Nortina’s Egyptian Travel Diaries (#AtoZChallenge): “E” is for Empty Tombs

During our stay in Egypt, we visited many tombs, including the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings, and the Valley of the Queens.

Some tombs we didn’t go inside, but we were still able to see them relatively up close, such as the tombs of ancient nobles from the Old and Middle Kingdoms (c. 2700–2200 BC and 2040 to 1782 BC, respectively) in Qubbet el-Hawa on the western bank of the Nile, which we sailed by on our way to the botanical island in Aswan, and the tomb of Muhammad Ali Pasha inside the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, one of our final stops on our Cairo sightseeing tour.

Click the images to read the captions

Despite the historical and archeological significance of these finds and the overwhelming awe I experienced from being able to see with my own eyes and feel with my own hands these edifices that are thousands of years old and are still standing and, in some cases, very well preserved, it isn’t lost on me that their original purpose has unfortunately been corrupted.

Let us not forget that these were originally graves.

They were intended to be the eternal resting place of great figures of ancient Egypt, and it saddens me that the people they were built for are no longer there. Some of their bodies were never found, and others are now on display in museums in Egypt and other parts of the world or being dissected in labs.

You see, these tombs were looted long ago by grave robbers and treasure seekers shortly after they were built, and then again more recently by modern armies, by explorers, by archeologists.

By tourists.

Yes, I was very much aware that my taking pictures and videos was contributing to the further desecration of a person’s grave. At times, I felt very uneasy about that, and I wondered, as I watched other tourists gawk and click their cameras, did the thought ever cross their minds that maybe we weren’t supposed to be there?

Wherever the ancient occupants of these tombs are now, I hope they aren’t too angry with us for disturbing their final resting place, and I hope they are resting in peace somewhere and enjoying the treasures of the afterlife.

—Nortina

“A” is for Arrival
“B” is for Buyer’s Remorse
“C” is for Cruisin’ the River Nile
“D” is for Delays, Delays, Delays

This April for the A to Z Challenge, I’m sharing my experience of traveling to Egypt last month. These posts likely won’t be in chronological order, depending on what memory each letter strikes up, but if you’d like to follow me on this journey, subscribe below.