EGYPT🔆KV 11🔸Tomb of RAMSES III: Guided visit (Part 1️⃣)

The Valley of the Kings is the place of burial of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom. 64 tombs have been found covering the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties. These tombs are designated by KV standing for Kings Valley and by a number indicating the chronology of their discovery. The entrance ticket allows the visit of three tombs. We're going to visit the tomb of Ramses III. Ramses III is the son and successor of Setnacht, the first ruler of the 20th dynasty. We know very little about Setnacht as he reigned for only two years. Ramses III became the pharaoh at the age of 30 and governed from 1185 to 1154 BC. He had many descendants, perhaps 30 or 40 children. His successors from Ramses IV to Ramses XI were either his sons or his grandsons. During his reign the Egyptian temples were extremely rich. There were 107,000 servants, two percent of the population that worked in them. The circumstances surrounding his death were controversial for a long time. Natural death or assassination? We had the answer in 2012 due to the advances in scanner technology. Although he was near to dying, as he was very ill, the pharaoh had his throat cut, probably victim of a rebellion orchestrated by his second wife Tei. His tomb KV 3, originally planned for him, was abandoned and he was buried in KV 11. KV 11 is almost in the centre of the Valley of the Kings, oriented north-south. It is 188 meters long and is one of the longest tombs of the necropolis. KV 11 was originally destined for Setnacht, Ramses III's father. The work was abandoned at the third corridor when it was revealed the work encroached on the tomb of Amenemes. The work was restarted later to finish it as the burial place of Ramses III. It was known as the Harpist tomb or Bruce's tomb, which is the name of the Scottish explorer who visited it in 1768. In this video we will visit the first two corridors. We will stop at the entrance of the third corridor, which is where the kingdom of the dead begins. It is by this door that the late king will enter and leave resurrected to start his eternal life. The representation of the lintel above the grill evokes the setting and rising sun, which the pharaoh will assimilate to during his journey through the underworld. The stairway is dominated by four pillars with cow's heads, but they do not represent Hathor as one might think at first glance. After the entrance we are in a long corridor divided into several sections by door frames and doorless lintels. The king is welcomed by two representations of Mat, the goddess who represents the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality and justice. Mat thus recognizes the sovereign as having respected these principles of righteousness for upper and lower Egypt during his earthly life. She is recognizable by the feather on her head. Immediately after it is Ra Horakhty's turn to welcome the pharaoh, wearing the hem hem crown on his head. This first section is decorated with the usual representations of the geniuses and demons of the underworld and the text of the litany of Ra. Here is the vignette which introduces the litanies. Similarly to the entrance we see the setting sun, illustrated by a man with a ram's head, and the rising sun, illustrated by the scarab Kebri. This evoking the entire journey of the astra day and night. A crocodile and a snake, creatures of the dark world of the waters and the earth, seem to be moving away repelled by the light. The prayer book dedicated to Ra shows the 74 divine forms which encompass all the manifestations of the sun. Two small rooms each side of the corridor offer some unique scenes in the Valley of the Kings. In the room on the left are shown bakers, butchers and cooks all working. Opposite a rendering of the pilgrimage to Abydos that every Egyptian should make during his life or after his death. Annemarie is now entering the second corridor. On the lintel the sun with its outstretched wings extends its protection and its domination of the world. The corridor has four small rooms on each side. Of course more than three thousand years have gone by and so without the interpretation of Egyptologists it would be very difficult to understand what is shown. These pictures represent the agricultural deities, in particular Renenutet, the cobra goddess who protects the harvests and grain silos. On the other side of the corridor we see pictures representing divine banners and arms, javelins, bows and shields etc. You need to remember that all these items shown were also physically present in the tomb. Here are processions of fertility geniuses, especially those personifying the main cities and provinces of Egypt. They are carrying heavily loaded tables of offerings. This room is decorated with furniture and luxury products destined for the king's eternal survival. Numerous recipients are shown, some of Marcinian style and Amphor for storing oil or wine. These sacred bulls and cows refer to chapter 148 of the Book of the Dead. The oars are called the guiding oars of the sky. Here we see represented fields of reeds which makes reference to chapter 110 of the Book of the It is a paradise where the fields are ploughed, sown and harvested in abundance. This is the room that gave the original name of the tomb, the harpist's tomb. It shows musicians playing their instruments to the gods. We are now approaching the world of the dead as this last room depicts four representations of Osiris. At the end of the corridor are shown illustrations from chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead. Anubis, god of mummification and master of the necropolis, is accompanied by Nephtys and Isis. Their mission is to assure the rebirth and the protection of the king, assimilated to Osiris, the dead god. The second corridor ends with a door frame decorated with protective symbols which will guarantee the king an eternal life. We are now at the point where the tomb builders stopped their work and moved the corridor to the right. The cross piece was not on the original plans. It has been decorated for Ramses III with several scenes of offerings to various divinities. This is the start of the world of the dead. In the next video we will continue together in the second part of our visit.