Our guide, Tayeb, met us at the Al Moudira at 8am and we set off with our driver. First stop was a local shop that specializes in hand weaving. Hamiba Hand Weaving was a revelation; the owner, Abdo, was incredibly kind and welcoming. After making us some hot hibiscus tea, he showed us the ancient looms and answered our numerous questions about the types of cotton, silk and wool that are harvested locally.

Tayeb felt it was important that we start our tour of the West side where it all began: the artisans who decorated the Pharoah’s tomb. Some clever pharoah came up with the idea to create a private village just for them, almost completely sealed off from the outside world. All of the basic needs were met: food, water, wine, etc. They did not need to leave the village except to travel over the mountain about 20 days of the month to work their artistry on whatever tomb was currently under construction. After the 20 days were up, they went home to spend time with their families. During those times, they taught their craft to their children and took care when decorating their own tombs. Note that these tombs are cramped and narrow (see the video below where Tate descends the staircase to the entrance).

Our next stop was the Valley of the Nobles and the tomb I most wanted to see on this visit: Sennefer. Also known as the “tomb of the vines” this larger burial plot is decorated with grapes, vines and beautiful patterns. Sennefer and his wife must have like to entertain and appeared to be early A.D. fashionistas!

In the Valley of the Kings, a general ticket gives you access to 3 tombs (there are about 62 total and on any given visit, only about 7-8 are actually open). We decided to skip going into the tomb of Tutankhamen because we had already seen the treasures at the Egyptian Museum and Tayeb felt it was smaller and not as interesting as the ones he recommended we visit.

ABOVE: The beautifully decorated walkways in a tomb the Valley of the Kings.

ABOVE: A close-up of the stunning colors of the hieroglyphics in one of the pharaoh’s tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Queen Hatshepsut bears the distinction of being ancient Egypt’s only female pharoah. She was an intelligent, accomplished woman and created many important temples during her reign. Unfortunately, her stepson tried to erase her from as monuments as possible.

Habu Temple was by far my favorite of ones we visited in Luxor. It was beautiful, colorful, peaceful and impressive. Maybe it was the late hour (nearly 5pm) but we mostly had it to ourselves. The waning sunlight was gorgeous. The quiet beauty inspired me to suggest a quick project to thank Tayeb for the day. He refers to himself as “Egyptiana Jones” and somewhat dresses the part. So I decided to create a VERY SHORT trailer for him to use on his social media sites. Below is the finished product, with help from my amazing cinematographer Ron Shelef and Ali Sher, a digital artist based in Pakistan. It’s about 6 seconds long so don’t blink or you’ll miss it!

Below is the raw footage (minus the digital insertion of the whip, sound effects, music, titling, credits, etc.). Ron was a genius at pulling together my vision. FYI, I found an online generator that uses the Indiana Jones movie title font to create your own versions.