments and the emerald green Nile Valley.

None of the paths is particularly difficult— they are uphill walks rather than hikes—and most can be made in less than two hours. From October through April the weather is usually balmy, and what ancient Egyptians called “the sweet breath of the north wind” blows refreshingly across the hillsides. On clear days, it is possible to see 40 kilometers (25 miles) or more, to the Red Sea Hills in the east, and to towns north and south along the Nile.The shortest and easiest of the walks is between the Valley of the Queens and Dayr al-Madina (and should be made in that direction, not the reverse, because there are fewer hills to climb).

Leaving the gate at the Valley ofthe Queens entrance and turning left (north), a narrow path leads northeast across gently rising desert to a low hill. Into its northern slope, a series of chapels have been cut.

One was dedicated in the New Kingdom to the goddess Meretseger, “She who loves silence,” the goddess of the Theban Hills. Another was cut for the god Ptah. This is the Valley of the Dolmen, and there are also several fine stelae from the reign of Rameses III cut into the bedrock. Stone walls surround an irregular courtyard in front of them, and nearby there are traces of small stone huts, also of Rameside date. From here, the path continues on to Dayr alMadina. The most beautiful walk is that from the Valley of the Kings to Dayr alMadina. The first few hundred meters of the trail are steep, but then the path begins to level off and rises gently to the top of the hill. From there, it is downhill the rest of the way to Dayr alMadina. It is much easier to walk the path in this direction than to start atDayr al-Madina. Start beside KV 17, the tomb of Sety I where the path is marked. During the first part of the walk, you will climb about 100 meters (325 feet) and then skirt the western and southern ends of the Valley of the Kings. From here, the path offers excellent views of the valley.

At the valley’s southernmost limit, above KV 34, the tomb of Thutmes III, you will see the remains of a small stone hut where necropolis guards stood watch in the late New Kingdom. You can follow the edge of the cliffs surrounding the valley to the west and north from here, walking along the lower slope of the pyramid-shaped summit, known as al-Qurn in Arabic, meaning “the horn.” On your left you will pass several dozen small stone shrines, each about the size and shape of a shoe box, in which workmen from Dayr al-Madina placed tiny statuettes, stelae, and perhaps candles. They knelt here, facing alQurn, and prayed to Meretseger, the mountain’s goddess. This path will take you around the edge of the valley past another guard’s hut, and you will return to the valley floor near the tomb of Rameses II. If you continue southward up the hill past Thutmes III’s tomb, you will reach the base of a steep cliff that defines alQurn. On your right, you will pass a wide drainage field carved by torrential rain-generated floods and defined by a surface deposit of dark stone debris.

Across it lies KV 39, thought by some to be the tomb of Thutmes I, the first tomb dug in or near the Valley of the Kings. At the top of the footpath, a village of stone huts was built for workmen digging and decorating tombs in the Valley of the Kings. This apparently was where they chose to spend nights instead of walking back to their homes in Dayr al-Madina.

The ground around the huts is littered with ancient pottery and stone tools. Thirty-millionyear-old fossil clamshells lie about, some the size of a fingernail, others the size of a fist, reminders of a time when this area lay beneath the sea.

The view of the Nile Valley from here is breathtaking. The Tombs of the Nobles, dozens of memorial temples, the green fields, and brown villages of the West Bank are all laid out at one’s feet. Beyond them lie the Nile, the city of Luxor, and the Red Sea Hills. From the hilltop, the path continues southward, almost entirely downhill.

There are one or two short stretches where you may have to use your hands for balance while clambering along the narrow path, but the route is neither difficult nor dangerous. The path eventually forks and will lead either to the shrines of Meretseger and Ptah (see the walk described above) or to the village of Dayr alMadina, where ice cold water and soft drinks are available beside the tomb of Sennedjem. One also can continue another kilometer southward to MadinatHabu where there are several small cafes. An alternative trip over the hill also begins at the tomb of Sety I, but instead of walking up the hill and to the south, you walk upward to the first fork in the path and turn left (east). This path will thencircle the east side of the valley and take you to the hill directly above Dayr alBahari. The path then descends north of the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, past tombs of Dynasty 11, and ends at the Dayr al-Bahari parking lot.

From" The Illustrated Guide to Luxor" by kent R.Weeks ,published by the American University in Cairo Press. Copyright © 2005 White Star S.p.a 

 

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