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The Valley of the Queens is located on the western bank of Luxor city. This valley was dedicated for burying the wives of kings, who were buried in the Valley of the Kings.

This valley was discovered by Schiaparelli in 1904. It houses almost 81 tombs for queens, princes, princesses, and several members of the nobility of the new kingdom, the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties.  It was known in ancient Egyptian language with Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning “the place of beauty”.

The first queen buried in the valley was the princess Ahmose, the daughter of Queen Sitdjehuti and King Seqenenre Tao, who was killed in the wars of liberation against the Hyksos.

The main reason for choosing this place to be the Valley of Queens is unknown, but there are some opinions said that:

• Because this place is close to the Valley of the Kings, as in previous dynasties, queens were buried inside the royal complex, but in the Valley of the Queens, the tombs are separated.
• Also, it is close to Deir el-Medina or the village of workers, who work in the Valley of the Kings.
• There is a chamber dedicated to the goddess Hathor in this place.

The design of these tombs begins with a small chamber, a long narrow corridor with several side rooms, then the burial chamber at the end of the tomb. Its tombs were decorated with religious scenes and books of the other world, which are still impressively preserved.

Tomb of Queen Nefertari The tomb of Queen Nefertari or the tomb QV66 is one of the most fabulous tombs in the valley.  Nefertari was the beloved wife of Ramesses II. It was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli in 1904. This tomb distinguishes with its well-preserved depictions. When you visit this tomb, you will see poetry written by king Ramesses II for queen Nefertari in the burial chamber.

The tomb of the prince Khaemwaset Also, the tomb of the prince Khaemwaset is one of the most beautiful tombs in the Valley of Queens. Khaemwaset is the son of king Ramesses III. In this tomb, you will be able to notice the father’s care for his son, as king Ramesses III depicted while he is helping his son in crossing the gates and skipping the obstacles of the afterworld due to the young age of his son in front of several gods.

The Great Sphinx of Giza Plateau is one of the landmarks of Giza Plateau. It belongs to king Chephren or Khafre, the founder of the second pyramid at Giza Plateau. The Great Sphinx was carved directly out of the bedrock and was made of one single piece of limestone in Giza Plateau. It dates back to the fourth dynasty, the old kingdom. There is a temple in front of the statue called the Sphinx Temple.

There are many questions about who destroyed the nose of the sphinx. There was opinions said that Napoleon who destroyed during his campaign in Egypt, but the researches proved that the Egyptian historian al-Maqrīzī wrote in the 15th century that the nose was destroyed by Sa’im al-Dahr.

What does the word of sphinx mean? The Sphinx is a mythical creature taking the shape of the human head and lion’s body. The word Sphinx is a Greek word derived from the ancient Egyptian word (Ssp Ankh), meaning the living image. So we can say that the Sphinx statues are a metaphor for the physical and mental power of the living king, as the physical power can be noticed in the lion’s body, while the mental power can be noticed in the human head of the king himself who wearing the royal headdress.

While in the Arabic language, it is called Abu Al Hol. It is thought that it is derived from the ancient Egyptian word (Pr hol), meaning the house of the lion, or it is called by the Arab, meaning father of terror.

The Dream Stela The Great Sphinx has captured the imagination of travelers and explorers for millennia, even in ancient Egyptian times, as it became a symbol of the sun god.

There is a Stela was discovered in front of the Great Sphinx is called the dream Stela belonging to king Tuthmosis IV dating back to the 18th dynasty, New kingdom.  It is an inscribed granite slab.

King Thutmose IV put this Stela between its front paws of the Great Sphinx due to a sacred deal between him and the Sphinx when he was a prince; as he claimed that he saw the god in his dream and the god said to him if he removed the sand buried the Sphinx up to its shoulders, he would be the king. That was political propaganda for the king, and he documented that on this Stela.

Faiyum Governorate is considered one of the most significant and diverse tourist destinations in Egypt. It distinguishes with its natural beauty, historical, and cultural importance at the same time. Faiyum contains most of the tourism types, as it houses historical attractions dating back to the pre-dynastic period, ancient Egyptian civilization, Ptolemaic, and Roman times. Besides, its scenic nature reserves as Wadi El Rayan and the Valley of the Whales or Wadi El Hitan. Also, it includes rare types of flora and fauna.  In addition, the Heritage attractions like Tunis Village.

Tunis Village or Izbat Tunis lies in the western-most part of the Faiyum Governorate. It overlooks the southwestern part of Qarun Lake. It is considered one of the most important heritage tourism destinations and fabulous sightseeing in Egypt. This village is famous for pottery making, reflecting the Tunis community.

The role of Evelyne Porret in changing the lifestyle of the community of Izbat Tunis The history of this village started with a small house built on a hill. This house is owned by Mohammed Ibrahim Wali and his Tunisian wife. It was a small community depending on farming.

In 1962, the Egyptian poet Sayed Hegab and his wife, Evelyne Porret came to Tunis Village. Evelyne Porret was a Swiss potter. She noticed that this village is populated by farmers. Those farmers saw the potteries of Evelyne Porret and admired them. So in the 1960s, she decided to collaborate with the Egyptian architect Wissa Wassef, who has trusted the artistic of Tunis village.

Then in the 1980s, she established a Pottery School for advancement in this community, satisfying their desire and developing their skills. As a result of community efforts and Evelyne Porret, this village became a heritage tourism destination.

Over the last thirty years, Tunis Village attracts many famous foreign and Egyptian artists, painters, and architects to live in it and build their own houses there. No doubt that the surrounding environment has an essential effect on this success, as the village surrounds by wonderful green gardens along the shores of Lake Qarun providing tranquility. This makes many tourists visiting Tunis Village for relaxing and enjoying this natural beauty. That leads to establish hotels and restaurants in the village to accommodate those tourists.

The Festival of Pottery For encouraging community production, Tunis Village holds a social occasion every year by the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and the Fayoum Tourism Authority for pulling in tourists, especially those interested in cultural and human heritage. This fest is called Tunis Pottery Festival. This celebration of pottery and handcrafts began in December 2011.

Through the fest, there are some habits is occurred as desert safaris and horse riding, and watching a bird on the shores of Lake Qarun joined by guides.

The success of the Pottery School gained fame until Evelyne Porret founded several exhibitions in Cairo and abroad of Egypt, in the Gulf Area, and Europe.

Luxor temple is one of the most beautiful remained monuments on the east bank of the Nile River in Thebes, or Luxor city now.

The history of construction of Luxor temple King Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty started to build this temple, but the main building of the temple was completed by King Tutankhamun and King Horemheb. Then King Ramses II added some elements to the temple.

During Amenhotep III’s reign, the main entrance of the temple was on the northern side. After that, you will see the great colonnade consisting of seven pairs. It takes the shape of high open-flower papyrus columns. Then you will move to the courtyard of King Amenhotep III. Then the hypostyle hall, containing thirty-two columns.

The cache of Luxor temple was discovered by the archaeologist Muhammad al-Saghir on the morning of January 22, 1989.  While he was cleaning the courtyard of King Amenhotep III, he found a wonderful collection of statues for gods and kings of the New kingdom. Most of these collections are moved to be displayed at Luxor Museum.

Behind the hypostyle hall, there are four secondary rooms, the room of the Divine birth of King Amenhotep III, Alexander the Great’s shrine, and the Holy of Holies of the triad of Thebes (Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu).

The divine birth room houses depictions tell an amazing story of how the king’s true father was none other than the god Amun himself.

The King Ramses II adds:
• He added a massive pylon decorated with inscriptions of the Kadesh Battle against the Hittites. This pylon was preceded by six colossal statues for King Ramses II himself and two obelisks made of granite. Now, one of these two obelisks is transferred to the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

In front of this pylon, there is the avenue of sphinxes linking between Luxor Temple and Karnak Complex. This avenue was used during the Opet Festival, as Amun used it to move from Karnak Complex to Luxor Temple.

• Also, King Ramses II built another courtyard in front of the great colonnade of King Amenhotep III. In this courtyard, on the right side, you will see the shrine of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose III.

  

The temple was remained used in the Greco-Roman period. In the Christian period, the hypostyle hall of the temple was changed to be a Christian church.

After many years, the temple was covered and hidden by sand and streets, resulting in the construction of the Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj mosque over the Northeast side of the temple in the courtyard of King Ramses II in 640.

Colossi of Memnon are two massive statues on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor city. They stood at the entrance of the mortuary temple of king Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty, New kingdom. These statues are the only residual part of this temple.

These two twin statues depict King Amenhotep III, seating on the throne chair and wearing the Nemes, the royal headdress. The statues measure 20 meters tall. They are made of quartzite sandstone. The northern statue presents the king with a small statue for his mother (Mutemwiya), while the southern one presents him with his beloved wife (Tiye). Amenhotep, son of Hapu supervised the construction of these statues.

After an earthquake had occurred in 27 BC, the northern statue was deeply affected, as cracks appearing on it. These cracks resulted to when the winds were passing through the northern statue at dawn, making mysterious sounds and forming dew drops on the statue’s body.

The Greeks linked between these sounds and dewdrops and the crying of Memnon’s mother on her killing son (Memnon). Memnon was the king of Ethiopia, traveled to Asia to help in defending Trojan city, the beleaguered city under attack. But he was killed by Achilles. So they are famous for the Colossi of Memnon.

Later the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus restored the northern statue that led these sounds to stop.

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